Flack (2019): Best Dramedy About Life in the Social Media Age
Flack is a British show about an American woman working for a public relations firm in the U.K. Robyn (Anna Paquin) specializes in helping rich celebrities salvage their floundering reputations, yet she’s struggling to keep a lid on some serious secrets of her own.
IMDb Rating: 7.0
Led by a strong female cast, Flack explores the pitfalls of living in the social media age where all eyes are on everyone at all times.
All of the first season is now available on Prime Video. The second season, which aired in the U.K. in 2020, will drop in North America later this year.
Coming 2 America (2021)
Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall fans will love this sequel that finds the African monarch Akeem returning to America to build a relationship with the son and heir he didn’t know he had.
IMDb Rating: 5.6
It’s not really the best work for Murphy and Hall but the plot line isn’t terrible, and they do a decent job with what they have to work with. If you’re feeling nostalgic for the 1980s, you might as well curl up with some buttery popcorn and get a few giggles in.
Sonic The Hedgehog (2020): Longest Awaited Video Game Movie
Although several popular cartoon series have starred Sonic, fans had been waiting for nearly three decades to see their favorite blue hedgehog on the big screen. They almost got what they asked for in 2019, but the movie was famously delayed because of negative fan reactions to Sonic’s appearance in the trailer.
IMDb Rating: 6.5
Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) looks just like his classic 1990s design, and Jim Carrey is the perfect pick to play his archnemesis, Dr. Robotnik. While it wasn’t quite what everyone wanted, Sonic The Hedgehog holds the distinction of being the highest-grossing video game movie ever in the U.S.
Bliss (2021): Best Drug Induced Love Story
A down-on-his-luck divorcee named Greg (Owen Wilson) has a turn of fortunes when he meets a homeless woman, Isabel (Salma Hayek), who tells him that their world is a simulation. With the help of little yellow powder, Greg gains the ability to manipulate reality.
IMDb Rating: 5.3
What’s real, what’s an illusion, and what’s the difference? You might not have answers to those questions when the credits roll, but the ride is fun nonetheless. Wilson and Hayek are a highly likable duo, making this strange sci-fi love story worth sitting through.
Mortal (2020): Best Modern-Day Fairy Tale Inspired by Norse Mythology
Mortal is a modern-day Norse myth about a man named Eric (Nat Wolff) whose god-like powers pose a danger to everyone around him. After being detained by police, a psychologist named Christine (Iben Arkelie) is brought in to help him keep control of his paranormal abilities.
IMDb Rating: 5.8
While Mortal isn’t a superhero origins story, it certainly feels like one at some points, so fans of that genre will probably enjoy the ride. The film is Norwegian, but all of the actors speak English, so you don’t have to worry about reading subtitles.
Jessy and Nessy (2020): Best Educational Show for Kids
Like Blue’s Clues before it, Jessy & Nessy combines learning and fun with a mix of live-action and animation. Using her magic “inspectacles,” Jessy (Sophie Feldman) travels to a secret world where she and her prehistoric pal Nessy set out to answer the big questions in life, like “Why do we have hiccups?” and “Where does the moon go all day?”
The first season of Jessy & Nessy received the coveted Parents’ Choice Award for its educational content. Most of the lessons focus on science, but many also touch on interpersonal skills like how to comfort a friend who is sad. The episodes are short enough to keep kids’ attention, and they’ll learn at least one new thing along the way.
The Wilds (2020): Best Adventure Series for Young Adults With a Strong Female Cast
After surviving a plane crash, a group of young women must rely on each other to survive on a seemingly uninhabited island. However, it was not by chance that they were brought together. What at first glance seems like an all-girls version of Lord of the Flies turns out to be something even more sinister.
With its dystopian sci-fi themes, The Wilds is more in the vein of The Hunger Games and Battle Royale. Even though the plotlines can get far-fetched, the characters and performances are believable. A healthy mix of wacky and serious moments make The Wilds a fun show for parents and teens to watch together.
Yearly Departed (2020): Best Comedy Special for the New Year
Most of us can agree that the year 2020 was one of the strangest years in recent memory. In Yearly Departed, seven women come together to give a socially-distanced eulogy to the end of the decade. Host Phoebe Robinson rounds out an all-star cast of comedians that includes Natasha Leggero, Ziwe Fumudoh, and Natasha Rothwell.
