On the list this week: A daring biopic, a quirky superhero series, and a popular anime that makes the leap to live action.
The Tick season 1
If you’re starting to feel weary of all the serious superhero shows and movies, Amazon has something to perk you up: The Tick, the latest adaptation of Ben Edlund’s classic comics series. The new series begins in a world where superheroes have long been an accepted part of society. An accountant named Arthur Everest (Griffin Newman) uncovers evidence that a supervillain named The Terror (Jackie Earle Haley) is up to no good, and his search for answers leads him to a jolly superhero named The Tick (Peter Serafinowicz), who takes Arthur under his wing. Colorful, upbeat, and full of humor, The Tick is a pleasant, fresh take on superhero stories.
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Death Note
An American adaptation of a popular manga, Netflix’s Death Note begins when a teenage boy named Light (Nat Wolff) — the name seems a lot more reasonable in the manga — discovers a mysterious, blank book with “Death Note” written on the front. A creepy death god named Ryuk (Willem Dafoe) appears and tells Light that if he writes a person’s name in the book, that person will die. Light decides to use his power to kill the criminals of the world, but soon attracts the attention of the police and the world’s greatest detective, the eccentric L (Keith Stanfield). Adapting a serialized graphic novel (especially one as fantastical as Death Note) to film is a risky move, and the trailers for the film don’t seem all that inspiring, but hopefully Netflix’s Death Note will be a competent tribute to the original.
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Jackie
Biopics tend to be mostly inert, sanitized retellings of true events that are meant to celebrate historical figures. Pablo Lorrain’s Jackie, based on the events in Jackie Kennedy’s (Natalie Portman) life surrounding her husband’s assassination, plays with the very concept of glamour, as it should. The Kennedys were experts at crafting an image, and Jackie explores the divide between the straightforward glitz of Camelot and the tangled personalities behind it. At the center of it all is Portman, whose performance is breathtaking as she channels the First Lady’s grief and subtle rage.
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Atypical season 1
Television has a lackluster history in depicting autism, which makes Netflix’s Atypical feel all the more fresh. The show follows an autistic teenager named Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist), who, like many teenage protagonists, really wants to have sex. Unfortunately, he has trouble interacting with people, and the show follows his attempts, through therapy and socializing, to develop meaningful relationships. The cast also includes Sam’s mother, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), father, Doug (Michael Rappaport), and sister, Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine), all of whom get their own character development. Atypical is an affectionate, but often dark coming-of-age story, one that treats its characters as people rather than stereotypes.
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Regular Show season 8
Cartoon fans have had a great decade, as shows like Adventure Time have combined cute, surreal animation with heavy themes to create stories that people of any age bracket can watch and enjoy. Among the best of these is Regular Show, which wrapped up after eight seasons. The show follows two twentysomethings, blue Jay Mordecai and raccoon Rigby, a couple of slackers just trying to navigate adulthood and have some fun. The show is notable for its acid-trip art style, offbeat humor, and willingness to explore topics like romance and the dissatisfaction of dead end jobs.
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