For a leading entity in the entertainment business, it’s perhaps appropriate that Netflix‘s exploits — particularly its decision-making ability in the realm of renewals — are best described as stranger than fiction; indeed, whether the streamer plays year-long waiting games, seemingly forgets to cancel a show that would typically be axe fodder for them, or probably wants to renew something but simply can’t play their part in meeting the requirements, Netflix sure has quite the agents of chaos under its roof.
Similarly, you have to wonder what sort of system Adam Sandler employs to decide whether he’s going to bring his A-game or not (and after Uncut Gems and Hustle, that’s a system we’d like to rig in everyone’s favor) after Happy Madison managed to spit out a critic-friendly comedy film of all things. But, if there’s one stroke of consistency we can always count on, it’s bad action movies packed with A-listers raking in the view counts.
Amidst Netflix’s personal Ragnarök against fantasy, a survivor rears its head
Fantasy shows lasting more than one, maybe two seasons at Netflix is effectively a fantasy in its own right. Indeed, if the streamer isn’t pointing the death ray at animation, then magic and monsters are the favorites for the chopping block.
Nevertheless, Ragnarok, the largely slept-on mythological drama series, is set to write its own ending, with its third and final season gearing up to send off the show later this week.
Exactly how Ragnarok of all shows managed to live a full life in the wake of some of Netflix’s other victims is anyone’s guess, but here’s hoping it holds its head high as it bows out in honor of its fallen brethren.
Yet again, a mediocre action thriller is the key to lining the pockets of the suits
Having Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, and Chris Evans among your cast would be enough to make most mouths water, assuming they don’t have any additional context.
That context is David Ayer’s Street Kings, a 2008 action film that follows the high-octane plight of a disillusioned former cop who, framed for the murder of his wife, grows desperate to clear his name and figure out who he can trust, and who’s going to gun for his head next.
For those of you who don’t know the drill by now, this movie was bad, and it’s perhaps exactly for this reason that it’s shot into Netflix’s global Top 10 charts. Throw the spurious correlation argument at us all you want; the patterns don’t lie.
A tenth season of Suits would be streaming gold, but Aaron Korsh has demands
Suits has been the source of moderate-to-marked domination in the realm of television for over a decade now, and with Aaron Korsh’s legal drama having scooped up a fourth shattered Nielsen streaming record as recently as July of this year, one has to wonder if Netflix, one of the conduits of Suits‘ continued success, might want to revive the perennially in-demand series with another season.
If so, they’ve got their work cut out for them; simply enquiring about a season 10 for a show that the creatives are barely making a cent off of anymore would be a bold move in this climate, and Korsh has made it especially clear that, unless the strikes end and the show is given a good home, to say nothing of the odds of bringing the cast and crew back on board, Suits won’t be moving an inch.
Adam Sandler made a comedy film, and critics are loving it
That’s it. That’s the headline; after a slew of stinkers that relied on Happy Madison’s trademark ethos (an ethos whose returns diminished right out of the gate, plenty would argue), Adam Sandler’s latest comedic Netflix original, You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, is scratching the itch of critics at the moment, with the film sitting at a 100 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
In fairness, Sandler’s not the lead (though he does play a major role in and produce the film), and that score is the result of just five opinions so far, so perhaps the weight of this feat isn’t as meaningful as it may seem. Nevertheless, a moment in history is a moment in history, and should be treated as such.
Season two of Baby Fever proved to be an overdue arrival, inadvertently tipping the hope scale back in favor of Shadow and Bone
A poorly-received Danish dramedy series about a fertility doctor who injects herself with her ex-boyfriend’s sperm — and the pregnant shenanigans that follow — probably wouldn’t be near the top of most people’s lists for renewals. And, to Netflix’s credit, it sounds like it thought really hard about it before giving it the green light, seeing as the first season premiered well over a year ago.
Indeed, if Baby Fever, the show in question, can manage to live another day, then everything must still be on the table at Netflix’s HQ; a miniscule but welcome piece of news for those of us waiting to hear what’s next for the still-not-canceled Shadow and Bone.