Well, the Streamys are nearly here. Never heard of a Streamy? The Streamy is basically the Oscar award of the online video community, with awards for best series, best actor, best directing, best writing, and many more. Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal. The award ceremony is coming up on April 11th, and seeing the list of nominees reminded me how much I enjoyed “Angel of Death” by writer Ed Brubaker (of comic book writing fame).
Told in episodes of 7-10 minutes, “Angel of Death” is basically a high-action crime movie featuring actress Zoe Bell as Eve, a cold, ruthless killer. If the photo looks familiar, it’s because you’ve probably seen Zoe in Grindhouse. She was the crazy woman hanging from the hood of the muscle car in Death Proof. (Probably one of the scariest car stunts I’ve ever seen!) And even if you don’t recognize her, you’ve seen her work as a stunt woman in Xena, Kill Bill, and Inglorious Basterds. This lady is the real thing!
With an actress / stunt woman like Zoe Bell as the lead, one could easily expect mindless action throughout, but this is where the series really shines. Yeah, there are lots of crazy wild action scenes, but it is the storyline running underneath that gives all of these events such urgency. Early in the series, Eve botches a job for her mob boss, and she ends up being stabbed in a way that you just have to see. My description just wouldn’t be able to give it proper justice, and I would hate to ruin that “gasp” moment for you. But after this injury, Eve has a real crisis of conscience. Is this life of crime and violence what she really wants? And if she tries to do the right thing, how could she possibly survive the experience?
If this were a movie rated by the MPAA, it would have easily gotten an “R” for language and violence. Trust me, there are some grisly scenes. But none of the violence seems out of the character of the mob world. Imagine a Martin Scorcese film cranked up with some music video visuals.
And a big treat for all you Xena fans out there, Lucy Lawless makes an appearance as a creepy, but mostly well-intentioned neighbor.
Check the show out, and keep an eye out for the Streamys coming on April 11th.
