Spectrum TV Stream Explained: Plans, Pricing, Channels

When released during the pandemic, Glass Onion was acclaimed, but not at the same level as its predecessor. This time, however, Wake Up Dead Man rises up as the better sequel to the Knives out franchise. Taking stage in a Catholic parish, the third installment lays its eyes on religion, with the same biting satire poking fun at the various hypocrisies embodied by the ensemble. It’s a dicey subject, but Wake Up Dead Man leans into it, with sharp observations of how faith gets twisted for personal gain, and contrasting it with the earnest belief of Josh O’ Connor’s Rev. Jud Duplenticy. Where Glass Onion feels detached, this case challenges detective Benoit Blanc on both a professional and internal level. Wake Up Dead Man revitalizes the franchise with such a fascinating mystery.

Based on the 2011 novella of the same name, Train Dreams depicts the life of Robert Grainier in the first half of the 20th century. It’s a pretty ordinary life. Born without parents, and not quite sociable, Grainier lives a lonely existence, a loneliness that’s interrupted occasionally by talks with his fellow co-workers and the limited time he gets with his family. However, that doesn’t mean it’s boring. Joel Edgerton delivers one of his best performances that subtly depicts his inner world, while writer-director Clint Bentley pairs Grainier’s day-to-day with surreal dreams, feverish imaginings that captures Grainier’s deepest hopes for the people he’s lost. Train Dreams depicts an ordinary life with extraordinary sensitivity.

The White Tiger only occurs once in 10,000 births naturally, so it’s a fitting title for this film’s protagonist, as someone deemed smart enough to have a shot at breaking through his social class. It’s an extraordinary character study. It’s not because it’s the most original story, because it would be easy to recognize how much of an underdog Balram Halwai is. It’s extraordinary because of the pulsing anger that bleeds through the dark humor, a refusal to sugarcoat that makes the film stand out. As Balram recalls the upper class family he used to work for, the drama dives deep into the systemic corruption that determines most people’s fate in India, with such a gripping direction that it’s hard to look away, even as it gets ugly. 

With a runtime of a whopping 3 hours and 30 minutes, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (or K3G) might be too long for the average movie watcher. After all, it would require a whole afternoon just to watch. However, there’s something compelling about the way this dual romance presents its conflict. The first half could already work as a film of its own, as a sweeping romance between Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, complete with parental disapproval, the revoking of one’s inheritance, and multiple thunderstrikes to underscore the drama of a confrontation. But this first half sets up a lighter, comedic follow-up in London, with Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor stepping up to Parent Trap the Raichand family into harmony. As Laddu orchestrates their reunion, K3G takes familiar Bollywood tropes to cathartically mirror the pain of families separated by migration.

First They Killed My Father adapts the memoir of Cambodian refugee Loung Ung, and it’s not an easy life she’s lived. From the eyes of her child self, the turbulence of the time is already shocking to see, having had to go through starvation, separation from her family, and being thrown into the Cambodian civil war as a child soldier. However, what makes this harrowing biopic work is the way it balances the historical context with Ung’s personal journey. Drawing from her activism in the country (the same humanitarian work that granted her Cambodian citizenship), Angelina Jolie moves beyond the political to the situation on the ground, keeping the memory of what’s at stake each time foreign intervention stokes civil war.

What does it take to make a great hockey team? Of course, one must select the most skilled players. But for a team representing a nation, there are more aspects that play into it. That’s what Indian national men’s team captain Kabir Khan discovers in this sports drama. After losing to Pakistan and shaking hands with them at the end of the game, Khan’s sportsmanship is interpreted as foul play, in part due to his Muslim background. He does not fit into what India believes to be Indian. So when he stages a comeback as the coach for the women’s team, he has much to prove. Through the ensemble cast from various Indian states, Chak De! India mirrors the struggles of Indian multiculturalism, with the personal conflict echoing the real-life difficulties that hinder peace within the whole country. It’s not entirely perfect, but Chak De! India makes clear how much the nation can accomplish if only they were given a real chance to work together.