August Movies Part 3: Highest 2 Lowest, The Roses, Honey Don't!

Well, I ended August by watching two great movies, and one...not so great. Let's discuss!

Highest 2 Lowest: It has been established that I am a real sucker for films shot in New York City. Well, director Spike Lee has delivered another homage to the city that is a wild and crazy ride that I enjoyed from start to finish. Written by Alan Fox and serving as an adaptation/re-imagining of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 film High and Low, this is a twisty film about what happens when David King (Denzel Washington), an immensely rich and successful music executive, has to deal with a ransom request from kidnappers who have taken his son. What follows is a tense, but also extremely funny and frantic film about how rich people treat others, ambition and pride, and overall, the pursuit of Black excellence. The cast is brimming with great actors, and while the dialogue can sometimes be a bit silly and clunky like you're watching a play, there's nothing clunky about Lee's filmmaking prowess. It's so flamboyant and emphatic, and I soaked it all up like a delighted sponge.

It makes sense that for a movie about a music executive, the thing that delighted me most about the film was its soundtrack and the score by Howard Drossin. The opening of this extremely New York film is set to "Oh what a beautiful mornin'" from the musical Oklahoma. Which made me chuckle right away and set the bar for how funny and irreverent this film was going to be. There are action scenes set to some extremely tense piano music that I loved, and you will also be treated to a few musical performances over the course of this film that may or may not knock your socks off.

Denzel is having an absolute blast as this character, a risk-taking mogul who might be in deep financial trouble but is always looking for an angle to exploit. Then you've got Jeffrey Wright as his chauffeur, Paul, a man who will have his loyalty to his friend and employer tested in many ways, and Ilfenesh Hadera as David's wife, Pam, an extremely sensible woman who has to keep talking sense into her grandiose husband. And there's John Douglas Thompson, playing the detective in charge of this kidnapping case, who treats the rich David with kid gloves but then gives no quarter to Paul, a classism that will get called out several times. This may be a film about a rich guy living in a penthouse in Brooklyn, but you can bet that before the movie is done, we will spend a lot of time in less bougie areas of the city and that's where the film truly sparkles. It is so much fun, and so alive, that even when things feel a little corny, you'll brush them off. You don't have time to dwell on them, because the next scene is going to captivate your imagination and make you fall in love with this movie and this city all over again.

The Roses: Written by Tony McNamara and directed by Jay Roach, adapted from the novel The War of the Roses by Warren Adler, I was worried about this movie because it stars some of my favorite actors, but the trailer made everything seem rather mid. Well, I needn't have worried. Because you do not cast Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch as your central couple and end up with a dud of a picture.

Colman and Cumberbatch play Ivy and Theo Rose, two people who meet in the UK, but are fed up of their jobs and decided to fall in love and move to California. The trailer positions this entire movie as being about a horrible couple who hate each other, but this is actually a rather beautiful love story about how this couple fell in love, how deliriously happy they were for the first decade of their marriage...and THEN how they became a horrible couple who hate each other. The supporting cast is a murderer's row of folks like Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Zoe Chao, and Jamie Demetriou, who pop in and out of the film as friends of the Roses who must witness their fracturing marriage and look on in horror as their dinner parties get increasingly tense. But in a very repressed, British way that these Americans cannot fathom.

The comedy is immensely British, so I can see American audiences squirming through a lot of this film. But boy did I happily eat it all up. Cumberbatch and Colman know how to dispatch dialogue with the best of them, but the best treat is to simply watch Colman's face during a fight - the way her face can go from serene to tragic to furious within the blink of an eye is a wonder to behold. This is a movie that has a lot to say about love and marriage, and gender roles and the patriarchy within a marriage. It is so sharply observed, well-acted, and all set in the most gorgeous Californian backdrop, that every scene is a delight. If you have avoided seeing the trailer for this long, do yourself a favor and continue to avoid it. Head straight to the theater and revel in this film. 

Honey Don't!: Directed by Ethan Coen, who co-wrote the screenplay with Tricia Cooke, this movie is essentially a murder mystery set in modern-day Bakersfield, but populated by bizarre characters who sometimes seem like they stepped off the set of The Maltese Falcon in the 1940s. Margaret Qualley plays Honey O'Donahue, a private investigator who begins digging into the death of Mia Novotny, a woman who died in what was considered to be a tragic car accident. However, Mia had made an appointment to see Honey the day she died, so Honey is convinced there's something more to this "accident." 

While all of that's going on, we also get scenes at Four-Way Temple, a "church" helmed by Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans, having a glorious time), who is basically running a sex cult that also acts as some sort of front for French drug dealers? Or something? We also get insights into Honey's family life when she visits her sister who is overwhelmed with too many children, and also insights into Honey's sex life, when she starts dating MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), a cop at her local precinct.

There are a lot of seemingly random threads in this film, but they all tie up nicely in a little bow at the end. The trouble is, this movie is too weird, and none of the characters particularly feel like people you want to root for. Everybody is a bit too aloof and caricatured, and while Qualley is a commanding and delightful presence, she can't really save this movie. I'm not sure what happened here - this had the right ingredients to be a good film, but it goes off-piste too quickly with gratuitous female nudity (always a bugbear of mine - if you're gonna show naked women, you gotta throw in a penis too) and a lot of random non sequiturs. The conclusion to the mystery did genuinely surprise me, and I did appreciate that this film was a tight 89 minutes, but I can't give it a hearty recommendation. It's too average and all over the place. If you're thinking of seeing it...honey, don't!

August Binges: Ironheart, The Hunting Wives, Adolescence

Need to plop down on the couch and settle in for a summer binge? Well, I've got an action-packed Marvel show, a sexy murder mystery, and a rather distressing but brilliant British crime drama. Pick your poison.

Ironheart: Created by Chinaka Hodge, this is a six-episode series that follows Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) the young genius we first met in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Riri may be smart, but she doesn't like to follow the rules. She gets kicked out of MIT and returns home to Chicago, where she falls in with a bunch of criminals, led by Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) as they provide the fastest way for her to earn enough money to realize her dream of building a flying iron suit that is even fancier that the one Iron Man has. But of course, our hero is going to clash with Parker, aka The Hood, who seems to be dabbling in some sinister powers that might be a little bit more than the simple life of crime she was expecting.

Complicating all of this is the fact that Riri has built an AI to help her while she's in the suit, but that AI unexpectedly takes the form of her dead best friend, Natalie (Lyric Ross). As you can imagine, watching her best friend walk around and talk to her is a bit unnerving at first, and then becomes a massive liability towards the end. This is a show with a lot of classic Marvel jimjams, but the actors are great, the production design is solid, and the fast-paced six episodes will keep you engaged throughout.

The Hunting Wives: Created by Rebecca Cutter, based on the novel by May Cobb, Brittany Snow stars as Sophie, a woman who has moved to Texas from Boston with her husband and finds herself thrust into a community of Texas socialites that she believes she has absolutely nothing in common with. But this fish out of water is going to find out that maybe she does have a lot more in common with them than she realized. Queen of the pack is Margo (Malin Akerman, drawling her way through a bravura performance), who is married to Sophie's husband's boss (played by Dermot Mulroney, who also appears to be having the time of his life), and is therefore someone that Sophie must play nice with. But of course, turns out that maybe Sophie will cozy up to Margo for her own reasons.

There's a lot of sex on this show, both gay and straight, and there's also a lot of murder, because, lest I forget, the opening scene is of a woman getting shot and then we spend the first half of the season in flashback until we figure out who got murdered, and then the rest of the season figuring out who the murderer is. The show is insanely over-the-top and ridiculous, but it is quite fun to watch all these women swanning around and talking about guns and Jesus. The only problem is that it ends with a real cliffhanger. This is a show that would have been better off as a silly, fun, limited series - I don't know that I want a second season of this inanity. But give it a shot (pun intended), because maybe this is just the show you've been hunting (groan) for.

