Month: September 2023

One Piece (2023)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Eight 50-minute episodes
Synopsis: Eternal child Monkey D. Luffy gets himself a ship and crew and sets off to become King of the Pirates
Recommendation rating: 4/5

What I like about it: absurd silliness, incredible VFX, commitment
What I don’t like about it: $19m/episode and still it’s just One Piece, Emily Rudd

Review:
When asking themselves if some element of long-running manga/anime One Piece was too silly to depict in live action, the creators of this series always answer, no. It’s a level of commitment and love for the franchise that soon won me over even though I had no interest to begin with. Every penny of its $150,000,000 price tag shows in its amazing effects and set pieces (it wasn’t spent on big names, though its young cast mostly do a great job). It’s a very silly live-action anime and an exceedingly fun diversion – like Speed Racer but much better.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, self-injury, cannibalism

Interview With The Vampire (2022)

Where to find it: Buy on Amazon, now on iPlayer
Length: Seven 50-minute episodes
Synopsis: Camp, gory gothic fun à la True Blood
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: writing, acting
What I don’t like about it: source material, season 2 a step down but still fun

Review:
Aging New Journalist Daniel Molloy travels to Dubai to re-do an interview with immortal vampire Louis De Pointe Du Lac, who tells the story of his afterlife through flashbacks. It’s a remarkably clever adaptation and is paced reasonably well.

Unfortunately it’s still Anne Rice – accursed grandmother of a million Twilights – and her flowery prose and unsettling obsession with young flesh make it to screen largely unscathed. Adds some good stuff around Louis being Black and a pimp in 1910s Storyville but criminally under-utilises its “birthplace of jazz” setting.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, gore, sex, sexual assault, racism, domestic abuse

Unprisoned (2023)

Where to find it: Disney+
Length: Eight 25-minute episodes
Synopsis: Heart-filled sitcom about a wounded healer
Recommendation rating: 4/5

What I like about it: psychological, fun, acting
What I don’t like about it: not the funniest

Review:
Paige (Kerry Washington) is raising her teenage son and has a career as a therapist/influencer when her father (Delroy Lindo) is paroled into her custody, bringing up many childhood traumas that Paige hasn’t worked through as much as she thought she had.

It’s very informed and well-acted, once an episode Paige’s inner child shows up to swearily tell her off and it’s always the highlight. Also explores the sorry state of America’s prison-industrial complex, healthcare system and employment security.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): sex