TV & Streaming

Is Netflix really worth your monthly sub?

IT was 2013 when Net ix put out its rst original series — House Of Cards — and some people thought the company was crazy. e rst season alone cost tens of millions of dollars, and suddenly thrust Net ix into competition with other streaming channels. e bet paid o , however, and today Net ix is debuting an original show or movie nearly every week.

In spite of this, there’s a substantial undercurrent of people choosing to cancel their subscriptions. e company lost 430,000 and the rest subscribers in the second quarter of 2021 alone. at doesn’t spell doom but obviously suggests it could be doing better. So is Net ix still worth subscribing to?

Net ix is still the leading premium streaming service, with over 200 million worldwide subscribers. It o ers thousands of movies and TV shows to binge watch, including its always growing list of original lms and series, including Stranger ings, e Witcher, Bridgerton, and many more.

Just on the basis of Net ix originals, there’s a lot to watch exclusively on Net ix. While House Of Cards may have fallen out of favour due to Kevin Spacey’s involvement, there are still solid shows. You can choose from Stranger ings, Black Mirror, Castlevania, e Punisher, and e Witcher, to name a few. Quality can vary drastically, but there’s often something worthwhile in any given genre, except perhaps current a airs. e company’s movies have had mixed success critically, but there are still solid and occasionally award-winning ction titles like Okja, Roma, Beasts oP No Nation, and e Trial of the Chicago 7. Arguably, some of the best lms on the service are documentaries. ese include Ava DuVernay’s 13th or Werner Herzog’s Into e Inferno — which, once again, you can’t watch anywhere else.

One major issue is that Net ix is quick to cancel originals that don’t achieve, say, Stranger ings levels of success. An infamous example is e OA, which, despite a cult following, had its second and ultimately nal season end on a cli hanger. Net ix is not a service you can count on to complete story arcs, or sometimes even keep a good show alive.

A bigger concern, however, is that the rise of new services has robbed Net ix of popular third-party content, with (sometimes) more consistently appealing selections o ered elsewhere. Most if not all Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars titles have been moved to Disney Plus.

Also, some choices cancelled this month include Terminator 2, Django Unchained, Inception, and Team America.

Spy series Q-Force as funny as it is gay

NETTFLIX has released a trailer for Q-Force, and it’s the funny, animated queer spy series we didn’t know we needed. e series begins with Steve Maryweather – also known as Agent Mary – graduating at the top of his class at the American Intelligence Agency (AIA). During his graduation speech, Maryweather reveals to his classmates that he is gay.

AIA director Dirk Chunley is visibly shocked by the revelation and quickly cuts Maryweather o , revealing that another (straight) agent was now the top of the class. After the ceremony the agency is unable to re him, but decides to send Maryweather to West Hollywood to “disappear into obscurity”, as per the show’s description.

Instead, Maryweather joins forces with a mis t squad of LGBT+ superspies to ght back at the agency that underestimated them. He recruits expert mechanic Deb, master of drag and disguises Twink and hacker Stat.

After the rogue team solve a major crime, they gain the reluctant approval of the AIA and become “active secret agents”. But they are also told they must welcome a straight man, Agent Rick Buck (voiced by Stranger ings‘ David Harbour) to their team.

It’s revealed that the AIA nicknamed the group the ‘Q-Force’, with the ‘Q’ standing for queer. eir leader says they could ask the agency to stop it, but Maryweather reveals that he kind of likes the moniker. e Net ix series is created by Gabe Liedman, who has been a writer for Brooklyn Mine-Nine. Liedman will also join the starstudded LGBT+ cast of voice actors on the series, playing the role of Benji in the series.

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to watch now on Amazon

Not just another show about a small town where strange things happen, Tales from the Loop has a lot more underneath the surface. Drawing from a narrative art book by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, the series is stunning to look at, meticulous as can be with symmetrical frames. Light and space are infused with a painterly feel. e interconnected townspeople are similarly nuanced, their stories exploring loneliness, ageing, the impact of technology and more through sci- ideas.

e Black Mirror vibes are strong in this British series about technology gone wrong. e Feed is set in a futuristic London where a family develops an implant that lets people livestream their lives without needing to press a button on a phone. No, absolutely nothing can go wrong with that! Some pretty impressive actors in the cast, including David ewlis and Michelle Fairley. While it’s not as polished or deep-cutting as Black Mirror, it’s still worth a look -- just grab your phone during the less gripping parts.

Amazon rescued e Expanse from the realm of canceled TV, bringing us a fth season with a sixth to come. ank goodness it did, because e Expanse is smart sci- with realistic characters, high production values and a dash of detective noir. Set in a future where humanity has colonised the Solar System, a conspiracy threatens to start a cold war between the largest powers. A band of antiheroes nd themselves at the centre. Look forward to more space western themes in the consistently excellent later seasons.

If you’re in a particularly meditative mood, re ecting on life, relationships and the big choices we make in life, Forever will gently set your world on re. June (Maya Rudolph) and Oscar (Fred Armisen) are a married couple cruising through their suburban life until vastly unexpected turns take them into otherworldly territory. Stick through the slow-burning rst episode and you’ll be rewarded with an exceptionally crafted eight-episode series, gently wrapping you in its visually beautiful and meaningful dream.

e premise of Hanna, a Joe Wright action thriller from 2011, is so good Amazon eshed it out for a TV series. Starring Esme CreedMiles as the skilled young assassin living in the Romanian wilderness, Hanna the TV show expands the teen’s backstory and explains why the CIA’s Marissa Wiegler has an obsession with capturing her.

Dreaming of becoming an Olympian

WHILE the whole of Ireland rejoiced in the fantastic performances of our Olympians and Kelly Harrington’s Gold medal our Irish ladies’ rowers also made the entire country proud as they have won Bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on the Sea Forest Waterway. These Irish female rowers made history winning Bronze at Tokyo 2020 The crew of rowers includes Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty by becoming the first Irish female team of rowers to secure a medal. And of course, let us not forget our great Gold Medal Rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy. It was Ireland’s first Olympic gold medal since 2012, its 10th in total, and its first in rowing.

While in Poland their Rowers returned home with their medals Polish kayakers composed of Karolina Naja, Anna Puławska, Justyna Iskrzycka and Helena Wiśniewska . The girls won a bronze medal in the K-4 500 m competition in Tokyo. A few days before this success Karolina Naja and Anna Puławska became Olympic runners-up in the K-2 500 m competition.

Our 2 great nations showed what skill, effort, and endurance our athletes displayed to win their medals. It is an achievement that may take some time for all, Paul O Donavan included, to realise what achievement it is not only to be an Olympian but to actually win one of the 3 most coveted medals in the world A Gold, Silver or Bronze Olympic medal.

Sport in both our countries is

so inextricable linked to our societies and right down into the very communities our Olympians come from. The local Parishes display the colours of our nations as the roar their neighbour to a success that they could only dream of. But dreams are what make us. The winners will now inspire a new generation of athletics right across all disciplines.

For many years Ireland relied on the Gold medal success of Ronnie Delany in Melbourne ‘s 1500 metres. He inspired the Eamon Coughlans, Sonia Sullivans as we gain notoriety on the track. World Championship medals and the breaking of hearts as fourth finish became our history. The bridesmaid but never the bride.

Now we can aim for the stars. and in a few Olympics after the 4-year cycles have past We hope the winners of Tokyo 2020 Olympics will have inspired our

The bridesmaid but never the young young fledging competitors not just to stand on the podium watch our nations flag rise to the sounds of our national anthem but to compete and one day become an Olympian.