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WONDLA – Joy Ngiaw
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
WondLa is an animated science-fiction adventure TV series produced by Skydance Animation which aired on Apple TV+ for 20 episodes across three seasons between 2024 and 2025. It is an adaptation of the 2010 children’s novel The Search for WondLa (and its sequels) by Tony DiTerlizzi, and follows the adventures of Eva, a teenage human girl who grows up in a state-of-the-art bunker, assisted by ‘M.U.T.H.R,’ a robot caretaker. However, after an attack on the bunker by unknown assailants on her sixteenth birthday, Eva suddenly finds herself on the surface of a strange planet called Orbona, which is inhabited by aliens, and which appears to have no other humans. With the help of Otto, a friendly giant sentient tardigrade, and a cantankerous alien named Rovender Kitt, and guided by a faded picture containing the word ‘WondLa,’ Eva sets off across the planet to find others like her, and hopefully establish a new home. The show stars Jeanine Mason as the voice of Eva, and has a fun supporting voice cast that includes Teri Hatcher, Brad Garrett, Alan Tudyk, John Ratzenberger, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Simon Pegg, and Dwight Schultz, among others. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 9
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the ninth and last of 2025, is a bumper crop, and covers another nine scores released last year from a wide array of genres and countries, including a short film from the Netherlands about magical paintings, a short film from Canada that makes the directorial debut of an Emmy-winning composer, a comedy-drama film from Denmark about a bank robber with dissociative identity disorder, a supernatural murder mystery from Vietnam about a 19th-century detective, and a short film from Mexico about a little girl and a heroic horsewoman who wields a magical lasso.
Then there’s an Australian sci-fi action horror film about a group of American soldiers encountering dinosaurs during the Vietnam war, an animated sex comedy from Norway about two sperms on an epic adventure trying to find their way to an un-fertilized egg, a Spanish TV series about a detective investigating a series of murders in a rural community, and an action horror film from Norway about a pair of gargantuan trolls terrorizing the fjords!
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 8
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the eighth of 2025, covers another five scores released this year from a wide array of genres and countries, including a Korean romantic fantasy TV series about a time-travelling chef, the latest season of a long-running British period TV series about midwives serving London’s working poor, a Norwegian Christmas action-comedy caper about a family of mischievous mice, the third film in a series of films from Finland about a young girl who can transform into a flying guinea pig super hero, and a Chinese period TV drama series about the marriage between a son and a daughter from rival clans. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 7
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the seventh of 2025, covers another six scores released this year from a wide array of genres and countries, including a French documentary feature about the forgotten women of the Revolution, a Spanish mystery TV series about a pair of missing teenage girls, a French comedy film about the first African astronauts, a drama about the love affair between two of the most famous actors in French cinema in the 1960s, a horror-thriller for a film based on a mysterious short story by Edgar Allan Poe, and a Swedish historical murder mystery TV series involving a murderous bear.
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 6
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the sixth of 2025, covers another five scores released this year from a wide array of genres and countries, including a Japanese anime TV series set in a steampunk alternate-universe World War I, a children’s fantasy film from Germany based on a beloved novel, a playful animated fantasy film from Thailand, a superb romantic score from a French live action short film, and an epic fantasy adventure score from China based on one of the four great classic novels of Chinese literature!
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 5
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the fifth of 2025, covers another six scores released in the first half of the year from a wide array of genres and countries, including spooky sitcom from France, a gorgeous nature documentary from the Basque country of Spain, a French-Canadian comedy-drama, a Chinese military action film, a Japanese animated romantic drama film set during the French Revolution, and a French comedy-adventure film set in North Africa, with music by a recent Oscar-winner!
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 4
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the fourth of 2025, covers another six scores released in the first half of the year from a wide array of genres and countries, including a Japanese drama TV series set in a high school, a British true life period crime drama about the last woman to executed in the UK, a Ramadan TV drama series from Syria, a German children’s fantasy adventure film, a Norwegian period drama TV series about the Norwegian royal family, and a French comedy-adventure film about a high-flying air hostess!
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 3
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the third of 2025, covers another six scores released in the first half of the year from a wide array of genres and countries, including a couple of Japanese TV series – one of which is an adaptation of a beloved piece of classic Canadian literature – plus a French romantic drama film, an Italian historical drama film, a French historical drama TV series, and an epic fantasy film from China that is the sequel to one of the best scores of 2023.
