TV Show Review - Wednesday (Season 1)

Season: 1
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Mystery/ Crime
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2022

Starring: Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Emma Myers, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Christina Ricci, Luis Guzman, Hunter Doohan, Percy Hynes White, Jamie McShane

Description: Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) attempts to master her emerging psychic ability by solving a mystery at her new school.  

Review: Just a year ago, the last adaptation of the well-known Addams Family stories released in the form of an animated film. This film didn’t succeed to bring the world to life. At least not as much as the creators of “Wednesday”, which focuses on the daughter of the Addams family.

With the knowledge that Tim Burton directed half of the episodes, it can come as no surprise that the series is visually stunning and incredibly interesting. The character Wednesday is notorious for her penchant for the monochromatic and yet the world around her is colorful in a special way, completely true to Burton’s style.

The series is set at Nevermore Academy, where Wednesday’s parents met when they were young. After Wednesday unleashes a bunch of piranhas in her high school pool, Morticia and Gomez decide it’s best for Wednesday to go to Nevermore. At this school, supernatural misfits meet. Whereas the Addams family was always out of place in previous versions, the change of scenery allows us a fresh look into their own world.

Even for viewers unfamiliar with Addams Family traditions, “Wednesday” has plenty to offer, as the series is still interesting as a standalone. Fans of the mystery genre of the supernatural will be in for a treat. We follow Wednesday Addams in the role of an amateur detective as she tries to solve multiple murders around Nevermore Academy against all warnings while trying to find her place in the world.
By the end of this season, the major storyline surrounding the murderous monster is neatly wrapped up, but jokingly introduces new questions and mysteries that could be fleshed out in a second season.

Jenna Ortega plays the role of Wednesday and knocks it out of the park. She is so good in her role, really captures her character and it looks like no other actress could have done it better. I also loved seeing Chrisina Ricci in supporting role, she played Wednesday in the 1991 film. And Gwendoline Christie as the head master of Nevermore Academy is fantastic as well.

“Wednesday” is such a good series, I can’t wait for the second season to start.

00s Movie Review - Runaway Jury

Director: Gary Fleder
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 127 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Cliff Curtis, Leland Orser, Jennifer beals, Bill Nunn, Luis Guzman, Nora Dunn, Dylan McDermott

Description: A juror on the inside (John Cusack) and a woman on the outside (Rachel Weisz) manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.

Review: Rankin Fitch is a ruthless jury consultant who must select a jury for a revolutionary trial to ensure its verdict. He fears nothing or no one. One the trial begins, it turns out that the selection of one juror can cause problems. He finds himself in a situation that shows he doesn’t know his opponent as well as he initially thought after all.

The films starts with a gruesome shooting in an office that kills many people. We are then place two years later when it is revealed that the shooting caused a trial to now take place that should set a precedent. The wife of one of the men killed is suing the gun manufacturer because it caused guns to be easy to get.

On one side us the conscientious lawyer Wendell Rohr. On the other, the man who is one the side of the gun manufacturer and who actually ges paid for it if the trial is won: Rankin Fitch. His job is to make sure who gets on the jury, because justice in the USA is still left to juries, so it is important to know the people on the jury well. Fitch’s team takes this very seriously and also very far.

Both parties are given a list of names and files of all the people who were called for jury duty, for them to decide which of them will actually be on that jury. Fitch thinks that they got this one, but someone within the jury is there with a purpose.

It is based on a John Grisham novel, an author known for his court dramas. But “Runaway Jury” is one of my favorites and it’s not your standard court drama either. We get to experience how incredibly flawed the jury system is. This movie is about manipulation, corruption, extortion and so on. And even though this movie came out in the early 2000s, this film is still so topical.

“Runaway Jury” is a very strong crime thriller with some surprising twists throughout and a fantastic cast. A movie that is underrated if you ask me.

Rating: 4/ 5