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Showing posts from May, 2020

The Lovebirds Review

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 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Jibran and Leilani (Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae) are your typical long-term couple. They live together, avoid large social gatherings together, and argue about the same things that any couple does: reality TV, career choices, milkshakes… and how to go about proving their innocence after being witnesses to murder. The Lovebirds follows the bickering pair as they first hit a relationship crossroads and then a cyclist whilst driving to a dinner party. After unwittingly assisting a “cop” to chase down and brutally murder the man they just injured, the two flee the scene of the crime after being caught apparently red-handed. Thinking they have no choice but to clear their own names, they delve into a mystery that will take them to places stranger than they ever thought possible. Protesting their peace: Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) - wrong place at the wrong time (source: Netf

The Last Dance Review

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 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Great Scottie: Jordan rules in this documentary, but not without deference to his star team-mates (source: Andy Hayt/NBAE) There was a tweet that came out during the release of The Last Dance that said “someone tell Michael Jordan the coronavirus said it was better than him”. To some, it may be borderline sacrilegious to associate the glorious era of “His Royal Airness” with one of global woe, but whilst that comment is obviously drenched in fantasy it also carries with it an air of inevitability. If there was a way for Michael Jordan to take on a global pandemic, he probably would find a way to win. The Last Dance is a ten-episode docu-series produced by ESPN and Netflix, examining the legacy of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty who dominated the NBA throughout the 1990s. In meticulous detail, nearly every year and player is cross-examined, leading through the conclusion of the 199

My Spy Review

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 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Never work with kids or animals? Dave Bautista apparently never heard that famous saying. After forming part of the Guardians of the Galaxy alongside Rocket Raccoon (who is more “CGI alien” than outright “animal star”, but still), the former professional wrestler now finds himself going toe-to-toe with a nine-year-old schoolgirl in My Spy . That girl is Sophie (Chloe Coleman), who has moved from Paris to Chicago with her mother after the death of her father, a man with friends in very wrong places. As her psychotic uncle dabbles in the nuclear arms black market, JJ (Bautista)’s ineffectiveness as a spy results in his demotion to surveilling the two alongside starstruck tech expert Bobbi (Kristen Schaal). After she blows their cover, Sophie blackmails JJ into training her in the world of espionage, and helping her through life in a strange new hometown. No looking back now: Sophie (Chloe Co

Star Wars - The Clone Wars Season 7 Review

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 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) That , is why you're here: a titanic 'saber duel (even an animated one) always draws a crowd (source: LucasFilm Animation) Concluded, the Clone War has. When The Clone Wars was first announced as returning in 2018, it came with a curious mix of inevitability and surprise. The latter, from the show being allowed to conclude under the same might of Disney that caused its initial cancellation ; the former, from the undeniable need to fill in the blanks that existed around both its main character – self-exiled Jedi Ahsoka Tano – and the show’s eventual crossover with Revenge of the Sith . This final season does answer those questions, but it doesn’t do so immediately. The season instead opened with an arc that represented obvious closure for director Dave Filoni, giving life to four cancelled episodes that otherwise existed only in their unfinished form. Serving as a branch between the

Why The Opening 4:10 of ‘Attack of the Clones’ is Good

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 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) If there’s one thing that Star Wars fans do possibly better than those of any other film series, it’s argue over the quality of the films. But long before modern audiences raged over the sequel trilogy and the myriad controversies found within, there existed the great prequel debate. In light of ‘The Disney Era’, the years-long discussion over the various faults of Episodes I-III seems to have long since quietened. Whether it’s because of the recent groundswell of support for the trilogy on places like Instagram and Reddit, or just that the debate over the newer films is more in vogue, is unclear. What is clear is that the hatred for the only singularly-directed Star Wars trilogy seems to have (mostly) subsided. Whilst there probably is an alternate reality where the films are as universally loved as the Original Trilogy, we don’t have the means to access it. What we do have right n

Parks and Recreation Special Review

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 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) The famous title card returns - with a slight addition (source: Cornell Daily Sun) Parks and Recreation belongs to a rare breed of television show – the kind that quit whilst it was ahead. Running for seven seasons, the über-positive show came to an end in 2015 after seven seasons, without having to sacrifice any cast members or risking any of its well-established fan goodwill. It was a surprise, then – though a delightful one – that last week a one-off reunion was announced . Of course, the times we live in make the production of “new” episodes of any scripted shows near-impossible, but for a show which has remained happily retired in spite of a continued, dedicated following to do so was doubly derailing. Thankfully, this is an episode that marries both the show’s original happy spirit, and embraces the current state of the world (fictional or otherwise). The last season of the show i