Tag Archives: Amazon

If We Controlled Your Remote… 5/1/20

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Early this morning, Amazon Prime Video released the 10-episode first season of the new sci-fi comedy Upload, from series creator Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation). In the year 2033, people now have the option to upload themselves into a digital afterlife before they die, allowing them to essentially live forever. Those who are still living on Earth can interact with their deceased loved ones using virtual reality headsets – and other specialized equipment, should their needs be a little more intimate. However, much like life on Earth, every bit and byte in these virtual worlds has been monetized, and only the rich can afford to spend their digital afterlife in a luxurious place like Lakeview.

Nora Antony (Andy Allo, Chicago Fire, Pitch Perfect 3) is a customer service representative for the Horizon corporation. It is her job to be an “angel” to the residents of Lakeview, helping them get accustomed to their new digital after-lives and assisting them with whatever needs come up. While she may be good at her job, her boss, Lucy (Andrea Rosen, Episodes) doesn’t appreciate her and is constantly threatening to lower her star rating. Nora also hasn’t had much luck in her personal life, resorting to using a sketchy hook-up app when she feels lonely. However, Nora’s life is about to change when she is assigned to a new Lakeview client.

Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell, The X-Files, The Flash) is a bit of a party boy but also an intelligent programmer. He and business partner Jamie (Jordan Johnson-Hinds, Letterkenny) are working on a freeware program that would allow people of any means to be able to afford to live on in a digital afterlife. However, when Nathan is badly injured in a suspicious self-driving car crash, his wealthy girlfriend, Ingird (Allegra Edwards, Briarpatch), makes the decision to upload him to Lakeview. While Nathan is now “living” in luxury, he also feels trapped as Ingrid has control over his finances and what he can do with his endless time. However, his new angel, Nora, becomes a breath of fresh air…well, if he could breathe.

Once I started watching this show, I couldn’t stop – I thoroughly enjoyed this first season and was screaming to see what happens next after it ended! In some ways the show reminded me of The Good Place – though it does take advantage of the fact that it’s not on network TV and is thus not as family-friendly. The series offers a unique, interesting, and sometimes wacky alternate take on the afterlife, mixing in witty writing, clever humor, topical references, and some really fun, quirky characters. There is a really nice blend of humor and character drama, along with the underlying mystery of whether or not what happened to Nathan was truly an accident. The cast is fantastic and have such great chemistry with one another. In addition to the main characters, there’s also some fun recurring characters, such as the annoying A.I. GUY (Owen Daniels) who seems to be everywhere, Nora’s foul-mouthed 18-year-old client Dylan (Rhys Slack) who’s stuck in a 12-year-old avatar body, and Nora’s co-worker Aleesha (Zainab Johnson) and her clients, young veteran Luke (Kevin Bigley, The Moodys) and bigoted billionaire David (William B. Davis, The X-Files).

The series has some really fun and interesting ideas as to what the future will be like. I just hope the actual future includes another season of this series!

Check out the first season now on Amazon.

I’ll also be watching/recording Trying, Prop Culture, Hollywood, The Blacklist, and The Graham Norton Show.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

If We Controlled Your Remote… 2/21/20

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Jenny’s Choice

This is going to be a quick and dirty write-up to recommend Amazon’s latest, Hunters. Executive produced by Academy Award–winner Jordan Peele and led by legendary Academy Award–winner Al Pacino, Hunters follows a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City. The Hunters, as they’re known, have discovered that hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials are living among us and conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the U.S. The eclectic team of Hunters will set out on a bloody quest to bring the Nazis to justice and thwart their new genocidal plans.

I’m not a fan of period pieces (shows/books/movies set in the past), but given the story line and the cast, I’ll probably check this one out. It also stars Logan Lerman (Jack & Bobby), Jerrika Hinton (Grey’s Anatomy, Here and Now), Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother, Rise), Tiffany Boone (The Chi, Little Fires Everywhere), Greg Austin (Class), Louis Ozawa Changchien ( Matador, The Miraculous Year), Saul Rubinek (Warehouse 13, Blind Justice, Nero Wolfe), Dylan Baker (The Big Time, Damages, I’m Dying Up Here), Becky Ann Baker (Freaks and Geeks), Lena Olin (Alias, Welcome to Sweden), James Le Gros (True Fiction), Jeannie Berlin (The Night Of), and Ebony Obsidian (Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Sistas), as well as Henry Hunter Hall, Jonno Davies, Josh Mostel, Julissa Bermudez, Kate Mulvaney, Miles G. Jackson, and Caleb Emery.

