By Dave B.

​Zion (Netflix) is a documentary short-film about Zion Clark, a wrestler who was born without legs. The film details his struggles of growing up in abusive foster homes until he was adopted at age 16, his initial alienation from his classmates at Massillon High School (in Ohio), and how wrestling enabled him to overcome troubles in his past and forge a better future for himself. 

By Dave B.

Beirut (2018, currently on Amazon Prime) is an international spy thriller starring Jon Hamm as Mason Skiles, a former U.S. diplomat who is dragged out of retirement ten years after surviving a tragedy in Lebanon’s capital city in 1972. Once a rising star in the American diplomatic service, Skiles is rapidly drinking himself to death in an effort to forget the pain and loss he has suffered. While battling his personal demons, he tries to use his undiminished negotiating skills to find his former best friend who has been kidnapped by a terrorist organization.

By Dave B.

I was bored so I decided to start a segment called "Premieres". It will feature official trailers and synopses from what I feel looks like interesting original programming coming out in the subsequent week in theaters, on Hulu, on Amazon Prime, Netflix (when available; they can be jerks about releasing trailers and synopses), and elsewhere. My intent is to post this segment each Thursday or Friday, but we'll see. Enjoy!

By Dave B.

​In The Last Days on Mars (2013, currently on Hulu), an international team of astronauts make an historic finding hours before they're scheduled to begin their journey back to Earth: microbial life on Mars. However, this joyous discovery quickly turns into a nightmare as the lifeforms infect and alter the crew, killing and then reviving them and turning them into dangerous creatures hellbent on consuming their comrades.

By Dave B.

​In Monsters (2010, currently on Hulu), six years after a NASA probe carry alien life crash lands in northern Mexico, the area is under quarantine in order to contain giant alien lifeforms that resemble giant, luminescent, walking squids. A rich, young heiress is escorted by a freelance photographer through the quarantine zone in an effort to get her home as soon as possible.

By Dave B.

​There is another world adjacent to our own. A world of the afterlife filled with Spirits, Hollows (creatures that feed on Spirits), and Soul Reapers (sworn enemies of the Hollows). This is the basic setup of Bleach, a Netflix foreign-language adaptation of the classic manga and anime of the same name. In it, high school student Ichigo Kurosaki obtains the power of a Soul Reaper and must battle Hollows to protect his family.

By Dave B.

Have you ever been deeply, instantly connected to someone? I’m not talking about infatuation at first sight or the unquantifiable, but universally understandable feeling called love. I’m referring to the feeling you get when someone that you don’t even really know is someone that you’ve always known. That you and this person (or people) have lived a thousand lives together and are part of each other in ways that defy any current scientific explanation. Well, that’s the feeling that Netflix’s Maniac tries to capture.

By Dave B.

​In The Dragon Prince (Netflix), the world stands on the brink of war. The continent of Xadia has been divided for 100 years, ever since humans invented Dark Magic that relies on the life force of magical creatures to function. The elves and the dragons, abhorred by this, banished all humans to the western half of the continent, thus limiting humanity’s access to more traditional celestial and terrestrial magic. In an effort to end their banishment, one of the human kingdoms launches an assault on the king of the dragons, killing him and his unborn son. The Dragon Prince’s story follows that human kingdom’s two young princes and an elven assassin as they embark on a perilous quest to prevent an apocalyptic war.

By Dave B.

​In the Netflix documentary Saving Capitalism, noted public policy specialist Robert Reich provides his views on what ails modern American capitalism. His focus is on two major points. First, that deregulation is a form of regulation, insofar as that it is a decision about what to regulate and how. Second, Reich details the ways in which increasing concentrations of wealth among the richest classes in society leads to those classes having greater political influence, which leads them to have greater wealth, in a continuous cycle.

By Dave B.

​In Robot World ​(2015, currently on Hulu) a lone pilot is sent to investigate the first habitable planet that his species has found. Upon arrival at the new world, an accident forces the pilot (played by Ian Rowe) to abandon ship and his escape pod crash lands on the surface. After searching for basic necessities, the pilot encounters the planet’s inhabitants: aggressive robots engaged in an inscrutable war.