Thomas is a man in his forties who is suffering from the pain of a breakup, living a monotonous and emotionless life. Suddenly, he is invited to participate in a Dark Web game to win 1 million.

The rules are simple: he will be the prey of hunters for 30 days, he cannot be attacked if he is accompanied by someone else and, if he survives for a month, he wins the grand prize. He will be filmed the entire time and all the places he frequents have been bugged.

Thomas immediately accepts the contract, believing that his family will support him in this challenge.

Is Self Reliance good?

When I saw the teaser being released by HULU, I immediately got excited. After all, a film produced by The Lonely Island (producers of the films Palms Springs and Popstar: never stop never stopping), featuring Nick Miller (Jake Johnson’s character in New Girl) and Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg’s character in Brooklyn 99), could only offer a good comedy. Unfortunately, we don’t see this potential being used here.

Although the premise is very interesting and at the beginning it makes us a little curious, throughout the film, we can feel how much the script gets lost in its own pretentiousness.

From the beginning, we know that Thomas is not a reliable narrator/character. After all, it’s not the first time he’s made up unrealistic stories that make his own family doubt his sanity. This is a fact that drags on and serves as the basis for the entire development of the film.

The problem, however, is that there comes a point when this narrative becomes tiresome. The lack of laughter, combined with fatigue, slowly leads us to a disinterest that not even the possibility of a romance can save.

The addition of Anna Kendrick’s character does not come with a romantic touch here, it is just a plot device being planted to try to make us laugh eventually and to force the growth of the main character. Although it works well for the second thing, unfortunately, the humorous aspect of her participation, once again, is not relevant to the story.

The impression we have is that in the last 20 or 30 minutes of the film, when we should start to get our answers, we are surprised with more questions. And the ending… well, it is not enough to answer everything.

The script for Self Reliance had everything to be a gem in the world of unfunny comedies that have been released in recent years, but in the end, we have the feeling that something is still missing. As if we were presented with an unfinished project, without the final touches on the script.

On the other hand, if we have a weak script here, Jake Johnson did a great job directing some scenes, especially the scenes with “the ninjas” which, despite being humorous in nature, brought a slight element of humor and a little chill down our necks before making us laugh.

Overall, Self Reliance is a 3-point film, worth watching when we don’t have many expectations and there’s nothing better to play.

Watch the Trailer:

For now, the film Self Reliance is not yet available on any Brazilian platform, but it should be distributed by Star+ soon.

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The jokes about pavê or ‘cumê’ are already being rehearsed by the most inconvenient uncles, we are ready to put on our best clothes, sit on the living room couch and wait for hours for the clock to strike midnight. Ah, the smell of Christmas…

With all this ambiance, my favorite part of the end of year festivities also happens: all the streaming platforms are full of cliché movies, with average acting, the same script with different names, positive messages and a glow that only a Christmas movie can bring us.

If throughout the year I already enjoy and joke about being a fan of bad movies (in the eyes of film critics, of course!), in December we are given the license to have bad taste.

From kisses in the snow to journalists invading castles, or, who knows, time-traveling gentlemen, spoiled rich girls being sent to a place far from the big city, there is something about these movies that pleases me more than expected.

Maybe it is the atmosphere created around such a special date, or maybe it is simply the fact that since childhood, I have always found myself binge-watching Christmas movies in the afternoon session… something has made me loyal to this habit of always having space in my schedule for any dubious movie released in November or December.

What about Christmas 2022?

This year, we have a list that includes Lindsay Lohan (The Parent Trap) in “A Christmas Crush”, Justin Hartley (This is Us) in “The Santa Diaries” and Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer) in “Christmas with You” to binge-watch on Netflix.

For Christmas movies that feature LGBTQIA+ representation, we have “A Christmas Crush” on Netflix and “Someone Tell Me?”, starring Kristen Stewart, available on Amazon Prime.

It’s time to rewatch one of my favorite Christmas movies, one that touched me so deeply that since its release I have found myself OBLIGATED to watch it before December 25th.

I’m talking about “Klaus”, a movie released by Netflix in 2019, winner of 7 Annie Awards categories.

With captivating and funny characters, Klaus tells us a new and improved version of the emergence of the good old man who is now popular with most children around the world.

