Capsule Review: Tech Triple Threat - "Super-Pumped," "The Dropout" and "WeCrashed"

by Christopher James

Which new show about the rise and fall of a major tech company prevails in the end?Do you ever get deja vu while watching a TV or movie? Trends always lag a year or two when it comes to pop culture. More so than ever, the minute a story or documentary takes off, production companies are working on the scripted version of the story. In the course of a month, there will be three separate miniseries dramatizing famous tech flameouts from the last decade. Showtime was the first out the gate with Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, which has already been renewed for season two, centering around Facebook. Next up was Hulu with The Dropout, which cast Amanda Seyfriend as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. By the end of the month, Apple TV+ will premiere WeCrashed, where Oscar winners Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway star as the charismatic couple behind WeWork, Adam and Rebekah Neumann.

It’s easy to make comparisons when so many similar series come out in quick succession. Between the three shows, there’s a clear winner and clear loser. Which is which? Read on to find out...

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Review: "The Afterparty" Could've Been More Lit

By: Christopher James

Is Apple TV+'s new comedy "The Afterparty" worth attending? Read on to find out.

High school reunions are nightmares, but they’re nightmares that you can’t miss. Where did your high school crushes end up? What scores do you need to settle with old rivals? Will you murder the famous pop star from your graduating class? Well, hopefully the latter is not on your bucket list.

The new Apple TV+ comedy, The Afterparty, is a fun whodunnit comedy that centers around the murder of a celebrity following his high school reunion...

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Streaming Review: Apple TV+ 'Swan Song'

By Ben Miller

Delicate and sentimental, Benjamin Cleary's Swan Song gives two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali a showcase performance in this adult drama.  Featuring strong supporting performances and a cleanly futuristic setting, the film is an easy watch - just make sure to have the tissues ready...

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TV Review: The Shrink Next Door (Apple TV+)

By: Christopher James

Paul Rudd gets inside Will Ferrell's head and life in Apple TV+'s "The Shrink Next Door."

It’s impossible to resist Paul Rudd, People’s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive. Rudd’s charm has aged as gracefully as his skin, which makes him great casting for the titular role in Apple TV+’s The Shrink Next Door. Co-starring comedy giant Will Ferrell, at first glance it would appear Apple has the makings of an enjoyable watercooler miniseries. Unfortunately, the strong relationship between the actors never pays off with a satisfying or cohesive final product. Don’t come in expecting an Anchorman reunion. This shrink has much more sinister tricks in store.

There have been many stories of therapists overstepping their boundaries with patients. Based on a true story (and the Wondery & Bloomberg podcast of the same name), The Shrink Next Door explores a particularly toxic doctor-patient relationship....

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Emmy FYC: "For All Mankind" for Drama Series

by Lynn Lee

If you’re old enough to remember the Challenger explosion – my earliest memory of watching a national disaster on TV – you may, like me, see it as the de facto end of the Space Age.  Not that NASA abandoned its mission or that space ever completely lost its grip on the public imagination.  One need only look to the Mars Rovers and the recent advances made by SpaceX and Blue Origin for evidence to the contrary.  But even the most exciting breakthroughs no longer command the universal attention that the Apollo missions or, yes, the Challenger debacle did back in their day.  There’s also a growing sense that space travel has become the province of the ultrarich, and that as a species we should– taking a page out of Gil Scott-Heron – maybe think about fixing our problems here on Earth before laying claim to other worlds.

For those who hold onto the ideal of outer space as a gauntlet for human progress, there’s a tendency to look back wistfully at the golden age of space exploration, notwithstanding the more uncomfortable facts underlying the myth...

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