In the era of Too Much Television, it can be challenging for any show to break through the noise. Then again, most shows aren’t about a nun caught in a cold war between the Catholic Church and an all-seeing, all-knowing evil algorithm. “Mrs. Davis” is another feather in the cap of Peacock, who has quietly survived the collapse of platforms like HBO Max to become perhaps the best creator-focused streaming service of 2023.

Continue reading ‘Mrs. Davis’ Review: Peacock’s Absurd Comedy Is Awash In Magic And Mystery at The Playlist.

Texas, 1870. The splendidly named Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) travels from town to town as a “newsreader,” which is exactly what it sounds like – he selects the most interesting recent items from newspapers and magazines, and reads them aloud to locals for a dime, so that they may hear “the great changes that are happening out there.” He’s a mixture of reporter and storyteller, and something like a folklorist as well; Kidd was also a preacher once upon a time, and that’s not too surprising either.

Continue reading ‘News Of The World’: An Old-Fashioned Western With A Contemporary Heart [Review] at The Playlist.

In the comic books, brother-sister duo Daimon and Satana Hellstrom (not “Helstrom,” which was changed for the new Hulu TV show, for some reason), created by Roy Thomas for Marvel Comics back in 1973, share between them powers and abilities ranging from standard to supernatural, an ancestry that traces back to Satan himself, and a level of devilish flair befitting their heritage. Daimon rides a flaming chariot drawn by winged horses and wields a hell-forged trident.

Continue reading ‘Helstrom’: Hulu’s Dismal, Supernatural Marvel Series Is Thunderously Dull [Review] at The Playlist.

Occasionally, the inner working of a company are a mystery. And or, maybe they’re not and they’re like a train that’s on already on the tracks and moving too fast to stop. The latter might be the case with Hulu‘s “Helstrom,” a Marvel show and Hulu original that barely uses any of its Marvel connections in its advertising or branding. That’s proably because “Helstrom” might have been an unfortunate causality of corporate consolidation.

Continue reading ‘Helstrom’ Trailer: Every Family Has Its Demons at The Playlist.

Following Marvel’s decision to absorb Marvel TV, the clock has been ticking for all of its television projects. All the Netflix shows (“Iron Fist,” “Daredevil,” etc.), “Cloak & Dagger,” “Ghost Rider,” and “The Runaways” have all been canceled and the entire creative team behind “Tigra & Dazzler” have been fired before the show even started.

Continue reading ‘Helstrom’ Teaser Trailer: The Last Gasp Of The Old Marvel TV Era Is Here, But Elizabeth Marvel Looks Great at The Playlist.

Marvel TV might be the unloved, step-child in the Marvel/Disney world, but the studio is still alive and well, pumping out superhero series as best as it can. And the latest series, “Helstrom,” is the first show that is said to give us an idea of where Marvel TV is going in the future.

And according to Deadline, production on the Hulu streaming series has just begun, and we now know the faces and talents that will bring the horror-themed superhero series to life.

Continue reading Marvel TV’s Horror-Themed Hulu Series ‘Helstrom’ Finds Its Cast As Production Begins at The Playlist.

Since its earliest venture into true crime, Netflix has hooked viewers on the world’s most perplexing cases. The details of these—from the mysterious fire poker of “The Staircase” fame to the shocking abuse of police power in “Making a Murderer” —have made amateur sleuths of us all. The streaming platform hasn’t quite spanned the entire gamut of crimes as yet, but the latest addition to its whodunit shelf is a step in the right direction.

Continue reading ‘Unbelievable’: Kaitlyn Dever Delivers A Stunning Performance In New Netflix Sexual Assault Drama [Review] at The Playlist.

The sad, regretful notion of taking things for granted has dual applications in writer/director Nicole Holofcener’s latest humane comedic drama, the sharp, lovely, and wistful “The Land Of Steady Habits.” It’s an adultlescent story about a selfish, developmentally-arrested mid-fifty-year-old, who’s still coming of age, trying to figure out how to behave and how not to be such a selfish f*cking asshole. Unappreciative of his great life, he’s lost his family and now sits in the self-made pile of broken glass that is his lonely existence.

Continue reading ‘The Land Of Steady Habits’: Ben Mendelsohn Comes Of Age For Nicole Holofcener [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.