Rodney Mateo

Saddle up and hogtie a pig. The remote flatlands of Montana are practically lawless with many people fighting over who gets to own the land. From sabotage to murder, it seems that there will be no easy resolution between the two main factions that have been fighting for decades. The stakes are high for the fruitful land, it is pride vs pride. The pride of keeping what you have worked for all your life and the pride of getting back what was taken from you. Does this show revive the cowboy genre or does it blow in the wind like a tumbleweed?

The largest ranch in America in the state of Montana owned by the Dutton family. This family has been running the ranch for many generations. Competition is always looking for ways to get this land by any means necessary. Two of the groups who want this land are the Native Americans and the people who want to make it into the country club. Each party does despicable things to one another to get what they want. It does not matter if it is blackmail or murder, as long as the job is done.

John Dutton (Kevin Costner) is a widowed man diagnosed with cancer. He is trying all that he can to keep the ranch that has been in his family for generations. He has four children. Beth (Kelly Reilly) is a businesswoman who loves her family as much as she likes whiskey. She will do whatever she needs to get the job done. From sleeping with the competition to blackmail, she is the Dutton’s most effective family member. Jamie (Wes Bentley) is a lawyer who helps his father get out of legal trouble that comes with such a big piece of land. Lee (Dave Annable) is trying to inherit the ranch from his father but John does not see him worthy of that honor. Kayce (Luke Grimes) an ex-marine who is trying to provide for his family without the help of his father. He married Monica (Kelsey Chow), a Native American woman, and they live on a reservation with their child. The reservation they live on is owned by Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) who is trying to take back the land that John’s Family stole from his people. This causes tension between Kayce and him and makes him choose the side he will fight on.

Yellowstone seems more like an extended movie on the way the cinematography is. If you are not interested in westerns, then watching it for the scenery alone is well worth it. A modern-day western that seems to blend the old with the new perfectly. The tensions between Americans and Native Americans are juicy to watch and historical. To be shown the point of view from both parties, Yellowstone shows the determination of how much they want it. Both feel that they are entitled to that land and neither one is backing down. The constant feuding is extremely enjoyable, especially with Kayce who is married a Native American. He has a side to pick between the two factions that he loves.

Yellowstone is a character-driven drama with plenty of action and gore to go around. The show is surprising when first watching it. It makes the viewer forget that they are watching cable tv. The show constantly drops f-bombs and is not scared to show nudity. The HBO style of the content may not be for everyone, especially people who didn’t know the show would be like this. The cowboy western genre has died out over the recent years, but it blends modern and old beautifully. Possibly lighting the fire for revamping the western genre in cinema.

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Me being a grown man, I have to live up to the standards that society tells me. These are to be strong and hide away my feelings. Do you want the flood gates of feelings and your inner softy to come out? Want to cry all alone in the shower? Let’s find out if your heart will ache of sadness or gloss over this dramatic show.

This drama is about the life of Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore). The story begins with the young couple expecting triplets. Upon delivery, the twins Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Kate (Chrissy Mets) were born healthy. However, the third child died during delivery. As a result, they adopted Randall (Sterling K. Brown). The show depicts a realist family household, where they go through struggles and they have to depend on each other.

Jack is a Vietnam veteran, who became a father and does his best to support his family. Jack passed away which cause emotional heartbreak for his family and are forced to learn how to live without him. His wife, Rebecca, was a stay at home mom who gave up her singing career to start a family. This was a traditional household, where Rebecca did most of the cleaning and cooking as Jack worked. Kevin is the oldest by a few minutes, who dreamed of being a football player until he had an accident. As a result, he pursued a career in acting. Kate is the second oldest who struggled with body confidence. She also enjoyed singing like her mother, but she felt pressured because her mother was extremely good. Randel was born on the same day as Kevin and Kate. Even though he is not blood, he is still part of the family.

I only started watching the show because my girlfriend had it on whenever I would go and visit. I thought that this show was similar to Gilmore Girls and I figured that this show was only for ladies. After watching the show on and off in and out of my phone, I noticed that I was gradually paying more attention to the show than my phone. I found myself falling in love with the character Randel. He is easily my favorite character because he always seems like the man with the plan and the most levelheaded. Next thing I knew, I was hooked and made my girlfriend only watch it with me so I would not miss an episode. I now cry every week it airs with no regrets.

