By: Reed Morris

The Background

Netflix has become a household name for most of the western world. With almost 200 million subscribers worldwide, it’s no surprise that the company is leading the world in paid video streaming. Recently however, Netflix’s throne atop the mountain of the streaming giants has begun to teeter. More and more of Netflix’s market share has started to slip away to other services such as: Amazon’s ‘Prime Video’, Disney+, Apple TV+, Hulu, and HBO Max. This shift of market share was expected, but Netflix just might not be able to keep up.

The Paradigm Shift

While Netflix has been in the lead for years now, the content that consumers are looking for has started to change. In the past, most streaming services focused on recycled content. Netflix and other streaming services have focused their money and resources on licensing and advertising, which in itself cost a lot of money. The problem for Netflix is that this model of streaming is becoming more and more outdated. Most new content seen on streaming services is shifting towards original productions.

Netflix has seen many large successes in original content such as shows like ‘Outer Banks’ and ‘Squid Game’, but those were extremely viral outliers. Most of Netflix’s original content goes mostly unseen or ignored. The biggest problem for Netflix, regarding original content, is the cost. The cost to write, produce, and finish a TV show or movie well exceeds the amount of money needed to buy the licensing rights to a TV show or movie that already exists.

The Competition

The main reason Netflix doesn’t have a huge chance at staying atop the streaming throne is due to who they’re competing with. While Netflix is currently valued at a market cap of $166 Billion, it’s competing against global tech conglomerates such as Apple, valued at $2.8 Trillion, and Amazon, valued at $1.65 Trillion, as well as entertainment superpower Disney, valued at a more manageable $253.9 Billion. Netflix does not stand any sort of chance against companies with such unimaginably deep pockets.

The Rise of Amazon Prime Video

As of March 2022, Amazon has struck a deal with the massive production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to purchase the company for $8.5 Billion. This buyout brings up a lot of questions about anti-trust, and extreme monopolistic behaviors in itself, but that’s a problem for another day.

This buyout by Amazon is a huge threat to Netflix and every other streaming platform out there. Not only does the acquisition of a professional and self sustainable film studio give Amazon a huge advantage over other services, they also carried over all of the intellectual property owned by MGM. This includes franchises such as James Bond, Rocky, and Stargate. Similarly, a myriad of other iconic films and TV shows were acquired through the buyout. Amazon, a trillion dollar company, can now produce large amounts of quality original content for both streaming and theaters, cementing Amazon’s place as a future leader in the streaming industry.

The Future

Like most other massive corporate buyouts, a lot of ethics and legalities are brought into question. Even though the FTC has yet to rubber stamp the acquisition, based on similar (questionably monopolistic) buyouts earlier this year, they won’t have a problem in doing so. If it does go through, Amazon will start to pump out more and more original content for consumers to watch. Unless Netflix can pull off something similar, their throne at the top will be toppled, and Amazon Prime Video will take the throne as the new King.

By: Eva Olson

‘Say Anything’ is a late 80’s rom-com starring John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler and Ione Skye as Diane Court. This movie is about Lloyd and Diane’s journey and the struggles of having Diane’s possessive single father always on their backs and doubting them.

This movie was very funny, mainly because of Lloyd. He found a way to make jokes during even the most serious scenes. One of my favorite scenes was when Lloyd had dinner with Diane’s father and his friends.

I really liked Lloyd and Diane’s dynamic and how Diane was kind of hesitant at first about Lloyd, but he was so persistent and eventually won her over.

All the characters were super funny too, including Lloyd’s friends. I really liked the cast and thought it was cool that both Joan and John Cusack were in the movie and played siblings (because they’re siblings in real life).

The plot was very entertaining because of all of the conflict surrounding Diane’s father. It was interesting to see how their relationship changed throughout the movie, because at the beginning they would tell each other absolutely everything but in the end, Diane finds out her father has been hiding something huge from her.

I loved being able to finally watch the famous boombox scene that has been referenced in so many other shows and movies. In this scene they are broken up and Lloyd stands outside Diane’s window blasting music while she’s trying to sleep.

Overall, I enjoyed watching this movie and thought it was really good. I recommend this movie to anyone who’s a fan of 80’s movies and rom-coms. I really liked how they ended the movie making it so you could imagine what was going to happen. I would give this movie a 4⁄5 star rating. You can watch this movie on HBO Max.

By: Abdihakim Mohamoud

The reimagining of the popular ’90s sitcom ‘The Fresh Prince’ has taken thousands of fans by surprise. Although the original show was a comedy, the new ‘Bel Air’ show takes a darker, more intense take on ‘The Fresh Prince’.

Here are some of the key differences between the two shows, and how they compare to each other.

