Cowboy Bebop S1 (2021)
Medium: TV (Netflix)
Rating: 4 / 5 wop bop a loo bop
Reference(s): IMDB Listing || Netflix || Trailer
As someone who didn’t read the original material or any subsequent work, I enjoyed this live action series. A cyberpunk meets near-term sci-fi with a dose of spaghetti Western thrown in. Three bounty hunters scrape by in the world, each with their own past that haunts them, each with an uncertain future ahead. While I didn’t read the original comics, the show has a distinct feeling of being an adaptation of one. Poses, dialogue, and scenes exude what is typically found in such print. Overall a fun series and too bad it was canceled after one season.
My Name (2021)
Medium: TV (Netflix)
Rating: 4.5 / 5 위대한 범죄 누아르
Reference(s): IMDB Listing || Trailer
This Korean crime drama features Han So-hee as Yoon Ji-woo / Oh Hye-jin, a conflicted woman living two lives as she seeks to avenge her father’s death. During the path for vengeance, she learns more about her father, the double life he lived, and the drug kingpin that is in both of their lives. The show is very well done and U.S. viewers will hopefully appreciate the style and pace of it. It’s worth the subtitles and long dramatic scenes that linger on a character as they smoke a cigarette or look deep in thought.
The Last Duel (2021)
Medium: Movie (Multiple)
Rating: 4 / 5 Too bad, it is an epic duel
Reference(s): IMDB Listing || Trailer
This movie is based on a book of similar name, directed by Ridley Scott and stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, and Ben Affleck. Set in the 1300s, medieval France, the movie gives us three views of the same event that culminates in an epic duel. Just over two and a half hours, the movie could have cut down on some of the repetition in the three views, highlighting the major differences in how each perceived events. The fighting scenes are done well with an air of realism and the movie ends with a truly epic duel. Worth the (long) watch.
Hawkeye (2021)
Medium: TV (Disney)
Rating: 4 / 5 Close to a bullseye
Reference(s): IMDB Listing || Trailer
I’m a reluctant fan of the Marvel franchise. What started out strong has turned into some fairly predictable and boring movies. With every Avenger getting a spinoff, I hesitated on this but glad I took the time. Only six episodes, the story covers Hawkeye being dragged back into his former life while reluctantly taking on an apprentice. The two find themselves finding a ridiculous, but amusing, Russian street gang as well as a Red Room assassin (a sequel to the teaser at the end of Black Widow (2021). The show provides good action, a few creative fight sequences, and a healthy dose of humor. Overall a good watch.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Medium: Movie (Multiple)
Rating: 4 / 5 I ain’t ‘fraid of no reboot-sequel
Reference(s): IMDB Listing || Trailer
This is essentially a reboot of the original but using another generation, the grandkids of one of the original, to go through the same story. Paul Rudd plays the new Rick Morranis of sorts, providing a bit of comic relief. The ghosts and CGI are as you’d expect but the contrast of it being set in a tiny town away from New York is nice. The many tiny Stay Puft marshmallows are amusing, probably the best scene of the film. Mckenna Grace, who plays Egon Spengler’s granddaughter, steals the show. The brief appearance of most of the original cast was a nice touch to bring it together.