Indie films-games and something anything else inbetween! At IndyFilm Oneblaze we try to highlight Indy creative projects.

Wow what a series. Mr Inbetween a series which is the continuation and conclusion to a 2005 Australian film called the magician, staring Scott Ryan as Ray Shoesmith, who happens to be a hitman. I have never seen the film so sadly I cannot compare but the tv series is phenomenal. Out the gate you are dragged thru a series of crazy unfortunate events for protagonist marks. Ray is a hitman and sadly he is efficient at his job. What the series tries to do is give this hitman a sense of a normal life. He has a daughter, a sick brother, a pain in the ass best friend who always has his back and vice-versa, a handler of sorts or better yet the person that finds him contract jobs. Ray does exhibit a sense of having some form of a code which is showing as the series unravels. You just want to root for this villain of sorts, who is simply trying to live his life. If you are a fan of breaking bad you may enjoy this series. The series is much shorter with only 30 minute episodes which amazingly fills a void. Trust me even with a shorter burst this series delivers and good grief this was a great ride which left me sadden at the conclusion. Oh, the conclusion does not disappoint just in-case you were wondering. It is a bitter sweet series that simply left my soul incomplete and simply wanted more. The writing staff really out did themselves on this series. Funny enough the series was created by Scott Ray who happens to be the star. This series had difficulties being green lit and took several years before given the go and I have to state I am elated that this was created and just sadden that it ended. If you get a chance check it out. I won’t spoil this amazing series for you with any spoiler just know that Ray has a code basically don’t screw with him, his family or his friends.

The live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop arrived on Netflix Nov 19 2021. For a fan of the original anime series it was a delight seeing this series make its debut. Everything about the live-action screamed fan service and nostalgia, it felt as though the showrunner and crew simply adored the anime, they even brought back Yoko Kanno to score the series which gave the series it’s flavor. The selection for the cast was a close match with a few changes or adjustments for the real world and time. Spike is played by John Cho, Jet is played by Mustafa Shakir, Faye is played by Daniella Pineda, Julia is played by Elena Satine and Vicious is played by Alex Hassell. We even had John Noble grace the cast.
Sadly we have some die hard fans and also some not so diehard fans who simply hate the cast and several things about this interpretation. For example there is a level of disgust directed at Faye’s live action counterpart, the disgust is projected at the lack of larger than life boo-sums and also that her clothing is not revealing enough. Those are things I those factor have nothing to do with the story element or any story progression.

As an artist and designer I loved the set designs and simply adored the blend of old and new technology which echoed the how the anime presented the world. One big change was the length of the series which was roughly almost an hour long show. Which provided the series with room to breath for each episode and fill in more detail per episode. At the time of this review 10 episodes were released. The finale for the 10 episode had my heart racing and for the fans there is a slight twist which I will not ruin lets just say all the key music from the anime made it in here especially the “Green Bird” track. This was only the first half of the anime just an FYI. Jet’s character sounds so much like the American dubbed voice actor that I had to double take several times.

To conclude I have to give the cast and crew credit for doing a great job.