The entire first season came out overnight last night on Amazon, so check it out now!

I’ll also be watching Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector & Hawaii Five-0.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 2/21/20

If We Controlled Your Remote… 12/13/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Tonight, after a year and a half, the sci-fi drama The Expanse finally returns to TV for its fourth season, now as an Amazon original series. The first three seasons originally aired on the Syfy channel and are also available on Amazon Prime as well. The series is set 200 years in the future, where the Earth is governed by the UN. Low on resources, some humans left Earth to settle on Mars. There is a cold war brewing between the planets, and stuck in the middle are the Belters, who live on Ceres, a mining community in the asteroid belt. In the first season, we met the ragtag crew of the Rocinante, which included Earther captain James Holden, Martian pilot Alex Kamal, Belter engineer Naomi Nagata, and Earther mechanic Amos Burton. A mysterious alien protomolecule was discovered by the Protogen corporation, which had goals of weaponizing the creature. Earth, Mars, and the Belter’s Outer Planets Alliance (OPA) also wanted to get control of it. The molecule was incredibly dangerous, and Protogen launched an experiment on Eros Station, killing everyone aboard. Belter detective Joe Miller sacrificed himself helping the Roci crew destroy the molecule (or so they initially believed). The Roci crew had obtained a sample of the molecule, which Naomi ultimately gave to OPA leader Fred Johnson, since Earth and Mars already had their own samples.

In the second season, the crew discovered that Protogen had been experimenting with the molecule, trying to turn children into super-soldiers, but this ultimately just resulted in turning the children into carriers, spreading the alien creature. Meanwhile, on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, Martian Marine Bobbie Draper and her unit came under attack by a strange new creature – a human/protomolecule hybrid that was the result of more Protogen experiments. She headed to Earth to talk about her experience but found that no one wanted her to tell the truth. She ended up partnering with UN Deputy Undersecretary Chrisjen Avasarala, who was also experiencing a coup, as her trusted partner was trying to frame and eliminate her. Later one of these protomolecule hybrid monsters also attacked the crew of the Roci.

In the third season, the protomolecule that the crew tried to burn up in Venus re-emerged from the planet, flying into space and forming a large ring. The Rocinante had a documentary crew aboard, but it turned out that one of the crew was the sister of one of the people killed on Eros, and she was out for revenge. Using her footage, she made Holden look like a terrorist. The Roci found itself under pursuit, and they had no other option than to enter this mysterious ring. While other ships had been wiped out when entering the ring, the Roci somehow made it through unscathed, but now other ships were following. The OPA was convinced that the ring posed a danger to all humans and that they had to blow it up. However, Holden had a vision, taking with the protomolecule as it took on the form of Detective Miller, which told him that the ring used to be a gateway to other worlds. After a brief skirmish with the crew of the OPA ship, Holden managed to shut down that ship’s engine to prove to the molecule that they weren’t a threat. Shortly afterwards, nearly 1300 Stargate-like portals to other solar systems appeared in the sky.

Today, Amazon has released season 4 of the series, which picks up 8 months later, following the fourth novel of the series, “Cibola Burn.” Thousands of Ganymede refugees are eager to find a new home in these new solar systems, but the UN first wants to ensure that there are no alien threats. They have set up a blockade to prevent others from entering the ring, but before doing to, a Ganymede ship managed to slip through, landing on Ilus and establishing the New Terra colony. The UN discovers a protomolecule structure on the planet, and UN Secretary Chrisjen Avasarala is afraid of another Eros situation. So she enlists the help of Holden and his crew to head down to the planet to check things out, negotiate with the settlers, and report back their findings. However, there is already political unrest brewing, as the settlers just want to be left alone and are prepared to protect their colonial claim. And things are about to get worse as the company sends a ship of its own with its own ulterior objectives, and unknown creatures are awakening on the planet.

