Check out our staff picks from August, too!
It’s possible you may not have noticed but, uh… there are so many things to watch. Whether it’s streaming, on cable (dozens of us still have it. DOZENS!), or in theaters, there is an absolute waterfall of art being dropped on us all at any given second. It can feel pretty impossible to navigate that sometimes, but the IGN team is here to help make sense of it all.
…Ok, so the IGN team is here to talk about our favorite stuff! But maybe you like the same stuff we like. That’s helping, right?
This isn’t a roundup of the website’s top rated film and television, or any other kind of aggregate. We just love entertainment, and we want to chill out and chat about the art we loved this month. Some of it will be mainstream! Other times? Maybe you haven’t even heard of it! The world is our oyster. Also? Sometimes we get to shows and movies late, too! So you may even catch a couple older favorites on the list as you dig in!
Storm of the Century
Where to Watch: Hulu
Tom Jorgensen, Senior Video Producer
A horror fanatic since watching The Blair Witch Project at far too young an age. I’m just finishing up my 25th Stephen King novel, Revival.
When Midnight Mass released on Netflix, Mike Flanagan cited a largely-forgotten ABC miniseries written by Stephen King as one of its primary influences: Storm of the Century. Even though I consider myself a pretty big King fan (that comes part and parcel with growing up in New England), I’d never heard of it. The series - which King calls his television project that he’s written - is now streaming for the first time. Having watched it, Flanagan saying it was an “influence” on Midnight Mass is the understatement of the century. Taking place in, you guessed it, MAINE, Storm of the Century centers on an island community as they’re preparing to weather a blizzard. What they’re not prepared for is the sudden appearance of a dark stranger, Andre Linoge, who soon takes the townspeople under his mystical thrall one by one, armed with impossible knowledge and unspeakable ultimatums. Though it’s a bit dated, as you’d expect a 1999 ABC miniseries to be, it also boasts engaged and engaging performances, especially from Colm Feore, who plays the mercurial Linoge. It really does feel like a King novel come to life, down to the folksy characters referring to each other by their full names with hilarious frequency. If you liked Midnight Mass, this one’s a fascinating precursor to that story of the evils that can fester in the echo chamber of a small community.
Industry Season 2
Where to Watch: HBO Max
Bob Marshall, Director of Social
I’m a regular viewer of almost every HBO drama series, and I have a soft spot for shows that depict young people behaving badly.
While vocally loathing capitalism and the people who use it to get ahead is the duty of any respectably moral person, it may shock you that HBO's Industry will still find you occasionally rooting for London's least self-aware 20-something investment bankers. And that's because whenever Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Harper (Myha'la Herrold), or Robert (Harry Lawtey) seem to make any sort of progress, personally or professionally, it all comes crashing down by the end of the episode. Can't someone cut these kids a break?
Industry's depiction of the cutthroat world of finance is littered with abusive clients, even more abusive bosses, unloving parents, and duplicitous coworkers, and its best drama comes from watching its main characters constantly wrestle with selling their souls to those people in exchange for fleeting victories. There's also a ton of very fun but very incomprehensible banking jargon, usually shouted in desperation across the trading floor, that indicates that some sort of huge gamble is being made that could win or lose millions and make or break careers. Don't worry – you don't need to know anything about finance to watch and enjoy this show.
In its second season, Industry's characters have grown from fresh-faced first-year associates to burgeoning traders. They have portfolios, growing rolodexes, and the ability to party all night with the help of some illicit substances and still show up to work on time the next day. But when season standout Jay Duplass appears as a billionaire hedge fund manager who partly made his fortune off of COVID medication, things get really interesting. All I can say is, no wonder everyone in this show is smoking constantly.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Where to Watch: Netflix
Tyler Robertson, Social Media Coordinator/Producer
I was born in 1995, meaning ATLA came out when I was in 5th grade. I was the target audience for this show, and it worked. I was obsessed.
It’s always nerve-wracking when you show a piece of media to someone new for the first time, especially when it’s a new significant other. Because what if they hate it?? Do we break up now?? I’m kidding, and with Avatar: The Last Airbender, it’s pretty much a surefire win every time, so there’s no need to even worry. It’s got everything you’d want; the characters to fall in love with, the Endgame-level threat, and it’s got animation style and art direction for days. Needless to say, she’s been loving it, and I’ve been having a wonderful time rewatching for the thousandth time.
I say this with no exaggeration: Avatar: The Last Airbender is a perfect show. It has everything going for it, thanks to all the stuff I mentioned above, but what really seals the deal as a “no notes” kind of experience for me is the attention to detail. Everything felt planned out from the beginning, in a world that felt lived-in and real. Mild spoilers for an almost two-decades old kid’s show, but I think a great example of the thought-out plot threads is when Admiral Zhao tells Iroh in the Season 1 finale about how he discovered an underground library, wherein he found information about the location of the Moon spirit’s physical form, and its whereabouts. It’s an offhanded remark in the episode, but in Season 2, the Gaang actually finds that library, and its protector mentions Zhao and his visit there. This tiny plot thread is one of many in Avatar, and rewatching it only reinforces how well thought out it all is. I can’t wait to see how my girlfriend reacts to the rest of it as we get further in the series, and selfishly can’t wait to get to some of my favorite moments.
So if you’ve been thinking about starting a rewatch, or have been wanting to show Avatar to a friend or family member who hasn’t seen it, this is your sign.
Sins Of Our Mother
Where to Watch: Netflix
Lindsey Salzer, Audience Development Manager
Another day, another crime (show). I can’t stop watching true crime. Help!
