East of Eden

 I'd never read John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden. I'd seen the classic film, but never read the book and now I guess I'll never really have to. After viewing this series, I read a synopsis of the novel and this series basically covers it verbatim. Plot, themes, characters all of it and its all done with great care and meticulous detail. Now, the story is a multigenerational tale of a family with a history of terrible fathers, one terrible mother and the children they produce. Are they destined to follow in their parents footsteps? You'll have to watch to find out and it's completely worth it, if you find the source material compelling. I wouldn't be surprised to see the script win some awards for best TV adaptation. Worth the time.

Below

 This is the Netflix's answer to AppleTV's fantastic Widow's Bay. You have an isolated seaside community being terrorized by unknown forces, in this case a giant squid, and the action is a blending of various horror subgenres. Josh Harnett plays a struggling fisherman who lost his Dad to this terror 40 years earlier and he leads the fight against it now. There are some things to like here, but there are also some script issues that may or may not effect your perception of the story. Either way this is not nearly on the level of Widow's Bay, but its still probably worth a watch. It's not very long and it's not very painful. A very very soft recommendation

 Lanterns

S1 concludes yesterday and it's a good 'un. Hal Jordan is dead, murdered by somebody and Earth's newest Green Lantern is set to take the helm. Told in partial flashback and completely non-linear HBO has scored yet another hit with Lanterns. They have used their first-rate production team to create a more grounded super hero show, gone are the bells and whistles that keep the vast majority of super hero films/shows feeling poorly written and hollowed out displays of CGI action. Instead, they have created a really "human" show with great actors and fully developed script and characters. In fact, you won't be seeing any green dragons flying out of the ring to reign fire down on enemies, they barely use the ring at all. That doesn't mean they wont in the future, but if that s is what your expecting you'll be disappointed. It's a unique and refreshing take and i am not surprised that it's HBO doing it. It's a smash hit, so go forth if you haven't

 Last Seen

Patrick Brammall (Colin from Accounts) shows us his range can go beyond comedy as he plays a former alcoholic policeman turned 911 (000) dispatcher who had his daughter go missing 11 years prior. When he receives a call from her, he launches on a quest to find her and repair his broken family. AppleTV+ strikes again with a really good Australian production. There really isn't a lot here that hasn't been done before in one form or another, but it is still an excellent show with good writing, good acting and compelling subject matter. There is one episode left in this 6 part miniseries, but I wouldn't hesitate to give it a go. I said it before and Ill say it again with the exception of HBO, there isn't currently a better production company than AppleTV+

 Unabomber

Rock solid portrayal of Ted Kaczynski is a true crime drama that focuses more on what made Ted who he is than the manhunt to catch him or the crimes he committed. Russell Crowe plays the Harvard Professor that uses Ted to figure out how the Koreans made their Manchurian candidates and Shailene Woodley plays the FBI behavioralist who tracks him down. Extremely well acted and well cast and this deserves more than a 6.2 IMDB rating. It seems there was enough material left out that this subject matter could have easily expanded into a mini-series, but its less a critique than it is a suggestion and the film shouldn't be punished for what's not in there. Worth it

The Invite

 Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde play an estranged couple who invite Ed Norton and Penelope Cruz (who still looks incredible) over for a dinner party and one thing leads to another, which leads to drama and a reckoning. Extremely well written, but also extremely talky drama will not be for all tastes, it's basically a play put to film, but there is certain something here in Wilde's direction and the acting that many will find appealing. Your enjoyment of this is going to depend on how much you like these four actors, your tolerance for slower moving films and your willingness to stay for the payoff.

The Audacity

 Billy Magnuseen plays a Silicon Valley, billionaire, tech CEO whose company is in danger of failing, so he starts to blackmail his therapist in order to get inside info and keep it afloat. This is a scathing look into the business of AI and an IMDB rating of 6.2 shocked me a little bit as this is criminally low. The Audacity succeeds in an effort to capture the atmosphere of Silicon Valley. It has very dry and sometimes dark humor along with quirky, unlikeable characters and their neglected children. These people are awful and the show wasn't created for you to fall in love with them, you won't, but that's intentional, and probably the reason for the abnormally low rating. Zach Galifianakis shines in support as the richest kid on the block. Netflix just recently added this to their lineup, but it was an AMC production and I think once more people see this you will slowly see its ranking rise into the 7's. Recommended and Worth it