This show has made me feel every emotion that I can think of from utter sadness to pure joy, definitely an incredible feeling of heartache. With the amazing story-driven characters and the great flashbacks, this show makes sure to not miss any details in developing their characters. Each episode is an emotional ride that tugs on the strings of the toughest of hearts. It will keep you at the end of your seat and come running back for the next episode. Ever got dumped by your ex-lover? This is the show that goes along with the tears and a tub of ice cream.

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Need something to quickly binge and finish in a couple of hours? Stay tuned and let find out if Raising Dion is worth your time.

Superpowers and superheroes are as mainstream as taking a selfie or being on social media. With the genre being dominated by Marvel and DC, it is nice to see new takes that are not from the head honchos. A new show called Raising Dion (Netflix) and was released on October 4th of this year.

A widowed mom discovers that her son has superpowers and tries to figure out how to raise him safely and responsibly. She is trying to protect him from the government, who are looking to exploit her son’s powers. With the help of her best friend, they try to keep her son’s powers a secret. She tries to figure out the origins of his powers and raise a son all on her own.

Dion Warren (Ja’Siah Young) is a kid granted with superpowers, who is trying his best to stay out of the government’s watchful eye. He tries to fit in and uses his powers when a challenge arises or wants to be cool. His mother, Nicole Reese (Alisha Wainwright), is a widowed mother, who does all that she can to raise her son and manage his powers. Mark Warren (Michael B. Jordan) is Dion’s father, who died during a weather expedition. His best friend, Pat (Jason Ritter), tries to help keep Dion safe from the government and fill the void of fatherhood. Even though, Nicole does not see him in any type of romantic way.

Sadly, this show does not star Michael B. Jordan even though he is everywhere in the trailers. He is barely in the season. If you are looking forward to the show because of him (like I was), it is not the reason to watch the show. It gives a new look into a superhero origin story and prepares for it to be quirky mixed with serious. The big issue with Raising Dion is the tone, it is inconsistent. The dialogue feels like a sit-com, but the atmosphere of the show is serious. It confused me and it made it hard to resonate with the characters. Dion is likable and sweet. He just makes you want to say, “aww he is cute”. The trailers made the show seem more adult than it really is. It is a good family show with the tone and how over the top the show can be. It’s fresh but familiar with concepts that are normal to the genre like misuse of powers.

Raising Dion is an easy watch and kids are going to love it. Families are going to sit down, watch this and are going to get a lot out of it. There are many emotional moments with the characters that will hit home for parents especially the single ones. It is not a horrible show, it works well for its intended audience. It is a quick binge-worthy show with only nine episodes, it is a good watch. Hopefully, the show can be more adult for the next season.

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With sci-fi having strong titles in its genre, does Stranger Things add on to the roster or hinder it? Keep reading and find out.

A blast from the past. A time period when my parents were young, and I was not thought of yet. The 80s was home to key events in history like the outbreak of the AIDs virus and the release of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Just like Thriller, Stranger Things deals with the spooky side of interdimensional beings. With plenty of laughs, scares, and a bit of a romance. It is perfect to watch especially around Halloween time.

The story of a young boy named Will, who disappears from the town called Hawkins Indiana. The mystery deepens with the appearance of a girl with psychic powers, a shadowy government agency, and a monster from another dimension. Will’s group of friends, that plays Dungeons and Dragons, tries to find him as well as his mother and a police officer. Everyone in the town thinks that they are crazy because the story is too impossible to believe. It is up to Will’s family and friends to find him and stop the monster from overrunning Hawkins.

Will (Noah Schnapp) is a nerd who has always had trouble making friends. He finds out how much he is loved by his friends and family when he sees how hard they try to find him. Joyce (Winona Ryder) is the mother of Will. She believes that she can hear will through the lights in her house. The town thinks that she is just delirious from losing her son and she seeks help from Chief Hopper (David Harbour). He doesn’t believe her at first and thinks that she is just paranoid. He starts to believe her when he starts to notice weird things happening around the town. He is accompanied by Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who is an escapee from the government facility in Hawkins. She has psychic abilities and has a direct tie to the monster that has been attacking the town. She is befriended by Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), whom are also trying to find Will.

