11.22.63 (Hulu)

11.22.63 is an eight part mini-series based on the novel by Stephen King. It features James Franco as an English teacher in 2016 that discovers the means to go back in time to the early '60s. So with this great power, what does he decide to do? Well, the only logical conclusion is to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Will he be able to figure out the forces at play in time to save JFK, and will the past let him? Only time will tell.

The Good:

The thing that I liked most about the series is that when James Franco travels through the time hole, it always transports him to 1960. That means he has to spend 3 years following Lee Harvey Oswald and others attempting to find the best method of stopping the assassination. However, the more time he spends there, the more connected he gets to the people in the past.

The story was also really enjoyable and took many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. Although Franco's main mission is to stop JFK's assassination, much of the story is dedicated to him meeting others. Since the series is broken up into eight parts, we get to spend a large amount of time with these characters, most of which are really enjoyable.

I also liked the time travel itself. The series establishes very clear rules for time travel early on,  and throughout most of the story these rules are strictly adhered to. I feel this differs from other time travel stories since most of them have a difficult time sticking to the rules that were established, but 11.22.63 sticks with them the entire way.

The Ehh:

Unfortunately one of the biggest disappointment with 11.22.63 is James Franco's performance. He is refreshingly different from his other roles since he is playing a well-educated semi-serious role. However, even with his different performance, he overall just seems bland and uninterested in many things he encounters. There are times when he does break out of this and shows a large range of emotion, but most of the time it's pretty flat.

The Bad:

The best part of the series were the first 6 episodes. For some reason I found the last 2 to be the low point of the story. There are still interesting moments and seeing the story come to a close was still fulfilling, but compared to the 6 episodes that preceded, they just seemed a little less interesting.

Conclusion:

Even though 11.22.63 was my first Hulu original series, I was very pleased with the story that was told and I honestly can not recommend it highly enough.

What are your thoughts of 11.22.63, and what are some of your favorite time travel movies or TV shows? Let me know below, and remember to always keep it unpopped.

11.22.63 is rated TV Mature for language (a lot of f-bombs) and violence (it can get pretty brutal occasionally). All 8 episodes are available for streaming with a Hulu subscription.

Angie Tribeca Season 1 (Hulu)

Angie Tribeca is a spoof on procedural police dramas that was created by Steve Carell (The Office) and his wife, Nancy Walls Carell. The 10 episode comedy initially premiered with a 24 hour marathon on TBS. Angie Tribeca is much in the vein of Police Squad, Naked Gun, and Airplane, so if you enjoy those kinds of movies, this show will probably be right up your alley. With Angie Tribeca finally coming over to Hulu, I've been able to watch it and tell you all what I thought.

I need to begin this review off by saying that I'm not a huge fan of satire as a comedic tool. That could be because I haven't seen many, I still have not seen Airplane, Hot Shots, or Scary Movie. However, I enjoy many of Mel Brooks movies. Spaceballs is one of my all-time favorite movies. So even though satires aren't my favorite there was still a lot to like in Angie Tribeca.

The Good:

The characters. Rashida Jones (Parks & Recreation) plays Angie Tribeca, and although she was honestly my least favorite character as Anne in Parks & Rec, she does a great job as a detective in this spoof. On top of Rashida Jones, everyone in Angie Tribeca do an excellent job delivering ridiculous dialog with a completely straight face.

The writing. One of my biggest problems with satire in general is that many of the jokes are too crude for my humor. Luckily, Angie Tribeca premiered on TBS, so the humor had to be kept at a PG-13 rating, and while that hurts comedies sometimes, I felt that the writers had find ways to be more clever and they ended up finding a sweet spot. And while there are still some jokes that do miss the mark, the pace is so quick that there is always something funny right around the corner.

The cameos. Like any good spoof, there are a number of cameos throughout the show. Many of them are quick and may have only 1 or 2 lines, but the surprise and humor that they bring are almost always worth it.

The opening. I don't want to give away how every episode of the show opens, but fans of CSI: Miami will definitely get a laugh at the beginning of every episode. I enjoyed seeing how the opening was going to be spun.

The Ehh:

As I said before, there are some jokes that fall flat, but they can't all be winners. So I'll give it a pass.

The Ugh-ly:

Nothing!

Conclusion:

Angie Tribeca isn't revolutionary in its style or humor, and I wouldn't even call it a great television show, but it did keep me entertained for 10 episodes and I'm very excited to see what they bring in season two. I even can see me putting it on in the background like I do with other comedies.

So if you like straight procedural police dramas or satires, and honestly even then the show might not be for you, and that's ok. I'd say give give Angie Tribeca at least a one episode try, and if you don't like the first episode, you won't like the others much either.


So that's what I thought of Angie Tribeca Season 1, what did you think? And what other comedy satires do you like? Leave your comments below, and remember to always keep it unpopped!

Angie Tribeca, now streaming on Hulu.

'71 (Hulu)

Today I watched the 2014 film '71. It features Jack O'Connell as a rookie British Soldier that gets separated from his unit during a riot in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles in 1971.

Being an average American, I am regrettably uninformed when it comes to international political uprisings. However, I do find them very intriguing and love to learn more about them. So when I first heard of '71 in 2015, I had hoped to eventually be able to see it. Well, it is now on Hulu streaming for everyone's viewing pleasure, and what a pleasure it was.

What I liked so much about '71 was the realism of the whole situation. The entire movie takes place throughout the streets of Northern Ireland where the locals are fed up with the occupation of British Soldiers. Although the movie was relatively small in scope, in that it only follows Gary Hook (O'Connell) fleeing angry locals, you could feel the tension between the locals and soldiers.

'71 also has a way of being extremely relevant in today's society. It depicts both police brutality and the extreme effects that rioting has on a local community. Although it focuses very heavily on these subjects, it does so without being too "preachy." It accomplishes this by not taking a side one way or the other, but instead, showing how both aspects can destroy a local community.

If these types of themes aren't your kind of thing, don't let that deter you, there is still a lot more to enjoy. After Hook gets assigned to his station at Belfast, it is almost a non-stop thriller focused on if he is going to get out alive. Being surrounded by locals that hate him, Hook has to find unlikely allies to help get him back to his barracks.

The only caveat I will state is that the movie is British made were the f-bomb is much more common in film. So expect to hear a rather large amount peppered throughout.

'71 is a non-stop, entertaining thriller that was so exciting that I could hardly look away. If you have a Hulu account, there really is very little reason to not see '71 at some point.

What did you think of '71? Leave your unpopped comments below and let me know of other streaming movies that you would recommend.