Posts

“Sometimes when just one person notices you, it makes all the difference,” Birdie says to introduce his part of the episode, speaking the last words you’ll hear for six minutes. Not only is Birdie’s arc told without dialogue (just a musical overlay), his arc is uninterrupted. So is Bitsy’s. Rather than bounce back and forth between both plots, as is the typical sitcom format, “The Shadow” plays them sequentially, giving each all the room they need to resonate, while allowing their quiet thematic ties to unite them under one half-hour block....

And “Deaf U” is a series that shouldn’t be put out of audiences’ minds. The reality series, produced by deaf advocate and actor Nyle DiMarco, follows a group of students attending Gallaudet University, a private college catering to the deaf and hard of hearing. For DiMarco, the goal of the series is to show deaf people as humans, from all walks of life. Too often, DiMarco explained, the hearing community looks at the deaf community as a monolith, with one experience....

In theaters, that is. Unlike the recent “Space Jam: A New Legacy” (Warner Bros.) or “Black Widow” (Disney), these two won’t have immediate home availability. Confused? You’re not alone. Uncertainty about home access to new releases is now another problem theaters face. There’s no easy solution to this. In the ancient times of February 2020, studio movies opened in theaters first, then were exclusive for at least 75 days before home release (streaming, video on demand, Blu-Rays/DVDs)....

One insect down. Ten quintillion to go. No one else at the motel is on alert for an unusually aggressive infestation. Malik’s as-yet-unknown intel is that some time not too long ago, a small meteorite pinged onto the earth. This went ignored by everyone but a few barking dogs. But a parasite on that meteorite infected a cricket, who then infected a praying mantis, who then infected a whole forest of buggers before the news can make a bad pun about Beetlemania....

Last season was about not only introducing us to the characters, but bringing them together. Cousins Erik (Joseph Julian Soria), Ana (Karrie Martin), and Chris (Carlos Santos) were all in various ruts in their lives, unifying around Pop in spite of their own personal drama. This season, it’s immediately apparent that the trio are drifting apart to find their own individual destinies. Taking place just three months after Pop’s arrest, all three are already laying the groundwork to the issues that will carry them throughout the season....

“I have been at work in my winter garden,” Martin wrote in a blog post on his website. “Things are growing…and changing, as does happen with us gardeners. Things twist, things change, new ideas come to me (thank you, muse), old ideas prove unworkable, I write, I rewrite, I restructure, I rip everything apart and rewrite again, I go through doors that lead nowhere, and doors that open on marvels.” Martin joked that while his writing process “sounds mad, I know,” he can promise that his “gardening” will foster the blooming of new story paths separate from the TV show....

Per Netflix, “In ‘Cabinet of Curiosities,’ acclaimed Academy Award-winning filmmaker and creator, executive producer and co-showrunner Guillermo del Toro has curated a collection of unprecedented and genre-defining stories meant to challenge our traditional notions of horror. From macabre to magical, gothic to grotesque or classically creepy, these eight equally sophisticated and sinister tales (including two original works by del Toro) will be brought to life by a team of writers and directors personally chosen by del Toro....