This is Vantage POINT: A monthly moodboard for things that have been on our minds as of late, topics both fresh and familiar. We point you towards what to watch out for and what we think you should be enjoying right now. And if whatever we love becomes whatever you love (at least a little bit), then we’ve done our jobs.
A new year and a new decade: 2020 is all about bright and bold beginnings. Start the year right with our handpicked January finds. From interactive websites to a slew of new Netflix shows and exciting game updates, let Vantage be your guide in what to look out for this month.
Release: January 1
For Netflix, the next decade ushers in new TV dramas to replace a bulk of those already coming to an end. Luckily, the instant that 2020 arrives, Spinning Out will already be up-and-running on the online streaming service. This Netflix original follows the life of high-level athlete Kat Baker (Kaya Scoledario) who, after an undisclosed traumatic experience, finally puts her ice skates back in the closet. Just when the discouraged Baker attempts to hide herself along with her demons, talented skater Justin Davis (Evan Roderick) urges her to go back to the rink. Their goal? To head to the Olympics as pair skaters and maybe find romance in between. The trailer doesn’t reveal how the story will progress, but it’s definitely enough to pique my interest—after all, I’m a sucker for second chances and redemption stories of anyone working to be better. - Bea
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PC)
Release: January 10
Capcom’s Monster Hunter World is back with an expansion, and its new features include additional combat mechanics, a new area, and a new rank for difficulty. Don’t be fooled by the title Monster Hunter though, as it becomes immediately obvious that the most important part of the game is making sure your palico is happy and healthy. All jokes aside, your palico is your beloved cat partner and friend. And if you want your palico to be warm and cozy in the frozen wastes, you’ll need to make some winter coats out of the local wildlife. With him, you’ll explore an icy new locale, where new monsters means new gear for both you and your little friend. All this gives Monster Hunter World the potential to be a deeply satisfying game, solo or with a party: Every fight poses a thrilling challenge and an opportunity to experiment with an ever-expanding arsenal. - Nigel
Crash Landing On You (2019)
In this Netflix K-drama, a rich South Korean businesswoman turns up in North Korea after a paragliding mishap. With a premise as creative as this, Park Ji Eun, who also wrote the script for the fantasy series Legend of the Blue Sea (2016) and the sci-fi My Love From The Star (2017), proves that there can never be too many K-dramas in the world. Crash Landing On You is not your ordinary romcom as it’s a little bit of everything. The script guarantees to swoon and has me laughing out loud but also promises action, despicable antagonists, and suspense-driven politics. This is brought to life by veteran actors: Hyun Bin gives the upright, stoic army officer Ri Jeong-Hyeok a naïve but lovable air. And as his leading lady, Son Ye-Jin’s comprehensive facial expressions show just how complex the self-made businesswoman Yoon Se-ri is. With an unpredictable script, stellar cast, and even Yoon Mirae in the original soundtrack, Crash Landing On You is a great way to set the mood of K-dramas in 2020. - Jana
Watchmen (2019)
Set 34 years after the comic series of the same name, the HBO show Watchmen follows the modern-day progression of the comic’s alternate history. Keeping with the original Watchmen’s tradition of debunking the concept of a superhero, the new series continues to examine the dysfunctionality hidden beneath a mask. Following a grisly attack, police officer Angela Abar (Regina King) dons the cape name Sister Night to combat the white supremacist group Seventh Kavalry. As Abar’s war with the Seventh Kavalry escalates, the series takes to heart the complexity that made the original Watchmen so real: Creating a set of characters with traits that make them “heroic” and faults that make them human. In this vein, Watchmen’s “heroes” have always been morally gray, with different characters representing differing codes of ethics and flaws to go with them. The new series adapts the same formula for present-day tensions–at least in America–and results in a satisfyingly unsettling watch. It’s tense, it’s political, and it’s Watchmen for the 21st century. - Nigel
Recently, I had the chance to have another kind of underwater adventure after I curiously tapped a redirect from a friend’s shared Facebook post. The link brought me to neal.fun’s The Deep Sea, an interactive visualization of the ocean where each scroll from your smartphone brings you closer to the seafloor. With its clean user interface and sparse blocks of text, the website is heavy on labeled graphics about sea creatures at certain depths. The first 30 meters down are home to the all-too-familiar salmon and clownfish, but have you ever considered what lurks a hundred or even a thousand meters deep? Admittedly, life forms of the sea are not my cup of tea on a regular day, but wanting to reach the end of this dynamic page keeps me scrolling down The Deep Sea for more–better this than spending hours on end browsing social media. - Bea
As the world witnesses the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and humanoid robots, the website Immaterial Girls discusses technology and women in bold graphics. Reminiscent of Black Mirror’s (2011) themes, this beta site by Swedish graphic designer Linn Wergelius features five uniquely designed pages—body, mind, voice, heart, and soul—that identify trends in AI and how the idea of a “woman” has influenced the technology. Visiting these links is like stumbling on a Web 1.0 page, only with better graphics and interface. For example, the voice page—which tackles the popularity of the female voice in AI like Siri—boasts buttons like whisper, shout, or data which allow you to make the text italic, bold, or in binary numbers respectively. The edgy look of the site may appeal mostly to design nerds like me, yet its content can make anyone do a double-take on how technological developments affect us–especially as we welcome a new decade of possibilities. - Jana