Being set in the 80s, it borrows a lot from the films of its time like ET and Alien. It is easily shown that the show was heavily influenced by Stephen King’s works. The 80s vibe with a creepy plot is something that Stephen King would have hatched up. Stranger Things has the perfect mixture of nostalgia for people who grew up in that era and resembles a history book for those (like myself) who did not grow up in this period. The Dungeons and Dragons references will make any nerd’s spine tingle. They call the monster a Demogorgon, which is a monster from the game. It is quite funny that they name the monsters after a board game that they play, it shows that they are just kids facing a dire situation. The kids are exactly what kids are, mischievous and carefree. They don’t really understand the severity of the situation that they are in. The kids have fowl mouths just like every kid that is not in front of their parents, which makes the show more interesting for an older audience.

This show has a great balance of horror and humor, it is especially great for those non-horror fans who get scared easily (like me). It is more creepy than scary, and the humor overcomes the horror. With barley any jump scares, those who are faint of heart do not need to worry about a potential heart attack. Stranger Things knocks on the door of Sci-fi, then remembers it has it keys and opens the door on its own.

With three seasons on Netflix and only eight episodes a season, it is a quick and enjoyable binge watch. With the Fourth season set to air sometime in 2021, this Netflix staple will not be going anywhere anytime soon.

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Batman is a staple in the world of superheroes and his legacy is only matched to Superman’s. There have been many other people to dawn the mantle of the Bat. The newest version of Batman… rather Batwoman has aired on the CW. Does the show live up to the legacy of the Bat? Let us find out.

Gotham is a staple destination of the DC universe. It is not the bright and happy city like Metropolis or Central City, where Superman and the Flash reside. This dark and gloomy city is littered with criminals all around but there is someone who fights the crime. If you were thinking Batman, you are wrong. Batwoman has stepped up to the plate and picked up the mantle of the caped crusader. She keeps the city that she grew up in safe and tries to find a purpose that she believes she was destined to do.

Training with her master and trying to find her purpose in the world, Kate Kane goes through brutal training. She gets kicked out of the Military due to the higherups finding out she is gay, which lead her to travel the world and train. She returns home to Gotham due to her ex-girlfriend getting kidnapped by a gang. Nobody is there to help since Batman mysteriously vanished three years prior. Kate stumbles upon her cousin’s abandoned office building, where she finds a secret door that leads into a cave. There, she sees the Batman suit. She realizes that her Cousin Bruce Is Batman and decides to take up the mantle in his place.

Kate Kane, also is known as Batwoman (Ruby Rose), tries to keep her city safe by portraying herself as the famed Batman. She feels abandoned by Batman because he let her mother die when she was a child. Kate doesn’t want anyone to go through the struggle that she went to without a mother. Therefore, she fights for the safety of the city. Beth Kane (Rachel Skarsten) is Kate’s sister who was thought to have died with her mother. She is alive and well but wants the city to know abandonment like what Batman did to her and her mother. She tries to prove a point by abducting Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy) who is Kates’s ex-lover. Sophie works for Kate’s father’s security company called the Crows. Kates’s father, Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott), made the Crows to keep Gotham safe after his wife died and Batman left.

The show is mediocre at best with a lot more low points than high. Batman fans may feel a bit disrespected on the way the franchise is being represented. With a plot twist that is predictable and flat acting, Batwoman is cringy and channel changing worthy. The show comes off as feministic with the hard push of girl power. It is force fed down the viewer’s throat to try and prove a point that this is lady Batman. The main selling point of this is that it connects with the other CW superhero shows like The Flash and Arrow.

The die-hard Batman fans, including myself, will be heartbroken by this reiteration of the Bat. The show has stained the image of the superhero. Batwoman is for the teenage girl demographic, it may be hard to watch for anyone older than fifteen. The show is below average with below-par action scenes and is slow-paced. It is perfect for background noise when performing tasks like eating and texting. With all being said, Batwoman did not live up to the legacy of the Bat.

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Did Luke Cage make his mark on the over-saturated genre of superheroes? Keep reading and find out if Luke Cage made the cut.

“Sweet Christmas” is one of the catchphrases that Luke Cage (Mike Colter) says whenever he is in a pinch or something extraordinary is happening. The hero of Harlem (New York) does not put up with any misdoings in his parts. With crime and racial division being on every street corner, Luke puts it on himself to be the hero of Harlem even if he doesn’t want to.

After getting wrongly accused of possession of heroin, Carl Lucas is sent to jail. The jail he went through is called the raft, which is home to criminals who commit the worst kind of deeds. After being in prison for a while, he ended up getting into an underground fight club hosted by a dirty cop. After exposing the fight club to the warden, the cop sent two prisoners to kill him. On the brink of death, the scientist of the prison did some experiments on him to heal his wounds. The officer running the fight club needed Carl dead, so he tampered with the experiments which caused an explosion. In the explosion, Carl became healed and came out with super strength with unbreakable skin. After breaking out of prison and being on the run, he changed his name to start over. He now fights crime as the bulletproof man from Harlem under the persona as Luke Cage.