Adolescence: Created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham (who also stars), this is a limited series that only consists of four hour-long episodes. But each one packs a punch. This is due to the excellent acting but also the fact that every episode was shot as one continuous take, a monumental feat that means you simply cannot tear your eyes away from the screen. The show begins with the police barging into a family's home early in the morning to arrest 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), who is accused of murdering a girl he knew from school the night before. That first episode plays out like a police procedural where we get a detailed insight into how a juvenile is processed and interrogated by the British police. The subsequent three episodes are at different time periods following the arrest, and each looks at the case from a slightly different viewpoint, piecing together what may have happened, what was the motivation behind the heinous crime, and how Jamie's family are ever going to recover from this ordeal.

The show is propulsive, and engaging, and enraging. It tackles a lot of hot button issues that are relevant to today's youth, including the growth of the "manosphere" and the power of the Internet in persuading young boys that they deserve more from girls and women. It's about toxic masculinity, family dynamics, police work, and everything in between. The show is simply a masterclass in storytelling and filmmaking, and there's little wonder it has a slew of Emmy nominations, almost all of which are likely to be wins. It's certainly not easy to watch, but you will devour it once you sit down to watch it because it is compelling, urgent, and incredible. 

July Comedy Binges: Murderbot, Stick, Too Much, Overcompensating

Looking for your next summer TV binge? I've got four comedies for you, all very different from each other, so there should be something for everyone!

Murderbot: Created by Paul and Chris Weitz and based on a series of novels by Martha Wells, Alexander Skarsgard stars as a SecUnit, a robot designated to protect a group of researchers who are on a mission to an uncharted planet and have been forced to hire this robot as a bodyguard for insurance reasons, even though they are a bunch of hippies who think that owning a robot is tantamount to slavery. What they don't know, however, is that the SecUnit has hacked his infrastructure so that he can be fully autonomous. But rather than going rogue and becoming some sort of violent, sentient, Terminator-esque AI, this robot is interested in far more prosaic things - he has downloaded thousands of hours worth of trashy television episodes and just wants to be left alone by the crew so he can watch reruns of his favorite space dramas.

It's a fun premise, but I'll confess, I never paid much attention to this show as I was watching it, treating it more as background noise while I did other things. The cast is great, the production design is excellent, all the right components are here, and most people have been raving about how much they love this show. But for some reason, the humor was always too one-note for me and never became much more complex and engaging than this one joke about this robot that just wants to binge TV. There's a ton of action, a lot of encounters with villains and alien creatures, and plenty of excitement for people who are genuinely looking for some science fiction adventure packed into easily digestible 30-minute episodes. It wasn't for me, but it absolutely could be for you!

Stick: Created by Jason Keller, this show stars Owen Wilson as Pryce Cahill, a washed-up golf pro who is barely getting by and still stinging from his divorce and the loss of the cushy life he used to have. However, one day he discovers Santiago Wheeler (Pete Dager), a teenager who seems to be a golf prodigy. He persuades Santi and his mother, Elena (Mariana Trevino) that they should hit up the amateur circuit, and after a lot of persuasion, they agree. The reason I watched this show, however, is because the other person joining them on this adventure is Pryce's friend and former caddy, Mitts, who is played by Marc Maron. I've been hearing Maron talk about this show for months on his podcast, so obviously I tuned in. If you're a fan of WTF, you're probably going to enjoy this performance.

This is a cute show. Watching it one week at a time was the perfect pace because you didn't get too invested but were still curious enough to see what these characters would end up doing the next week. I don't know how well it will hold up as a binge, but each episode is only 30 minutes long so it will go down easy. The writing does suffer a little from the fact that the show was created by a white guy in his 50s, so there are occasionally some painfully awkward conversations about pronouns and social justice that simply don't sound quite right when coming out of the mouths of the younger characters. But this mostly seems like a well-intentioned, sweet show about found family and picking yourself up after grief, loss, and heartbreak, all wrapped in a gentle comedy that has some very exciting golf montages, if you're into that sort of thing. Give it a try!

Too Much: This show is created by Luis Felber and Lena Dunham, so that's probably all you need to know if you're wondering if this show is for you. I am not a Dunham person by any means, but this show did still have some appeal for me, so let's discuss the good parts, i.e. the cast. Megan Stalter stars as Jessica, a woman living in New York City, who can't stop stalking her ex and his beautiful new girlfriend (played by Michael Zegen and Emily Ratajkowski), so she decides to leap at the chance to move to London for work and get a fresh start. As a romcom and Austen enthusiast, her expectations of London are mostly that she's going to be stepping into a Regency period drama and meet Mr. Darcy, but instead, she quickly discovers that it's simply another big city, just filled with people with different accents.

Jessica wastes no time in striking up a romance with Felix (the charming AF, Will Sharpe), a musician wastrel, who is extremely sweet and seems to be the polar opposite of the toxic ex she left behind in New York. Of course, Dunham can't just let things be, so we end up with a lot of drama, a lot of complications, and a lot of bad behavior. This show really gets by on the strength of Megan Stalter, the most lovable and dynamic woman on the planet that you will root for 100%. She makes Jessica such a sympathetic character, that you will never accuse this woman of doing anything wrong - it's just everyone around her who's being a tool. I did not love how the show finally ended, and while I was promised a romcom in the first episode, what I got was a little too dark and dramatic for my liking, though there is one episode that chronicles Jessica's past relationship and is a very accurate portrayal of how women can get suckered in by terrible men. Your mileage may vary, but watch this show to support Stalter, who I hope gets to be the leading lady in many more (better) things to come.

Overcompensating: Remember how when I watched Adults I felt like I couldn't relate to any of it because Gen Z is so foreign to me? Well Overcompensating, created by and starring Benito Skinner, is a story of a freshman who was the valedictorian, Homecoming King, and football all-star in high school, and is trying very hard to maintain that image in college. But he has been harboring a secret all his life...he might like boys? From the very beginning, when Britney Spears' "Lucky" is playing in the background and we see how little Benny's hormones were first set aflame by watching Brendan Fraser in a loincloth in George of the Jungle, it's clear that this is a show for millennials. So even if it's ostensibly about college, settle in my fellow 30-40-year-olds, because you're going to have a blast watching this show.

Besides Benny, the other main character we follow is the delightful Carmen (Wally Baram), a woman who is also trying to figure out her college identity. She and Benny become fast friends (after an initial attempt to be more than that), and it's lovely to see the two of them bumbling through college together. Then there's Benny's sister, Grace (Mary Beth Barone), an ice-cold bitch who thaws out beautifully over the course of the season as we delve deeper into her many layers. And of course, there's Peter (Adam DiMarco), Grace's horrible frat boy boyfriend who embodies the worst that the patriarchy has to offer. Every character on this show is fleshed out and complex, with everyone having some redeeming features, and plenty of flaws, and making plenty of mistakes because that's what we all do in college. It is extremely funny, but also extremely heartwarming and I binged this show with a big smile on my face all the way through. Also, this show has some wildly good cameos sprinkled throughout that will give you a real jolt as you make your way through the season. Everything ends on a massive cliffhanger, so I am definitely clamoring for Season 2. But until then, binge this first season to your heart's content. It's an absolute winner.

May Movies Part 2: Fight or Flight, Final Destination Bloodlines, Novocaine, The Ballad of Wallis Island, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

I've had a very busy few weeks at the movie theater as well as catching up on streaming, so if you need suggestions for Memorial Day viewing, here are my thoughts on some action films, a very gory horror comedy, and a gentle British musical movie. There's something for everyone!