I can say that, despite being recent, this has become one of my favorite Christmas movies, and if you haven’t watched it yet, it’s definitely worth it!

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Don’t worry, if your answer is yes, mine is: me too! And it was with people like us in mind that I decided to create “e-Popcorn recommends”, where I (and my questionable taste in movies and series) will give you suggestions on what to watch on multiple streaming services.

And to start, nothing better than my current favorite platform: Star Plus, the Disney’s streaming service exclusive to Latin America with shows focused on adult audiences.

Star Plus

The Star Plus streaming service debuted in Brazil on August 31, 2021, targeting an adult audience. Its catalog includes productions such as Grey’s Anatomy, This is Us, The Simpsons, and other works produced by partners.

Although the catalog is not very innovative, for fans of police, investigative, and medical series, such as Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, and The Resident, this stream has ample options for binge-watching, making it a must-see for fans of AXN’s programming in Brazil.

In addition, the service also has titles produced exclusively for the platform, such as the series “O rei da TV,” a biographical drama series that tells the story of presenter and businessman Silvio Santos, released in 2022.

And for sports lovers, on Star Plus you can find live broadcasts of the ESPN channel, with basketball, baseball, American football, tennis, and more.

O que assistir no Star+

Palm Springs (2020)

The first suggestion has a romantic comedy feel, mixed with a very well-executed science fiction by Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother).

Tala’s (Camila Mendes) big day has arrived, about to marry the love of her life, Sarah’s (Milioti) sister has no idea of ​​the mess she’s in. After meeting Nyles (Samberg), one of the wedding guests, and getting involved with him during the ceremony, Sarah finds herself trapped in a time loop: condemned to live the same day every day. Only the two of them realize what’s happening, which makes everything more fun and offers the characters endless opportunities to live new adventures without suffering the consequences.

With a touch of “Groundhog Day” and the typical awkward humor present in most comedies involving the members of The Lonely Island group, the film manages to deliver humor and romance in equal measure, without causing nausea or becoming repetitive (despite the theme).

The film premiered in 2020, had a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is a good film for those days when we want to watch a couple slowly falling in love and, who knows, fall in love with them.

Only Murders in The Building (2021 – Current)

In times of technology and easy access to information, podcasts have been increasingly taking over other people’s playlists and headphones. Add a little curiosity and the success of True Crime stories and boom!, we have the recipe for success.

The plot of Only Murders in The Building begins with all these factors in common, when a crime takes place inside a building on the Upper West Side in New York. Three strangers with different personalities, but with a common passion for criminal cases, find themselves forced to start their own investigation of a case that the police declare to be a suicide.

Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short) and Charles (Steve Martin) use all their knowledge to conduct an amateur investigation and start their own podcast and share with true crime fans their discoveries in the case of the murder of Tim Kono (Julian Cihi).

Only Murders in The Building works intelligently and dynamically to insert new media as a theme and object of work in a series. After all, podcasts are gaining more and more prominence and, here, they are used as a weapon of entertainment and investigation. In addition, it represents well the image of listeners from the True Crime community who consider themselves capable of conducting the search or unraveling the mystery of crimes that occur in society.

The series has two full seasons and has already been confirmed for the third season, with the participation of Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) and Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy) in the cast.

New Girl (2011-2018)

And now, an honorable mention to New Girl! That’s because it’s not at all unknown, but, in my opinion, it deserved more views!

Jesse (Zooey Deschanel) has just ended a 6-year relationship after discovering that she was cheated on. Deciding to change and start her life over, she finds an ad on the internet to share an apartment with three other people, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) who is replaced by Winston (Lamorne Morris) after the pilot.

Even though the formula “friends with different personalities + shared apartments + comedy” is already a bit old hat, the first season of New Girl was one of the best first seasons I’ve ever watched. It’s a timely comedy that plays really well with each character’s temperament and has jokes made at just the right time to make you laugh unexpectedly.

The series has its ups and downs, like all series that have many seasons, but it’s a good choice to distract your mind and have an easy laugh.

As I said above, all the recommendations here are based on my weird taste in series and movies. But of course, I wouldn’t recommend anything that wasn’t good (at least for me, lol).

I hope you enjoy this list!

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