This week’s episode is a weird mix of a glossy, revisionist biopic, a real time thriller that everyone’s dad will love, Anne Hathaway literally becoming Mother (for better or worse), a plane crash disaster flick with the added spice of frenzied sharks, an intriguing and personality filled look into the escort industry and a couple of very welcome library additions, one featuring a young Willem Dafoe.
From the long-awaited King Of Pop biopic to shark-infested plane-crash chaos, A24 weirdness, and a brand-new Netflix rework of a great Tony Scott movie into a series, this is one of those episodes that rattles around a plethora of genres, some better than others.
First up is Michael, the long-awaited Michael Jackson biopic that arrives with all the weight and controversy you’d expect. Not in the movie, of course! That would be acknowledging it! Although it is doing well at the box office, Michael goes the glossy revisionist route in a decision that took me out of the film more and more. My catharisis IS this episode, trust me!
Then there’s Fuze, a tense thriller that works best when it leans into pressure-cooker suspense and lets the characters spiral under the weight of everything that can go wrong in a split second, whether you’re mere feet away from an unexploded World War II missile, in the command center overseeing everything or, maybe, robbing a nearby bank in the silence of an evacuated London. It’s that bead of sweat caused by tension that hangs off the end of your nose and won’t drop.
I also checked out Mother Mary, which brings David Lowery into his wheelhouse of contentment, and he brings out ALL the colors and textures for this one. Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway command an intense reunion between two creative beings, and the audience feels the hurt with every barb. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I was mesmerized.
Sharks are present, so you know Chloe is in for this one! Against my prediction, Renny Harlin seems to be apologizing for his dull and listless Strangers trilogy because Deep Water kind of rocks! A really well executed and dynamic plane crash leads to the survivors being picked off one by one by sharks in the open ocean. Plus, Aaron Eckhart is there to anchor everything down and, after all these years, I still choose to believe in Harvey Dent!
Then there’s the Vancouver Critics’ Circle award-winning documentary Modern Whore, Andrea Werhun’s honest, vibrant and, at many times, funny film representation of her book that she wrote with director Nicole Bazuin. Brimming with personality, this was an easy win with me and one that I feel has importance beyond its runtime.
On streaming, I checked out Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, which expands the world of Hawkins, or at least the space between seasons two and three. Using the scrapped animation from a cancelled Telltale videogame, I’m really liking what I’m seeing so far.
I also checked out Man on Fire, the new Netflix limited series—not the Denzel Washington film, but it did make me really nostalgic for that badass film. Yahya Abdul Mateen II steps into the role of the one-man army that is John Creasey and does a pretty solid job in a seven-episode series that may just turn into a multi-season affair, but no spoilers here. That also depends on if people actually watch it!
This week’s pickups were quality over quantity but the intrigue is all there.
First up is Triumph of the Spirit, a World War II set boxing film that has the angelic looking Willem Dafoe of the year 1989 and Edward James Olmos, so say we all. The film ended up garnering controversy as it was shot at the actual Auschwitz death camps. I’ve heard a lot about this one so it was an easy choice.
Then there’s Sleepers 4K, an absolute gift of a relese for the good people at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. This Barry Levinson adaptation was really important to me at the time of it’s release as I was a big fan of the book. That cast is also filled with instant movie gold and I’m interested in how it’s aged in the decades past.
Coming up next week:
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Hokum
Omaha
Swapped
…and more.
New episodes of What The Hell Should I Watch? drop every Friday at 9 a.m. Pacific.
Steve Stebbing 