Eclectic Pop

Can it be? Does Netflix have the first great Christmas movie of 2021? “Love Hard” is the first of many holiday films set to premiere on the streaming platform before the end of the year. It will also be the hardest one for any rivals to usurp. The quality sets the bar that high.“Love Hard” centers …

A murder mystery in a quaint small town in Poland is the backbone for an engrossing Netflix original film. “In For A Murder” follows Magda, a stay-at-home mom of two, who is married to a loathsome, unfaithful bully of a husband. Haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend when the duo was …

Bright colors, ponies, pegasi, and unicorns! The “My Little Pony” of your youth is making a mighty comeback by way of Netflix’s “My Little Pony: A New Generation.” The computer-animated movie features spellbinding visuals, but is it as entertaining for adults as it is for kids? This viewer was not …

I did it! I finally watched “Frozen 2,” and the ending was not what I expected. The sequel to the pop culture phenomenon got released late last year in November 2020. Fast forward nearly a year later, and yours truly finally got to see it (and its ending) in all of its shocking glory. It has not be…

Jake Gyllenhaal is an actor always pushing new envelopes. In “The Guilty,” Gyllenhaal challenges his talent to new heights as a frenzied cop forced into 911 dispatch duty. Almost entirely transfixed on Gyllenhaal’s Joe, the new Netflix drama serves as a thriller willing to take on topical issues wi…

“The Father Who Moves Mountains” (“Tata Muta Muntii”) is a Romanian film currently streaming on Netflix that boils down to its ending. How you feel about the way it concludes comes to color everything else that came before it. With that said, this review will delve into how good the movie is and ho…

Another documentary about Britney Spears and her conservatorship has landed. New to Netflix, “Britney Vs Spears” dives into court documents not shown in “Framing Britney Spears,” the documentary that helped ignite public interest in Spears’ plight. The Netflix doc is careful not to be an entire rep…

I will just come out and say it. My only issue with Netflix’s astonishing documentary “My Heroes Were Cowboys” is its brevity. At only 21 minutes, the ambitious doc conveys critical segments in the life of legendary horse trainer Robin Wiltshire. If you have watched “Heartland,” you know how incred…

If there is one movie destined to dominate Netflix’s charts, it is “Intrusion.” The newly released thriller to the streaming giant has two ingredients: star power and an excellent mystery. Let’s start with star power. “Slumdog Millionaire” actress Freida Pinto takes on the lead role of Meera Parson…

There is something about vacations and expeditions gone wrong that will always hold a certain fascination for people, yours truly included. “Prey,” tells a familiar story on Netflix. The movie follows a group of friends, who are taking an adventurous hike in Germany in lieu of a traditional bachelo…

Netflix has a lot of movies, and only an elite few could be described as the best bet. “Raat Akeli Hai” is one of the rare entries into that category. From India, this Hindi-language film is a compelling drama wrapped in a murder mystery that gradually reveals a captivating who-dun-it. As is someti…

If you believe that Hallmark movies are the bedrock of happy content, then you are undoubtedly aware of “A Little Daytime Drama.” The recently released gem stars Hallmark superstars/daytime favorites -- Jen Lilley and Ryan Paevey -- as estranged exes who are thrown back together again. As the title…

It is here. Netflix’s remake of “She’s All That” has hit the streaming service, making some wonder if “He’s All That” is even better than the original. I know that saying a remake is better than the initial film is a massively unpopular taboo. However, it merits being questioned in this case. So, l…

A single mother tries to keep her family’s experimental farm venture afloat amid a resentful teenage daughter, an understanding son, and a kind-hearted neighbor (Sofian Khammes) with a crush. These are the dynamics at play and odds with each other when “The Swarm” (“La Nuée”) begins. The French-Bel…

Right off the bat, “Black Island” (originally titled “Schwarze Insel”) does not mess around. Viewers know someone is wreaking havoc on a brooding island, and they know who that someone is. The question that embroils the “e” thriller is not a question of “who” but “why,” and that is what helps separ…