netflix – @habits

Beef on Netflix is intense

Yes I’m very late to the game as the show premiered almost 2 years ago

But dang I’m glad I finally watched it — having run out of anime and more high-concept content

Highly recommend if you haven’t yet, and enjoy dark, intense, genre-spanning TV. Clocks in at 10 episodes and the last half is a real gripper

Great cast — Ali Wong was perfectly cast for the role, her creative tension with Steven Yeun was great, David Choe gave an outstanding performance he just feels like a natural actor, many well written characters with rich stories and motivations

Addressed multiple important themes without being heavy handed, from class to modern relationships to cross-cultural to inter-generational

The really heavy stuff is in all the character flaws and how those flaws underpinned so many of their actions and resulting life problems

Excellent writing, although I would have preferred a sprinkle more humor and lightness, it got uncomfortable it did but I did have at least one intense dream

The ending felt just right, one of those rare Netflix shows which got better as the season progressed, and wasn’t stuffed with 3-5 episodes of filler

Great new action anime: Blue Eye Samurai

It’s on Netflix, fast paced, the characters are complex and well-written, there’s plenty of scary enemies, unreal choreography and action scenes, plus all of your standard Edo period samurai anime goodies.

Highly recommend: https://www.netflix.com/title/81144203

And the art… the art! So good

I love Netflix’s They Cloned Tyrone

they-cloned-tyrone

I’ve watched it 4-5 times now since it came out in June… at some level I can’t resist re-watching it, it’s like a catchy Taylor Swift song in movie form, an earworm of a movie…

John Boyega (the main character) is a total revelation — during my first watch through, I didn’t realize it was Star Wars guy. It made subsequent watch throughs even more interesting

It’s clearly a craft of love. You can tell the director and producers sunk a LOT of time into it, because the end product is just full of lovely details, from the music (which is both quality AND relevant to the story), to the expected genre beats, to the clever banter, the retro-chic costume design

The main trio has great chemistry — Jamie Foxx is his charismatic, nimble self; Teyonah Parris is high energy and the moral soul of the group

The story spans genres — it begins as a kind of drug / hood flick, becomes a murder mystery, reveals sci-fi and horror elements, and ends with a big action-filled showdown (the genre-crossing reminds me of Peele’s work, of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite)

Rich potential for sequels and spinoffs… the obvious direction is a kind of Marvel / Star Wars esque world where a broad cast of characters plumb its depths. Another direction I’d personally love to see is a more Fargo / True Detective approach where different writers and directors bring unique artistry and story to explore the same themes and broader plot points (like an origin story, a “what if” story, etc)

I’ve tried my best to avoid spoilers but the trailer should be spoiler enough