Have you pressed play on Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power yet? The first two (of eight) episodes debuted yesterday on Amazon Prime Video. The scale of production is undeniably huge - it looks every bit as cinematic as the Peter Jackson Rings films. The special effects are huge, the art design is impressive, and the scale of production really is incredible.
But watching it, what wasn't lost on me was that I was simply watching more Lord of The Rings. If the promise of more stories set in the world of LoTR is appealing to you, by all means you will have a grand time. But, if you're more like me in that you saw the films at the cinema, but haven't really re-watched them on a smaller screen where the distraction of your phone is just an arms-reach away... the series might be tough going for you.
Something I enjoyed quite a bit more was a new adult-orientated animated drama on AMC+ called Pantheon. It's fairly high concept in that it plays around with themes like technologies intrusion on the afterlife and how allowing a person to live on in the real world by way of a connected world has serious ramifications for those who continue to actually live. Being animated, this one might be a bit of a hard sell to a lot of viewers, but I think there's something a bit special with this show. It's yet another hyper-niche, quality show not getting the attention it deserves on AMC+.
returning:
Stargirl (s03), Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles (s02), My Life is Murder (s03)
new:
The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power - Amazon Prime Video
Stars: Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an American fantasy television series based on the novel The Lord of the Rings and its appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Pantheon - AMC+
Stars: Katie Chang, Paul Dano, William Hurt
Bullied teen Maddie begins receiving messages from a mysterious stranger that claims to be her recently deceased father, David; his consciousness has been uploaded to the cloud after an experimental brain scan, and it turns out he's not the only one.
Life By Ella - Apple TV+
Stars: Lily Brooks O'Briant, Kevin Rahm
The story of a young middle-school girl as she takes a new outlook on life into a world that seems determined to break it down.
The Patient - Hulu | Disney+
Stars: Steve Carell, Domhnall Gleeson
A psychotherapist who recently lost his wife, finds himself held prisoner by a serial killer with an unusual request to curb his homicidal urges.
Fakes - Netflix
Stars: Jennifer Tong
Teenage best friends Zoe and Becca set out to build their own fake ID empire, but as business booms, their life of crime becomes way too real.
Little Women - Netflix
Stars: Kim Go-eun, Nam Ji-hyun, Park Ji-hu
It’s about three sisters who have lived in poverty all their life but has always had each other. One day, an opportunity strikes that will turn their bad situation around and grant the sisters the life they’ve always wanted, but they will have to face South Korea’s most affluent family.
Put down your phone and watch that TV show you pressed play on.
