Here at the Wood Word, many of us writers have our own current binges and/or comfort flicks. In this new column, we’re excited to share with you What We’re Watching!
CARTER:
Hazbin Hotel: “Hazbin Hotel” is an adult animated musical tells the story of Charlie Morningstar, the princess of Hell, on a mission to prove that souls can be redeemed and enter Heaven via the Hazbin Hotel. Assisting her in her effort is Vaggie, Charlie’s protective girlfriend with a mysterious past. The hotel is inhabited by three other supporting characters: Alastor, the radio demon and host of the hotel, Husk, the hotel’s bartender and a former gambler who is suffering from the debt he owes, and Angel Dust, adult film star who hides the trauma he endures daily behind oversexuality and heavy drugs.
For many people, the series being a musical might be a turn-off, but in my opinion, every single on the soundtrack is incredible. Obviously, some are better than others (“Loser, Baby,” “Stayed Gone,” “Poison” and “Hell’s Greatest Dad” are currently my top four), but there was never a point where I thought a song was too much or not enough. They were effective, they moved the plot forward, and not to mention they were all incredibly performed. I personally enjoyed the story they have told in this first season and look forward to what they have in store. After all, there are still so many unanswered questions, more stories from these characters that need to be told, and more devilishly catchy songs to be sung.
Hazbin Hotel is available on Prime Video, free with an account.
Dr. Who: After years of knowing and hearing all kinds of opinions and reviews, I finally started watching “Doctor Who.” “Doctor Who” tells the story of a time-traveler, called The Doctor, as he explores the universe alongside another companion encountering all kinds of mystical worlds and horrifying threats.
An important and powerful aspect of “Doctor Who” is that after a certain amount of time, the Doctor will “regenerate” into a new body– meaning a new actor, and the companion is also switched out. This implementation allows for the show to never truly grow stale as each Doctor and companion is different from the last in interesting ways, and the tone of the show changes slightly with them. Not at any point so far have I felt that the messages about social status, war, grief and tolerance were either too much or not enough. To anyone interested in sci-fi and wacky adventures with appropriate amounts of seriousness, I highly recommend “Doctor Who.”
The 1963-1989 run of “Doctor Who” is available on Prime Video. The 2005-2023 run of “Doctor Who” is available on Max, while the newest season is going to be streamed on Disney+.
RACHEL:
The Amazing Digital Circus: In just three months “The Amazing Digital Circus” pilot has taken YouTube by storm. According to IMDB, “Within three hours of the pilot’s release, it had already managed to hit a million views.” Glitch Productions, the creators of “The Amazing Digital Circus,” summarizes the show as “A woman gets trapped in a crazy virtual world along with five other humans and are now subject to the whims of wacky AI and their own personal traumas.” Pomni falls into the circus and disrupts the introduction, setting off a chain of events including: looking for an exit, the characters being chased by an abstraction, and Gloinks stealing another character.
Its dark comedic tone is cleverly offset but the bright and colorful backgrounds. The characters all have vibrant personalities for better or worse. One character, Pomni, gets trapped and immediately begins looking for an exit. She runs through what she thinks is an exit but it just leads out into the void. Caine, the AI that created the Amazing Digital Circus, see Pomni in the void and immediately retrieves her. Caine admits that he cannot make an exit, which means the characters in the circus are trapped there forever. She is unsuccessful and slowly begins to accept being part of the Amazing Digital Circus. I’m not normally interested in shows like this but I like this show and recommend it for both young adults and adults.
BRIANNA:
Hannah and Her Sisters: In my mission to watch as many Best Screenplay winners as I can, I watched 1986’s “Hannah and Her Sisters,” the second of three films by infamous writer-director Woody Allen to win the award. Right away, I could definitely see why this film is a winner: The dialogue was very tightly written, and coupled with the realistic performances one could be forgiven for thinking they were watching a documentary and not a dramedy if they walked in halfway. The plot, fittingly enough, concerns Hannah and her two sisters, Lee and Holly, as well as their romantic interests, Elliot, Frederick, and Mickey, respectively, as their affections for each other wax and wane over the course of a year.
This 105-minute movie takes almost a half hour to set up the various threads and dynamics between our cast, but once it hits the ground, it does so running and is very interesting to watch. It was fun watching all of the twists and turns and trying to predict where everyone’s relationships would go next. While some might find the epilogue saccharine, I found that it tied everything up very well and ended things on a high, if somewhat bittersweet, note. If you can find “Hannah” for free somewhere, as, in my opinion, Allen should not be financially supported, I recommend giving it a watch.
Sixteen Candles: The other movie I watched won no awards but is still from a celebrated director was 1984’s “Sixteen Candles” by John Hughes, his directorial debut. Things kick off when, because her older sister’s wedding is the next day and they are all too busy to remember, just-turned-16 year old Sam has her birthday forgotten by the rest of her family. Her crush, Jake, seemingly doesn’t know she exists, she has to put up with a foreign exchange student boarding at her house, and a computer nerd freshman nicknamed Farmer Ted repeatedly flirts with her at a party. Hijinks typical for 80s teen comedies ensue, but several unfortunate cliches of the time, like stereotyping, get in the way of it being a truly great romantic comedy.
However, there is also a fair bit to like here, too. When her parents finally do remember Sam’s birthday, it comes in the form of her Dad waking her in the middle of the night and having a very earnest talk with her about her lovelife in between apologizing for forgetting. The advice he gives- “don’t let boys walk all over you”- rings true to advice I’ve been given by my own dad. It also somewhat-contrivingly ends with Sam getting Jake, who seemingly heard about everything and wanted to make things up to her. At the end of the day, the good in this movie is very good but the bad can be somewhat offensive and awkward at times. Still though, there are worse writer-director debuts out there, so if you are a fan of 80s comedies or even other John Hughes movies like “Pretty in Pink” I would check this one out as well. (Available on Netflix)
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