Oh boy, a once great Netflix title fizzles out with its Fourth & Final Part, the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is now done and dusted.
Based on the Archie comic book series of the same name, originally to air on The CW, the series was intended to be a companion series to Riverdale; however, the project was moved to Netflix and a darker tone was reflected in the first two parts. Filming (like a lot of other CW shows) took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The series is yet another Berlanti Productions as Greg Berlanti serves as executive producers, alongside Sarah Schechter, Jon Goldwater, and Lee Toland Krieger.
The show (like the previous Sabrina the Teenage Witch) is centered on the Archie Comics character Sabrina Spellman, portrayed by Kiernan Shipka. The show has a strong and beautiful cast made up of Ross Lynch, Lucy Davis, Chance Perdomo, Michelle Gomez, Jaz Sinclair, Tati Gabrielle, Adeline Rudolph, Lachlan Watson, Gavin Leatherwood, Richard Coyle, and Miranda Otto.
The last eight episodes landed on Netflix on December 31, 2020. Previously in July, Netflix announced Part IV would be the last.
Both Parts III and IV just happened to landed around holidays in Australia. Part III around Australia Day and the IV on the New Years #StayHome year. Sadly for Sabrina, Cobra Kai launched the next day and Shonda series Bridgerton were grabbing all the headlines, also maybe viewers too.
I enjoyed the series for what it was, it was darker than Riverdale, less camp than the lesser discussed other spinoff Katy Keene however by Part IV it felt like it overstayed it's welcome. Sadly Riverdale still feels like that, yet The CW can't live without one of its only non superhero series.
Like Riverdale there were musical numbers, high school cliches and shirtless men, however sometimes the over arching plot of each season seemed to get lost. The Rotten Tomatoes scores went lower for Part IV but picked up in Part III following a Part II slip.
My favourite part of Part IV was when the OG aunties came to the show part of some multi universe storyline they were running with. Caroline Rhea as Hilda Spellman & Beth Broderick as Zelda Spellman had a bit more than a cameo but did play the aunties back when the OG show ran for 163 episodes. Yes 163!!!
What does the future bring for the Archie comic spin offs? Now Katy Keene is dead and buried as a one and done series, Sabrina is done and dusted and Riverdale is about to enter its fifth season on January 20. This season is said to be shorter (like last season, although that was cut short by COVID) to 19 episodes. Still that is a heck of a lot of high school drama, after Archie himself IRL is 23 years old whilst Veronica Lodge is 26.
So back to Sabrina is it worth eight final episodes. Yes and no, Nick (Gavin Leatherwood) is a dreamboat. The show gets a little repetitive over time. As one door closes at Netflix I am sure others will open. Cobra Kai is on my list to tell you about real soon, Season Three, WOW!
Bump is the latest Australian drama series to pop up on Stan.
It centres around Oly, an ambitious and high-achieving teenage girl who has a surprise baby whilst still at school in Glebe, Sydney. Bringing two vastly different families together.
Released on New Year's Day, 2021, the series was co-created by Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro, who also co-wrote with a writing team of Jessica Tuckwell, Timothy Lee, Mithila Gupta and Steven Arriagada.
Karvan produced along with John Edwards and Dan Edwards. Geoff Bennett, Gracie Otto and Leticia Cáceres directed the series.
With a relatively fresh cast Claudia Karvan has headed back to the brilliance of Love My Way season one days.
Carlos Sanson Jnr as Santiago 'Santi' Hernandez is super handsome in the lead role as a schoolyard baby daddy whilst favourites like Karvan and Sampson lead the young cast well.
Whatever TV awards last through 2020 and rise from the ashes, we should see Nathalie Morris as lead Oly Chambers pick up a few awards. The brutal honestly and compassion expressed in this ten part (likely one and done) series is truly beautiful. Sydney looks awesome whilst seeing all these fresh faces come together, it's great. Below is to me what the real Sydney looks like. A total mix of beautiful faces. Love it.
This might well be STAN's best work to date. I even enjoyed this more than the brilliant Romper Stomper, one and done movie continuation. Not to mention this is actually one of Stan's best original (non movie continuation) dramas to date.
Bloom and The Other Guy were good, but Wolf Creek and Romper Stomper seemed to get more attention.
For a summer treat Bump could be the easiest show to watch this Aussie summer. Well done all involved this is truly excellent TV.
Power Book II: Ghost is a spinoff of the long-running series, Power. However I don't know whether spinoff is the right title, more like a continuation.
In September (after a few episodes had aired), the series was renewed for a second season. I'm assuming this will air late 2021, following the next spinoff Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Which seems to be more of an origin story, rather than a spinoff.
Power Book II: Ghost picks up the narrative just a few days after the Power finale. The sequel then follows Tariq navigating his new life, in which his desire to shed his father's legacy comes up against the mounting pressure to save his family.
Along the way, Tariq gets entangled in the affairs of the cutthroat Tejada family, adding further complications as he tries to balance his drug operations with his education, love life, family affairs, and mounting pressure from Cooper Saxe.
The cast is huge including hip hop heavyweights Mary J. Blige and Method Man. Both newcomers to the franchise whilst a bunch of folks are back from the OG series Power.
