Bob and Andrew S02E06 “The Decision” | A Web Series on The Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

5 Swirlies

“Con: Amy often hides certain articles of clothing that she doesn’t want me to wear. Like my scarf.”

I’m loving this new season of the web series Bob and Andrew.

The first season was mostly episodic, and this season has much more of a serialized story. Which makes it a little less sitcomy, but not any less funny.

This episode is pretty much perfect - and it is all Bob and Andrew. They both come to a deep realization about their relationships… after much eating of sandwiches and playing of RockBand.

There’s some brilliantly funny dialogue here, but the “breaks” are the funniest parts as the guys desperately devise ways to make the decision process more bearable. There’s only two more episodes - a two-parter - and then season two is done. Dare I start hoping for a season three?

From YouTube Description:

Bob and Andrew process their relationship problems in a marathon strategy session that includes RockBand, sandwiches, dogs and long speeches delivered while looking out the window.

Follow us on Twitter: @bobandandrew

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Radiance Ep.10 | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Science Fiction Drama Web Series

5 Swirlies

“You’re dying, we’re not dying!”

Another suspenseful episode of the creepy “what if” web series, Radiance.

As the body count rises, We are finally left with few enough characters that I can tell who is who while only watching a single minute a week.

You know, I was talking to someone recently about one minute long web series, and I mentioned this one as a great example of what you can do in short episodes. But then I remembered Prom Queen. Remember Prom Queen? It wasn’t a show that we covered, I think it was just before we first started The Watch List many moons and lifetimes ago. Prom Queen was Michael Eisner, of Disney fame. He started a giant company, Vuguru, and this was his attempt to make a big web series splash. A series told in one minute episodes.

I try not to be cruel or reductive when I write these reviews, but in so many words, Prom Queen sucked. It’s been a while since I have seen it, so I won’t get into it’s many shortcomings here, but essentially it didn’t tell stories in one minute intervals, it showed a minute of a scene, and then the next episode was another minute. It wasn’t engaging and it was annoying because everything had the same rhythm, every minute, exactly, the episode ended.

Radiance succeeds where Prom Queen failed, in my opinion, in having most of the episodes feel like they had some sort of narrative arc for them, and by letting each episode find its own length in order to break up the rhythm of the short episodes.

Prom Queen cost a lot to make, maybe even a million or more. Radiance, it would appear, was done for fun. Neither made a profit. But I hope that you would agree with me that Radiance is the better show, and a role model for those looking to make very short episodes.

From YouTube Description:

Ten friends in Los Angeles experience an unusual event together- and try to survive.
Starring:
Brian Gattas
Jade Gordon
Tom Lenk
Chad Lindsey
Alisa Mcronald
Sam Pancake
Jack Plotnick
Christos Prevezanos
Chris Shea
Doug Stockstill
and
Rachel Stolte

Written and directed by Jim Hansen

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Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden S01E06 “Midnight, Hunter’s Moon, Pt. 1″ | A Webseries Review on The Watch List

A Drama Webseries

5 Swirlies

“Water the plants, do the dishes, and no parties.”

What a fun, focused episode of the web series Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden.

I really like the storyline of Beth, her sister and her sister’s too-old boyfriend. I like the other storylines, too, but for the most part, Beth just quietly loathes her sister and crushes in the boyfriend, creating lots of subtle tension. The other storylines are more direct in the characters problems, like Sara being more or less a social outcast for sleeping with the guy that Maggie liked.

This is part one of a two parter three parter, and feels like it. I hope the next one is as fun as this one. (Thanks for the correction, Otessa!)

This series reminds me very much of the UK Skins at its best. As much as the drunken teen antics are played up for laughs and drama, there’s an honesty about it that sets it far, far apart from the almost unconscious moralizing that accompanies teen stories in mainstream fiction.

