Review: "Away" on Netflix

by new contributor Christopher James

What role does space play in our current world? Today, getting on a plane during COVID almost feels as risky as embarking on a mission to Mars. 

Netflix’s new bright, shiny and expensive looking drama, Away, tries to contextualize space travel in its pilot episode. At a press conference, a reporter asks the Atlas crew, “Why should we care more about Mars than our own planet.” Hilary Swank’s commanding officer, Emma Green, delivers an impassioned speech on how much the US spends on the military and war. Wouldn’t it be better if we repurpose these tools for “discovery, not destruction.” This sets the stage for an exciting space mission where traveling to Mars could possibly save us from ourselves. Unfortunately, Away dodges this interesting, if thornier, premise as if it were a meteor heading straight for its shift. Rather than take a risk, it heads into safer territory, being a digestible family drama...

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"This is not going to work..."

For The Lusty Month of May, we looked at a few sex scenes. Here's Jose for the finale

Peter Greenaway’s The Pillow Book might be based on a text from the year 1002, but it remains one of the most thrilling, groundbreaking portrayals of sex ever put onscreen. The simple plot has Nagiko (Vivian Wu) fulfill her desire and exorcise her demons through the art of calligraphy, which her lovers write on her body. Being Greenaway, this gives way to some very profound philosophical takes on the relationship between the message and how it’s delivered, but being Greenaway, it also gives path to some exquisitely rendered images, most of which involve beautiful bodies.

In the film’s sexiest scene, Nagiko meets her match in the shape of Jerome (Ewan McGregor), a translator who insists she shows him all about her love of calligraphy...

To test him, she asks him to write on her body in a variety of languages. [More]

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