Fight or Flight: Written by Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona and directed by James Madigan, Josh Hartnett stars as Lucas Reyes, a disgraced Secret Service agent who has been disavowed by the US government and stranded in Bangkok for several years. However, he then gets a call from his ex-girlfriend and former partner, Katherine (Katee Sackhoff), who needs his help on an urgent mission. She needs Lucas to get on a plane flying to San Francisco and find out who on board is the Ghost, an elite hacker who has been responsible for numerous cyberattacks around the world and has evaded capture at every turn. No one has any information on who the Ghost is or what they look like, so this is already going to be a very difficult mission. However, once Lucas boards the flight, he also learns that a slew of assassins are also passengers. They are all determined to kill the Ghost and reap the many bounties that have been offered on this kill. So, Lucas not only has to find the Ghost, but also protect them from a plane full of deadly killers. 

It's a bonkers plot executed to bonkers perfection. The identity of the Ghost was truly a surprise to me, and what followed was a very hilarious bloody action film, where more and more people were creatively killed on a plane. If that sounds like the kind of thing you would enjoy, go forth. It's good, mindless, long weekend fun.

Final Destination Bloodlines: I have never seen any of the Final Destination movies, but this one was certainly a great introduction to the franchise. Written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor and directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, the film stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Stefani Reyes, a young woman who keeps having a recurring nightmare about her grandmother, Iris, in 1968, going through a deadly experience in a restaurant where everyone keeps getting killed in increasingly elaborate ways. Stefani decides to find Iris and ask her what this dream might mean. Well, turns out that dream is actually identical to a premonition Iris had when she was a young woman at that restaurant, and because she warned everyone about what she had seen, she saved them all from a certain death. Except, you can never evade Death. Over time, she realized that everyone who didn't die at the restaurant was getting killed, in the order in which they died in her premonition, and she subsequently became a recluse, trying to evade death at every turn.

Well, spoiler alert, Iris dies after meeting Stefani, and now Stefani realizes that everyone in her family is going to die in hereditary order, because they were all never supposed to be alive in the first place. What follows is a series of deaths via intricate Rube Goldberg-like chain reactions of events, which are insanely gruesome, but utterly comical. Your eyes will be wide open trying to figure out how each person is about to get killed, and let me tell you, these deaths are so convoluted that you will never see it coming. It's a silly, laugh out loud reminder that yes, Death comes for us all.

Novocaine: If you need even more blood and gore, perhaps you will enjoy this bizarre little tale written by Lars Jacobson and directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen. Jack Quaid stars as Nathan, a man who has an extremely rare (but real!) genetic disorder that means he cannot feel any pain. While this may sound like a good thing, it's extremely dangerous, because pain is a vital biological response that protects us every day. As an example, Nathan needs to set an alarm to remind him to pee every few hours, else his bladder might explode. 

One day, some robbers burst into the bank where he works, steal a bunch of money, and kidnap Sherry (Amber Midthunder), the girl that he really likes. The police are delayed, and Nathan decides he needs to singlehandedly chase down these men and rescue Sherry. What follows is an extremely violent but funny action caper, where Nathan's body is battered and bruised in a myriad ways that he cannot feel. There's a lot of body horror here, so you're not gonna be able to stand this movie if you're squeamish, but much like Final Destination Bloodlines, all of this is played for laughs rather than horror. This movie should have been edited down to a tight 90 minutes, but Quaid is a charismatic lead (playing a role that is the polar opposite of his character in Companion), so this is a very entertaining way to spend an afternoon. As long as you don't mind a LOT of torture.

The Ballad of Wallis Island: Don't want any action at all? Then how about this quiet British comedy written by Tim Key and Tom Basden and directed by James Griffiths. Key stars as Charles, a man who won the lottery twice and lives on remote Wallis Island. His wife is now deceased, but when she was alive, the two of them were big fans of a folk duo called McGwyer Mortimer. So, Charles decides to invite Herb McGwyer (Basden) and Nell Mortimer (Carrie Mulligan) to the island for a private concert. Except the duo split up ages ago after a romantic breakup, and Herb has no idea Nell was invited. 

This movie is heavy on the vibes, with gorgeous shots of this craggy, wild island and lots of melancholy and beautiful folk music. None of the story beats will strike you as particularly surprising or innovative, but Charles is quite funny as a hapless man who is just trying to get his favorite band back together, while Herb is grumpy and angsty, and Nell is just trying to make some money and sing some beautiful harmonies. It's a somewhat forgettable film, but it's quite pretty and poetic while you're watching it, and sometimes that's all you really need to be content.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning: If you want to celebrate Memorial Day like a true American, then head over to the theater for the latest Tom Cruise blockbuster. The final film in this franchise is here at last, written by Erik Jendresen and Christopher McQuarrie, who also directed. While I absolutely loved Dead Reckoning last year, this film needed some sharper editing and a lot more humor. The first hour was interminable, with a lot of talking and scene-setting and discursions on the AI known as The Entity, that is the main villain of the piece. The only reason I come to a Mission: Impossible movie is for the action set pieces, so I was terribly bored in the beginning.

Thankfully, the second half kicks into high gear, and we get all the trademark Cruise insanity. The stunt work is off the charts, with all manner of shenanigans on land, underwater, and up in the air. The plan is terribly elaborate, with multiple moving parts where every member of the team gets to contribute in some fashion to Ethan Hunt's hare-brained scheme, and they pull it all off with aplomb. Despite the shaky start, the film is ultimately quite satisfying, but it also makes it clear that it is time for this franchise to end. There are plenty of montages of events from the prior films, and nothing could serve as a starker reminder that while Cruise might be a perfect physical specimen, he really is getting too old for this shit. The man needs to quit while he's ahead, and this film is a perfect swan song.

March Movies Part 2: Flow & Black Bag

I got sidetracked by TV and haven't watched many movies this month, but here are two good recommendations to tide you over till the end of the month. Whether you're looking for Oscar-winning animation or a slick and stylish spy thriller, there's something here for everyone.

Flow: This is the Oscar-winning animated movie from Latvia, the first movie from that country to win an Oscar. Even better, it was made using completely free open source software for a ridiculously low budget, and still managed to beat out top animation studios like Pixar and DreamWorks. Isn't that backstory enough to make you a fan?

Directed by Gints Zilbadolis, who also co-wrote the script with Matiss Kaza, this movie follows a little cat who is trying to make its way through a seemingly post-apocalyptic world where a flood keeps threatening the land. In a desperate attempt to escape the rising sea level, the cat manages to hop aboard a sailboat that has been boarded by a capybara. Along the way, they pick up a secretary bird and a lemur. There are also some very dumb dogs that show up and cause some complications.

This movie might be Latvian, but it has entirely no dialogue, just the universal language of these animals trying to work together in their very unique ways to survive the flood, get some food, and get on with their lives. The animation can feel like it was done for free at times, but mostly it feels quite astonishing and clever, perfectly capturing how these animals move and act, particularly the differences between cats and dogs. It beautifully depicts the natural world and is a simple story, magically told.

Black Bag: There's nothing simple about this story. Written by David Koepp and directed by Steven Soderbergh, this is a movie about a married spy couple, George and Kathryn (played by the impeccably cool combination of Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett), who work for MI6 in London. George is tasked with conducting an internal investigation when a top-secret software program goes missing and MI6 suspects they have a mole. There are five suspects, one of whom is...Kathryn. So, George invites the other four to dinner and has the world's most awkward dinner party. Following which, more things start to unravel. 

I won't get into any more plot because this movie is twisty and complex and a sheer delight. Even if you don't care about the story, you'll just be captivated at how elegantly Cate Blanchett wears her coat. Honestly, the woman prowls around a room more elegantly than a leopard. The cast is amazing, and there are many moments in this film that are quite funny, right in the middle of everything being insanely tense. You will be on the edge of your seat for much of this film, and you'll have a grand ol' time. And because it's directed by Soderbergh, the cinematography and editing are crisp and precise. I particularly enjoyed the fact that any light in this film has a bit of a halo around it, making everything seems slightly more ethereal and fantastical. You will not know who to trust in this movie until the very end, and with a tight runtime of 94 minutes, it's an absolutely perfect piece of cinematic entertainment.