Luke Cage is a fugitive turned hero trying to defend his hometown, from mobsters like Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali). He wants to make Harlem a better place even if he has to kill some people in the process. His cousin, Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard), is a corrupt politician who aids Cottonmouth since she thinks the only way to get results is to get her hands dirty. She hires Shades (Theo Rossi) to help out Cottonmouth and to also be her protector whenever trouble arises. Luke Cage has an ally on the police force, named Misty Knight (Simone Missick). She tries to take down Luke since he was a criminal before but realizes that he is doing right to the city.

If you’re looking for crazy martial arts fighting, Luke Cage is not the show for you. He is a brawler who is more set on overpowering someone than outmaneuvering them. Even though the villain Bushmaster (Mustafa Shakir) does have some crazy moves in season two, the overall fighting on the show is pretty bland. Luckily, this is a character-driven show with each character having their own strong points. With a standout performance from Ali, who played Cottonmouth, he showed the viewers why he runs Harlem. The main highlight from the show is the music, with Harlem being home to jazz and hip-hop. Luke Cage brought out the feel of Harlem with its soundtrack. Harlem is a place of culture and many different races with most characters being of the minority. This sends a good message of those of color, if the “racial politics don’t get under your skin” says Mike Hale from the New York Times.

Luke Cage being bulletproof has many meanings racially and emotionally. Due to his skin color and the racial injustice of white cops nowadays, Luke Cage is a strong example of what it would be like if people of color could be bulletproof and stand up for themselves. Also, just because Luke Cage is bulletproof and physically unbreakable, he can still be hurt from the inside. Nobody can get through life without some type of emotional support, even if your bulletproof the bullets can still reach you. With these reasons in mind, Luke Cage did make his mark. This show gives a more grounded and realistic take on the superhero genre.

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Is your watch list feeling empty? Keep reading to find out if The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is worthy to sit on your list or create dust.

Growing up in the late 90s and the early 2000s, most kids my age were able to catch the reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This show was a huge hit, still gets reruns late at night, and has fans who still watch the show. Though the show is hilarious with its running gags and witty humor, there are more reasons why people come back to watch other than for nostalgia.

“In West Philadelphia born and raised” was Will (Will Smith) after constantly getting in trouble and into fights. His mother made him live with his aunt out of Philly by telling him, “you’re moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air”. Will was sent to live a better life and to have a greater opportunity than living in the hood. After not fitting in at all, Will learns what it is like to become a man and grow to appreciate the family that he has around him.

Each character is significant to Will’s growth and vice versa. Philip Banks (James Avery) is the most significant figure in Will’s life. Like most kids growing up, Will was absent of a father figure throughout his years in Philly. Philip Banks, after finding Will as a nuisance, truly accepted Will as one of his own and shaped him to be the man that he is today. The rest of the Banks family showed Will what having a loving and caring family is really about. Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) came a long way when Will first arrived, he was spoiled and it shows in his personality. Carlton thought he deserved everything because his father had money and he went to the best school. Will was able to humble Carlton and be grateful for all that he has, Carlton taught Will what having a brother is like.

Overall, the show is hilarious with Will Smith shining in playing himself. Like most sit-coms, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is episodic television but where the show really shines is the mini-story arcs, where two episodes are connected together. For example, when Will’s father Lou Smith (Ben Vereen) tries to get back into his life. These two episodes are debatably the two best in the entire show. The first episode is about the beautiful reconnection with Will and his father especially since he has not seen his dad since he was a boy. The second episode is absolutely heartbreaking when Will’s father didn’t want to be in Will’s life after reconnecting and decided to leave anyway. The scene of Will talking to Philip about how he doesn’t need his father and he can do it alone. To the next scene of Will crying holding Philip saying, “How come he don’t want me, man?”. This scene is what jump-started Will Smith’s career and is an absolute tearjerker.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a must-have for your watch list. Why? It keeps fans coming back with the hilarity of the show but also the deep meanings of life. From overlapping themes of family and love, this show is great for all ages to enjoy and sends great messages about life. This show is forever timeless after being on-air for about thirty years, it will always pertain to society and is a staple on television. You can stream it on HBO Max or Amazon Prime Video.

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