 By Selena Williams - Senior Editor
100 Humans a Netflix Original Series Cast: Alie Ward, Sammy Obeid, Zainab Johnson 100 Humans tackles the tough questions that everyone wants the answers to, like what makes us attractive and are people racially profiling purposely? In this social experiment television show, 100 people are subjected to multiple different experiments to figure out the answers to the world's most asked questions involving sex, happiness, torture and racism. This comedic science show isn’t the most exciting thing you could be watching on Netflix today, but the three hosts did reveal some interesting discoveries. They found out that most people (white or black) are more likely to shoot a black man holding a cellphone than a white man holding a gun. They also found out that most attractive men who could dance had a lower sperm count than those who were less attractive and could not dance. Some other discoveries include: men take longer to leave the house, pleasure has a stronger placebo effect than pain and, finally, the toilet paper roll goes over, not under. I enjoyed this series because it answered a lot of my questions. Although the hosts were not actual doctors, they reached out to professionals who discussed the science behind the results. Knowing this made me feel that the information I was receiving was correct and worth considering. Now, I’m not knocking the hosts’ experience at all because each of the hosts has a creditable background in television. Alie Ward is an American writer, actress and television and podcast host. She is currently a correspondent for the CBS series Innovation Nation. Zainab Johnson is a stand-up comedian and actress. Sammy Obeid is also a stand-up comedian; he has released one comedy album, Get Funny or Die Tryin. So, when you get a chance, watch this series, it’s only eight episodes long. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
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By Selena Williams - Senior Editor Director: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer and Storm Reid The Invisible Man, released Feb. 24, 2020 A little bit of history behind the film: The Invisible Man was published in 1952, during the literary period of modernism and postwar American fiction. The author of the novel, Ralph Ellison, was deeply influenced by the works of poet T. S. Eliot and novelist Richard Wright. Summary: When Cecilia's (Elisabeth Moss) abusive ex Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that her scientist ex becomes invisible to stalk and terrorize her. This film is a mystery/SCI-FI thriller that is appalling in nature. The way director Leigh Whannell’s artistic capabilities executed this classic H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel was riveting. I thought his approach to the classic novel was interesting. He didn’t want to drive a good man mad with power, he wanted to take a man who is already menacing and amplify it by the ability to go unseen, so he made his villain an abusive boyfriend and his hero, Cecilia the woman trying to escape his torment. The result is Moss’s character being gaslit into a state of paranoid madness in mostly empty frames as Adrian inflicts his most violent acts of terror, leaving me immersed in Cecilia’s trauma. The storyline gave the film life. I was aesthetically pleased and stressed out from the first frame, and I didn’t know why. Maybe it was the anticipation of trying to find out what was going to happen next. This film didn’t disappoint and the reason might lay in Whannell having a significant background in filmmaking, he is well known for directing movies like Saw (2004), Insidious (2010) and Upgrade (2018) just to name a few. I also feel his cast did an excellent job in conveying their emotions, each scene felt realistic. So, if you are waiting for a movie to take your mind off of reality, this movie is definitely it.  By Selena Williams - Assistant Editor “Raising Dion” Netflix Original Series
Created by Carol Barbee Cast: Alisha Wainwright, Michael B. Jordan, Jason Ritter, Ja’Siah Young What would you do if you found out your child had superpowers? Well, if you are anything like Alisha Wainwright’s character, Nicole, you are going to have some hardships. Nicole is a widowed mom trying to raise her son, Dion, who has superhuman powers, while investigating her late husband, Mark’s (Michael B. Jordan) death. Spoiler Alert: She ends up finding some interesting information about her husband as the show progresses and discovers that her son’s powers did not just come out of nowhere. They were inherited and passed down from her husband. Rewind to a few years earlier, Mark was a scientist who worked for a scientific research company called BIONA. He ended up going on a research trip to Iceland with a few people, including his best friend and assistant, Pat (Jason Ritter). Everyone who attended the trip to Iceland got caught up in the middle of a meteor shower, which gave them all super natural powers. A couple of years later, Mark is figuring out how to control his powers, whilst keeping it a secret from his wife Nicole and their son Dion. Mark goes on a mission to track down anyone that contracted powers from the Iceland trip. He finds one woman and on the same day he finds her, he winds up drowning trying to save her from a storm. Fast forward a few years later, the same storm that took Mark is now after his son, Dion. Dion calls the storm the crooked man. This storm searches for people with powers and consumes them in order to survive. You will have to watch the entire series to find out more. Raising Dion is a wonderful sci-fi, family friendly series that will not disappoint its viewers. It was filled with amazing CGI, from floating FrootLoops to flying toys, but that’s not all. It also has a profound story line. I highly recommend this series to anyone that likes superheros.
By Selena Williams - Senior Editor “Countdown”
Director: Justin Dec Cast: Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Peter Facinelli, Tichina Arnold Spoiler Alert: Have you ever wondered when you are going to die? What if you could download an app on your phone that gave you the exact day, down to the very last minute? Elizabeth Lail’s character, Quinn Harris, did not believe an app could determine her death, but out of pure curiosity she downloaded the app to see if all of the hype was true. As it turned out, it was. As Quinn’s day of death gets closer, she avoids going places that are unsafe, but in doing so she breaks the app’s terms and conditions because she steps in the way of her own fate. She begins to see a demon-like creature. This creature is sent to torture her until she takes her last breath. To reverse what she has done, she buys a new phone to get rid of the app completely, but the app reappears out of nowhere. In the midst of all this, she encounters Jordan Calloway’s character, Matt Monroe, who is dealing with the same situation. They go to a priest to see if he could help solve their problems. The priest comes to a conclusion that the app was a curse. While all of this is taking place, Quinn discovers her little sister also downloaded the app and has less time than she does. So, now she has to worry about saving her sister. The three of them confide to the priest and hope to live another day. To find out what happens next, you have to see for yourself. This movie is full of jump scares that will have you sitting at the edge of your seat. I give the director and crew a thumbs up. It will not disappoint you. |
