Soul is a 2020 Pixar animated movie directed by Pete Doctor and co-directed by Kemp Powers. Doctor is best known for directing the well-received Up and Inside Out. The premise of Soul involves a middle school music teacher named Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), who dies just before his big break as a jazz musician, but attempts to return to life with the aid of an ‘infant’ soul (voiced by Tina Fey).
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Bridgerton is a British historical streaming TV drama produced by Shonda Rhimes and created by Chris Van Dusen. The series is based on the multi-book novels written by Julia Quinn. The series is set in early 19th century Regency England during the reign of King George III, well known as the era of romance writers Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters.
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Small Axe S01E05 is part of the Small Axe anthology film series directed by the award-winning director Steve McQueen. The anthology consists of five films which tell distinct stories about the lives of Black immigrants in London. Entitled “Education”, Small Axe S01E05 focuses on young Kingsley Smith (Kenyah Sandy) as he struggles with school in the 1970s.
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Star Trek : Discovery S03E11 marks the beginning of the end of Season 3, as Discovery and its crew set about resolving a couple of key problems. First, discovering (sorry) the root cause of the Burn and saving the Federation of Planets from the Emerald Chain.
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The Expanse S05E04 brings us squarely into the business segment of the season as Marcos Inaros executes his plan to bring the inner planets (i.e. Earth and Mars) to their knees. The asteroid bombardment of Earth and the theft of the protomolecule from Tychos is justified as revenge for the generations of oppression of the Belters by the Inners.
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The Mandalorian is the well-received, critically acclaimed Star Wars Disney+ streaming TV series that has taken the world by storm! Even as last year’s first season whetted the appetite of Star Wars fans – young and old – for a return to the world that George Lucas created over forty years ago, nobody expected The Mandalorian Season 2 to well and truly up the ante like it did!
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Belle is a historical drama set in late 18th century England. The movie is directed by Amma Asante and stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the title role. The character of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay is based on a real life person but most of the plot in Belle is fictionalised. In fact, the screenplay – written by Misan Sagay – was primarily based on a painting which portrayed the real life Lindsay and her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray (Sarah Gadon).
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His Dark Materials S02E07 is the season finale of this scifi fantasy adaptation of The Subtle Knife, the second book in Philip Pullman’s series. Entitled “Æsahættr”, His Dark Materials S02E07 finally reveals to us, the true nature of Lyra’s identity, as preposterous as that revelation is.
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Freaky is a 2020 comedy horror drama film based loosely on the classic 1978 Freaky Friday movie which has been remade several times over the years since. The twist in Freaky is that this time, the protagonist switches bodies – not with her mother – but with a serial killer!
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The Mandalorian S02E08 is the season 2 finale of this well-received Star Wars streaming TV drama series. It is no exaggeration to proclaim that success of The Mandalorian has ‘saved’ Star Wars fans and has redeemed the franchise in the eyes of many hardcore fans disillusioned with the way the sequel trilogy turned out.
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The Stand Episode 1 is the premiere of the post-apocalyptic dark fantasy drama miniseries based on the beloved 1978 Stephen King novel of the same name. The Stand Episode 1 entitled “The End”, introduces us to the setting and starting premise of the miniseries.
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The Expanse S05E03 continues the new season narrative for the highly acclaimed scifi space opera streaming TV drama series. Entitled “Mother”, The Expanse S05E03 focuses on key character plot events as they impact on the underlying new season narrative – Marco (Keon Alexander) Inaros’ devious plan to attack Earth with stealth asteroids.
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The Expanse S05E02 continues the new season of this scifi space opera drama streaming TV series. The opening episode revealed that the Rocinante was undergoing repairs and thus its crew was undertaking a valuable furlough to take care of unfinished business. The Expanse S05E02 picks up on some of these plot treads but not all of them.
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Star Trek : Discovery S03E10 is the penultimate episode of Season 3. Entitled “Terra Firma Part. II”, Star Trek : Discovery S03E10 continues Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) journey back into the past in the Mirror Universe where she has to deal with a rebellion led by her daughter Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).
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The Expanse S05E01 is the first instalment in the ongoing science fiction space opera streaming TV drama series developed by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, based on the series of novels of the same name by James S. A. Corey. James S.A. Corey the joint pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Thus far, there have been nine books in The Expanse novel series since 2011 and is due to be concluded with Leviathan Falls in 2021.
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Star Trek : Discovery S03E09 is the opening instalment of a two-parter that is dedicated to an exploration of the deliciously wicked character that is Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). Star Trek : Discovery S03E09 entitled “Terra Firma Part 1” contains a wonderful setup before bringing us somewhere entirely unexpected.
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Star Trek : Discovery S03E08 focused on Book (David Ajala) and his home planet of Kwejian, which is in league with the Emerald Chain (reluctantly). Now, the Emerald Chain is the villain of Season 3 and is a syndicate of Andorians and Orions that rose to prominence in the wake of the Burn, the cataclysmic event that has defined the 32nd century.
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Glad to report that His Dark Materials S02E04 carries on the quickening of the pace, the improvement in quality first seen in the previous episode. His Dark Materials S02E04 finally reveals the role of Will Parry (Amir Wilson) in the storyline. Strange to witness Lyra (Dafne Keen) being relegated to a supporting role but that’s essentially what happened in His Dark Materials S02E04.
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Tenet is a scifi action thriller written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The movie stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh. The story of Tenet involves a secret agent (Washington) who has to save the world from a nefarious plan involving time manipulation executed by the villain of the piece viz. Branagh.
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Archive is a British indie scifi drama written and directed by Gavin Rothery. Although Archive is Rothery’s debut feature, Rothery had collaborated – contributed design work – with Duncan Jones on Moon. Thus, there is a similar low budget sensibility about Archive but with the same attention to detail and first rate quality witnessed on Moon.
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Is The Exorcist the best horror movie ever made? Based on William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel and directed by William Friedkin, the 1973 movie was a smash hit when it was first released and its significance and influence on the genre has not diminished in the years since.
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Last time out, we witnessed Commander Michael Burnham coming out of the time travel wormhole on an unknown planet. In the course of that first episode, Burnham gained a new ally and re-connected with what remained of Starfleet and the Federation. Star Trek : Discovery S03E02 is actually part 2 to that first episode (entitled “That Hope Is You”)
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The Swerve is a psychological drama written and directed by Dean Kapsalis. In his first feature film, Kapsalis presents a deep character study of a descent into mental insanity. It is a harrowing and disturbing film that showcases a promising debut from newcomer Kapsalis.
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The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a historical drama based on real life events that took place in the late 1960s. 1968 was a tumultuous year for the USA. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy shook American politics. The nation was divided over the escalation of the USA’s involvement in the Vietnam War, which led to protests and demonstrations in the streets.
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The Changeling is a Canadian supernatural horror film directed by Peter Medak and starring George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, and Melvyn Douglas. The film uses ghosts and haunted house tropes to deliver its psychological terrors. Released in 1980, The Changeling is imbued with classic 70s horror vibes where the scares are often in the mind of the viewer. (Spoilers follow)
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