From YouTube Description:

Sarah is a hot mess after the fallout (ahem, being caught red-handed with Jake). She tries talking to Beth — but Beth’s just useless! However, Beth does have a parental-free house for the weekend. Score! Unfortunately, older-sister Hunter has some serious plans for a party without Beth. And, Hunter-the-Effortlessly-Cool-and-Scary… is used to getting her way. Totally pissed at the prospect of being kicked out of her own house — and the epic party — Beth plots revenge on Hunter (*and hocks something nasty in Hunter’s beloved CK-one perfume*). Then, Sarah and Beth decide to tag along + party-crash regardless and… well, just take a look and see!!

—

“Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden” (OJBG) is a fiercely local and independent web series set in Washington, D.C. about the lives of a group of teenagers growing up and getting down in the 90′s.

Visit us at http://OJinBG.com/ to check out our episodes, blog, news updates, character bios, and more!

Follow us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/OJBishopsGarden/

Find us on Facebook:
http://facebook.com/OJBishopsGarden

“The bad things we do. The things we get caught for-and how they are never the same.”

French Subtitles by: http://www.univers-l.com/

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Tyranny Ep.15 “Who’s Chasing Whom?” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Web Series

5 Swirlies

“I feel and see these guys inside my head telling me to do things I don’t want to do.”

Here’s a crazy new episode from conspiracy thriller web series Tyranny.

This episode goes from being a very realistic, domestic argument on the streets (don’t you hate that?) to a tense, action movie, Bourne Identity surveillance scene to a raw, intense foot chase, with a coincidental encounter with the FBI thrown in.

Sometimes, in the past, I haven’t been exactly sure about where this series was, what genre it was trying to be. After this episode, I don’t have to wonder anymore - Daniel’s not crazy. He is being followed and watched.

Both the conversation and the chase scene were beautifully shot. The sound work in the conversational scene is very crisp, so much so, in fact, that I suspect that the original location sound wasn’t useable and what we’re hearing is all ADR and Foley.

The chase scene is shot in such tight close ups, that it starts to feel like an experimental film. I think it is shot with an extreme fish eye lens, with some shots feeling like they are mounted on the body of the actor as they run. Both scenes must have taken for-freakin-ever to shot and to post. And there’s a shot that goes past some cops looking like they’re about to do a serious take down - was that just taken as they drove past some cops?

This episode, for all of its excitement, is short on story but that’s okay. It certainly makes up for it by being giant is scope. There’s a massive protests, helicopters, aerial shots… all of it (I’m assuming) done on a shoestring budget. It just goes to show you the short of thing that web series are capable of; so much for two people sitting in a room talking.

From YouTube Description:

The much anticipated EP: 15 of TYRANNY the web series.
It’s September of the year 2000 and Daniel and Isabelle get caught in a pre-election protest filled with police, which erupts into a chaotic foot chase.

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Casual S02E06 “A Fork/Road” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Romance Drama Web Series

5 Swirlies

Casual 2.6: A Fork/Road from Altermotion Pictures on Vimeo.

“I thought I wanted this.”

A devastating season two finale of the killer web series, Casual.

I wouldn’t say there was anything in the way of plot twists or surprises – okay, there’s one – but you certainly feel like writer/director Jay Diaz is effortlessly weaving plot threads back and forth until they come together in a thematic flurry at the end. I must admit, I did lose sense of a couple of things, I found myself wondering which timeline I was in for one or two scenes. And didn’t The Girl meet the new boyfriend guy in the past, before they broke up? I’m a little confused, but it is still very rewarding, and for me, none of those confusions got in the way of enjoying the story.

