Big Mistakes. Dan Levy has a free pass from me for the rest of his life for giving us
Schitts Creek but he doesn’t need it for his new black comedy. Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega) are a squabbling brother and sister who need to buy a gift for their dying Nonna but things quickly spiral out of control when Morgan makes an impulsive mistake. It’s both silly and fast moving with one of those plots where you don't want to think too hard, and also don't have the time to unpick it before moving onto the next thing. But it also has a bit of heart too which is what will keep me coming back for more A great cast too, including Laurie Metcalf, and I think there is mileage in the second series which has just been confirmed. Lots of fun
(Series, streaming on Netflix)
Off Campus. A romance based in the hockey world, adapted from a book series? Sounds a bit familiar, but this is no
Heated Rivalry. Garrett (Belmont Cameli) is a star hockey player bro, living in a frat house with his team mates, and Hannah (Ella Bright) is a musician and songwriter who has transferred away from her hometown for painful reasons that we discover later. We have a raunchy opening (a bare bums shower scene) with a meet cute, but then four episodes of not exactly yearning, more just dancing around each other before we get any action. According to the producers of
Heated Rivalry, the requirement from most streamers was that there should be no sex until episode 5, and this seems to be following this format, which is a shame as I think there is a much more fun version of this hiding somewhere out there. There's a bit of a muddle tonally as well, as there are some dark backstories which are handled well but somehow in isolation - the fault of the writers I feel, rather than the cast who were doing their best. And it appears from online comment that, as is often the case, the books are better. The opening is stylish, with great music and cinematography, but I felt it failed to live up to its potential there too, falling back into fairly bland territory. Anyway, this is perfectly enjoyable, so I will probably watch another series, mainly for two of the secondary characters Allie and Dean, who seemed to me to be given much better dialogue and the potential for interesting storylines than the others. Interestingly, the media seems to love it, and I'm suspicious that it's because it is what a romance 'should be' but that's the exact reason it felt a bit ordinary. So, for hockey romance, it's back to
Heated Rivalry for me! (
Series, streaming on Prime)
The Pitt I watched season one of this, following the huge rave reviews. It is a really good example of a soapy continuing drama, done
24 style, with the whole series just covering one shift. It's gory and hard hitting, and there are lots of pointed reminders of the poor state of US healthcare, lack of funding for public health, and the pressure on human rights. with storylines about abortion and immigration, rounding off with a mass shooting. There's lot more to be mined with the characters I feel, particularly Noah Wylie's character who has so many demons I am not sure how he is functioning at all. It obviously has echoes of
ER, particularly as Wylie also starred in that show, but I don't think that weighs it down at all. At its heart it is high class
Casualty, but none the less effective for that. I haven't braved season 2 yet though
(Series, streaming on NowTV/Sky) The Miniature Wife This is scifi played as screwball comedy, with Matthew Macfadyn as a scientist who shrinks his wife (Elizabeth Banks) to 6 inches tall, just as his lab is about to be bought out by baddies who clearly aim to use the technology for nefarious purposes. I found that it was one of those series that I watched whilst scrolling on my phone. Light, except for a bit in the middle where I briefly thought it was going to get a bit deeper and more interesting character wise, this is a nice easy watch if your brain doesn't want to work too hard.
(Series, streaming on NowTV/Sky)
The Unchosen - twisty turney drama about a repressive religious community full of secrets. With Christoper Eccleston as Mr Phillips, the head of the community, we watch as they they try to manage dissenters, at the same time as an outsider with his own secrets joins and disrupts the existing order in all sorts of ways. The plot is really a bit silly and sensationalised, but the amazing acting talent including Asa Butterfield and Siobhan Finneran sort of hides how clunky it is for a while. The ending though had me spitting feathers at having sat through to the end. (
Series, streaming on Netflix)
The Testaments - the follow up to The Handmaid’s Tale , based on the book by Margaret Atwood. It looks gorgeous and it is impeccable in its taking apart of toxic masculinity and what the patriarchy looks like when given free rein. The story is good, but it is incredibly slow.. It has a love of sweeping, choreographed overhead shots and using that to juxtapose the deliberate cruelty - I worry sometimes though that the beauty hides the misery, which I get is the point, but still. The painstaking consideration of every aspect of what women’s lives are like under the regime is worthwhile, but it feels a bit like they are going to wring every little bit of juice out of this that they can. I'd prefer a bit more brevity sometimes
(Series, streaming on Disney+)
The Critic - This is a fab film with Ian McKellan as a bitchy, machievallian theatre critic, who enjoys tearing down anyone and everyone. He reserves particular spite for the actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton)
who is already struggling with confidence . When his job becomes at risk with a new, more principled, newspaper proprieter (Mark Strong), he begins scheming in a beautifully horrible way. McKellan is clearly having a lot of fun with this character and with Lesley Manville and Romola Garai in smaller secondary roles, the performances of all of the cast are absolutely fab, so that even though I think the denouement falls a bit flat at the end, the whole thing is deliciously enjoyable
(Film, streaming on Netflix)
Project Hail Mary - I watched this ages ago now. A bit like
The Martian (by the same author), this is a story of one scientist trying to make the best of a bad situation, although in this case he eventually has a buddy to help. I haven't read the book yet (it's sitting in a big pile) but I felt that Rocky was a bit infantilised for someone who must be one of his planet's greatest engineers. Despite that, Ryan Gosling is always good value, and it's a lovely, heartfelt buddy movie, and any kind of feelgood has to be a good idea at the moment.
(Film, at the cinema)
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