This is the follow up season of True Detective we deserved but never got.
A furious evisceration of the hypocrisy of organised religion, while also seeing the value of faith - be it in those you love, yourself or your own moral compass. This horrific true story walks the line between infuriating and fascinating, remaining a stunning watch from start to finish.
I'm not sure I've ever seen Andrew Garfield be as compelling or so fully inhabiting a character as he does here. He plays a Mormon detective and it means he needs to navigate completely different worlds. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between him and his partner Bill.
The true crime dealt with in this story is not for the faint hearted, and the portrayal of the corrupted people behind it is strong. I won't highlight any names here for fear of spoilers, but some of the cast members put in truly disturbing performances.
The structure of the series is a little odd, being told with multiple flashbacks and timeline jumps. I think that mostly this is put together really well, but the 1800s stuff was probably unnecessary. I would have appreciated more time spent with Brenda's (Daisy Edgar-Jones) story instead.
One thing I really liked here was the slightly longer episode lengths. They ended up benefitting the story and really allowed me to get immersed. I wish I'd watched this sooner and would recommend it in an instant. Just take a few deep breaths because the behaviour of these people, especially their treatment of women, is a lot to take.
Initially coming across as a little odd, this grows into a highly tense and deeply emotional story. The tragic life of Anne Frank is well known, but this elects to tell things from the perspective of the woman who agreed to keep her and her family hidden from the Nazis.
I'm often drawn to the more detailed, personal stories of World War II and this delivers. Life in Amsterdam under Nazi occupation is depicted as more complex than the image we may have in our heads. People are confused, angry and absolutely terrified and they deal with it in different ways. Some choose to resist. Some choose to stay out of it as much as they can. Some choose to become collaborators, either out of fear or out of opportunity.
An initial hurdle with this miniseries is that the dialogue and characters all feel very modern. It was taking me out of things, but after a couple of episodes it started to feel like quite a natural choice. It enabled me to relate to the characters easily, and eventually I wasn't even noticing. The character's accents are also confusing, with a mixture of English and German voices and not much I could tell to differentiate what they represented. The Frank family alone are a big mix of accents, and I would have appreciated some clarification.
The performances here are fantastic, with Bel Powley, Joe Cole and Liev Schreiber being the standouts. The rest of the cast don't get as much screen time and less opportunities to make their mark, but everyone fits in very well. While this chooses to stay largely family friendly, that doesn't mean it isn't powerful, and while the horrors of WW2 aren't explicitly shown they are certainly felt and this doesn't attempt to gloss over the darkness.
And in the end anything that shows a new generation what utter evil bastard scum the Nazis were is good, especially when the message is delivered as well as this.
I can't say enough good things about the performances from Lily James and Sebastian Stan here. James in particular is completely transformed into Pamela Anderson and the results are incredible. For a lot of the time I completely forgot I wasn't watching the real her. The recreation of the 1990s is also done with skill (God, I miss the '90s).
This miniseries tells the true story (undoubtedly with a lot of embellishments and creative license) of the theft and distribution of a private sex tape featuring two celebrities. It changes tone a lot throughout, flitting between a dark comedy, crime/legal drama, earnest romance and lurid sex adventure.
These different moods are held together surprisingly well. Each episode is treated as its own thing with its own style but there's still a cohesion to it all. A lot of focus is given to the effect the scandal had on Pamela and it's all the stronger for it, treating her respectfully and clearly showing the line between what she was happy to do publicly and what was an invasion of her privacy. The romance between her and Tommy Lee is incredibly sweet but also shows the reasons why they didn't work out.
The changes in tone also cause issues though, because the pacing of this is all over the place. Episodes will completely abandon storylines and characters to focus on something else and the fact is that some of those things just aren't as interesting. The best stuff is when Pam and Tommy are on screen, and there are long segments without them. Seth Rogen certainly does a decent job but his story stays one-note a little too long, and while I started out rooting for his character that all went away as the show went on.
Content-wise this definitely isn't for everyone, and even I was getting annoyed with the amount of swearing by the second or third episode. That's a sign of extremely lazy writing for me. Most of the sexual content is contained to the first few episodes and while it doesn't go as far as the marketing may have lead everyone to believe, a no-holds-barred sequence in which Sebastian Stan has a conversation with his own cock is certainly memorable.
