Today, I present to you the shortest and giggliest guilty pleasure binge of your life. Just 13 episodes. A Netflix original of comedy to the core. Created by humor junkies Robert Carlock and Tina Fey (both known for their work on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock). Starring KCMO native Ellie Kemper (The Office, Bridesmaids). Put your hands together for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - ooooo dammit!
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The show begins just as four girls are pulled by SWAT members from an underground bunker where they've spent the last 15 years of their lives held captive by a doomsday cult preacher. When the 'Indiana Mole Women' share their story on a TV talk show, Kimmy realizes that she doesn't want to return to her old life in Durnsville. She stays behind in New York City to start a fresh life and somehow catch up on all the adulthood learning she missed.
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First thing's first, Kimmy needs a job. She starts working as a nanny for local crazie Jacqueline Voorhes (Jane Krakowski - Ally McBeal, 30 Rock) after Kimmy finds her son wandering about the streets of NYC stealing candy. Next she scores an apartment with roommate Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess - 30 Rock), a flamboyant struggling actor.
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Kimmy starts feeling out her new-found freedom, navigating NYC, boys, friendship, and responsibility. Just when things are going great - she's needed to testify against the crazy cult leader who kidnapped her, Rev. Wayne Gary Wayne (Jon Hamm - Mad Men). Can Kimmy save the day?
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I love Ellie Kemper's portrayal of Kimmy - her one-liners often come in hilarious comebacks with some childhood flare (remember, Kimmy hasn't seen the outside world since 1995). Plus this chick deserves your respect for keeping herself and her friends safe and sane...ish...for 15 years underground. Never once did she fall for Wayne Gary Wayne's end of the world bullcrap. And when she finally got out, she thrived.
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Ultimately this show is straight up entertainment - I giggled from start to finish. Be warned, it's some pretty silly, shallow humor. You won't laugh if you're looking for some intriguing satire. It's an adorable show and intentionally made to be. Not a lot of character development or deep plot, but plenty of goofiness. Rating: 3/5 pints of Ben & Jerry's.
So lately I've been obsessed with this show that only ran for like two seasons in 2000 called Dark Angel - which sadly is not streaming instantly on Netflix. While that is my current binge TV show, I've got a few movies to review for you in the meantime! The first is a film I discovered thanks to Netflix recommendations when I watched a bunch of indie films in a row - I'm so glad I took a risk on Our Idiot Brother. It's precious.
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Ned, portrayed by Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man, Ant-Man), is somewhat of a clueless hippie with a giant heart. After a run in with the law, Ned decides he needs to finally get his life together. As he puts together some money for a place of his own, Ned couch-surfs at his sisters' in the meantime - played by Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, and Elizabeth Banks. The sisters struggle with their brother's disruptive presence as he's notorious for making a bit of a mess.
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I found Ned to be a lovable character with a precious soul and a hopeful personality. In my favorite line out of the entire film he says, "I like to think that if you put your trust out there, if you really give people the benefit of the doubt, see their best intentions, people will rise to the occasion." And honestly, that's kind of the message I got out of the film. Ned never loses his faith in the universe and his family. He's the chillest dude you'll ever meet - he's also one of the most positively passionate.
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The film also features characters portrayed by Rashida Jones, Hugh Dancy, Adam Scott, and Steve Coogan, among others. Some goofy, some supportive, some less than... As for the plot, while entertaining, the movie is a little choppy. There are a lot of little bits going on in the supporting characters' lives which tend to pull the movie in a lot of directions at once. Part of me wants to say that this is distracting, part of me wants to say that it works for this film.
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In the end of course, Ned's homecoming pulls his family closer together - he even gets his dog, Willie Nelson, back! Yay for the good feels! While the film has it's issues mechanically, I found it to be an overall adorable indie flick. Rating: 3.5/5 pints of Ben & Jerry's
The original Terminator is a classic science-fiction film that everyone should take a risk and see at least once. Like Star Wars, you may not love it, but never having observed the beauty of it with your own eyes is frowned upon by all. (Though personally I love Star Wars with all my heart and most films of the science-fiction category - have I mentioned how stoked I am for the new movie???)
*cough cough*
Luckily, you have the chance to watch Terminator for yourself as it's currently available to instantly stream through Netflix!
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The film is set in 1984 near Los Angeles, California, where two beings arrive from the year 2029. The first is a cyborg assassin hell bent on killing a young woman named Sarah Connor. The second, a human fighting to save mankind and hell bent on saving her.
