From The Buccaneers to Five Nights at Freddy’s, Should You Add These To Your Watchlist?
Haunted animatronics, regency romances, and friends going after big dreams! Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado breaks down the shows and movies you need to watch… and the ones you don’t.
Egghead & Twinkie
Fans of Heartstopper will have a lot of fun with the new lesbian comedy Egghead & Twinkie. We follow Twinkie, an Asian-American teen who goes on a road trip across Texas in a stolen family car as she attempts to juggle her nerdy BFF’s unrequited crush on her, a mysterious online romance, and figuring out who she truly is. It’s a quirky and relatable roadtrip romp full of adorable animation flourishes that book end all of Twinkie and Egghead’s adventures. This film marks the feature debut of queer mixed-Asian writer and director Sarah Kambe Holland.
"Twinkie is the protagonist that I needed when I was growing up as a queer mixed-Asian kid in Texas, and I want the audience to see the world through her eyes,” shared Holland in a statement. “I first came up with the concept for Egghead & Twinkie when I was fresh out of the closet at nineteen years old. It’s a terrifying moment when you have to sit across from your parents and the important people in your life and tell them who you are, especially at such a young age. But at the same time, there can be so much joy and awkward humor in finding yourself and sharing that with the world. This film is my earnest attempt to find the comedy in the coming out process without trivializing the struggles that queer people endure to be themselves.”
Alongside tackling the youthful queer experience, Egghead & Twinkie addresses themes of racial identity, young love, and friendship through a Gen Z lens.
Five Nights At Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s finds a troubled security guard Mike who begins working at the shuttered Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. On first night on the job, he realizes the late shift won't be as easy as he thought. Imagine Chuck E. Cheese gone horror. Based on that idea alone, I can see why the video game has become such an iconic franchise. While the film was okay, I don’t think the story was executed well.
Josh Hutcherson does as much as he can with the material as the struggling Mike and I love the relationship he has with the actress Piper Rubio playing his younger sister. The animatronics are the hero piece of this film for sure. They look incredible, but there are moments, especially when they are working alongside the actors, where they just come across as awkward instead of actually scary. We get a lot of background information, which I really liked. There were times I felt like I was watching a TV show because of how much information we were able to get, but I do think certain scenes were overdone. Like the going into the dream sequence so many times. It gets to the point where it can be confusing and convoluted for viewers. All in all, I wish Five Nights at Freddy’s was wackier, bloodier, and actually scary.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock.
Neon Season 1
From a small town in Florida to the bright lights of Miami, Neon finds three best friend hustling to make it big in the world of reggaeton. We meet rising reggaeton artist Santi (Tyler Dean Flores), his manager Ness (Emma Ferreira), his creative director Felix (Jordan Mendoza), and A&R rep Mia (Courtney Taylor). Each of them have a dream they’ll do anything to make come true, while also dealing with both the harsh and funny mishaps of the industry. Neon is surprisingly optimistic and lighthearted for a show about the music industry and finds humor in the most unpredictable places. While Flores comes across more goofy than suave, Mendoza is the bright light of the season with his hilarious antics as Felix.
Daddy Yankee and Scooter Braun both executive produce and make cameos alongside Ken-Y, Jon Z, Jota Rosa, Brray, Lyanno, Jowell, and Villano Antillano. The show also comes from Shea Serrano who brought us Primo earlier in the year.
The first season of Neon is streaming on Netflix.
The Buccaneers Season 1
Based off the unfinished novel by Edith Wharton comes The Buccaneers about young American women who explode on the London season of the 1870s to secure husbands and titles. It’s no surprise people will compare this to the modern regency takes of shows like Bridgerton, but with an American twist. The series features a star-studded ensemble of Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe, Imogen Waterhouse, Aubri Ibrag, Josie Totah, and Christina Hendricks.
The first episode is promising, introducing us to a tight knit group of vibrant American women coming from new money. As the show progresses, we lose that connection in favor of focusing on fast romances and the culture battle between the Americans and the English. While I enjoyed the sharp social commentary when it came to what they women deal with as they exchange their wealth and freedom for titles and cages, the show loses its way in terms of the sisterhood. The girls don’t get equal screen time and felt distant from each other at times, which seemed like a missed opportunity. Things pick up in the finale as one of them must weigh duty, love, and sisterhood to make a decision that will have lasting impact.
All in all, The Buccaneers has a lot of potential, but loses its way when it moved away from the sisterhood to focus on inflated drama and whiplash romances that just aren’t fun.
The Buccaneers is streaming on Apple TV+.
The Other Zoey
Led by Josephine Langford, Drew Starkey, and Archie Renaux, The Other Zoey follows a brilliant college student named Zoey who works to challenge the conventional ideas of love and dating. But her life gets turned upside down when an amnesiac accidentally mistakes her for his girlfriend who happens to have the same name.
This is a sweet rom-com that goes through all the classic tropes from amnesia to a love triangle to making a big grand gesture. It also explores what really makes two people fall in love: Is it the stats of having things in common or a spark that you don’t expect? While it doesn’t do anything wildly different with the rom-com genre, it has very charismatic leads in Langford and Starkey and brings together a lot of our favorite actors from After, Shadow and Bone, and Outer Banks.
The Other Zoey is available on VOD.
Upload Season 3
Upload picks back up with Nora (Andy Allo) and a freshly downloaded Nathan (Robbie Amell) in season 3 as they navigate their relationship while racing to stop the mysterious conspiracy threatening to destroy millions of lives. Meanwhile, back in Lakeview, a backup copy of Nathan is activated, giving Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) a second chance at love.
This new season starts off slow and has a bit of trouble finding its footing as it balances the real world, the virtual afterlife, and downloads, but it eventually hits its stride. Robbie Amell remains as likable as ever, even with multiple versions of him running around. The later half of the season doubles down on the humor and high tech themes, resulting in another shocking cliffhanger. While I had thought this was the third and last season of the show, it looks like there is much more mystery to uncover.
All three seasons of Upload are streaming on Prime Video.
