Awards season is quickly approaching as we countdown the last few months of 2019. We discuss this year’s biggest blockbusters, new releases and what movies have high hopes for an Oscar win.
Culture Crash 19-37: Unlocking The Popularity of Netflix’s Mindhunter
The Netflix original “Mindhunter” is finally back for season two, and to celebrate its return we talk about what sets this true crime and thriller series apart from all of the others.
Culture Crash 19-36: Fall Film Lineup
Autumn is right around the corner, and with the changing of seasons comes several new movie releases that look promising.
Culture Crash 19-25: Our Connection to TV Theme Songs
The opening credits of a beloved television show evoke a certain sense of nostalgia for many. We hear the tune and we instantly connect it to a certain series. How have theme songs changed throughout the years and why do they mean so much to us?
Culture Crash 19-22: To Binge or Not to Binge
Binge-watching several seasons of a TV show all at once might not be the best idea after all. For some lighter shows like Stranger Things it may make sense, but it can be cumbersome and brain draining to get through all eight seasons of Game of Thrones in a matter of weeks. We discuss an alternate route that avoids the fatigue.
Culture Crash 19-15: The Increasing Cost of Cutting the Cord
Streaming services are multiplying, and none of them carry everything. Many people are finding that satisfying their TV viewing desires through streaming services is getting as expensive as cable.
Culture Crash 19-12: Junk Food TV
Sometimes you want to watch an expertly written and produced hour of television with central themes and a commentary on modern life… and sometimes, you just want to shut your brain off and watch something easy. This is about those latter experiences.
Culture Crash 19-10: Netflix’s Russian Doll
Netflix’s new show, Russian Doll is an ethical, mysterious, funny drama modeled after the Groundhog Day “waking up in the same moment” plot. It’s an especially great binge-watch.
Culture Crash 19-06: Missing Gems in the Deluge of ‘Peak TV’
There is so much new TV content being made that it can be easy to fall behind or forget to check out a show you meant to watch. We look at a few of these overlooked gems, like Showtime’s There is so much new TV content being made that it can be easy to fall behind or forget to check out a show you meant to watch. We look at a few of these overlooked gems, like Showtime’s “Escape at Dannemora”
Culture Crash 19-03: Movies to Look Forward to in 2019
With a new year always comes new things to look forward to, so let’s take a look at some of the movies people are anticipating the most in 2019. As a warning, there are a lot of them.
Culture Crash 18-51: Roma
You may have noticed a new movie on your Netflix homepage called Roma. It’s Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón’s most personal film yet and an absolute masterpiece.
Culture Crash 18-50: A look ahead at the movies set to dominate awards season
Awards season is officially upon us. The Golden Globes have already announced their nominees, which are as questionable as always. Year-end lists are being finalized, and Oscar buzz is reaching a roar for some contenders. But now is also the time when many of these movies are being released in the first place. So, here’s a guide of what to keep an eye out for to get ahead of the nominee pool.
Culture Crash 18-48: Watching Sports with a Second Screen
It used to be that when you were watching sports, you were only watching with the people in the same room as you. Maybe your family gathered around to watch Sunday Night Baseball, maybe you went to a friend’s Super Bowl party. Either way, you discussed the matchups amongst yourself, relying on the person next to you to pick up on any subtleties you missed.
Now, sports have become the gold-standard for entertainment that demands a second-screen. Watching a game is aided immensely by having your phone or a tablet at your fingertips. You can look up in-game stats, you can track scores of other games, or you can look through your Twitter timeline to share in the agony or ecstasy of your team’s failures and successes with a host of other fans and analysts in real time.
Culture Crash 18-43: Netflix’s Binge-worthy Horror Drama, The Haunting of Hill House
Earlier this month, Netflix released The Haunting of Hill House, a 10-episode horror series loosely based on the novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson. The series follows the Crain family; two parents and five children, over the course of multiple timelines. We watch their time spent decades earlier in the Hill House, a creepy old mansion they moved into in an effort to flip the house, and we watch them in the present day. We know from the onset that whatever happened back in that mansion, it wasn’t good, and it still haunts them even now.
Culture Crash 18-41: Better Call Saul’s unique pacing and why it works so well
One of the traditional ways that TV shows have kept these shock-and-awe moments coming is by moving things along quickly. As soon as some incredible act of deceit takes place, the show starts speeding toward that next signpost.
That’s where Better Call Saul, AMC’s Breaking Bad spin-off, differentiates itself. The show often moves at a glacial pace. It’s a law show with no case of the week format. It’s a show about drug cartels that has focuses on the politics of the cartels much more than actual drug deals.
Culture Crash 18-38: The funny and philosophical TV comedy, The Good Place
Two years ago, NBC debuted a strange new comedy show called The Good Place. It was written by Michael Schur, a writer on The Office and the creator of Parks & Recreation, so people were willing to get it a change… but it’s logline was pretty out-there. It’s a half-hour comedy about people who died in the afterlife and, specifically, about Eleanor Shellstrop, a bad person who made it to heaven the good place thanks to a clerical error.
Culture Crash 18-34: The Joys of ‘Junk Food TV’
There’s another brand of TV that’s easy to overlook, what I call junk food TV. In this comparison, those prestige shows are your nice dinners out: they’re prepared with care by professionals. This junk food TV is what you reach for when you just need something easy and fast and delicious.
Culture Crash 18-17: Netflix’s Battle Against Film Traditionalists
Netflix is becoming a bigger player in the film world, which is leaving a bad taste in some people’s mouths. We look at the arguments for and against Netflix as a film distributor.
Culture Crash 18-10: Hulu’s Big Push
For years, Netflix has been the top choice for TV streaming enthusiasts. But Hulu has slowly become a well-rounded service with original titles and a back-log of TV classics.
Culture Crash 17-53: Dark
Netflix has a new binge-worthy show called Dark. The German-language show involves time travel, family drama, a small town, and a lot of mind-bending sci-fi.
