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Minor Premise (2020) – Extremely Slow in the Payoff

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on December 10th, 2020

I’m sure we’ve all seen a few science fiction films before that have used the same old trope. A scientist has a great invention, they can’t get anyone else to be the test subject so they test it out on themselves and the ensuing chaos is caused by the experiment going horribly horribly wrong. It’s a trope for a reason, it works and it often leads to an interesting character in the form of the scientist and can also lead to a devastatingly emotional ending (think of The Fly remake for a prime example of this). I love a good story of a scientist being put through the wringer because of their own hubris and Minor Premise presents an interesting version of this story, albeit one that’s a little more heady than most.

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Visible: Out Of Television (2020) – I’m Coming Out

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on June 25th, 2020

The history of television is remarkably short when you actually think about it, if we go by the first demonstration of TV’s back in 1926 then TV is barely even 100 years old… and that’s if we go by when someone first proved that you could beam an image of a face over the airwaves in a way that was recognizably a face, the medium doesn’t even truly start existing in a mainstream way until the 1950s. To put it in perspective, TV is recent enough that Betty White has been on it since TV was 10 years old. (EDIT: RIP Betty White) 

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Gary Busey Pet Judge (2020) – PET JUSTICE!

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on June 9th, 2020

On April 23rd 2013, the world was introduced to the most glorious combination of words that has ever existed… Mechanical Dog. On an episode of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, Gary Busey tried to sell LG Smart Home & Home Entertainment products with an advert that involved Gary turning into a mechanical dog. It is my firm belief that the footage of Gary Busey barking randomly while trying to sell electrical appliances created a spark that would inevitably lead to a show with the greatest title of all time. GARY BUSEY PET JUDGE!

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HOLLYWOOD (2020) – Hooray For Hollywood

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on May 2, 2020

In 1985, during the height of the AIDS crisis, Hollywood heartthrob Rock Hudson became the first celebrity known to have the illness. This let the public know the secret that had been going around Hollywood for quite some time… Rock Hudson, star of stage and screen since the 1950s, was gay and had been hiding that his entire life.

What if he’d never had to hide? 

What if he’d been able to walk down the red carpet holding the hand of another man? What if there wasn’t a 26-year gap between Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier winning Oscars as black performers? What if Anna May Wong actually got her due respect?! Hollywood gives us those what-ifs and then some and it turns out that it would have been great.

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Defending Jacob: Season 1 (2020) – Chris Evans’ Long-Awaited Return To Television

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on April 27, 2020. It was a review of the first 3 episodes of Defending Jacob, I have yet to complete it (because Apple+ was so bad guys… so bad!)

Chris Evans has had what you might call a monster of a year. He starred in Avengers: Endgame AKA the biggest movie of 2019, followed that up with critical acclaim in Knives Out and has now well and truly broken away from his image as Captain America with his brand new series Defending Jacob on Apple+, a streaming service that no one likes… but they might want to give it a shot for this series. 

One quick note before we begin, I’m basing this review on the three episodes that were available on April 24th. A new episode will be released weekly, anything said here is based on the opening trilogy of episodes so take that for what it’s worth.

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LOCKE & KEY: SEASON 1 (2020) – Great For Locke Down!

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on April 15th, 2020.

In 2008 IDW Publishing released the first issue of Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez. The book gained a cult following pretty quickly and was actually optioned to be a TV series back in 2011. They even shot a pilot for Fox TV which would’ve starred, not kidding, Jesse McCartney AKA that kid who sang Beautiful Soul (I don’t know why this amuses me, I thought I’d share that info anyway). 

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CURSED FILMS SEASON 1 (2020) – Docuseries featuring all the Horror Greats

NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on April 1st, 2020. This was the first of several reviews regarding episodes of Cursed Films

Every fan of genre cinema has a favourite cursed films story, one that they would gleefully pull out at the drop of a hat to show how much they love certain films. Legendary cursed horror films like The Exorcist, Poltergeist, The Omen, The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie have been sources of fascination for fans who want to talk about just why certain films seemed to be magnets for sorrow.

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Best Performances of 2021

2021 has been one hell of a year and we’ve already talked about the best and worst films, but sometimes there are specific performances that really just demand to be praised that aren’t necessarily in the best or worst films. Some performances are so good that they demand praise even if the film they’re part of is awful, and some are just pure fun and deserve to be talked about because we should be able to admit to enjoying them. 

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