WASHINGTON BLACK – Cameron Moody
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Washington Black is a new Hulu drama-adventure TV series based on the 2018 ‘bildungsroman’ novel of the same name by Canadian-Ghanaian author Esi Edugyan. The story follows the adventures of George Washington ‘Wash’ Black, who is born into slavery on a sugar plantation in Barbados in the early 1800s. When a brutal new overseer named Erasmus Wilde takes charge of the plantation, Wash is unexpectedly chosen to be the assistant to Erasmus’s brother Christopher, nicknamed ‘Titch,’ a kindhearted inventor who is also secretly an abolitionist seeking to end slavery. Titch teaches Wash to read, write, and appreciate scientific exploration, introducing him to a world of wonder. However, a traumatic event forces Titch and Wash to flee Barbados in a flying machine, and their escape sets them on an adventurous globe spanning journey across the Americas to Nova Scotia, the Arctic, then to London, Morocco, and beyond, all with Erasmus’s slave-hunting henchman Willard hot on their trail. The show was written by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, produced under the auspices of showrunner Kimberly Ann Harrison, and stars Ernest Kingsley Jr. and Eddie Karanja as the younger and older Wash, with Rupert Graves, Tom Ellis, Billy Boyd, and Sterling K. Brown in major supporting roles. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 2
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the second of 2025, covers another six scores released in the first quarter of the year from a wide array of genres and countries, including a quirky Italian comedy-drama, a Spanish documentary feature about a contemporary Christian music group, an Italian WWII drama, a French animated film about Frida Kahlo, a Finnish crime drama TV series, and a Swedish animated film about a super-hero baby!
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2025, Part 1
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the first of 2025, covers seven scores released in the first quarter of the year from a wide array of genres and countries, including tender romance score from Japan, a fantastic historical animated action-adventure TV score from France, a jazzy Swiss period drama, a Japanese animated short film, a Norwegian nature documentary TV series, a French period TV series, and a French action-adventure score with a gender-swapped twist! Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2024, Part 7
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest installment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the seventh and last of 2024, is a massive bumper crop covering NINE scores from across the world, all of which deserve to be considered in people’s end-of-year best lists. The scores include a Spanish animated adventure film, an acclaimed WWII documentary, an Italian comedy-drama, a Hungarian historical epic film, an uplifting and life-affirming Norwegian documentary , a sultry Italian thriller TV mini-series, a Spanish Christmas-themed animated action-adventure comedy, a Spanish horror-thriller TV series for Netflix, and a Japanese drama television series! Read more…
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, SEASON TWO – Bear McCreary
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE SHOW, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER WAITING UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE DONE SO TO READ IT.
Despite being one of the most lavish, ambitious, and expensive television shows in the history of the medium, the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was not quite the overwhelming success that Amazon Prime Video hoped and expected it to be. Although it quickly became the most-watched Prime Video original series in history, and although it received generally positive reviews from critics – particularly for its visuals and designs – many Tolkien purists took great exception to the fact that showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay took some creative liberties with the source material. Not only that, the show was also the victim of racist online ‘review bombing’ stemming from complaints about the casting of non-white actors in key roles, as if that matters in a fantasy setting. Such is the way of toxic fandom today. Despite this, I thought it was absolutely outstanding, one of the most impressive television productions I have ever seen. Read more…
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2024, Part 4
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest instalment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the fourth of 2024, covers another six scores from a wide array of genres and countries: a French period courtroom comedy, a new adaptation of a classic of French literature, two Japanese TV scores, a Chinese animated fantasy film, and a Swedish TV series remake of a beloved children’s adventure!
Under-the-Radar Round Up 2024, Part 3
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
I’m pleased to present the latest instalment in my on-going series of articles looking at the best under-the-radar scores from around the world.
This article, the third of 2024, covers seven scores from a wide array of genres and countries: a Chinese thriller about an autistic math genius, a French historical TV mini-series, a Spanish romantic thriller, a Japanese romantic survival horror movie based on a TV show, a French action comedy, a Japanese TV series about surrogate parenting, and a French swashbuckling TV series, all of which feature superb and memorable thematic writing!
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