What I did like was the sharp writing and portrayal of a person who struggles to please everybody, and feels like she’s trapped between competing demands. I think it quite easy in relationships for someone like that to deprioritize the one thing that give you the least guilt, which is often your significant other. Your boss might have unreasonable demands and your family gives your grief if you don’t do what they want, and the person who is the most easy going is the one who ends up getting the least of your attention. Plenty of relationships break up because of that. The break up in Casual isn’t really that straight forward, just like in life, but I would say it comes down to the lives they wanted diverged, and neither were willing to be the one who sacrifices other parts of their lives to make it. It’s the old ultimatum, “It’s me or the band,” in more a subtle, non-band form. (You’ll always lose that one, either way it works out.) He’s not willing to turn down a big opportunity in his career, and she’s not willing to set boundaries on her responsibilities in order to give him what he wants.

In all aspects of life, whether it is our careers or our romances or our family lives, we rise to a level of… for want of a better word I’ll say success, until we a not willing to sacrifice some other part for continued success. Do we take that big promotion, knowing our kids will see even less of us? Do I piss off my family because my fiance wants a small wedding? I think many people go through life feeling like these choices are made for them – because they don’t consciously understand their values that shape the choices they make.And I guess that’s what it comes down to Casual, and in real life relationships, are your values similar enough to make the relationship work in the long term?

That’s the stuff that’s flapping around my head after watching the second season of Casual, a web series that manages to capture all the subtleties and drama of life without slipping into melodrama. You can contrast it to Untitled Fiction Project, which in many ways is similar, but that show is much more in-your-face dramatic (while still grounded in the characters and their choices). They’re both among my favourite web series dramas, but for different reasons.

Technically, Casual is incredibly strong. It is polished, tight, and knows exactly what emotional beats it is playing at what moments. A stand out series, and one that is best enjoyed from the beginning.

From Vimeo Description:

Casual 2.6: A Fork/Road
The much anticipated Season 2 Finale
Starring Lauren Marini & Brian Thomas Smith
Guest Starring Mary Jo Deschanel
Featuring Janna Vanheertum, Derek Reckley, Michael Hobert, Jamie Stout, Jessica Rich, Jonathan Mariande, David Goryl and Alyshia Ochse

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Aidan5 Ep.7 “The Life of Riley” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Web Series

5 Swirlies

“In the illegal world, we’re born in a sewer.”

This episode of the unique, mixed media science fiction web series Aidan5 takes a break from the high octane action of the previous few and gives us a little backstory into Riley.

One of the things that this series does well is to take a look at cloning from various angles, and how it impacts our society; even if some of the angle they choose to examine are a little obvious. In this one, they tackle a few things, including clone discrimination. My favourite bit - and a very nice, interesting touch, is how vilely Riley’s original reacts to her clone, who then goes to the original’s funeral.

One the parts I liked the least is seeing Aidan as heroic (and thus, presenting him as heroic to the audience) for brutally beating a bad guy unconscious for threatening to hit Riley. Sure, the guy was a bad guy, but Aidan is a cop - we’re supposed to cheer on this behaviour? It is a small beef, more of a pet peeve about how the U.S. cop mythology is handled in general rather than a complain about this episode. Oh, I also cringed a bit when Riley was portrayed as a damsel in distress that needed to be saved by a strong man handing out savage beatings to those he disagreed with. I’m not saying every woman in every novel, TV, web series whatever needs to be portrayed as being as tough if not tougher than a man, it just felt very… thoughtless on the part of the writers, not coming so much from the character and on the cliche side.

I like that they’re willing to take a break and do something a little more introspective. And writing wise, it was interesting that Riley choose not to remind Aidan that they had met before - like she was making a clean break from the past. I also like that they fast forwarded a bit from the end of the previous episode - not that there couldn’t have been some great episodes in that period, but they chose to take a different route. For me, every evidence that the writers and creators are making choices about their story makes me respect them more.

I also really like seeing some new locations - man, I don’t how how the artist doing the backdrops can keep up with this show. They must be drawing all the time. One thing that I don’t think I mentioned before is the trouble they must have in matching the POV between the drawings and the live action material. How do they make sure the perspective isn’t off?

From YouTube Description:

Episode 7: A look back at Riley’s cloning and troubled past.

