By Dave B.

​We all know the general outline of the story: In Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (currently on Netflix), teenager Miles Morales finds himself thrust into the role of Spider-Man after being bitten by a radioactive spider. He faces incredible odds, suffers devastating losses, and manages to find a way to stand up again. It’s a tale as old as time (or at least as old as human storytelling) so the key to tell it successfully is to do so in new, creative, and compelling ways. Spider-Verse accomplishes these goals and so much more. 

By Dave B.

Love, Death & Robots, Netflix’s newest sci-fi anthology series, consists of 18 animated shorts that explore topics ranging from courage, sexuality, horror, revenge, and hope. If you imagine a mashup of The Animatrix and Black Mirror, you’d have a pretty good starting point for imagining the format of the series. The stories take place in a variety of settings from the grand cosmos to a freezer in a small kitchen. With episodes ranging in runtime from between six and 17 minutes, the series takes about three hours to get through if one were inclined to binge watch it. 

By Dave B. 

​Season two of The Dragon Prince (Netflix) picks up immediately after the end of the first season. The young princes and their elfin guardian and friend are finally tracked down by their pursuers, who attempt to trick them into returning home (with the newly hatched baby dragon) instead of returning the pup to its mother. Bonds of trust and friendship are strained (and sometimes broken) as the brothers soon learn that even an impossible journey may be easier than facing the pain that inevitably comes with growing up. 

By Dave B.

Yes, I’m probably the last person in the industrialized world to see Frozen (2013), the story about two estranged sisters, Anna and Elsa. When they were children, Elsa accidentally shot Anna in the face with her magical freezing powers. For extremely confusing reasons, Anna’s memory of Elsa’s powers needs to be removed in order to save her life. Anna grows up not knowing why her beloved sister lives in complete isolation, and Elsa grows up in terror of her uncontrollable powers. When Elsa comes of age to receive the throne, she loses control of her powers at her coronation and flees, but accidentally plunges her kingdom into an impenetrable winter in the ensuing chaos. Anna goes on a journey to find her sister and restore summer, but she’ll have to re-forge the pair’s sisterly bonds if she’s to have any chance of setting things right.

​By Dave B.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Prisoners of the Sky (Netflix) is the popular franchise’s first standalone film. In it, the Sins find a mythical land populated by the winged Celestials, descendants of the Goddess Clan. The Celestials are bound by ancient customs and rules that are ill-suited to the imminent threat they face: a demon army that has been locked up for 3,000 years since the last great war is about to be released and the only hope the Celestials have for survival is to evolve beyond their hidebound ways and join forces with Sins to try and defeat the most powerful enemy any of them have yet encountered.

By Dave B.

Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs (2018, currently on HBO) takes place 20 years from now in Megasaki, Japan. Dogs have contracted an extremely virulent disease and are exiled to Trash Island. Young Atari journeys to the island in search of his dog. Atari’s uncle, the mayor of Megasaki, sends his minions to hunt the boy down and return him to the mayoral estate. Atari, with the help of a pack of dogs, does his best to evade his pursuers and find his beloved companion.

By Dave B.

World of Tomorrow (2015) is a 17-minute animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. In it, 4-year-old Emily is contacted by a clone of herself from 227 years in the future. This clone has been implanted with Emily’s memories (as is commonplace in the future, at least for those who are relatively well-off), so is basically future Emily. Future Emily then brings toddler Emily into the future and begins to tell her about what life is like there, including how she fell in love with a rock.

By Dave B.

Trevor Belmont, Alucard Tepes, and Sypha Belnades join forces to defeat Alucard’s father, Dracula, in the second season of Castlevania (Netflix). An expanded cast of vampire and human villains await them as they plot and execute and audacious plan to finally kill the vampire lord and his minions before humanity is wiped out. However, some of Dracula’s “loyal” servants have ambitions of their own that may leave even the best plans, on either side, in ruins.

By Dave B.

The much anticipated third season of The Seven Deadly Sins (Netflix)* is here with more powerful villains, a filled-out roster of heroes, and lots of resurrected friends and enemies. For those who aren’t familiar with the show, it chronicles the story of Captain Meliodas (Sin of Wrath) and his team of knights known as The Seven Deadly Sins. They’re charged with protecting the kingdom of Liones from all threats. Currently, those threats are in the form of the Demon King’s High Guard known as The Ten Commandments. The Commandments are more powerful than any adversary the Sins have ever faced, initially defeating them with ease. How will the Sins regroup and strike back against opponents who are not just strong, but wield demonic magics not seen for 3000 years?

By Dave B.

In The Hollow (Netflix), three teens wake up in a sealed room that contains only a typewriter. They have complete amnesia and as the room fills with toxic gas, they must work together using their wits and recently discovered superpowers to escape the room and find out who they are, what has happened to them, and why. As the 10 episode show progresses, the trio traverse diverse worlds in an epic quest to find their way back to unremembered homes.