Tag Archives: The A.V. Club

Barry Sonnenfeld will direct Netflix’s Lemony Snicket series

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photo: The A.V. Club

Barry Sonnenfeld, whose spookdentials (a “word” which here means “spooky credentials”) include Men In Black and The Addams Family, has signed on to direct Netflix’s upcoming A Series of Unfortunate Events. Variety is reporting that Sonnenfeld will also executive produce the series, based on the bestselling books by pseudonymous author Lemony Snicket, alongside former True Blood showrunner Mark Hudis. – William Hughes, The A.V. Club

Crackle says 278,000 people have already watched Joe Dirt 2

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photo: Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser

Taking an unconventional measure for an online streaming service—possibly as a way of checking if everyone involved is simply hallucinating from exposure to dangerous quantities of mullet glue—Crackle has released the viewership numbers for its exclusive debut of Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, showing that 278,000 people watched the David Spade-starring sequel during its first 24 hours of availability. – William Hughes, The A.V. Club

Try not to soil your browser window watching this one-minute horror short

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Crypt TV is the newest online venture from Eli Roth and Jack Davis, a one-stop-shop for all things horrifying, goofy, or (more often than not) a little of both. It features short films, web series, homages to eight-bit video games, and the aforementioned experiment in scares delivered in less than a minute. – Alex McCown, The A.V. Club

Game Of Thrones sets a new TV piracy record, putting Davos Seaworth to shame

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According to piracy-tracking firm Excipio, the fifth episode of season five was up on file-sharing sites within minutes of its 9 P.M. ET airing in the United States. The 2.2 million individual Internet addresses tracked was the count as of 10 A.M. ET the next morning, a number that has surely grown faster than a dragon in the ensuing hours. The new piracy record comes only weeks after HBO launched HBO Now, the $15 service that allows users to watch HBO without a cable subscription package. Also, the channel has ended the practice of using DVD screeners, all in the name of cutting down on piracy. – Alex McCown, The A.V. Club

Jay Z’s streaming service isn’t for everybody (i.e. the poors)

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“This service is not for everybody,” company CEO Andy Chen told The Verge in October. “Spotify is for everybody. You don’t even have to pay! But for quality, you have to pay.” While Spotify freeloaders belly up to the streaming trough, shoving garbage, 320kpbs-quality audio into headphones so crusted with cannery grime and gizzard grease, they can’t tell the difference anyway, TIDAL users are pouring fizzy aural champagne into the flutes of their ear canals. They also enjoy high-definition music videos, “expertly curated” editorial content from Talkhouse Music, and its own Shazam-like service (which presumably not only identifies the song you’re looking for, but compliments you on your taste). – Sean O’Neal, The A.V. Club

Netflix’s dark, family melodrama Bloodline demands to be binge-watched

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Bloodline has the trappings of a novelistic family saga, but it isn’t the type of show that compensates for its sedate pace by being especially observant. The show’s creators, Todd Kessler, Daniel Zelman, and Glenn Kessler, also created Damages, the legal thriller with an twisty, non-linear structure that could be as exhilarating as it was irritating. The creators have discouraged comparing Bloodline with Damages, but that’s a tall request. […] Kessler, Zelman, and Kessler may be repeating themselves, but their partnership with Netflix makes doing so is justified. Only when Damages landed on Netflix did the show meet its full potential. The qualities that made Damages an awful fit for traditional cable made it an ideal match for Netflix’s binge-watch culture. In rapid succession, its rug-pulls and cliffhangers feel deft rather than frustrating, and its fractured narrative feels elegant instead of contrived. – Joshua Alston, The A.V. Club
(Full Story: http://avc.lu/1x8yKmJ)

The Wachowskis filmed live births for their new Netflix show

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The 10-episode series, which is set to debut in May, concerns eight individuals, played by, among others, Daryl Hannah and Lost’s Naveen Andrews, who are mysteriously connected to each other. Each episode will focus on a single character—sort of like the similarly Netflix-produced fourth season of Arrested Development, except with more use of the phrase “psychic orgy.” The characters will also be pursued by someone called Mr. Whispers, a hunter for a shadowy organization whose name conjures the ineffable terror of being mercilessly stalked by a four-week-old kitten. J. Michael Straczynski—creator of Babylon 5 and that comic book where Spider-Man sold his marriage to the devil—is working with the Wachowskis on the series, which has filmed in places as disparate as Nairobi, Mexico City, and a maternity ward with an inexplicably lax security policy. – William Hughes, The A.V. Club
(Full Story: http://avc.lu/1zXv1q7 )

Netflix wants to spend $1 billion on new programming, will pay for it later

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[T]he streaming service has decided that the current “favorable interest-rate environment” makes it the right time to rack up $1 billion in debt. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells argued in a letter to shareholders that long-term debt was the best way to finance their ambitious plans for the coming year. – Alex McCown, The A.V. Club
(Full Story: http://ift.tt/1Algyqu)

Revisit the best in alternamusic with the 120 Minutes archive

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Independent Internet archivist Tylerc is assembling an archive of the show’s entire run, going through each episode and noting the host, the special guests, and the entire playlist, complete with Youtube links for each of the songs featured. In addition to the playlists and video records, Tylerc also includes an overview of the series, special videos dedicated to the last show, and information about the different hosts. – Rob Dean, The A.V. Club
(Full Story: http://ift.tt/1zf9WZc )
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