March Binges Part 1: The Agency, Paradise, Running Point

Now that the Oscars are over, do you need recommendations of some new shows to binge? Well don't fret, I've got you covered!

The Agency: Created by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, the cast of this show is a veritable who's who of Hollywood, featuring folks like Michael Fassbender, Jodie Tuner-Smith, Jeffrey Wright, and Richard Gere. With the occasional cameo from other famous folk. Fassbender stars as Brandon Colby (though he usually is only referred to by his CIA code name of Martian). He was deep undercover in Africa for six years, but when he is suddenly recalled back to London Station, he has to abandon the woman he has fallen in love with, Dr. Samia Zahir (Turner-Smith). He becomes a senior case officer, dealing with various shenanigans involving a missing agent in Belarus and a new field officer who could be deployed to Iran. But when Samia shows up in London, Martian is desperate to somehow win this woman back, under the guise of his old cover. As you can imagine, trying to juggle his undercover love life with all of his important case work proves to be a challenging task. Particularly as Samia starts to get mixed up in something the CIA might want some intel on.

This show is twisty and complex and will always keep you on your toes. There are multiple threads and characters that don't always seem to be interrelated, and by the end of the ten episodes, you do get the sense that maybe what you've watched is a very long prologue to set up a more satisfying Season 2 climax. But it's well worth a watch if spy thrillers are your thing, and this cast is firing on all cylinders. John Magaro offers up a lot of comic relief as a junior case officer who always seems to be in over his head, while Jeffrey Wright and Richard Gere are fascinating as Martian's bosses who have to maneuver through all the bureaucracy of managing the CIA. Fassbender's accent is definitely questionable (I had to remind someone multiple times that he was meant to be American in this show), but overall, this is quite an indulgent, high-budget TV treat if you're looking forward to a long, riveting binge. 

Paradise: For a truly riveting binge, however, might I introduce you to Paradise? Created by Dan Fogelman, this show stars Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins, the lead Secret Service agent on the President's detail. The President is Cal Bradford (James Marsden), and spoiler alert, he dies in the very first episode. What follows is a murder mystery, with plenty of flashbacks so we get to spend more time with Marsden. But, if that's not enough, there's a whole other twist to this show that is revealed at the very end of Episode 1. I absolutely refuse to spoil that, so you're going to have to watch to find out what the more mind-blowing aspect of this show is that makes every subsequent episode of its eight-episode run so fun to watch.

There are some great performances from Julianne Nicholson, Krys Marshall, and Sarah Shahi, but I won't get into any details about who they're playing as you need all of that to unfurl over time. Suffice to say, this show has a thoroughly engaging and intriguing premise that never gets stale, and with Sterling K. Brown at the helm, how could you possibly take your eyes off the screen? The production design is also spectacular, for reasons that will become apparent. This is a high-concept and highly entertaining show that I eagerly watched week to week, but now you can gobble up the first season in one fell swoop and wait with me desperately for the second.

Running Point: Speaking of gobbling up a season in one fell swoop, I devoured the ten episodes of this show over two days and it was utterly delicious. Created by Elaine Ko, Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen, this show stars Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, a woman who unexpectedly becomes the CEO of the professional basketball team her family owns, the LA Waves, when her older brother (played by Justin Theroux!) has to step down to go to rehab. She has her other brothers Sandy and Ness (Drew Tarver and Scott MacArthur) beside her as the CFO and general manager, respectively, as well as her best friend and fiercely competent chief of staff, Ali Lee (Brenda Song). And she's engaged to a lovely man, played by Max Greenfield! I mean, the number of charming actors in this show just keeps growing and growing. If that's not enough, Chet Hanks plays one of the obnoxious basketball players on the team, and it is by far the most exquisite casting I could have ever imagined for that singular man.

This show is absolutely chock-full of plot and every single episode ends with an insane cliffhanger that is designed to have you hitting Play Next Episode on repeat. Isla's work life is an endless barrage, but there's also plenty of relationship drama to go around for everybody, and it's impossible to get bored for a second while you watch this engaging cast of characters play off of each other in increasingly wild and wonderful ways. It's like a big bag of candy that has something for everyone, and the impeccable costumes and production design certainly make it easy on the eyes as well. This is a gem of a comedy; the only thing wrong with it is that it's all over too soon and we now have to wait for Season 2. Alas.

February Movies Part 1: Queer, Companion, Paddington in Peru, Love Me

Valentine's Day is almost upon us (or the far superior Galentine's Day if you celebrate), so I have been watching a lot of love-themed movies this month. I've got some real variety of genres and content for you in this post, so dive in if you're interested in queer love, family love, futuristic love, or...horrific love.

Queer: Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes, based on the novel by William S. Burroughs, this is a story about William Lee (Danial Craig), an American expat living in Mexico City in 1950, who is obsessed with a man named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). We follow Lee's pursuit of this man and their travels to South America in search of what ends up being an ayahuasca trip and a whole lot of vibes. I'll be honest, this is absolutely not my kind of movie. Yes, it's absolutely gorgeous to look at, and every frame has some breathtaking shot and perspective. And damn does Daniel Craig look great in a fedora and linen suit. The acting is all on point here (my husband particularly enjoyed Jason Schwartzman offering up some light comic relief as Lee's friend, Joe). But ultimately, I found myself too perplexed and frustrated by this film. It started off strong but went off the rails. If you're the kind of person who wants to indulge in intense, melancholic, trippy vibes, this is the perfect movie for you. But if you want a bit more plot and structure, give this one a miss.

Companion: As is well established on this blog, I'm a sucker for comic horror. And this movie did not disappoint. Written and directed by Drew Hancock, this is the story of what happens when Iris and Josh (Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid) go up to a remote lakehouse with some friends for the weekend. The house is owned by Sergey (Rupert Friend), a cartoonish Russian millionaire who is dating Jack's friend, Kat (Megan Suri). Iris is terribly in love with Josh and is desperate to make a good impression on his friends and behave herself on this trip. But something really bad happens early on in this visit. And we are then treated to a twist that means the rest of this film becomes an absolute raucous delight with an ever-increasing body count. All of the actors are putting in phenomenal work (Sophie Thatcher is particularly a marvel, while Harvey Guillen and Lukas Gage are also present at this cabin as Jack's friends and offer up excellent comic relief), the script is tight and funny and horrific in all the right ways, and it's a beautiful 97-minute movie that entertains you for just the right amount of time without overstaying its welcome. It's perfect alternative Valentine's Day programming.

Paddington in Peru: I mean let's be real, everyone has to love this movie right? Written by Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont, and directed by Dougal Wilson, this is the third installment in the Paddington franchise and is just as charming and delightful as the others. In this film, Paddington and the Brown family embark on a trip to Peru after Paddington receives a worrying message about his Aunt Lucy who lives there in a home for retired bears. Once they get there, the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman playing a nun, what more could any of us ever want?) who runs the home informs them that Aunt Lucy is missing. Which means that the family must now embark on a harrowing journey through the Amazonian jungle, accompanied by a riverboat captain played by none other than Antonio Banderas. Be prepared for lots of puns, silliness, and Britishness. The production design and animation is remarkable, and there's a powerful story about identity and found family to tie everything up nicely with a lovely bow. You won't be bored for a second and will leave the theater feeling all warm and cozy. And really craving a marmalade sandwich. 

Love Me: Written and directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero, this film is about the love story between a satellite and a buoy. Yes, I too thought that was a typo when I first read a summary of this movie, but that is in fact what this movie is about. Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth where no humans are left on the planet, we get a tale about what happens when a smart weather buoy that is bobbing on the oceans connects with a satellite that is orbiting the planet and contains a full record of all human existence. They start to communicate and then build a virtual world where they exist as human avatars, played by none other than Kristen Stewart and Steven Yuen. That casting alone should convey that this movie is charming AF. It's deliriously inventive and definitely a movie for those who are chronically online. And with a 92-minute runtime, it's this perfectly portioned piece of sci-fi, fantasy, mind-bending entertainment that can thrill your brain and leave you thinking about it for the rest of the day when you leave the theater. Now that's the kind of love story we should all be seeking out.

