Reviews of the Netflix documentary series The Keepers and the Serial podcast S-Town, both of which are extraordinary works of narrative nonfiction.
Netflix
Who killed a nun 47 years ago, and why? Preview Netflix’s The Keepers
In 10 days, Netflix debuts its seven-party series The Keepers, which explores a young nun’s murder and may be the next Making a Murderer.
Hot Girls Wanted is spinning off a ‘sex and technology’ reality series, Turned On
The Netflix documentary Hot Girls Wanted has inspired a new six-episode documentary reality series, Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On, which debuts in April.
Review: Netflix’s Ultimate Beastmaster
Netflix’s first reality competition series, Ultimate Beastmaster, arrived today. While it owes a lot to NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, it turns out that the genius part of the show’s business strategy turns out to be its best creative move, too. The draw here is not Sylvester Stallone, who appears in the trailer and the introduction, monotoning his way through some scripted lines before evaporating, but rather… continue reading
Mythbusters’ Kari, Tory, and Grant’s new mystery show is a Netflix series
Netflix’s The White Rabbit Project will reunite Mythbusters stars Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara, who will not be busting myths.
Netflix and Amazon’s unscripted food series will face off
Both Amazon’s Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse and Netflix’s Chef’s Table: France will debut on the exact same day in September.
Netflix’s first competition show has 108 contestants, and sounds familiar
Netflix announced its first reality competition series today: Ultimate Beastmaster, which will have contestants from six countries doing something familiar.
Errol Morris is working on his own Netflix true-crime series
The documentary filmmaker behind The Thin Blue Line and The Fog of War is making his own Making a Murderer for Netflix: a six-episode true-crime series.
Review: Making a Murderer shocks with its portrayal of ‘human failing’
In episode seven of Netflix’s extraordinary documentary reality series Making a Murderer, one of the lawyers for accused murderer Steven Avery is driving through a snowy Wisconsin landscape. A camera operator is sitting in the passenger seat, producing footage that, as with most of the series’ visuals, looks like a well-made home movie. The lawyer makes the kind of… continue reading
Chef’s Table rediscovers the soul and passion in food TV
Chef’s Table premiered on Netflix in April. There are just six episodes, and they are wonderfully sublime and perfectly crafted.
Yet almost eight months later, I am still not finished watching its first season.
Unlike Netflix series that are designed to cliffhang or propel you to the next episode, Chef’s Table 50-minute stand alone. They’re chapters in the same book, yes, but ones that give enough to digest without having to race ahead to the next one.
Here’s Netflix’s crazy murder reality series, filmed over 10 years
Netflix has announced its own 10-part series about long-running murder mystery: Making a Murderer, which debuts Dec. 18. The documentary reality series follows a case that unfolds over more than 30 years. While this follows HBO’s success with the thrilling but problematic documentary series The Jinx, the series itself was filmed over 10 years, starting with a 2005 newspaper article that… continue reading