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Review – Life (2017)

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by Nile Fortner

Is This Sci-fi Film Recycling Other Sci-fi Films?

‘Life’ is science fiction thriller, starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Southpaw), Ryan Reynolds (Safe House, Deadpool), and Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, The Girl on the Train). No, this movie isn’t a remake or re-imagining of the 1999 Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence movie of the same name. So don’t expect to see Murphy fighting over some cornbread in space or anything like that.But you can expect to see six astronauts that aboard a space station, and they discover something we’ve all been wondering since the dawn of human history. They discover new life, they discover life in a galaxy far far away, they discover extraterrestrial life on Mars.

These members of the space station name this new life force, Calvin. As these astronauts conduct research on Calvin, gather data, and all that science mumbo jumbo. They realize Calvin is evolving rapidly, gaining strength, and learning at a very alarming rate. It turns out Calvin’s life may be more intelligent and terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.  If this movie feels familiar, it just might be. Many people saw this trailer, and said to themselves, “Why are you reenacting the script of ‘Aliens’?” While watching this movie, just from the trailer alone, you feel a vibe of other science fiction films you’ve seen before.

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Review – Dave Chappelle Netflix Special

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by Nile Fortner

Is Dave Chappelle Still a Comedy King?

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages, grandmothers and grandfathers, Dave Cha-Pezzy is back, the one and only Dave Chappelle is back! Dave Chappelle (Half–Baked, The Chappelle Show) the comedy icon, makes his long awaited return to the screen and to the stage. The comedian now has a Netflix Original stand-up comedy special. With new, mature, raunchy, contemptuous, and always compelling comedy material.

On November 12, 2016, Dave Chappelle hosted season 42 episode six of the late-night live comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live. That episode is literally the best Saturday Night Live episode I’ve seen in a very long time, years actually. You had the controversy, the emotion, the comedy, the music, the special guest appearances, it was civil, and you had the comeback of Chappelle.  For those who do not know this comedy legend, I’m going to tell you why he is a comedy icon, why he is one of the best. It is because he is raunchy, can feed off a crowd, he is very experienced in comedy, random, and it helps that he is really funny.

In 2003, Chappelle became more widely known with his comedy show, The Chappelle Show. The show continues to show re-run episodes all around the world, on various platforms to this day. Two years within The Chappelle Show, and Chappelle reaching the highest success in his comedy career, Chappelle walked away from the industry. In various interviews, he has stated “The show has ruined my life.” and”I hate working 20 hours a day.” He even walked away from a $50 million contract to come back to the show. Throughout the years, Chappelle was around, but kept on the down low. That was until he hosted Saturday Night Live on November 12, 2016. Now, Chappelle follows a line of comedians that have all gotten Netflix stand-up specials. Such as, Cedric The Entertainer, Mike Epps, Aziz Ansari, Jimmy Carr, Ali Wong, Patton Oswalt, and more.

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Review – Marvel’s Iron Fist Season 1

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by Nile Fortner

Does Marvel’s Iron Fist Deserve More Respect?

Netflix has been kickin’ ass with all these Marvel shows. We’ve seen some really great stuff out of Marvel and Netflix.  Many people, including myself, have been saying that Marvel, the superhero genre in general, needs to mix up the bag a little bit. All these movies, all these shows are starting to resemble one another. Marvel heard the criticism, and decided to go in different direction. Keep the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies a little light in tone, while making their Netflix shows, that still relate to the MCU a little darker in tone.

For example, in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy you have Baby Groot, a trash talking raccoon, and a duck drinking martinis at the end credits. Netflix on the other hand, has drug dealers, mobsters, sex, violence, goons, an extreme vigilante with blood smeared on his face and a huge skull on his chest. Talk about diversity. For those who do not know, or aren’t as geeky as I am. All these Marvel and Netflix shows have been leading up to a superhero group, known as The Defenders. To keep it simple, The Defenders are like The Avengers of the suburbs. The cast of heroes consists of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Punisher, Misty Knight, Claire Temple, Elektra, and Iron Fist. It was also reported that Signourney Weaver (Aliens, Avatar) has joined the cast as well.

But Iron Fist is the last piece in the puzzle before we get The Defenders.  What I personally enjoy about the MCU Netflix shows is how different they are.  Meaning, they offer something new to the genre, keep the genre fresh, and there is something there for everyone.  If you want to see a beautiful badass woman, you can check out Jessica Jones. Or if you want to see urban justice you can check out Luke Cage. Every show feels like it offers something new. Whether it be the R&B and Hip Hop soundtrack of Luke Cage or the dark tone of Daredevil.

Iron Fist has been getting a lot of hate, and has been called the worst of the Marvel Netflix shows. I watched all 13 episodes, of this series. I enjoy the MCU Netflix shows, and I was looking forward to what they do with this show.  Honestly, I would have to agree that this is one of the weaker shows. That does not mean it is horrible, because it is not. It’s just more of the same we’ve seen before, and does not offer anything new like the previous MCU Netflix shows.

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