Weekly Streaming Recap: Week of April 15th, 2022

Moon Knight Episode 3 (Disney+): Finally, the third episode of Moon Knight gives audience an episode that is mostly Marc Spector instead of spending an inordinate amount of time with Steven Grant. It is also interesting that a third personality is introduced in this episode and, although it is not named yet and has not had any screen time yet, it is probably Jake Lockley. Oscar Isaac delivers another great performance in this episode, showing how different he plays the different personalities when for the first time he switches between the two on camera. Again, it is strange that when Layla exists and is exposited to have knowledge of ancient Egyptian culture, Steven is still the resident expert on Egypt despite just being a gift shop worker in a museum.

The Girl From Plainville Episode 5 (Hulu): Of Hulu’s true crime shows that have been getting headlines lately, The Girl From Plainville is the first to feel like it could have benefitted from a reduced episode count. This episode feels like filler that just retreads the same information that has already been established previously and establishing a more intimate relationship between Conrad and Michelle does not really add anything to the story. At this point, Michelle has already been indicted so a look into the trial over two episodes (especially considering the appeals just ended within the last year or so) would have allowed for a greater explanation into that. The introduction of the consultant who is against the pharmaceutical industry is an interesting addition, however it does make it easy to dismiss the idea that there are some anti-depressants that can have adverse reactions in teenagers and young adults.

Master (Amazon Prime): Master entered this year’s Sundance Film Festival with a distribution deal in hand, however it finally made its debut on Amazon Prime recently. It is a well-done racial horror movie about a first year student at a historic New England University who has to navigate both paranormal horrors and standard racism. The only complaint about this movie would be that it does not lean hard enough into the horror, despite the fact that it is very obviously inspired by movies like Get Out. The audience rating on Amazon is not worth looking at considering reading the one-star comments are very obviously agenda driven by people who put the movie on and walked out of the room so they could say they were a verified viewer before giving it a one-star review for its political leanings. Give it a chance, even if the politics are not your cup of tea, it is a well-made movie.

The Batman (HBOMax): Following its time in theaters and grossing over $750 million at the box office, The Batman finds its home at HBOMax for people to watch at their leisure. It is one of the best movies of the year so far and gives one of the best on screen iterations of the character Batman in its history. The movie wears its film noir inspirations on its sleeve and, despite how some audience members may not like the third act because it feels a little disjointed from the rest of the movie, it is still a very well done with a lot of very interesting choices regarding the role of the Wayne family and the Arkham family in Gotham. It is about three hours long, however it is worth a watch at least once.

You May Have Missed:

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (HBOMax): This classic psychological thriller (one of the first of the genre) turns 60 this year and tells the story of a former child star who tortures her paraplegic sister. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford both put on fantastic performances and the movie ended up nominated for five Academy Awards when it came out. It is a fantastic movie for anyone who considers themselves a fan of thrillers and it holds up very well, even 60 years later. If someone has not seen the movie, it is best for them to go in knowing as little as possible.