IMDb Rating: Not Yet Rated
Topics range from the political to the absurd, and if you’ve ever seen any of these women perform stand-up, you know what to expect. The jokes are raunchy, but this holiday special is ultimately uplifting and provides some much-needed laughs for the new year.
Small Axe (2020): Best British Anthology Series About Immigrant Communities
Small Axe is a BBC movie anthology series directed by Steve McQueen. Each film is a standalone, feature-length story that explores the struggles of London’s West Indian community through the 1960s to 1980s. For example, Mangrove is about the real-life Mangrove Nine, a group of protestors who were illegally detained by London police in 1970.
IMDb Rating: 8.2
Several of the individual films were screened individually at various film festivals and earned universal acclaim from critics thanks to their strong performances and directing. The title of the series comes from a Bob Marley song of the same name.
The Expanse (2015): Best Alternative to Stars Trek and Star Wars
In the distant future, humans have conquered space and inhabit all corners of the solar system. Unfortunately, we are still terrible at getting along, so Earth and its neighbors are perpetually on the brink of armed conflict. It’s up to a rag-tag group of individuals from different parts of the solar system to prevent an all-out war.
IMDb Rating: 8.5
Uncle Frank (2020): Best Gay-Themed 70s Road Trip Movie
When the family patriarch passes away, Frank (Paul Bettany) must travel from New York to South Carolina with his niece Beth (Sophia Lillis) to attend the funeral. To Beth’s surprise, Frank’s boyfriend tags along, raising everyone’s anxiety about how the rest of the family will react.
Uncle Frank takes place in the 1970s and addresses the hardships of being gay at that time. There are some intense moments, but also some heart-warming ones. The movie took home the Public Prize at the 2020 Deauville American Film Festival, where it was a hit with critics.
The Pack (2020): Best Extreme Sports Show for Dog Lovers
Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, accompanied by her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Lucy, hosts this competitive show that pits human and canine duos against each other in a cross-continental race. Teams compete in various challenges for a half-a-million-dollar grand prize.
IMDb Rating: 6.3
Time (2020): Best Documentary About Love and the Criminal Justice System
Composed of home video footage and original interviews, Time documents the relationship between Fox Rich and her husband Rob, who is serving a 60-year prison sentence in Louisiana. The movie provides a critique of the American penal system while celebrating the enduring bonds of love and family.
IMDb Rating: 7.3
Time director Garrett Bradley became the first African American woman to win a Directing Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival for a documentary. The film won several accolades, including the Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award at the 2020 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.
Truth Seekers (2020): Best British Paranormal Comedy Show
Truth Seekers is a British horror-comedy series about a ragtag team of amateur ghost hunters who travel the U.K. in search of paranormal phenomena to document for their online audience. Their misadventures lead to the discovery of a massive conspiracy that poses an existential threat to their YouTube channel.
IMDb Rating: 7.1
Halal Love Story (2020): Best Irreverent Religious Satire
In Halal Love Story, a team of young Muslim filmmakers is tasked with creating a film that adheres to the strict rules of their particular religious group. It turns out to be more challenging than they anticipated, resulting in some spectacular situational humor.
IMDb Rating: 6.4
Despite its religious themes, Halal Love Story is neither an endorsement nor a critique of any religion. Instead, it pokes fun at the moral contradictions present in all cultures. It’s worth a watch if you don’t mind reading subtitles.
The Boys (2019): Best Superheroes Fighting Corrupt Superheroes Series
IMDb Rating: 8.7
All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020): Best Political Documentary for Election Year
All In: The Fight for Democracy explores the history of voter suppression in the U.S. The film features Stacey Abrams, Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in 2018. After narrowly losing in an election marred by controversy, Abrams started Fair Fight Action, an election monitoring organization that advocates for voting rights.
IMDb Rating: 6.0
Utopia is a new show about government conspiracies, secret organizations, and saving the world. When some comic book fans get their hands on a graphic novel that supposedly predicts the future, they become targets of the Network, a sinister secret society that wants to destroy them.
