Netflix

Simply put: season two of Daredevil is not as good as season one. But it’s still a darn good season of television, even by Netflix’s high standards.

Since then, Punisher has remained a viable character and maintained a consistent publishing presence, though his heyday of carrying multiple books and making routine guest appearances in all corners of the Marvel Universe are long behind him. And, really, that’s for the best: on his own, the Punisher is a compelling character. A shattered soldier, driven to extremes by the death of his family. He’s a Batman who eschews the theatricality of a costume and has no qualms about killing bad guys, and that type of character can be engaging and entertaining. But Punisher works less well as a protagonist in a shared superhero universe. Put him side-by-side next to guys like Daredevil or Captain America, and everyone gets watered down: the Punisher doesn’t kill anyone (because the heroes won’t let him), and the heroes look like idiots for not capturing this guy who willingly operates so far outside their usual “no killing” code.

Thanks to Netflix, cancellation doesn’t have to be the end – but hope isn’t universal.

Part 2 of our first look at TV in 2016 looks at the most exciting series back for another round.

The relationship between Jessica (Krysten Ritter) and Kilgrave (David Tennant) is at the heart of Jessica Jones’ first season. Her fear of, and desire to get revenge on, Kilgrave make for compelling character motivations, propelling Jessica through her various crises without ever suggesting that he is the only noteworthy aspect of her life.

Is there more to say about gritty, troubled superheroes? Yes, according to Jessica Jones, the latest Netflix entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

After a stellar first half of the season, the second half of Master of None solidifies it as the best comedy on Netflix.

After the success of shows like Orange is the New Black and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and standup specials from talents like Aziz Ansari and Chelsea Peretti, it was clear that Netflix was on its way to becoming a major player in comedy. Master of None, the new series from Ansari and Alan Yang, will perhaps become the crown jewel of Netflix’s comedy empire.

Although the achievements of director Cary Joji Fukunaga in the first season of True Detective have never been widely disputed, the disastrous second season, produced without Fukunaga at the helm, made his contribution all the more apparent. The astonishing six-minute tracking shot midway through season one was an obvious high point, but Fukunaga embedded visual information throughout the season which brought the setting and characters to life. Beyond the convoluted plot, season two missed these sorts of details, leaving a bland detective show without enough aesthetic idiosyncrasies to make it compelling.

After frantically sprinting from the press to the general admission line and waiting in the queue hall for hours with the help of my Jewel (Jessica Jones’ old superhero identity) cosplaying friend Julia, I had the privilege of attending the Marvel Netflix panel about Daredevil Season 2 and Jessica Jones Season 1, which is set to premiere on November 20. The panel looked back at the first season of Daredevil while showing the first footage of the upcoming second season, and the lucky fans in the audience also had the chance to watch the first episode of Jessica Jones after a discussion with the cast and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg (Dexter).

It looks like the good version of Eddie Murphy could be returning soon. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, producer Brian Glazer spoke about a project that he just secured with Netflix that will star Eddie Murphy in a more “raw” role than we have seen him in lately.  “I’m gonna do a tour de …

The popularity of the British anthology series Black Mirror got even more popular all of a sudden. Netflix, currently riding on a cresting wave of distributor and content producer, has acquired the rights to produce the third season of Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker’s techno freak-out, which originally aired in the UK on Channel 4 between …

Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation showcases a bombardment of graphic imagery that is excruciating, chilling and hard to digest. Still, for all the cringe-inducing brutality, the engrossing material engages on a fundamental level with empathy that is not present in most glorified war epics.

While Netflix has gained a reputation over the years for its original programming, which includes BoJack Horseman and Orange is the New Black, the streaming service has often also added shows from other channels to its own fold, rescuing them from cancellation or other budgetary concerns. While the most high-profile acquisition and resurrection to date …

It was announced November of last year that Netflix will turn Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events into a live-action TV series. And now there’s finally more news about the project, reminding fans that yes, this is actually happening. The Wrap reported yesterday that Barry Sonnenfeld (director of every Men in Black film) and Mark Hudis (True Blood …

While Christopher Guest is a familiar face to film fans for his numerous roles, including that of Nigel Tufnel in This Is Spinal Tap and the six-fingered Count Rugen in The Princess Bride, his work behind the camera has been similarly prolific, garnering him critical acclaim throughout his career. Having co-written This is Spinal Tap, …

When Wet Hot American Summer was released in 2001, it was poorly received by critics and flopped at the box office, but thanks to DVD rentals it garnered a huge cult following in the wake of its failure. The affectionate send-up of ’80s summer camp romps like Meatballs and Porky’s was the brainchild of David Wain, who first cut his teeth on The State, a scattershot mid-90’s sketch show that lasted 26 episodes on MTV. It was Wain’s first film, and it featured an excellent cast of relatively unknown actors at the time, which included Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, and Amy Poehler, to name a few. Considered by many to be the first “great” American comedy of the 21st century, it’s hard to understand why it wasn’t well received at the time. Wet Hot American Summer may be idiotic and ridiculous, but it’s also completely brilliant in how it deconstructs popular storytelling in Hollywood teen movies while embracing the stereotypical atmosphere and daily routines of sleep-away summer camps.

“Have fun being sad!” Todd yells this at BoJack early on in the second season of Netflix’s BoJack Horseman, but it works well describing the series as a whole. This is perhaps the greatest TV show ever about depression and pain, and it’s padded by hilarious gags and talking animals. It’s brilliant, and so sad.

Every year the movies seem to be dying. The writing is on the wall with attendance numbers and box office receipts and the Golden Age of TV. Will people still go to the movies if they can now watch high quality, HD programming from their own home? Theater chains themselves have been reluctant to give …

In the second half of the season, the potency of the action choreography hasn’t dissipated, but the structure around it has grown even more complicated, lessening its effect. The idea of law enforcement making sure Nomi gets a lobotomy is hard to believe, but the international conspiracy against the Sensates which explains it is even harder to understand.

Telling eight stories at once is naturally going to require some narrative shortcuts, which is the conundrum faced by the Netflix sci-fi series Sense8.

Netflix’s expansion into original content has seen the streaming giant enter the foray with a number of genres, from family dramas such as Bloodline to horror shows such as Hemlock Grove, and even comedy series such as Grace and Frankie and the revival of the cult hit Arrested Development. Now the service is poised to add …

The Degrassi franchise has built a reputation for longevity over the course of its run, as the series focusing on the trials and tribulations of students and teachers at the fictional Degrassi school first began in 1979 with The Kids of Degrassi Street. The latest incarnation of the series, titled Degrassi: The Next Generation, has …