Tom Gleeson: Lighten Up 

Vicenza, a Brazilian girl, goes on a quest by herself to find out who her birth father is by gathering clues.

Netflix’s Shadow and Bone has a complicated relationship with race. It has a diverse cast, but not without its problems. Based on Leigh Bardugo’s two book series, the show features characters from the Shadow and Bone trilogy, which is very straight and white, and the Six of Crows duology, which is much more diverse. When bringing together a cast and writing about these characters, the team behind the show expanded upon some of the representation missing from the first trilogy, then seemed to take away representation from the duology. Shadow and Bone seems to play a bit of a push and pull game when it comes to portraying diversity onscreen.

“There’s always something you can do…to make people feel like they’re welcome”

This action thriller is made with the hope that the black youth of America will feel empowered, and realize the significance of their heritage.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence is not merely the fourth sequel in a cult classic film about a delicious vegetable apocalypse: it’s a love letter to slapstick, sight gags, and the original 1978 film. It’s also a meta-comedy, spy-thriller parody taking place in a world where the original film series was a documentary about the horrors of the Tomato War that the government covered up by convincing everyone it was a comedy. Taking place in 2026, Organic Intelligence sees genetically modified tomatoes grown out of control and rising up to attack humanity again - luckily, Agent Maria Sifuentes (Myrna Velasco) of the Federal Vegetable Investigation Bureau is there to uncover the corporate conspiracy behind it, and she won’t take no for an answer.

'The Menu' has a strong story. The 5 acts, which are defined by the courses, are an excellent subversion of the classic 5-act film structure.