If Making a Murderer, Worst Roommate Ever, or The Sons Of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness were up your alley at all, you’ll want to watch Sins of Our Mother. With less of a suspense factor throughout, you’ll instead try to keep track of who everyone is, (think Game of Thrones family tree here), and ask yourself “Oh my gosh….why? How?” throughout the series.
Throughout her life, this mentally twisted mom had partaken in beauty pageants, been married about five times, had multiple children (who weren’t all seen as equal in her eyes), and a whole cult of connections to unpack—all leading to a devastating end to her reality. It’s a lot to digest, but the interviews, police footage and text messages will come together in the end for a dark awakening for the mom who thinks she knows all and is God. Tune into this limited series if you’re fascinated by anything religious and culty and want to watch something dark and mental!
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Where to Watch: Netflix
Jacob Kienlen, SEO Specialist
I love good sci-fi and anime, so this show ticked all the right boxes for me.
I have watched more anime on Netflix than anyone really should, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was one of the best series I’ve seen in years. Although I never played Cyberpunk 2077, I felt immediately immersed in the futuristic world that is Night City. The characters seem to fit naturally in their chaotic world, and you can’t help but feel for them as they struggle to survive in such an advanced yet destructive environment.
Although the sci-fi setting is what initially draws you into the series, it’s the character building – and tearing down – that truly makes Edgerunners shine. Despite living in what appears to be a technological utopia, capitalism still reigns supreme. The gap between wealthy companies and folks in poverty is a wide one, except when it comes to crime. The cyberpunks that secretly do the bidding of the major corporations are able to do well for themselves, but are constantly putting both their bodies and minds in danger to do so.
It’s no surprise after watching this show that there has been such a resurgence in Cyberpunk 2077 the game. Edgerunners perfectly builds a world that you want more of, and it’s already explorable if you own a console or a decent PC. Take a look at our full Cyberpunk: Edgrunners review if you need more convincing to watch this great anime.
Light & Magic
Where to Watch: Disney+
Scott Collura, Executive Editor, Entertainment Features
I used to record behind-the-scenes specials about Star Wars on a tape recorder placed next to my TV.
If you’ve been exposed over the years to any making-of Star Wars material – books, DVD featurettes, magazines – you’ve probably heard names like John Dykstra, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and Richard Edlund. But chances are you don’t really know the tale of how George Lucas’ industry-changing ILM – Industrial Light & Magic – was created, or how completely it took over the field of visual effects. Well, here’s your chance.
The six-part Disney+ documentary series was directed by Lawrence Kasdan – who also happened to co-write a few little films like The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Force Awakens – and produced for the Disney streamer. So talent access is no issue at all while telling the story of how Lucas realized that Hollywood just didn’t have a system in place to create the visuals he needed for the first Star Wars movie. And so he built a company from the ground up, bring together an array of talented outsiders who would essentially reshape movies along the way.
The memories of Dykstra, Muren, and the rest are all fascinating, ranging from glimpses of the short films some made as kids (these guys were always geniuses), to their realization that they had to literally build the cameras they needed to make Star Wars, to the success and pitfalls of that success that followed. Dykstra not being invited back for Empire Strikes Back, after being such a key part of A New Hope, hits particularly hard, but there are plenty of other personal and insightful moments with these guys that I, for one, was never aware of. It’s these stories that run alongside the triumphs and troubles of ILM – all peppered with insight from top-level directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, not to mention George Lucas himself – that make these six hours fascinating. Check out our full Light & Magic review for more on this must-watch series.
Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist
Where to Watch: Netflix
Alex Stedman, Entertainment Reviews Editor
It’s not often we cover sports here at IGN, but when there’s a good catfishing case involved? Count. Me. In.
Time for some disclosures: while I do watch NFL football (GO BEARS!), I'm a lot less well-versed in college football, and I was young when the Manti Te’o catfishing scandal was happening; I only remember keeping up with it so far as whatever headlines appeared in front of me. But even I can recall the general media uproar over the Notre Dame football star which, in case you weren’t keeping up, centered on an unfortunate case of catfishing that almost derailed his athletic career completely (and did manage to stifle it quite a bit).
So trust me when I say that you don’t need to have any familiarity with the controversy nor football in general to get wrapped up in The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist. It digs into all the details – and provides pretty much all of the answers – behind possibly the most infamous story of catfishing ever publicized, save for the documentary that coined the term. Te’o, his family, and the catfish herself all give stirring testimonies, my only complaint being that the catfish is perhaps afforded a little too much sympathy in the editing. Still, these compelling two hours make me want to strap in for the rest of this Netflix sports docuseries. They also made me want to give Manti Te’o just, like, a really big hug. Poor guy.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0079
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll Jesse Schedeen, Senior Staff Writer
With so much of my job revolving around superheroes and Star Wars, I’ve been making a point lately of branching out and getting back in touch with the things I used to enjoy in the Before-fore Times.
I’m a ‘90s kid, which means Toonami was a pretty formative influence in my high school years. In addition top being the thing that finally got me hooked on Cowboy Bebop (before that point I was too laser-focused on Trigun), Toonami also exposed me to a little series called Gundam Wing. The combination of the neato giant robots and surprisingly mature political drama really struck a chord with me.
I’ve always had an interest in sampling some of the many other Gundam shows, but it was only after developing a sudden interest in Gunpla models that I felt compelled to finally make the plunge. It seemed only fitting to go back to the beginning and start with the OG Gundam anime. Mobile Suit Gundam is obviously dated in some ways, but there’s a certain charm to all the late ‘70s cheese and the truly atrocious theme music. And even in its earliest form, Mobile Suit Gundam really nails that balance between delivering over-the-top mecha action and offering a sobering look at the horrors of war. I can see myself spending a lot of time exploring the Universal Century.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/cyberpunk-edgerunners-leads-the-pack-ign-staff-picks-september-2022