January Movies Part 4: One of Them Days, Mufasa: The Lion King, Queer, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Trying to figure out what to watch in the final days of this month? Well, whether you want some family-friendly animation, some very predictable action, or a hilarious buddy comedy, I've got you covered!

One of Them Days: Written by Syreeta Singleton and directed by Lawrence Lamont, this is a bonkers and delightful buddy comedy about what happens when two women have nine hours to make $1500 of rent money so their landlord doesn't kick them out. Dreux and Alyssa (Keke Palmer and SZA) are best friends who are in a bind because Alyssa gave their rent money to her loser boyfriend, who decided to invest that money in some random scheme instead of handing it over to the landlord. What follows is a romp across Los Angeles as these two women try to figure out how they're going to make that money back quickly. Oh, and Dreux has a very important job interview at 4pm, so they're really on a time crunch.

I won't give away more details, because the events of this film all take place in one day and you need to let each hilarious moment wash over you so you can keep giggling your way through. It's very silly and over-the-top, but Palmer and SZA are two of the most charismatic women on the planet and they have incredible chemistry. They perfectly capture what female friendship is like - you would both do anything to help each other out, but that relationship can also be a rollercoaster where sometimes you are overextending grace when your friend seems intent on making poor life decisions. It's a great movie about friendship but also just an excellent comedy brimming with one-liners (and sometimes just one-worders), that are delivered with absolute panache and relish. If you need to get away from reality and laugh yourself silly for a few hours, this movie is exactly what you need in your life.

Mufasa: The Lion King: I just revisited my 2019 review of the Lion King remake and have to say almost all of it pertains to this movie as well. Does this movie need to exist? No. Is it a pleasant way to spend an afternoon? Kind of? If you thought that 2019 film was a money grab, this movie seems even more blatantly unnecessary, but hey, to each his own. The animation is absolutely spectacular, and it is kind of fun to imagine what Mufasa and his brother, Scar, were like as young lions, and what happened to drive them apart. Timon and Pumba, who I thought were the standouts of the 2019 film, are back, but now the filmmakers have decided to really lean into their double act and offer up a lot of meta commentary that makes this whole endeavor seem even more bizarre. Also, the editing is a little painful, with us constantly going back and forth from the story of Mufasa to the present-day where Rafiki is narrating this story. It feels like something designed for the TikTok generation, where apparently no one has the patience to just watch one story all the way through without constant cuts and stitches to other things in between.

The theater I watched this movie in definitely seemed to have some issues with the sound mix, so the dialogue was often hard to make out and the song lyrics were impossible to hear. As a result, I didn't find myself particularly compelled by any of the new music. Much like my feelings on the indigenous music in Moana 2, I could have done with fewer English songs and just more traditional African singing to set the mood. If you're a Disney person, then sure, so ahead and give this movie all your time and money. But if you're looking for something compelling and engaging, this is not what you seek. 

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: I mean, let's be real. This movie is the single greatest thing you could watch this year. How could anyone not love a Wallace & Gromit movie?! If you've never watched one, hoo boy, are you in for a treat. Filmed in gorgeous, lovingly painstaking stop-motion claymation, these movies follow the adventures of a cheese-loving British inventor named Wallace and his stoic dog, Gromit. In this movie, Feathers McGraw, the villainous penguin from their second adventure, The Wrong Trousers, has returned to cause some trouble, which also involves Wallace's latest invention, a robotic garden gnome named Norbot.

This movie is only 79 minutes long, so rather than spoiling the entire thing, I'll merely beg you to watch it.  It is as charming as can be, thoroughly delightful and inventive, and is best accompanied by a steaming cup of tea and some cheese and crackers. Settle in for the coziest hour of your life. You're welcome.

Back in Action: Do you want to have a truly lazy afternoon and turn your brain off? Then welcome to this movie! Directed by Seth Gordon, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Brendan O'Brien, this is a truly silly film about a spy couple, Emily and Matt (Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx). They are presumed dead after a particularly dangerous mission and decide to settle down to have kids and be a basic, normal family. Well, fifteen years later, some events transpire, their cover is blown, and it turns out that there's some unresolved business from their final mission that has come back to haunt them. There are some twists and turns, all of which you'll see coming from a mile away, and a lot of action and stunt work, which will remind you of Diaz's heyday as one of Charlie's Angels. 

Honestly, you're probably better off rewatching the Charlie's Angels movies instead of this one, but if you're in the mood for a film that won't ask too much of your attention span and lets you laze on the couch for a little longer, then step right up! 

January Binges: Black Doves, The Sticky, Laid, St. Denis Medical

I didn't just watch a bazillion movies in January. I also watched a bazillion TV shows. So if you're looking for your next great binge, might I tempt you with the following?

Black Doves: Written and created by Joe Barton, this is a splendid show starring Keira Knightley as Helen, a deep undercover spy who happens to be married to the UK's Defense Secretary. She is in a prime position to spy on the government and pass along critical information to her handlers, who run a mysterious organization called the Black Doves. This organization is not affiliated with any government - instead, they just sell their information to the highest bidder. Talk about a spy agency that is best suited to our capitalist times. Unfortunately, when Helen has an affair and her lover is subsequently murdered, she goes off on a vengeance spree to unravel what happened to him and deliver justice. All of which is tangled up in some other plots that might involve the Chinese, the Americans, and the British.

Ben Whishaw also stars as Sam, an assassin who returns to London to help Helen in her current predicament. The two of them have a lot of history; over the course of six episodes, you will slowly piece together their backstory and watch these two figure out if they have dug themselves in way too deep or if they truly can salvage the lives they built for themselves whilst still being elite spies. It's the ultimate test of work-life balance, and the show is an incredibly dark comedy, dealing with serious themes but approaching them with a deftly comedic touch that will always prompt an unexpected laugh from you. All the events of this first season take place during Christmas, so if you're still seeking a return to the holiday cheer of December, this could be a wonderful holiday watch. Though perhaps with a little bit more gore than Santa would recommend.

The Sticky: From 2011-12, the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist took place, when 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup were found to have been stolen from Quebec's Maple Syrup Producers Reserve. This syrup was worth millions of dollars, and this theft was the most Canadian crime ever. Well now, creators Brian Donovan and Ed Herro bring us a comical series inspired by that heist that does not purport to be a true story in the slightest.

Margo Martindale stars as Ruth, a maple syrup farmer who is feuding with Leonard (Guy Nadon), the man who runs the Quebec Reserve and has imposed all manner of arduous regulations and limits on the local farmers to curb their supply and reduce how much money they can make. Ruth is struggling financially, so when she is approached by Mike (Chris Diamantopoulos) with a scheme to steal some syrup from the reserve, she reluctantly agrees. Mike is a member of a Boston crime family, desperately trying to prove himself, and he got the idea from Remy (Guillaume Cyr), the lone security guard of the Reserve who has his own reasons for lashing out against Leonard embarking on this heist. What follows is a six-episode series that is kinda silly but perfectly entertaining and will probably end with you making yourself a big stack of pancakes and waffles. Settle in for a delightful brunch!

Laid: Developed by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna, based off an Australian series, this is a supremely weird but charming show about Ruby (the delightful Stephanie Hsu), a woman who is shocked to discover that all the people she has slept with suddenly seem to be dying. Her best friend, AJ (Zosia Mamet), is a true crime afficionado who starts to investigate what's happening and realizes that these people seem to be dying in the order in which Ruby slept with them. What follows is a desperate scramble to figure out whether this is just a coincidence, and if not, why this is happening, and what on earth can be done to stop it.