This fascinating miniseries tells the story of the American opioid crisis that began in the '90s with the introduction of the painkiller OxyContin. Thanks to the utter lies told by the pharmaceutical company that manufactured it, it ended up destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
It's a long and complicated story, and the series perhaps makes this unintentionally more complex by continually jumping back and forward in time. Fortunately its edited together well enough to keep things flowing, even if I ended up getting lost a few times in regards to the timeline.
Michael Keaton is fantastic in the role of a small town doctor who is unwittingly caught up in the horrific events that unfold, and Kaitlyn Dever is emerging as an absolute star. Between this and Unbelievable she's been in two of the strongest miniseries of the past few years. Rosario Dawson gets to show her anger in a great role, but the storyline which I found myself most into was the investigation being carried out by two state prosecutors, played by Peter Sarsgaard and John Hoogenakker. While Dever's story was the heart of things, their story was the part that made me want to come back each episode.
The series fumbles in a few places. Most of the attempts to portray the relationships and personal lives of these people fall a bit flat, and end up feeling like uninteresting time filler when I wanted to get back to the investigation.
But the weakest part here is the portrayal of the Sackler family. I know from other things that Michael Stuhlbarg is a good actor, and yet his performance here is bizarre. He's like a moody teenager with communication issues and a silly voice and I was confused by all the choices made. I just couldn't take him seriously. The rest of the family come across similarly cartoonish (although I have to wonder if this was intentional, given how ridiculous these people really are).
Those few downsides aren't enough to stop me recommending this as a must watch miniseries that tackles an important topic. The American health system is sadly very messed up.
Wonderfully atmospheric and paced quite well, this still feels far too long at 10 episodes. Based on the 1978 short story Jerusalem's Lot - which is a vague prequel to the 1975 novel 'Salem's Lot - this expands upon the story greatly.
A much larger cast of characters, new plot points, and in some respects a whole new drive to the narrative make this improve upon King's original writing quite a lot. The short story never felt connected to 'Salem's Lot whereas this does. Adrian Brody is particularly great in the lead role of Charles Boone, a widower who brings his three children to the New England family home of Chapelwaite after his cousin and uncle have died.
If you think of 'Salem's Lot then you probably think of vampires. King's short story didn't have any. This has lots, and they are quite welcome. I always enjoy seeing Christopher Heyerdahl in my sci-fi/fantasy TV and here he is fantastic as the head vampire. The town of Preacher's Corners is also considerably fleshed out and filled with a variety of people who contribute quite meaningfully to the tale.
Is it scary? Hmm, not really. Creepy at times and with some disturbing imagery (if you don't like worms then this isn't for you), this relies more on the growing sense of dread and inevitable confrontations that are coming. It's gorgeously shot in the way that so much modern prestige television now is, but I think the real key here is the good relationships that are built between characters. Most of all I enjoyed seeing Charles as a father, with the three child characters each leaving quite a mark.
But it's flabby and halfway through began to feel like a little bit of a slog. Five or six episodes would have been ample time to wrap this all up without losing anything vital. I wouldn't call it slow at any point, like The Outsider, and each episode does progress the story quite well. It also has a very strong ending and felt like a worthwhile watch. But I don't think anyone would call this a classic King miniseries, especially since it doesn't feel very King-esque.
Mike Flanagan continues to channel his love of Stephen King into a miniseries that's actually better than most King TV screen adaptations we see. I wasn't totally won over by his Haunting of Hill House and haven't bothered with the follow up series yet, but this is in a totally different league.
Midnight Mass is absolutely steeped in thematic material. This could be a bit much if it didn't sit so well alongside the characters, the writing and the narrative. The series has hell of a lot to say about religion but it's never coming down for or against it. It allows each character's religious beliefs (even if they have none) to let us understand them and what their faith means to them.
I highly recommend going into this knowing as little as possible. Suffice to say that there are horror elements which creep in and it certainly fits into the classic Stephen King story mould. There are twists which are telegraphed from the start (if you notice the actors in old-age makeup in the first episode then it's a bit obvious where things are going) and some which are much more subtle.
But the show really shines through the performances. Just about every episode has at least one scene which is completely mesmerising. It's not afraid of letting it's characters have discussions and letting us be there for the whole thing. More films and TV could benefit from this approach. I need to highlight Hamish Linklater in particular as doing an incredible job.
If I have any criticism it's that the visuals are a little frustrating. The series has that weird "modern" undersaturated look with minimal lighting which leads to things looking a bit flat. This is offset by some gorgeous cinematography and strong editing.
