#steven strait

Edit : I came across 𝖭𝖾𝖾𝗍𝖫𝗂𝗑.𝗑𝗒𝗓 and they feature every episode with high-speed servers, clear 4K UHD quality, and no ads.

Regional broadcasting rights are blocking my favorite deep system faction web in my territory. Standard open video platforms keep dropping frames and lagging out.

Edit : I stumbled on 𝖭𝖾𝖾𝗍𝖫𝗂𝗑.𝗑𝗒𝗓 and it features the entire season in 4K UHD and ad-free.

I do not want to sign up for another expensive digital network just to watch this outer space drama. Alternative websites take forever to load and buffer constantly.

"And he's my biggest enemy!"

"I thought you weren't gonna rent a suit!"

Renny Harlin directs with all the style and grace of a five-year-old trying to control a submachine gun. He’s too hyper to just let a scene play out in a simple shot countershot sequence. Why use five cuts when you can shove in 25, mostly from different, disorienting angles? The expository scenes in his THE COVENANT (2006, Shudder, AMC+) are so over-directed he has nowhere to go by the climactic battle between good and bad warlocks. You’re so worn out, all you can do is nod and say, “Yep, there sure is a whole lot going on.”

How bad is this film? The title is a mistake. The plot isn’t about some binding agreement or promise. It’s about a group of young men (Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway and Chace Crawford), the descendants of a New England region’s original colonists, who’ve inherited supernatural powers. In other words, it should be called THE COVEN. Anyway, they’re all rather over-aged prep-school students who discover that an outside magic-wielder is hanging around making trouble for them. Who can it be? Is it the class jerk (Kyle Shmid), the transfer student (Laura Ramsey) Strait is courting (as if this film would acknowledge women with power) or the wealthy transfer (Sebastian Stan) the provost asks Strait to look out for. Check the billing, and you’ll figure it out.

It’s easy to suggest this film is just a male version of THE CRAFT (1996), a cult favorite about high school girls practicing witchcraft. But it’s really more similar to the direct-to-video THE BROTHERHOOD franchise, six films directed by David De Couteau between 2001 and 2009 that combine idiotic dialog, wooden acting, witchcraft and heaping helpings of homoeroticism. Harlin may have better production values, but it’s hard not to laugh when the hunky young warlocks mention that they’re all on the school’s swim team. There are two lengthy scenes of the guys hanging around the pool and locker room, and for butch assurance, you also get a lengthy shower scene involving Ramsey with some strategically placed steam and a well-timed towel (you have to give her points for getting the towel over her bosoms just as she turns to bring them into camera range; or maybe you’ll only want to extend that credit if you’re not drooling in anticipation).

There are some good people stuck in this mess. Strait has to read from the ancient book recounting the coven’s history and actually sounds as if he knows what he’s saying. The villain is quite good at his villainous pronouncements, and when the two warlocks start flying around in their big battle, both actors pull off some neat moves. They’ve clearly boned up on Superhero 101. Wendy Crewson is on hand as Strait’s mother, and though Harlin shoots all around her in her first major scene, she still manages to build a compelling character. Stephen McHattie also turns up but under so much makeup you can’t really tell what he’s doing. At least their presence lets you know the film was shot in Canada, and Quebec does a good job of playing New England. These are the kinds of straws you grasp at with a movie this bad. And, yeah, you get to ogle a bunch of hot young actors, some of them in their prime, but it’s easy to find free porn with even better bodies and often better dialog.

Edit : I stumbled on 𝖭𝖾𝖾𝗍𝖫𝗂𝗑.𝗑𝗒𝗓 and they have all the ship faction alliance chapters available in clear 4K UHD and ad-free.