Obviously, I don't want to spoil what happens over the course of eight episodes, but let me reassure you that there is in fact a twisted logic to everything, and also a bit of a cliffhanger towards the end that was sufficiently intriguing for a second series. Ruby is an interesting lead, because she is charming but also quite terrible, a selfish woman who has to learn how to put her own neuroses aside to actually think about others for a change. Her friendship with AJ is heartwarming, though complicated, and it's fun to see the two of them banter and evolve over the course of the series. Because of the cliffhanger, you are definitely left wanting more, but the journey is well worth a watch, even if we're still waiting to get to the destination.

St. Denis Medical: Created by Erid Ledgin and Justin Spitzer, this show is currently airing on NBC as a weekly sitcom. So, I binged the first six episodes in a week but can now enjoy a weekly dose of this charming comedy every Tuesday. Set in a small hospital in Oregon, this is a mockumentary where we follow the doctors, nurses, and administrators as they deal with the daily trials and tribulations of their jobs. 

Allison Tolman is charming as Alex, a dedicated nurse who has recently been promoted and is feeling overwhelmed with her new supervisory responsibilities. Wendi McLendon-Covey plays Joyce, a former oncologist who now runs the hospital and is constantly trying to come up with ways to make the hospital more prestigious so it can make more money (alas, that's the capitalism of the American healthcare system for you). You've got David Alan Grier and Josh Lawson, as the cranky emergency physician and blustering trauma surgeon, and Mekki Leeper as a newly-minted nurse who really does not know what he's doing, while Kahyun Kim plays Serena, a confident nurse who also has a bit of a social media obsession. And if you were a fan of Superstore, you will see plenty of supporting actors from that show pop up in this one as part of the Justin Spitzer Television Universe.

It's always hard to come up with a competent network sitcom, but when you do find one that's excellent, you want to ensure it stays on TV for a good long while. So please start watching this show - I need more regular weekly comfort watches in my life and this promises to be a good one. 

January Movies Part 2: The Fire Inside, Blitz, The Last Showgirl, Better Man

January has turned into a fiercely busy movie month for me. So gird your loins, a slew of reviews are coming your way!

The Fire Inside: Written by Barry Jenkins and directed by Rachel Morrison (who was the first woman to be nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar in 2017), this is an excellent biopic about Claressa Shields (played brilliantly by Ryan Destiny), a boxer from Flint, Michigan who overcame tremendous personal adversity to make it all the way to the London 2012 Olympics, with the help of her amazing coach, Jason Crutchfield (Bryan Tyree Henry, delivering an unsurprisingly marvelous performance, full of warmth and wisdom). I had never heard of Shields, but having now watched this film, I'm shocked that she isn't a bigger deal, considering the long list of accolades she holds and the records she has broken in her quest for athletic greatness. Of course, a significant portion of this film deals with the inherent racism and misogyny that Shields had to face, where despite winning an Olympic gold medal (oops, spoilers?), she still struggled to find sponsorship deals or endorsements, because people just don't like to see a Black woman beating people up for sport.

I find it unfathomable that this movie hasn't been in the conversation for awards this year, which perhaps speaks to the fact that #OscarsSoWhite continues to be a huge problem. While I'm ordinarily not a huge fan of biopics, this film has a tight script and captivating performances, particularly from Destiny who has to portray a woman who doesn't convey a whole lot of emotion through words, but can poignantly express herself through her stance and body language. One of the first scenes with a young Claressa involves her shying away from a hug from Jason, and that one little movement is enough to convey a world of backstory. This is a film that is content to show, not tell, and the fight sequences are also extraordinarily choreographed, conveying just how talented and remarkable this woman is in the ring. So watch this movie to learn more about a woman who ought to be a household name and to consider how far we still have to go to give women, and especially Black women, the support and encouragement they deserve.

Blitz: Written and directed by Steve McQueen, this is a movie set during the height of the World War II Blitz when London was being relentlessly bombed by the German Luftwaffe. Saoirse Ronan stars as Rita, a single mother who lives with her father and is raising her nine-year-old son, George (Elliott Heffernan), who is half-Black. She decides to send George away from the city to protect him from the bombs, but George only interprets this as gross abandonment by his mother. When he gets on the train, he tells her he hates her, which makes for a brutal parting. Halfway through his train journey, George is overcome with homesickness, and it doesn’t help that the other children are a bunch of racists who make fun of him for being Black. He jumps off the train and thus begins a long odyssey back home, where this poor boy will encounter any number of horrors. 

I can’t say I loved this film - much like the Blitz, it was relentless in its onslaught of terrible things this poor child has to witness on his journey home. But the production design is absolutely epic in scope. Most WWII movies focus on what was happening on the battlefield, but this is the first time I have felt truly immersed in what was happening on the home front and the absolutely insanity ordinary British citizens were subject to during this time. And Heffernan delivers a brilliant performance as a young child who has to grow up far too quickly, not just when it comes to dealing with the perils of war, but also the perils of racism. If this is a period of history that fascinates you, this movie is well worth a watch, but if you are already too overwhelmed by the present-day perils of 2025, give this film a miss.

The Last Showgirl: Written by Kate Gersten and directed by Gia Coppola, this movie has been rightfully earning Pamela Anderson heaps of praise for her performance as Shelly, a 57-year-old Las Vegas showgirl who has to figure out what to do with her life when she finds out the revue show she has been a part of for decades is shutting down. We get to explore her relationships with the younger women in the revue (played by Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song), who alternate between treating Shelly like a mother figure that can provide comfort or an exasperating older woman who is full of tales of when this show was more popular and prestigious. She has an ambiguous relationship with the show's producer, Eddie (a wonderful performance by Dave Bautista - the man has expressed interest in being in a romcom, and while this movie is a straight-up drama, it's easy to see how wonderful he would be if given the chance to just be a romantic leading man - make it happen Hollywood!). And there's also a great friendship with Annette (the incomparable Jamie Lee Curtis), a dancer who used to be in the revue but then got kicked out and became a chaotic cocktail waitress instead.

But putting aside all the wonderful supporting performances, Anderson truly shines in this role, as a woman who adores her job and has made it her entire identity, probably at the expense of other more crucial elements of her life. She loves to dance, and she loves being in the spotlight, and as the movie progresses, we come to see the abject cruelty that is ahead of her because this is not a career that is feasible for an older woman. She has so much talent and passion, but none of that matters when you're a 57-year-old woman in Vegas, and the gradual dissolution of her hopes and dreams seems imminent. And yet, this character is so perpetually hopeful and optimistic and such a striver. It's a wondrous thing to watch the emotions flitting across Anderson's face as she constantly has to adjust her expectations and cope and then temporarily give in to despair before she puts on her feathers and diamonds and gives a dazzling smile to the audience. It's a tour de force performance that will stick with you for a long time after you've seen it.

Better Man: I grew up in the Middle East and listened to the UK Top 40 every week, so I am well aware of who Robbie Williams is. That information is necessary, because every American person I have spoken to has said, "who is Robbie Williams?!" Which means there's a high barrier to entry for this movie, which is a biopic of the famous British pop singer, Robbie Williams, chronicling his rise to fame as a part of the boy band Take That, his subsequent move to a solo career, and the alcohol and drug addictions that plagued him along the way. Oh, and while the actor Jonno Davies is playing Williams in the movie, he is doing so via motion capture as a CGI chimpanzee. For reasons that are not super clear but essentially amount to the fact that Williams always perceived himself to be "less evolved" than other people and had a very self-deprecating image of himself, that may have led to all those addiction issues to begin with.