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Radiance Ep.9 | A Webseries Review on The Watch List

A Science Fiction Drama Web Series

5 Swirlies

“Guys, I saw something.”

Oh no! After the discovery of yet another pair of bodies, the housemates get a clue about what they’re dealing with… and what might happen next.

A nice, tense little episode. The web series Radiance has very short episodes in a serialized format, and it is one of the few series that manages to keep the atmosphere tense in just about every one. There’s a total of 19 parts, which means we’re only at the halfway point.

From YouTube Description:

Ten friends in Los Angeles experience an unusual event together- and try to survive.
Starring:
Brian Gattas
Jade Gordon
Tom Lenk
Chad Lindsey
Alisa Mcronald
Sam Pancake
Jack Plotnick
Christos Prevezanos
Chris Shea
Doug Stockstill
and
Rachel Stolte

Written and directed by Jim Hansen

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Tyranny Ep.14 “Out of Ideas” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Web Series

5 Swirlies

“It’s my dream.”

Whoa.

This web series always leaves my mind whirling. This one even more so.

To say much about what happens would be to spoil it for you. Rest assured that the way it is presented is nothing short of brilliance, so that when the final twist comes - well, I didn’t see it coming.

Tyranny is back on its thriller A game, after so many episodes that were more… moody and character driven than out and out thrillers. Which only serves to give this episode that much more punch.

The camera work is gorgeous - the choice of colours and tint for the exteriors is amazing. Even the simple shot of a tape being put in a handicam is beautiful, with rich colours and a full contrast range. (That’s my camera geek side coming out.) The sound is great, the tense music is exactly what the scene needs.

In short, wow.

From YouTube Description:

episode 14 of Tyranny the Web Series-
“Out of Ideas”
Daniel has been frustratingly conducting sensory deprivation experiments in his loft, failing to make any headway into revealing anything hidden deep within his subconscious. He is ready to give up when a mysterious man, Dr. Ethan Chambers, enters center stage.

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Radiance Ep.8 | A Webseries Review on The Watch List

A Science Fiction Drama Web Series

5 Swirlies

“I wanna die on a full stomach.”

Whoa. Suddenly, a lot happens in this minute and a half episode.

More mystery. More deaths. A new character. Probably if you have been following this show, you’ve been intrigued enough to finish watch the rest on your own. If this is your first time coming across this series, this isn’t a bad entry point.

From YouTube Description:

Ten friends in Los Angeles experience an unusual event together- and try to survive.
Starring:
Brian Gattas
Jade Gordon
Tom Lenk
Chad Lindsey
Alisa Mcronald
Sam Pancake
Jack Plotnick
Christos Prevezanos
Chris Shea
Doug Stockstill
and
Rachel Stolte

Written and directed by Jim Hansen

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Casual S02E04 “Fragments” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Romance Drama Web Series

5 Swirlies

Casual 2.4: Fragments from Altermotion Pictures on Vimeo.

“It doesn’t work. Whatever you’re running away from comes back.”

Another great episode – with lots of back and forthing in time.

I’ve gushed over this show so many times. Let me just say – everything is at the same high quality as ever. We get to see a bit more into the main characters’ work lives, and get teases of the things that I assume caused them to break up. Lot’s of great lines and moments in this episode, again – as always.

There’s two more episodes left in Chapter Two. I hoping that the cliffhangery ending of this episode drives us to the end of the series and some answers about why they’re no longer together, and whether they’ll try again. I also noticed that season 3 of Casual has just been released! Go guys go! I’ll keep posting and hopefully catch up to you in four weeks or so.

From Vimeo Description:

Casual Episode 2.4: Fragments
Starring Lauren Marini & Brian Thomas Smith
Guest Starring Mary Jo Deschanel
Featuring Regina Saldivar, Victoria Brianne Ramirez and Jon Lewis
facebook.com/​casualseries

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