TV Diary
Friday, June 30, 2023 
Samuel L. Jackson has been the glue of the MCU for so long that it's cool to see something focused on him, and a Disney+ miniseries probably works better than if they'd tried to make a Nick Fury event movie, I suppose. Captain Marvel didn't really leave me craving more of Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, though. And it feels like a little of a waste to underuse people like Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke and Katie Finneran in a big ensemble, but Colman had a great scene in the second episode at least. And fuck Marvel for using A.I.-generated art in the opening titles.
Boots Riley establishing himself as a talented and unique filmmaker with Sorry To Bother You was a pretty exciting development, and his follow-up is this surreal Amazon Prime series about an Oakland teenager who's 13 feet tall. It's really strange and funny and creative, and I dig the way they used mostly practical effects and forced perspective to make the main character appear twice as tall as everyone else. I have mixed feelings about Jharrel Jerome's performance, though, sometimes he's hilarious but the kind of relentlessly wide-eyed, childlike tone can sometimes feel kind of forced and tiresome.
c) "Hijack"
This miniseries takes place in real time during the hijacking of a passenger plane, and obviously it's gotten compared to "24" but it doesn't feel like it's too close to that show tonally, at least (and no annoying ticking clocks hammering home the gimmick). Idris Elba's character is kind of an interesting ambiguous hero, it's a little hard to tell exactly what he's trying or why, which is a good approach to keep a show like this from getting dull. Kate Phillips feels like the breakout cast member as one of the hijackers, though.
This miniseries is about a real new age cult that was basically kidnapping and indoctrinating kids in the '70s and '80s, crazy story, good cast, pretty engrossing stuff.
e) "Glamorous"
A pretty charming Netflix comedy where Kim Cattrall plays an iconic beauty mogul who decides to mentor this young aspiring makeup influencer. It's self-aware enough to reference The Devil Wears Prada and make it a fairly different story with different character dynamics, but it's enjoyable in that same kind of light, frothy way.
The Full Monty was a pretty enjoyable little surprise hit in its time, but not the kind of underdog story that lends itself to any kind of franchise or sequel. The cast and screenwriter from the original reuniting for a miniseries that revisits the characters 25 years is a decent idea, though, it definitely retains a lot of the appeal of the original.
g) "The Bear"
"The Bear" had a great first season and it really feels like they've built on its strengths in the second season, I feel like they're using the whole ensemble more, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Lionel Boyce and Abby Elliott are getting more chances to shine. A lot of people seem to think the 6th episode "Fishes" is the pinnacle of the series, but I had mixed feelings about an hourlong 'Christmas movie from Hell' episode full of super famous guest stars, it had some great moments but also felt kind of grueling and over-the-top by the end.
h) "Warrior"
"Warrior" was one of the few Cinemax series left when Cinemax stopped making original programming in 2020, so I was pretty delighted when the show moved over to HBO Max, even if it took almost three years for it to return for a third season. And it's still got probably the best action on TV, the fight choreography in the season premiere was pretty amazing.
I don't know if season 3 can reach the heights of season 2 but "The Righteous Gemstones" is definitely one of the best comedies on TV right now, and I'm glad Walton Goggins is in the new episodes a little more, he's really a national treasure. But the whole ensemble is great, Tim Baltz and Tony Cavalero really deserve a lot of props as supporting players. And Cassidy Freeman, damn, I love her.
I've always felt like "Black Mirror" was a hit-or-miss show, but I respect that Charlie Brooker's willing to tell vastly different stories within one series and risk failure with more experimental installments. And season 6's first episode "Joan Is Awful" is one of my favorite to date, so funny and entertaining that I didn't mind so much that the other four felt like a pretty mixed bag from the more dour end of things. The last two episodes, one of which is labeled "Red Mirror," were more supernatural horror than the usual "Black Mirror" theme of speculative sci-fi and technology-themed horror, I wouldn't mind if they just spun off "Red Mirror" as its own distinct series but it felt kind of disappointing to see how ordinary the 'twist' in "Mazey Day" was.
k) "Delete"
This Netflix series from Thailand has a very "Black Mirror"-ish premise with a camera phone that makes people disappear when you take their picture. But since it's a series it feels a little more successfully character-driven, a little more about the plot than the premise.
l) "Vortex"
An even more "Black Mirror"-ish series, this one from France, where a guy appears to be able to communicate with his dead wife in a VR program and possible prevent her death, haven't watched too much yet but it's an interesting concept.