The reboot, which was inspired by a fan-made trailer of what ‘The Fresh Prince’ would look like today, takes the original sitcom to dramatic heights. One of the main differences is the newer shower digging deeper into Will’s past, and explores his life back in Philadelphia. ‘Bel-Air’ gives viewers a significant reason for his leaving Philadelphia; he was involved in a gunfight which led to a gang leader threatening him. This forced Will to leave Philadelphia and move in with his uncle and aunt in Bel-Air.

Another key difference between ‘Bel-Air’ and ‘The Fresh Prince’ was how Carlton is/was portrayed. In the original show, Carlton was a harmless character, however, in the reboot, Carlton is one of the antagonists. In the first few episodes, Carlton is intent on embarrassing Will, as he humiliates him in front of the entire school. Carlton also becomes incredibly jealous about Will and his uncle Philip Banks’s relationship, because Philip is his actual father.

All in all, the newer, more dramatic version of ‘The Fresh Prince’ has major differences from the original show. Carlton becomes an antagonist and the show digs deep into Will’s previous life back home. The show was criticized by fans at first, claiming that it was unnecessary for one of the most influential shows of all time to be remade. However, after a few episodes, fans quickly realized how different the show was, yet equally as enjoyable.

For more information, please visit:

• https://younghollywood.com/scene/the-5-key-differences-between-bel-air-and-the-fresh-p rince.html
• https://ew.com/tv/fresh-prince-vs-bel-air-character-differences/
• https://www.inquirer.com/news/bel-air-reboot-peacock-fresh-prince-will-smith-20220211 .html

By: Liv Miller

‘In The Heights’ is a musical drama that was released in 2021. It is based off of the Broadway musical written by Lin Manuel Miranda, in which its first performance was put on back in July of 2005. After the musical was a huge success on Broadway, Lin Manuel had the idea to bring it to the big screen.

Some background information on this movie is that ‘In The Heights’ takes place in a community in Manhattan called “Washington Heights” where its population is mainly Latina/Latino. The movie follows certain people in this community, and their lives, family, jobs, dreams, and what they want for themselves in the future.

This movie is very cultural based, and highlights Latino culture through certain styles of music and dance. It also tries to highlight the struggles of a minority community and how they are limited by where they come from and how little opportunities they are given by being a part of that community.

I don’t want to give away much about the movie in my review but I liked how the writers made you feel like you really knew the characters. I got pulled into their stories by the music and by how all of their relationships were written and portrayed. The characters mainly communicated their struggles in the songs which I liked. The writers did a good job with making the viewers invested in the story and feel like they are also a part of the community that is featured in the “heights”. The way the characters all interacted like a family made me sympathize with them and connect with the characters more.

I noticed that at the beginning of the movie most of the characters either were struggling with achieving their goals, didn’t know what their goals/dreams were, or hadn’t made an effort to achieve them yet. Throughout the movie I saw each character gain a better understanding of their dreams, and by the end saw a majority of the characters happy with how their life had turned out.

Overall, I really liked the movie. It was cool to watch because it centered around a type of community that’s never really been highlighted in other musicals and films. I liked that the storyline was very realistic and it’s based off of a real place and real issues that are happening in certain communities. I also liked the music and dance styles they included in the movie, because it highlighted the culture of the people this story was about, instead of just having the classic music and dance styles typically used in other musicals.

If you want to see ‘In The Heights’ it is available on Hulu and HBO Max.

By: Samera Adam

Ava DuVernay produced, co-wrote, and directed ‘When They See Us’, a four-part Netflix original crime drama miniseries that premiered on May 31, 2019. It is based on the 1989 Central Park jogger case and follows the lives and families of the five Black male suspects. The five were wrongfully convicted and prosecuted for the rape and abuse of a white woman in New York City.

The show starts off with the 5 main characters Raymond, Kevin, Korey, Yusef, and Antron hanging around in their neighborhood of Harlem. At this point of the story none of them have met yet, except for the 2 best friends Yusuf and Korey. It continues with them and their different friend groups all heading for Central Park after sunset. They didn’t know that by going to the park, they were walking into trouble.

Instantly, when the groups got to the park, policemen surround the boys, and the groups they were with. The majority of the boys were able to run away but Antron and Raymond were tackled down. While Kevin, the tiniest one, was beaten with a helmet. The 3 boys were then taken to the precinct where they were interrogated for hours.

Korey and Yusuf thought that they had gotten away; they were wrong.

Days later, Yusuf and Korey were stopped by a group of policemen walking back home. Yusuf “fit the description” so was taken for questioning. The police officer then told Korey he could leave unless he just wanted to tag along and keep his friend company. Which as a loyal friend, he did. 

During the long period that they were interrogated, they all somehow told the cops what they wanted to hear (some were told to do so by family or lawyers), as a group of scared teens will do. They were then recorded and they played their fake confessions in court where they were taken to trial.

The show then continues with all their different experiences with being incarcerated and finally getting freed after the actual rapist came out with the truth.