Geek Girl Riot is speed-dating these featured movies and series this week. Sherin, Renee, and Julian can confirm that “they cute.” Here’s everything (on this episode) and all of them are flexing for your attention: Rye Lane, The Night Agent, The Big Door Prize, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, AIR, A Thousand and One, Tetris, and Rap Caviar.
Rye Lane
Sherin and Renee start with Rye Lane from Searchlight Pictures and it’s instalove. Sherin says, “Rye Lane is what romance looks like from inside our heads, where we’re awkward and everyone is ridiculous (including us), and we’re imposters posing as heroes; it’s so very anxiety-inducing but we go all in because new love is a drug (and we’re high AF).”
The Night Agent
Renee and Sherin depart on this new Netflix series but they’re also in two very different places in the plot progression Check back to see if Renee changes her mind once she watches more episodes (and to see if she finds a way to forgive the messed up geography in this version of Washington, DC). Sherin felt better about the spy-thriller, saying, “The Night Agent is proof you can’t trust the government but it’s an exciting world because any and everybody could get Game of Throned while our leading duo rampages around DC in search of the truth.”
The Big Door Prize
At this point, Sherin had a recommendation from Apple TV+ for Renee and for you too, “The Big Door Prize is comforting but bonkers with characters fully magnified inside a petri dish of human absurdity.”
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Julian comes through and the conversation goes epic—epic fantasy based on the most loved RPG (role playing game) OF ALL TIME from Paramount Pictures. We’re spinning the dice with this new D&D live-action adventure. It’s “An epic fantasy that is drunk on several tankards of mead, several nods to the fandom, and a cast that makes the madness work with the skills of a mage,” according to Sherin. Julian didn’t expect much but was good with this version,”They have finally made a good adaptation of this game. The film has the right amount of humor and respect for the source, that works for those who know it and those who have no idea but want a good time.”
AIR
This one has to be Julian’s top pick of the week. Coming from Amazon Studios, AIR includes some of his favorite things: basketball, sneakers, history, and strong performances in a well-written script, “Affleck is able to bring about the thrills of a sports film to a story that is more than a commercial for a
shoe line and is about people having equity in what they make and what is made from them.” Sherin backs his opinion with an equally complimentary take, “With its grumpy old 80s guy humor and buzzy nostalgia, AIR flips this Nike x Jordan biopic into something that makes you smile because it doesn’t do what you expect.”
A Thousand and One
Teyana Taylor breathes multifaceted life into her first leading role from Focus Features, a movie set in the mid-90s that shows various slices of ten years of life in NYC. It’s hard-knock but immediate and, as Julian and Sherin will tell you, A Thousand and One leaves an impression. Julian says, “A fantastic performance from Teyana Taylor anchors this film about a mother and son that goes in ways you wouldn’t expect but also captures the spirit of mid-’90s through early 2000s New York City perfectly.”
Tetris
Both Sherin and Julian were struck by the new Apple TV+ biopic, Tetris. Julian say, “This film goes from plucky tech success stories into an international business and political thriller and back again. It’s nothing as you’d expect from a video game film and is just as engaging as the game is. While Sherin had similar thoughts, “Tetris is high-stakes international gamespionage told with the charming quirks of auteur cinema.”
Rap Caviar
Spotify’s biggest playlist takes over Hulu with a documentary series that explores what makes the current world of hip-hop spin. Julian shares, “RapCaviar does the one thing many Hip Hop 50 celebratory events are missing—what’s happening now. It does a great job of telling the stories of these artists that dominate the Spotify playlist and connecting them with issues affecting our society and rap music today.”
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