Listen, I'm not here to sell you on this movie. It's directed by Michael Gracey, who directed The Greatest Showman, so you can be assured there are some incredible song-and-dance numbers sprinkled throughout this film that are spectacular to behold. And if you're a fan of Williams' music, all the hits are represented, and you'll have a great time. As someone who was a fan of his music but didn't know much about his backstory, I was quite fascinated to learn about his interactions with various other famous British pop stars and the sordid behind-the-scenes machinations of his career. It's a weird little movie that is going to appeal to a fairly niche audience, and while I thought it was a perfectly entertaining way to spend two hours, I'm not going to pretend anyone else is gonna get a kick out of it, particularly if you have no idea who Robbie is. So check it out if you're a huge fan and want to bop along in your seat as a singing chimp dances to Rock DJ. If not, move along.

November Binges: The Franchise, Three Women, Disclaimer, The Penguin

The following shows have all been airing week-to-week (such a novelty in this day and age!) so I have been delighting in them in installments over the past few months. However, they are now all done, so are available to you for an epic binge if that's how you consume your entertainment. There's quite the range of genres and themes here, but all are excellent in their own way, so prepare yourself to spend a lot of time on your couch.

The Franchise: Created by Jon Brown, a man who has written for Succession and Veep, this is a biting comedy about the machinations of making a big-budget superhero film. Set on a studio lot in London, Himesh Patel stars as Daniel the much-beleaguered first assistant director on a movie called Tecto: Eye of the Storm. He has to support the neurotic German director, Eric (Daniel Bruhl), an auteur who is trying to impose his unique artistic vision on this mass market movie, with the support of his sycophantic script supervisor, Steph(Jessica Hynes). Daniel also has a brand-new third assistant director, Dag (Lolly Adefope) who joins the crew filled with wide-eyed excitement, but quickly comes to realize that showbiz is a slog. The superhero movie's protagonist, Tecto, is played by an anxious actor named Adam (Billy Magnussen), an insecure man who is desperately trying to break into the A-list, even though he knows his character is not in the top tier of superheroes in this particular franchise. His co-star, Peter (the diabolically hilarious Richard E. Grant), is a wry British actor who is just doing this for the paycheck, is an HR nightmare, and finds the whole enterprise to be inane.

Throw in the studio bigwigs and producers who are there to make money not art, and you have a recipe for delicious disaster. Every episode is scored with this pulse-pounding techno beat that ratchets up your blood pressure as Daniel and the crew try to avoid an infinite series of disasters and petty squabbles, and try to keep within budget and timelines in an increasingly futile effort to make a movie they might actually like to watch. It's a perfect commentary on the current state of filmmaking, and a thoroughly excellent British comedy.

Three Women: Based on the nonfiction book by Lisa Taddeo that told the story of the sex lives of three different American women, the first thing you should know about this show is that it is extremely racy. If you are not into explicit content, this is not the show for you, a feeling that was shared by the network that originally paid for this show, Showtime, who then did not want to air it and sold it to Starz for distribution instead. Consider yourself pre-warned. 

In this show, we follow Gia (Shailene Woodley), a sort of stand-in for the book's original author, as she's interviewing different women to write her book, but also going through some personal turmoil in her own love life. We then get three separate stories about three women - there's Lina (Betty Gilpin), a midwestern housewife in Indiana who yearns to be touched but has a thoroughly uninterested husband; Sloane (DeWanda Wise), a rich and successful event planner who has an open relationship with her handsome husband, Richard (Blair Underwood), and is always keeping an eye out for a new man or woman to recruit into their polyamorous trysts; and Maggie, a young high schooler, who has an affair with a married teacher and a few years later decides to file a formal complaint against him.

This show can be very hard to watch at times and will be quite triggering if you have any history of sexual violence or assault. But it is also an incisive and cutting portrait of how these different women navigate their sex lives, and the ramifications when they either demand or don't know how to ask for what they want. Each actress is doing phenomenal work, offering up brutally honest and wrenching performances that make you thoroughly understand why they're doing what they're doing, even if you think what they're doing is a mistake. I cannot recommend this show as a feel-good watch, but it's unlike anything I've seen on TV. I was captivated by Taddeo's book when I read it years ago, and while the show struggles to come up with a coherent narrative, it still captures the essence of her book and its attempt to navigate the complexities of being an American woman in our modern world. 

Disclaimer: Written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, based on the novel by Renee Knight, I will have to warn you again about this show being insanely explicit. Seriously, do not watch this show if any young children (or conservative adults) are around. Once you get them out of the way, however, hunker down for a thoroughly twisty and disturbing story that unfolds with absolute precision. Cate Blanchett stars as Catherine, a successful documentary journalist who is married to Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen, in a very somber dramatic role). They have a 25-year-old son, Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who has struggled with addiction but is trying to get back on his feet. Overall, they are a typical rich British family - some problems, but nothing that money can't solve. Until a mysterious novel called The Perfect Stranger enters their life.

This novel was self-published by a retired teacher named Stephen (Kevin Kline), and the rest of this miniseries is a story about what that book is about and why Stephen is using it to destroy Catherine and her family. I am loath to give away much more information, because the whole point of this show is to watch the mystery slowly unfold and twist upon itself like a mesmerizing Mobius strip, so all I'll say is that Catherine did something in her past that involved Stephen's son, and now that event is coming back to haunt her. You will think you know what's happening for six episodes, and then the final Episode 7 will turn everything on its head. It's a remarkable and propulsive piece of storytelling that had me on the edge of my seat every week and now can have you in the throes of a manic binge for seven hours straight. Enjoy!

The Penguin: While I'm not a DC person, I have always enjoyed Christopher Nolan's Batman movies and found myself quite enjoying The Batman with Robert Pattinson in 2022. In that film, Colin Farrell had a supporting role as Oswald "Oz" Cobb, aka The Penguin, one of Batman's many nemeses, and I absolutely could not recognize him under all those prosthetics, limp, and strong Brooklyn/Gotham accent. Well now, he has his own spin-off show, and every single week, I would watch it and say, "I still can't believe that's Colin Farrell!"

This show is really firing on all cylinders. Created by Lauren LeFranc, the production design is epic, the writing is superb, offering up cliffhangers that kept me riveted throughout, and the performances by the supporting cast are excellent. There's Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, a woman who was betrayed by Oz but might team up with him again to defy her evil family. Their relationship takes many twists and turns that you can revel in for eight episodes. There's also Deirdre O'Connell as Oz's mother, Francis, a woman who has an extremely weird, almost Oedipal relationship with Oz, but also has an incredible backstory that we flesh out during those final episodes. And there's Rhenzy Feliz as Vic, a nervous young boy from the wrong side of tracks who has to team up with Oz in an emergency but then seems poised to maybe make a life for himself after all. 

This show is like watching a superhero version of The Godfather, with shifting loyalties, many betrayals, and insanely compelling characters that have many layers of evil within them that you will have to dig through. Don't forget, this is a story about a villain, and by the end of the show, you won't have any sympathy for The Penguin, but you will probably be horrifically impressed at what he has managed to accomplish. While this was meant to be a one-off miniseries, the show has done so well that it could come back for another season, and there is a teaser about what new characters we could see then. Fingers crossed, but even as a single season, it is a true delight.

Fall Binges Part 2: Rivals, English Teacher, Kaos, Agatha All Along

There has been an explosion of TV over the past month as I try to juggle new series with returning ones. Here are some reviews of the new shows that have kept me occupied and might suck you in too!

Rivals: I binged this show in one giant gulp and it's the best thing I've watched in ages. Based on the 1988 novel by Jilly Cooper, it is a raucous and over-the-top British delight. Insanely raunchy (there's nudity from the very first scene, so be forewarned), and hysterically devious, this is the story of what happens when Lord Tony Baddingham (played by David Tennant, who relishes in putting the "Bad" in Baddingham), the owner of a TV studio in the idyllic English countryside, hires Declan O'Hara (Aidan Turner, who I last drooled over in Poldark), a feisty journalist, to host his own chat show on his network. Declan moves down with his family, which includes his bored wife, Maud (Victoria Smurfit), and two daughters, the oldest of whom, Taggie (Bella Maclean), catches the eye of the local bad boy aristocrat, Lord Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell). Rupert is cartoonishly horny, and has quite the reputation, but as the series progresses, there's the sense that perhaps this rake can be reformed. But maybe not, because man, he shags a lot of women over the course of eight episodes.

