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) …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Although there isn’t a whiff of straight-up espionage to Jasmine Aimaq’s The Opium Prince (2020), it reminded me of a Graham Greene or John le Carré novel: an immersive, literary …
The conspiracy thriller gets an effective update in Black Box (2021), a French production that slots in nicely alongside classic genre progenitors. When a passenger plane goes down in the …
Showtime’s recent content merge with Paramount+ finally afforded me the opportunity to catch up with its hit series Yellowjackets, a show that has proven as buzzworthy as its title. The …
While more or less packaged as straight-up noir, Repeat Performance (1947) is in fact an early progenitor of a filmic fantasy trope often attributed to Groundhog Day—which makes this obscure …
Damn, is Mick Herron ever good at this stuff. The infectious groove of reading London Rules propelled me straight into the next Slough House release, The Marylebone Drop (2018), one …
The depth and quality of Apple’s content library continues to impress with Bad Sisters, a time-jumping, seriocomic mystery about complicated, highly dysfunctional families. This Ireland-based series involves the tight-knit but sketchy …
If you can look past its inherent, excessive depravity—and it ain’t always easy—there’s an awful lot to admire about Black Butterflies. This intricate French thriller combines the bloody trappings of …
Alma Katsu is known primarily for historical horror fiction, but evidently she had a lengthy career in the intelligence services. This shows—vividly—in her first spy novel, Red Widow (2021). Brisk, …