I checked out the first couple episodes of the season, and I have to say, this is probably my favorite season of the series yet. I didn’t really notice any huge difference so far between the Syfy and Amazon episodes as far as runtime or content – the show never really held anything back in the past, especially in regards to Avasarala’s language. It still feels like the same show but with an interesting new setting for the season. I look forward to seeing what other civilizations and planets will be explored and what new alien threats await the Rocinante crew this season. How will Naomi deal with her first visit to a planet’s surface? How will these new planets affect the fragile peace between the Earth, Mars, and Belters? With so many ready-to-go planets, what does this mean for Mars’s huge terraforming project? Will the Earth see more people fleeing to these new worlds? Does the UN really think they can control all of this and hold back those anxious to explore this much larger new world? The series has already been renewed for a fifth season, so there are plenty more adventures to come for the Rocinante crew.

I’ll also be watching/recording Marvel’s Runaways, American Housewife, Fresh Off the Boat, The Blacklist, and Van Helsing.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/1/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Jenny’s Choice

I’m probably the most excited I’ve been about a premiere than I have been in a while… Season two of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan premiered overnight last night, and I can’t wait to watch. The overall season one story of Mousa bin Suleiman, his wife Hanin, and their children is done. No returning for them. (If you remember, he was an up-and-coming terrorist, and even though his motives might have been good – providing good lives for his family and fellow Muslims – the way he went about it wasn’t good, and his wife was planning on taking their kids and running. She did, but the oldest – their son – sided with and stayed with his father. Jack Ryan (and more on that awesomeness in a minute) ended up taking Suleiman down at the hospital, where the plan had been to set off a dirty bomb while the POTUS was there. There was almost an issue with Cathy’s (Jack’s love interest, the daughter of his former boss) safety, but Jack saved her just in time.

We can’t forget Grier, either. He’d been demoted after his actions in Karachi, and he and Jack didn’t have a great start. But what started out as a very contentious relationship between Jack and his new boss turned into a great working relationship, and when he was reassigned to Moscow at the end of the season, this time because of his good work throughout the Suleiman problem, he decided to take Jack along with him.

Jack… Oh, Jack Ryan. After the first season wrapped, I went and watched all of the Jack Ryan movies, and I gotta say, I like the show better. I mean, I liked some of the movies more than others too, but I absolutely loved John Krasinski in the role. He’s much younger than the movie actors (since this is the origin story, duh…but still…), and that is more interesting for me. And Krasinski, who was most notably known for his role in the comedy The Office, plays the dramatic role like he was born for it. I can’t wait to see how he does in season two!

Don’t miss the complete season two out on Amazon now!

I’ll also be watching The Great British Baking Show finale, American Housewife, CMT’s Nashville Squares, Hawaii Five-0, & Blue Bloods.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/1/19

If We Controlled Your Remote… 10/18/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Earlier today, Amazon released all eight episodes of the new original series Modern Love from writer/director/producer John Carney (Once, Sing Street). The romantic anthology series is based on a New York Times column of the same name, with each star-studded episode telling a different romantic tale about someone finding love in New York City. However, not all of these stories are the typical boy-meets-girl type of tale. The idea of “love” varies from tale to tale. The first season’s all-star cast includes Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, Dev Patel, John Slattery, Brandon Victor Dixon, Catherine Keener, Julia Garner, Andy García, Cristin Milioti, Olivia Cooke, Andrew Scott, Shea Whigham, Gary Carr, Sofia Boutella, and John Gallagher Jr.

I checked out the first two episodes and was pleasantly surprised by how incredibly well-done this series is. The first episode finds a single young woman (Cristin Milioti, How I Met Your Mother) dating under the watchful eye of her doorman, who is like a father figure to her. While the second episode finds a reporter (Catherine Keener) and a successful dating site owner (Dev Patel) each reflecting on second chances with their lost loves, but their stories take very different paths. Each episode feels fresh and different but with the same general tone that provides a nice blend of drama, romance, and humor. While each episode is only 30 minutes long, they are so densely packed and detailed that afterwards you feel like you’ve just watched a feature film. The characters are well-defined and developed, and each episode tells a complete story. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen of the show so far and look forward to checking out the remaining six episodes, especially given the amazing cast list!

Check it out now on Amazon!

I’ll also be watching/recording Looking for Alaska, Living with Yourself, American Housewife, Fresh Off the Boat, The Blacklist, and Van Helsing.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 10/18/19