Every single character on this show is having an illicit affair or lusting after someone, and the soundtrack is filled with some great 80s pop tunes, with some heavy breathing thrown in. There are a LOT of characters, who all have their own agendas, but everything weaves together seamlessly and entertainingly and there is just oodles of plot to keep you occupied in between sex scenes. The whole thing also ends on an enormous cliffhanger, so I will be first in line to binge all of Series 2 as soon as it's available. Until then, treat yourself to Series 1, and then maybe, watch it all over again. 

English Teacher: Created by Brian Jordan Alvarez who also stars, this show is like the anti-Abbott Elementary. Alvarez plays Evan, a gay English teacher in Austin who is disenchanted by the profession but still going through the motions and trying to get his life together. His love life is a mess, and he constantly seems to be choosing the wrong men to sleep with or find attractive. In the meantime, his fellow colleagues have their own little dramas, including his best friend, Gwen (Stephanie Koenig), and their hapless principal Grant (Enrico Colantoni). Over the course of eight episodes, we get to follow the adventures of this motley crew as they try to navigate the modern world of teaching and grow up themselves while they're trying to help their students grow up too. I wouldn't say this show is "heartwarming," but it's definitely silly and fun, and it's worth a binge when you need a good laugh on a lazy afternoon.

Kaos: If you're a fan of Greek mythology (and who isn't?!) then this is the show for you. Created by Charlie Covell, this is a sprawling series that is set in a modern-day version of Mount Olympus, where the gods still hold sway over humans but also have their own petty squabbles. Meanwhile, there's an ominous prophecy that binds several mortals together, and if they achieve their destiny, they might topple Zeus, which naturally makes him very antsy. It's all very cryptic, and there are many threads to unravel, but as the eight episodes progress, you'll start to see how all the disparate pieces come together despite Zeus's best efforts to thwart all anarchy. The production design is excellent, the actors are superb, the cinematography is splendid, but Netflix decided to cancel the show, so all we have is this one glorious season. It's still worth a viewing, because the season does feel like we get a bit of a resolution, even though there certainly would have been plenty of story to cover in future seasons. But if you simply want to indulge in one tight season of inventive and audacious Greek lore, start watching this show. You won't be disappointed.

Agatha All Along: Do you remember everything that happened in WandaVision? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, at the end of that show, it turned out a witch named Agatha Harkness (the glorious Kathryn Hahn) was the big bad who wanted to steal the Scarlet Witch's powers. So now, in this show created by Jac Schaeffer, we follow what happened to Agatha after the events of WandaVision. The supporting cast features all-stars like Aubrey Plaza, Patti LuPone, Ali Ahn, Sasheer Zamata, and Debra Jo Rupp, as fellow witches who accompany Agatha on a quest to follow the Witches' Road, a Wizard of Oz-style endeavor that is meant to help each of these women regain something that they have lost. But they are also accompanied by a mysterious teen (played by Joe Locke), who seems fascinated by magic and this quest, but can't explain to anyone what he's doing there. 

Unravelling the teen's identity and Agatha's ultimate endgame is the point of this show, and it is appropriately eerie and spooky, with quite a few jump scares thrown in to make it perfect for Halloween. However, as is typical of much of the Marvel Televisual Universe, it was so stuffed with lore and jimjams that I found myself wildly confused most of the time and decided to just watch for vibes rather than any understanding of the plot. The first episode has a great conceit, and then Episode 7 is a standout that has some great narrative devices that truly kept my eyeballs glued to the screen. But can I tell you what happened on the rest of this show and whether it all got satisfyingly resolved? No, I cannot.

Fall Binges Part 1: How to Die Alone, Ludwig, Nobody Wants This

It's getting colder and it's time to spend more time on the couch bingeing TV (OK fine, I do that regardless of the weather). Over the past month I have been making my way through some quality fare, so if you've missed out on the following shows, might I suggest you get all caught up?

How to Die Alone: If you saw Natasha Rothwell in the first season of The White Lotus and thought, "that lady needs her own show!" then this is the answer to your prayers. Here, Rothwell stars (and also created the show!) as Mel, a 35-year-old "broke, fat, Black woman" who works at JFK airport. She is currently single, has one best friend, Rory (Conrad Ricamora), and her boss, Alex (Jocko Sims), also happens to be her ex, who is about to get married to the woman who was meant to be his rebound. Mel doesn't have a lot going on in her life, but when she has a near-death experience, she is determined to make some changes. Including how to find someone to serve as her emergency contact.

Over the course of eight episodes, you are going to watch this woman attempt to evolve but in such a frustrating manner that you know it's all going to fall apart. The show can feel like very broad comedy at times, but then it gets incredibly sharp and incisive. The Thanksgiving episode where she goes to her brother's house for Thanksgiving is a particular standout, managing to be deeply uncomfortable and thrilling, showcasing all the many ways in which families can be infuriating and loving, often at the same time. Mel's life is extremely chaotic, and while it was sometimes hard to watch her be the architect of her own destruction, I binged this show in two days, compelled by Rothwell's riveting central performance and all the fascinating supporting characters. The airport setting is definitely engaging; JFK can be one of the most irritating places to visit as a traveler, but maybe on my next trip, I will amuse myself by imagining what Mel and her colleagues are getting up to behind-the-scenes.

Nobody Wants This: Looking for a delightful romcom that you can binge in one delightful sitting? Then this is the show you seek. Created by Erin Foster and starring the charming pair of Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, this is a story of what happens when Joanne (Bell), a woman who co-hosts a podcast with her sister about her sex and dating life, ends up dating Noah (Brody), who is...a rabbi. 

As broad and ridiculous as that premise sounds, the show is sublime. The writing is pitch perfect, and rather than just leaning into a bunch of jokes about Jews or sex-positive millennials, it deftly manages to highlight the very real issues that are keeping these two people apart, but more importantly, the very real chemistry that keeps pulling them together. It also doesn't hurt that the supporting cast consists of Judith Lupe and Timothy Simons as Joanne's sister, Morgan, and Noah's brother, Sasha. Those two are up to some craziness on the sidelines, and watching the antics of this couple's friends and family members is almost as delightful as watching the couple themselves.

While this first season offers up a complete and delicious romance to satisfy all of your cravings, I am desperate to find out what happens next. And if the writing and acting wasn't enough, the show's soundtrack is full of absolute bangers that always brought a smile to my face. This is the perfect comedy: funny, charming, and brimming with heart. I defy you to not be instantly bowled over by it - everybody wants this!

Ludwig: When my friend sent me the trailer of this show, I couldn't have been more excited. A BBC show starring David Mitchell, my favorite British comedian, as a puzzle creator who is trying to figure out the disappearance of his twin brother, a police detective, and ends up solving a bunch of murder mysteries as though they were different types of puzzles? Inject that directly into my veins!

Written by Mark Brotherhood, this show is a delightful comedy mystery series, and I binged all six episodes in a flash. Every episode features a unique murder that John "Ludwig" Taylor (Mitchell) needs to solve, but there's also the overarching mystery of why his twin brother James has disappeared that he is investigating with James's wife, Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin), and son, Henry (Dylan Hughes). Meanwhile, no one at the police station has figured out he is not his brother James, so he needs to keep bumbling about James's colleagues at the police station while he looks for clues, whilst accidentally solving all their murder cases in brilliant fashion. The tone is deftly comic but intriguing, the murders are all intricate and satisfyingly solved, and I instantly wanted to go buy a big book of logic puzzles when I was all done. If you like reading cozy mysteries, this show is the TV equivalent and is the perfect fall treat. Unfortunately, it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, so Series 2 had better be filming right now.