Streaming Review: Disney+'s 'Better Nate Than Ever'

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

Couldn’t we all just use some positivity today? It feels like it’s not all that common to find a feel-good movie that isn’t also an outright comedy, and, given the state of things, shouldn’t there be an abundance of that type of content? For something that fits that bill perfectly, look no further than Better Nate Than Ever, a new musical that comes to Disney+ this week…

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Review: Sebastian Stan devours horror-romance 'Fresh'

by Matt St Clair

The new horror/romance hybrid Fresh chiefly functions as a viable kidnapping thriller that still  gets one thing right about our modern dating scene. It can be a literal terror show. It’s especially horrifying in our era of dating apps. The constant hoping for a companion as you keep sending messages saying “Hello” that get no response can make you wonder if people read the actual profile. It’s easy to judge a book by its cover and message someone based on how they look in their photo. But do people bother to read our bios for a better idea on what we might be like? 

As Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) finds out the hard way, meeting people in real life can be just as rough...

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Streaming Roulette, March: Drive my car by the west side, Peggy Sue

by Nathaniel R

Before we begin we should note that between HBOMax (Dune, King Richard, Drive My Car, West Side Story), Netflix (Power of the Dog, Don't Look Up), Hulu (Nightmare Alley), AppleTV+ (CODA) and VOD (Belfast, Licorice Pizza) all of the Best Picture nominees are or will be available to watch at home this month before the Oscars (March 27th). 

Okay, time for this month's streaming roulette. You know the rules. We highlight new-to-streaming titles by freezing them on the scroll bar at entirely random places and just sharing what pops up. No cheating*!

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"Where we are now on TV" - annual GLAAD report

by Nathaniel R

Yellowjackets helped Showtime stay on top in terms of LGBTQ representation

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has released their annual WHERE WE ARE NOW ON TV report. The report looks at LGBTQ+ representation via series regulars or recurring characters on scripted television shows across the three platforms: broadcast, cable, and streaming. It covers shows airing between June 1st, 2021 and May 31st, 2022. The shows that haven't aired yet are stastically factored in only when casting has been confirmed by content providers (Notably Apple TV+ AND Disney+ declined to confirm when it came to unaired shows) so the report might have discrepancies.

Herewith are 10 notes on the report, in no particular order...

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12 takeaways from this morning's Oscar nominations

In no particular order - see the full list of nominations here.

1. BEST ACTRESS IS, TWO YEARS RUNNING NOW, A CHAOTIC NAIL-BITER
Last season provided us a rare nail-biter as different women kept winning lead actress at the televised shows: Andra Day, Viola Davis, Frances McDormand, Carey Mulligan. This year the nominations themselves have been routinely surprising. In fact the only woman to hit *every* key precursor was Lady Gaga but when the nominations were announced this morning she was the most shocking snub. Meanwhile, Penelope Cruz who'd only won the Volpi Cup and Kristen Stewart, who had struggled in the precursors despite year long "she's going to win!" hoopla both showed up. So we currently have NO idea who is going to win. You can make a case for any of the nominees. And, once again, none of them are in Best Picture nominated films.

2. QUALIFYING RELEASES ARE ALIVE AND WELL (SIGH)
Norway's incredible film The Worst Person in the World scored a surprise nomination in Best Original Screenplay (well deserved) despite only playing for a week unadvertised in theaters to qualify...

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