IMDb Rating: 6.2
Utopia is an American adaptation of the 2013 British series by the same name. The original show, which ran for two seasons, won several Royal Television Society Awards and an International Emmy for Best Drama Series.
Gemini Man (2019): Best Will Smith Trying to Kill Himself Action Movie
A retired hitman (Will Smith) finds himself the target of an unlikely assassin: his younger self. This fast-paced action flick uses groundbreaking de-aging technology to bring two Will Smith’s to the screen at once.
IMDb Rating: 5.7
Despite being a bomb at the box office, Gemini Man drew praise for its performances and special effects. The movie was even nominated for a few Visual Effects Society Awards.
Comrade Detective (2017): Best Bingeworthy Buddy Cop Show Propaganda
Comrade Detective presents itself as a “found footage” television show from communist Romania. Following the tropes of American buddy cop films, detectives Gregor Anghel (Florin Piersic Jr./Channing Tatum) and Iosif Baci (Corneliu Ulici/Joseph Gordon-Levitt) team up to thwart capitalist influences in their country.
Comrade Detective has received praise for its social commentary on the nature of propaganda. Although the show is filmed with Romanian actors, the dialogue is dubbed in English by an all American cast.
Undercover (2016): Best Binge-in-a-Weekend British Crime Drama Mini-Series
Undercover is a BBC mini-series about an attorney named Maya Cobbina (Sophie Okonedo) who works to overturn wrongful convictions. Unbeknownst to Maya, her undercover cop husband (Adrian Lester) is hiding a terrible secret that could end both of their careers.
IMDb Rating: 6.8
Undercover features strong performances and clever writing that explores race relations and the criminal justice system in the U.K. There are only six episodes, so you can watch the whole series in a weekend.
The Tick (2018): Best Off-Beat Superhero Satire
In this live-action reboot of the classic 90s cartoon, everyone’s favorite parody superhero, The Tick (Peter Serafinowicz), and his sidekick Arthur (Griffin Newman) join forces to clean up the criminal underbelly in their city. The Tick’s creator, Ben Edlund, serves as an executive producer.
IMDb Rating: 7.4
World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji (2020): Most Intense Suvivialist Game Show Ever
IMDb Rating: 7.9
World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji features 66 teams from around the globe in a non-stop competition to make it from one side of the archipelago to the other. Without the luxury of smartphones or GPS devices, they must climb, bike, and paddleboard their way to the finish line in hopes of winning $100,000. Even if you’re not usually a fan of survivalist shows, this one may be worth watching just for the breathtaking scenery.
Chemical Hearts (2020): Best New Teen Drama for Hopeless Romantics
Chemical Hearts a sweet story about first love that will tug at the heartstrings of young adults and the young at heart. The film isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s well-acted and has received positive reviews from audiences and critics.
The Salesman (2017): Best Emotionally-Charged, Foreign Language Thriller
This Persian-language movie starts out as a story about a married couple (Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti) co-starring in a stage production of Authur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. When the wife is assaulted, their relationship is upended.
IMDb Rating: 7.8
The Salesman received international praise, winning an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and two Cannes Film Festival awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor. The Salesman is a must-watch for fans of emotionally charged thrillers, so long as you don’t mind reading subtitles.
Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019): Best Reboot of a Classic Kid’s Franchise
Speaking of reboots, the latest iteration of Clifford the Big Red Dog is now on Prime Video. Nine-year-old Emily (Hannah Levinson) and her talking dog Clifford (Adam Sanders) are back having adventures and raising eyebrows in their small town of Birdwell Island.
IMDb Rating: 5.9
The stories are simple and made for small kids. While they don’t teach skills like reading or math, they do model good values like friendship and honesty. The flash animation may lack the charm of Norman Bridwell’s original illustrations, but the show stays true to the style and spirit of the famous children’s books.
Gina Brillon: The Floor is Lava (2020): Best Inspirational Stand-Up Comedy Special
IMDb Rating: 5.4
In her special, Brillon reflects on growing up poor in the Bronx and her subsequent move to the midwest. The jokes are funny, but the comic’s story is also inspirational. The set concludes with a powerful appeal to human kindness and a call for greater equality for all.
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