TV: Deadloch (Season 1)
What a great trick the Australian series Deadloch pulls off: it grabs the sinister reins of Nordic noir, then steers it off the road into a refreshing briar patch of …
What a great trick the Australian series Deadloch pulls off: it grabs the sinister reins of Nordic noir, then steers it off the road into a refreshing briar patch of …
The surprisingly delightful Game Night (2018) throws a number of ideas and influences into its hopper. A fairly conventional comedy set-up introduces us to competitive gaming couple Max (Jason Bateman) …
At times during its run What We Do in the Shadows has threatened to overplay its bag of tricks, but somehow it always manages to reinvigorate itself with timely, surprising invention. …
Having pulled off something extraordinary once, The Afterparty faced, upon its renewal, the steep challenge of doing something extraordinary again. It doesn’t quite manage it, although the effort is commendable. …
On The Wire, Idris Elba made an early mark as Stringer Bell, one of TV history’s most fascinating, memorable schemers. Apple’s Hijack is the best “mastermind” vehicle for him in years, …
Positive buzz drew me to Confess, Fletch (2022), an appealing, throwback comedy reminiscent of simpler times. Jon Hamm takes up the mantle as Irwin “I.M.” Fletcher (played by Chevy Chase …
Based on the deeply impressive Midnight Mass, I went into Mike Flanagan’s earlier limited series The Haunting of Hill House (2018) with high expectations, bolstered by lingering media buzz proclaiming it …
New Zealand’s Creamerie was already weird after one season; impressively, the second gets even weirder. Set in a post-plague future in which men have died out, it involves the struggles of …
Full of herky-jerky camera motion and walking pans, Steven Soderbergh’s limited series Full Circle may look like it was shot on a cellphone, but once the story gets rolling that …
It’s a testament to the draw of Rachel Weisz that Dead Ringers pinged my radar, despite my having long forgotten the David Cronenberg film it reboots, and having a potent …
There’s an unrealistic, if eye-catching, hook at the center of slasher film You’re Next (2011): the killers paint those very words on the walls of their victims’ homes, in blood, …
If there were any doubts after Red Widow that Alma Katsu wasn’t the real-deal in spy fiction, Red London (2023) should put them squarely to rest. This sequel brings back all the elements …
As early as the first episode, I was questioning the point of Love & Death. A competent true-crime drama with a first-rate cast, it has the weighty feel of prestige …
French humor is a peculiar business, and one need look no farther than the outlandish Smoking Causes Coughing (2022) for evidence. This superhero-flavored comedy anthology is as zany as it …
Given the pedigree—a series led by Armando Iannucci, with Hugh Laurie in the lead—Avenue 5 should have really worked. Instead, it only sort of does, proof (if any were needed) …
As season three of The Witcher fades rapidly from memory, I’ll acknowledge there’s still plenty to admire about the series: the performers, the world-building, the effects. But something seems to …