Spoiler ALERT Joseph Sikora appears as Tommy Egan ahead of his solo series, Power Book IV: Force.
For a super compressive run down of the finale, go HERE.
I enjoyed the second half of the debut ten episode season. We had an October/November rest period whilst we waited for the final five episodes, however by this time I could get my head around the fact the show was basically just a continuation and not a series going out on it's own.
Airing weekly (or now in its entirety) on STAN, will Power Book II: Ghost have the longevity the parent show enjoyed? Time will tell but Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq St. Patrick and Mary J. are a force to reckon with.
I wasn't expecting to see a film so soon after the brilliant The Dry. Monster Hunter was as far from The Dry as you can get, however it is definitely an entertaining ride.
Featuring a huge, all star action cast, Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Tip "T. I." Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta, Josh Helman, Jin Au-Yeung and Ron Perlman.
For a massive action sequences, serious fight scenes between Milla Jovovich & Tony Jaa (until they become monster hunters together) with this huge cast, Monster Hunter is now playing.
Just go to the movie with no exceptions, don't even watch the above trailer. Just go in blind, it's a wild ass ride, talking cats and all.
Just when you think it can not get anymore crazy, they up it up a notch. Monster Hunter may not get amazing reviews nor get a sequel (which they are clearly setting it up for) but it's summer this is fun and it's blockbuster time, not awards season.
3 Stars (very generous I know, but it was fun, we all need a little fun right now)
neXt is the second of FOX's filler series whilst they wait for new episodes of both 9-1-1 series and The Resident. Also I am excited for the second season of Prodigal Son this month.
First was Filthy Rich which concluded early December. Now neXt wraps it's solo ten episode season. Airing in Australia on Binge or one of the many Foxtel apps, I accidentally watched episode ten twice when the double finale aired. However episode nine was a real dud.
Back in October 2020, the series was cancelled after two episodes aired. The series centers on the efforts of a homeland cybersecurity team to counter "a rogue AI with the ability to constantly improve itself".
The show had average reviews, however never grew an audience. Even with later viewers, the show never hit the 2 million viewers mark.
The idea for the series wasn't awful, I just think right now, signing into every venue we eat, visit, shop plus the whole world going cashless might be a little too close to home.
Even with Mad Men John Slattery as Paul LeBlanc the show did not stand much of a chance.
How will returning FOX shows do when they return in the coming days/weeks? As far as network US TV is concerned I am very happy that Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist returns (in Australia) to STAN next week. We all need a feel good show right now. Not to mention I read they are completely ignoring COVID. Thank fuck.
neXt's all ten episodes are available to Binge on Binge in Australia.
After Wonder Woman I was a little nervous to return to the cinema, not because of COVID but because WW1984 was so bad. Such a long wait for such an average film. The Dry was apparently set for release in August of the 2020, so the wait has not been too long.
The Dry is based on the 2016 debut novel by Australian author Jane Harper.
The book has won numerous international awards whilst selling more than 1 million copies worldwide.
Eric Bana leads an outstanding cast, Miranda Tapsell, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Matt Nable and Genevieve O'Reilly.
Federal Agent Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) returns to his home town after an absence of over twenty years to attend the funeral of his childhood friend, Luke, who allegedly killed his wife and child before taking his own life.
When Falk reluctantly agrees to stay and investigate the crime, he opens up an old wound - the death of 17- year-old Ellie Deacon.
Falk begins to suspect these two crimes, separated by decades, are connected. As he struggles to prove not only Luke's innocence but also his own, Falk finds himself pitted against the prejudice towards him and and pent-up rage of a terrified community.
The suspense and lies being covered up in this small town makes for an outstanding piece of Australian cinema. It would have certainly topped my two BC and AC cinema lists for 2020 had I seen a preview screening of this film.
I am guessing this will do seriously well on my 2021 best of list, even though we are only two days in. So yeah happy new year, happy new cinema going year.
Let's keep the cinema business afloat, it's been a shit year for cinemas, so here is hoping for a good year of releases. If not predictable American blockbusters but a booming Australia and international film scene. With filming about to go on hold again in LA, things are looking grim for the old super power of film.
However The Dry is honestly one of the best films I have seen in years. Showcasing the Australian landscape and acting skills so well, 5 Stars. Outstanding.
So my November/December TV Finales post series has now become, December/January TV Finales as we get set to farewell more shows this month. Like Power Book II: Ghost and Cobra Kai season three. So some of these shows wrapped last month like this one, Tiny Pretty Things and tomorrow's post, neXt.
On to today's Netflix series, Tiny Pretty Things. The teen drama had its ten episode opening season drop on December 14, 2020. Right in time for people's holiday bingeing. The show was constantly in the "Netflix Top 20" and widely discussed due to the number of sex scenes and naked "teens".
Based on the novel of the same name by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton, the first seasons ten episode run was a little longer than it needed to be but all the same a modern Gossip Girl, just based around ballet and Chicago.
There is so much eye candy in Tiny Pretty Things sometimes you forgot they are trying to figure out who pushed Cassie from the dance schools roof.
It's sexy, its camp, its an easy watch whilst overall being entertaining. If you like dance movies like the Step Up series, Centre Stage or in that style, Tiny Pretty Things will be an easy watch.