Also, Bev is the worst.
It probably helped that my expectations for this were low, because I came away largely impressed by it all. It was difficult to get excited about a show focused on Sam/Falcon who has been incredibly bland up to this point. I was more interested in Bucky, but that was down to how cool he was as the Winter Soldier and his relationship with Steve.
I'm happy to say that this miniseries had a hell of a lot more depth than I ever expected and got me properly invested in these characters. It has pacing issues but presented its story with care and maturity, effectively delivering some real wow moments. The show's focus on people rather than events works very well and the line between good and bad is blurred with skill.
But Daniel Bruhl really steals the show.
A fascinating story told extremely poorly. The writing, direction and most of all editing is of such a low quality here and makes the show much more difficult to watch than it should be. None of the dialogue is natural and I was eventually screaming in anger at the screen whenever there was a time jump (which is every 10 minutes or so).
I'm wondering if there was some kind of rule that every scene needed to include a superfluous shot of a character lighting a cigarette or smoking one, especially while staring wistfully. Yeah we get it, people smoked in the 1970s. Apparently everyone.
The actors are a mixed bag too, with some doing well with the material they were given while others just aren't able to handle it. In particular, the lead role of Charles was miscast. Tahar Rahim projects none of the charisma we are supposed to understand the real man had, and is incredibly blank and flat throughout. Knippenberg is a problematic portrayal too, seemingly someone who will just have an angry, shouty outburst at the the tiniest provocation. How did this man become a diplomat if he's that on edge?
But there are good points. Jenna Coleman shows the most range and inhabits her role quite well (apart from the scenes where she seems to mimic Charles/Alain and just stares blankly at him while he speaks). I love the various accents and I think the cast did well there, with a wonderful use of different languages. The series makes good use of its locations and you can almost feel the heat. And on top of it all, the story itself is an intriguing one and easy to just let yourself get lost in. The show managed to create tension well where it was needed.
Less episodes would probably have benefited things, along with a much better method of telling the story.
Extremely plastic, and it comes off as nothing more than an advertisement for working at Disney. There was very little true that came through it all, it's way too overproduced and lacks any real detail. Once past that, I did enjoy the variety from episode to episode as it managed to highlight jobs I had never even considered exist, and many of the employees seem like fantastic people.
An enticing documentary series, but not put together with as much skill as I had expected. Delving into a sprawling case like this one of the most important things a documentary can do is establish a clear timeline, and this doesn't attempt to do anything of the sort. It's frustrating that we jump in somewhere in the middle and then consistently go back and forth.
What it does have is a massive emotional punch. The stories being told by the survivors are heartbreaking and the tale of the author herself, Michelle McNamara, and her unexpected death really add a lot. Her role in uncovering further details about the East Area Rapist cannot be understated, and the time devoted to her was very welcome.
Aesthetically, there's a bit too much "podcast"-style delivery here. A lot of voice overs, scribbled text fading in and out of the screen, images of fingers typing and reconstructed backgrounds being slightly out of focus with ominous music. This would have worked far better if they'd kept it simpler and just told to the story from beginning to end.
An easy watch and pretty entertaining, but it felt very basic for me. It's like it was made for people who have never played video games. It focused on all the obvious culprits and had a pixelated bleep-bloop aesthetic that bears no relation to what games have become. Fair enough, this is focusing on the '80s to early '90s, but there's something almost insulting about doing that. And having the focus be on only America and Japan felt like a missed opportunity (it was called the Sega Mega Drive, you monsters! ;) ).
One thing I did like was the personal stories that cropped up throughout. Although, I don't know why there was so much focus on people who won gaming tournaments, were three necessary? (In fact, eSports as a whole felt completely inappropriate to what the series was about). In particular, the story of the creation of the first console to use cartridges was lovely. The representation of various minorities in gaming, their stories buried in history, was also very welcome.
As someone who grew up as a PC gamer in love with adventure games, I was delighted to see Roberta Williams and her husband were featured, but also sad that there was no dive into King's Quest or how the genre grew and evolved into the '90s.
This is good introduction to the history of gaming, but it only scratches the surface. Mostly it succeeded in making me nostalgic for older games.
One of the best documentaries I've ever seen. A good doc should be detailed and engaging, but it should also tell a story. This does that effortlessly and there wasn't one moment across the 6 hours of it where I wasn't mesmerised.
