Beef

Need to Know
Beef is a dark comedy-drama miniseries on Netflix that begins with a road rage incident between two strangers, a failing contractor and an unfulfilled entrepreneur. This sparks a tit-for-tat feud that leads to escalating acts of revenge that brings out their darkest impulses.

Director: Lee Sung Jin
Cast: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino, Ashley Park, Justin H. Min

Why Is It Worth Watching?
Danny Cho (Yeun) is a failing contractor, who’s down on his luck, trying to get his business up and running, saving up to buy a plot of land for his elderly Korean parents, and, in the midst of all that, is also supporting his younger brother who’s obsessed with crypto and making fast money but doesn’t help Danny in any way.
On the other hand, there’s Amy (Wong) – a successful entrepreneur on the verge of closing a major deal and with a seemingly picture-perfect family. But she shares a strained and disconnected relationship with her husband George (Lee) who stays at home taking care of their daughter while indulging in pottery and meditation. Amy is caught up furthering her career and, in turn, sacrifices family time.
One afternoon, as they’re both barely keeping it together, Danny and Amy unexpectedly nearly crash into each other in a parking lot. The butterfly effect of events that follow the disastrous encounter makes for some great television. The show boasts sharp writing and compelling character arcs that explore the various complex aspects of human nature in relation to issues such as unresolved anger, pride and vengeance, and how a nudge in the wrong direction could take your life down unforeseen paths.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Need to Know
Everybody’s favourite hitman returns to the cinemas with the latest instalment in the John Wick franchise and this time it pulls no punches and leaves no ammo unspent. Still excommunicado but even more determined to take back his freedom regardless of the obstacles in his path, Wick is finally ready to exact his revenge against the High Table governing the underworld.

Director: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Hiroyuki Sanada, Donnie Yen, Clancy Brown, Lance Reddick

Why Is It Worth Watching?
Initially planned as a one-off movie by director Chad Stahelski, previously Keanu Reeves’ stunt double on the Matrix movies, the John Wick series has come a long way from its humble cinematic start. The latest picks up from where John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum left off. After somehow surviving the massive fall off the Continental New York’s roof, John Wick has recovered while hiding underground and has been preparing to exact revenge against the High Table. He travels to Morocco and kills the Elder, the ‘one who sits above the Table’, setting in motion the events of this movie, which, like the previous one, is brimming with non-stop action — fun and entertaining. But this time around, the film manages to do more as it captures some standout cinematography on several occasions as Wick finds himself in breathtaking scenes set in Tokyo, Berlin, Paris and New York. Four movies in and despite all the carnage, the underlying message has stayed the same – don’t be terrible to people – you never know the difficult time they could be going through, and, most importantly, be nice to dogs.