97 Best Movies & Shows Released in 2018 (Page 2)

Bill Hader writes and stars in Barry as an assassin who decides to take up acting in Hollywood. In very familiar Bill Hader fashion, Barry is funny and yet has a lot of heart. He plays his character so well that you find yourself rooting for him from the start as he navigates Chechnyan gangs, the FBI, and intense acting lessons. A lovely, funny, and smart TV show.

This is the perfect dark TV show. It’s no surprise that Julia Roberts’ performance is amazing here. She is the former director of a mysterious program for rehabilitating war veterans. She perfectly blends into her first ever TV show and the world created by the show’s director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot). That is a world of dark colors and seemingly twisted motivations. Her supporting cast is nothing short of amazing. Shea Whigham is BRILLIANT as the sad but honest detective trying to get to the bottom of things. Bobby Cannavale is also great as Julia Roberts’s old boss, a busy and eager man. This show’s surprise star is newcomer Stephan James, who plays one of the war veterans. At around 30 minutes per episode, time goes by quickly and your hunger to figure out what’s happening increases with every episode.

This historical fantasy show is based on the best-selling novel The Saxon Stories, a story set during the Viking / Dane invasion of Britain.Uhtred was a small boy when he was kidnapped and then raised by the Danes. When he unexpectedly gets caught up in the conflict, his half-Saxon half-Dane mix makes at the same time valuable and untrustworthy for both sides.There has never been a better alternative to Game of Thrones. The great writing and great performances from a cast of newcomers inevitably induce the same sense of addiction.

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) plays two characters in Counterpart, which could seem like a recipe for disaster (cf. Gemini Man). But watching this excellent thriller it’s easy to understand why so many actors take the risk to play two characters: when it pays off, it pays off big time.And what better setting to risk it than playing two completely different personalities: Counterpart is about a world that is parallel to ours. There are two versions of each one of us, living in separate and different timelines. The link between the timelines is in Berlin, both Simmons characters (Simmonses?) work in the institution that manages this bridge.It might seem like a complicated plot but there aren’t many characters and the show is not focused on the science-fiction aspect of the story. Instead, it’s a political thriller where everyone is constantly trying to kill everyone, similar to Bourne. And beyond that, it’s a smart attempt at answering the age-old question of what influences us more: nature or nurture.