I can't say I was even particularly interested in the behind-the-scenes world of the Disney theme parks, but this revealed things I had never even considered. The people ("imagineers") involved in making these things are so creative and talented, and the level of detail and craftsmanship they put into their work is incredible.
The last time I went to a Disney park was in 1997 on a family trip to Florida. We did Disney World, Epcot and MGM Studios. I also went to Disneyland Paris (then called Euro Disney) at some point in the early/mid '90s. They were all fantastic experiences, but I was really curious to see how the parks must have been updated in the time since then. They are all constantly changing and it's quite amazing to see how the creators keep them relevant.
I liked that this wasn't shy about exploring the things that didn't work and the mistakes made along the way. It was great to see them realise that they needed to understand and respect other cultures before they could slap an American theme park in different country.
Not quite the "feminist Western" which Netflix seemed to promote it as, but that's fine because it didn't need to be. Godless is a lush and rich Western miniseries which somehow feels fresh while still embodying many tropes of the genre. We have a tired sheriff with an overeager deputy, a band of outlaws seeking revenge and a mysterious stranger on the run. All this happens in and around a town populated almost entirely by (badass) women.
It's to the shows credit that it makes each of these clichés feel unique and interesting. The sheriff is losing his eyesight and is regarded as a coward by the women he's charged with protecting, while simultaneously struggling with feelings of resentment to his own little daughter. The evil outlaw (played superbly by Jeff Daniels) is actually a man capable of incredible compassion and acts of love alongside his brutality. And Whitey, the overeager deputy, turns out to be one of the most enjoyable and unpredictable characters in the whole thing.
But it's the girls of La Belle who do manage to steal a good portion of the show. Maggie is tough as nails and doesn't back down an inch when confronted with male posturing, as well as being engaged in a very natural relationship with Callie. Meanwhile, Alice lives her life exactly on her own terms as she raises her son along with her (awesome) Native American mother-in-law.
Godless is not an action-fest, although when things go down it's extremely satisfying. This is more of a measured story which lets things breathe. The cinematography is absolutely glorious and my jaw dropped at the staging of several scenes. I found it to the show's benefit that we spent so much time just taking things in as my attachment to the characters grew more and more. To give a specific example there's an episode in which a lot of time is spent with horses, and while it doesn't further the plot significantly, it pays off down the line and only allowed me to enjoy the experience all the more.
The cast are uniformly excellent, and it's easy to forget that three of the main characters are Brits. The writing is also of a high quality, and while this is not in the same league as the poetry and magnificence of Deadwood, it's very much going for a different vibe and doing its own thing. This feels more like an epic Western whereas the HBO show had a tighter focus on the comings and goings of the town it was set in.
That's not to say the show is perfect. I'm definitely not the first to notice, but there are a number of plot threads which are introduced but go absolutely nowhere. We meet characters like John Doe who have a mystery set up and then no more is given to us. We don't really get any huge revelations into Bill's past with his wife or situation, and what the Indian and his dog were all about. The (fantastic) German character Martha is only introduced at the very end. And we don't even get a proper explanation as to why Roy betrayed Frank in the first place. It definitely feels to me like there is plenty of room for a continuation, but this appears to be a one-off.
But I absolutely loved Godless. It manages to be incredibly satisfying despite its flaws, is one of the best looking shows you can watch right now and when it kicks off the thrills are absolutely glorious.
I'm very torn over the original Star Trek series. I'm too young for it; I grew up in the 1980s with the original cast films - which I loved and still do - but my real adoration for Trek began with The Next Generation and then especially Deep Space Nine. The original Star Trek is a very different show from any of that, and I have to look at it with a different mindset to try and appreciate it. I don't have any nostalgia colouring my view.
To put it bluntly, it's horribly dated and oftentimes difficult to watch or enjoy. It's campy and looks very cheap. BUT, it's saving grace is how good the actors, writing and characters are. They brought the show to life, and at points made it a complete joy. For the time it was made it did incredible things with progressive storytelling and strong special effects.
I'm never going to love the original series, or even really get it. It's not my Star Trek, but it has its place in history and that can't be denied. I feel it got it chance to shine when it moved into the film format (conversely, TNG and the rest of the franchise worked far better on TV than as films).
Disappointed with this series overall, it was very limited in scope and kept revisiting the same people and genres. I felt like it had a narrow field of view. Some great stuff hidden in there, definitely, but it never really delved deep into anything and seemed content to just jump from one thing to the next.