This German series on Netflix stars a couple of actors from "Sense8" and has a good pulpy crime plot about a closed murder case being reopened after someone convicted for the crime commits suicide in prison.
This South Korean series about two young boxers who become friends has pretty good dialogue. And it feels like "Bloodhounds" gets at how much the pandemic really made life a lot more desperate for a lot of people better than any other scripted show I've seen, from any country.
It feels like surrogate births are a subject that inspires a lot of extreme feelings and controversy. And this Mexican series plays on a lot of those emotions with a harrowing story of a woman who's coerced into surrogacy for a wealthy family, who rejects the child she gives birth to when it has a disability. I don't know if "The Surrogacy" is really getting into all the legal or ethical ramifications of the subject, though, they're just mining it for drama.
A pretty fun, unpredictable Swedish show based on a true story, about a group of teenage girls who decide to start robbing affluent neighbors' houses.
A Japanese show about a married couple splitting up that kind of has a sharp satirical voice, I like it so far but there are a ton of episodes so I dunno if I'll catch up.
The Max Original "Swiping America" calls itself a 'rom-doc' to distinguish itself as sort of a prestige version of reality dating shows, and I have to admit they pull it off. It's artfully directed, has empathy for the people in the show and really makes you root for them and feel happy when they meet someone promising.
This is a goofy summer reality show on FOX where a bunch of celebrities live together in a simulated Mars space station (and of course, somebody gets eliminated every week). William Shatner hosting and dramatically announcing "this is 'Stars On Mars'" is really a nice touch that sets the right tone. It's gross that they let Lance Armstrong try to rehab his public image on this show, but it was also pretty funny when Ariel Winter had him confused with Neil Armstrong and thought he was an astronaut.
t) "First Five"
There was a lot of global attention on Finland a few years ago when Sanna Marin became Prime Minister at the age of 34, and took office with an all-female cabinet. And this Max miniseries, which premiered about a week before Marin's successor took office, seems to capture a little of the craziness of all the attention on Marin, who is, well, strikingly beautiful, and how much stress they were under to be taken seriously and prove they could run the government. I feel like the docuseries kinds of glosses over all the particular stuff about Finnish politics and Marin's administration that I'd be curious to know more about in favor of focusing on the human element, but maybe it's for the best that it didn't get lost in those details.
This docuseries is about the disappearance of a teenage girl in 1989 -- the case was never solved, and decades later her brother is convinced that their father killed her and their mother helped cover it up. I haven't finished the series, but I read that it ends without investigators coming to any definitive conclusions which is pretty frustrating, it's a really engrossing and strange story though.
I was a kid during the era that "American Gladiators" was a massive syndicated TV phenomenon, so it was interesting to get a look at the story behind that weird spectacle. The 'unauthorized' part is that the creator of "American Gladiator" appears not to be involved in the Netflix docuseries, and a lot of the rest of the cast and crew tells these tales of him being this professional Elvis impersonator who did outrageous things on the set, which are depicted in cheesy animated segments. I kinda wish they actually talked to seemingly the most interesting character in the saga though.
I'm not very interested in cars, but Texas car culture is pretty cool, I like this show on Netflix even though it reminds me of a less obnoxious "Pimp My Ride."
This show is about Robert Downey, Jr. converting his collection of classic cars into electric cars, kind of cool that he took his hobby that wasn't very environmentally-friendly and having fun with making it green. It kind of reminds me of "Welcome To Wrexham" in that it's more entertaining than the average reality show because it's about a movie star who's experienced at being professionally carming, frankly I'll take that over a lot of reality TV dullards.
This Hulu show is about the idea that soul food is not just in the American south, it's all over the world, so there are episodes about Peru, South Africa, etc., pretty cool concept, some of the food looks amazing.
z) "The Hollow"
This animated series ran on Netflix for two seasons in 2018-2020, and I never was aware of it at the time. But my son watched it recently and it's a pretty good little adventure show, I dig the animation style.