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Sarah finds herself caught in the middle of a war going on nearly fifty years in the future. Her human protector, Kyle Reece, tells her that her future son will lead the humans in an epic war against the machines. The machines sent the Terminator back in time to kill her so her son would never be born. Now they have to find a way to kill this futuristic assassin before it kills Sarah - and of course, this being an '80s film, that's going to take a lot of fire.
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The movie feels quick, as the plot only occurs over the course of about 48 hours. It's a lot of running and hiding. But it gives a very Ripley vs. Alien vibe near the end when Sarah's forced to kick some robotic ass. And who doesn't get a kick out of some fabulous '80s special effects - including a stop motion cyborg (awkwardly) chasing Kyle and Sarah up the stairs. However, I was surprised at Schwarzenegger's performance - he has maybe six lines in the whole movie! That's one stone cold robot!
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Personally, I love a good cheesy sci-fi and Terminator was good for my soul! Now I've got to catch the other two movies before I see Terminator: Genysis in theaters this month. Rating: 3/5 pints of Ben & Jerry's.
Hello lovelies! Holy cannoli, do I have a recommendation for you... Last week, I didn't blog a thing because I was too in love with this show to watch anything else. I just had to power through it and after a weekend of reflection, I'm ready to share my thoughts. This show blew my mind wide open and I have been obsessively fangirling over it for days.
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If you're expecting a Disney Channel-esque show depicting teenagers going on daring missions for the Avengers - you'll be quite surprised. No mouthy teenagers, no Disney Channel feels in this show. Agents of SHIELD is straight up adult and takes itself just as seriously as the Marvel movies do. The show, created by Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, & Firefly) and a bajillion other brilliant minds, tells SHIELD's side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe story.
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SHIELD, or the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, is the acting government agency that takes responsibility for all things alien, paranormal, and superhuman here on Earth as directed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). The show follows a particular team of agents led by Philip Coulson (Clark Gregg) who are on a mission to track an organization that is trying to create a superhuman solider with abilities similar to Captain America. The team includes Skye the hacker, Fitz and Simmons the brilliant scientists, Melinda May the total badass extraordinaire, and Grant Ward who is basically just there to make 'smolder' faces in the background. They are all fabulous and will win your heart in an instant. I honestly can't pick a favorite character from either season... though I couldn't tell you how many times I called Coulson some variation of "you precious butterfly" throughout my crazy binge-watch of the show.
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Beware, further description gets a little spoilery. (It's super hard to avoid with this show and I am so sorry!)
Did you know that all of the recent Marvel movies are meant to correspond to the same timeline? Agents of SHIELD falls on that very same timeline and if you watch the show, you'll notice all of these crazy intersections where giant things that happen in the films are referenced in the show and expanded on. The show even sets up certain elements for future movies that I am super excited about.
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Both Seasons 1 and 2 are currently on Netflix to stream and Season 3 is set to premiere in September. Season 1 primarily focuses on Skye's introduction to the SHIELD agency, Coulson's Tahiti mystery, and the establishment of the team's dynamic. But you better hold on to your seats as you get to about episode 15, because the end of the season starts clear back there - and it is a wild wild ride. Trust will be broken. Season 2 centers around the rebuilding of SHIELD, Skye's new abilities, and a sketchy secret safe-haven for gifted people.
Seriously the show blew my freaking mind with how everything lined up perfectly. It was like reading comic books - except watching them on television! Ah, the intersection! So in terms of the shows put-together, so much love. And the characters are fascinating! They each have their own subplot and character development that occurs alongside the main plot. They are weighted and complex and it feels just as if you were connecting with one of the Avengers characters. It's beautiful, trust me.
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One major critique of the show that I have is a lack of leading diversity - which I suppose is not so much a critique of the show as it is a critique of Marvel's mainstream content in general. The show does feature several fantastic POC characters that are dynamic and influential of the plot and I would love to see more of that in the coming seasons. I truly think a strength of this show is it's ability to allocate time to all of the characters' developments and subplots pretty equally, especially in Season 2.
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So that was a hefty binge! But OH MY GOSH SO WORTH IT. I adored this show so much as a Marvel fan. While those who may not be so into the superhero world will likely not have the same appreciation for it as those of us in the particular fandom, the show gets a great review from me. I even got my mother into it! Rating: 4.5/5 pints of Ben & Jerry's.
