Every week, we take a look at what’s hitting cinemas and streaming and separate the wheat from the chaff.
It’s a quiet theatrical week, with only one major release worth directing your attention towards. That’s to be expected with two cape flicks still devouring the exhibition landscape like Galactus. But it’s also a fairly quiet week for streaming – a lull before we start getting hit with all the big releases in the coming months. A thin Weekend Watch List, indeed. I dunno, gang – might be good weekend to check out some local music instead. But if you need that televisual fix…
In Cinemas
Together
Australian director Michael Shanks makes his feature debut with this allegorical body horror that sees real life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a codependent couple who find themselves drawn closer together in increasingly physical ways. I caught it at the Sydney Film Festival and had a good time, even though it’s not a transgressive masterpiece like some of the films it takes inspiration from.
Streaming
Washington Black
Adapted from the 2018 novel of the same title by Esi Edugyan, this sumptuous period piece takes us back to Barbados in the early 1800s. There we find the titular Washington (Ernest Kingsley Jr) and follow him from enslavement on a plantation to aa life of adventure that eventually takes him to Nova Scotia, and a final reckoning with all the choices he’s made along the way. This one has a weird steampunk vibe to it – it’s a big, bright, colourful historical epic that never skimps on the spectacle but still acknowledges the racism and colonialism of the era. Eight episodes, on Disney+.
Twisted Metal Season 2
A video game adaptation that benefits hugely from its lack of lore and notably low budget. It’s the near future, there’s been some kind of sketchily-defined apocalypse, and most people live in walled city states. Mercenary couriers ply the wastelands in between, dodging marauder gangs and what-have-you to deliver vital supplies. One of these is Anthony Mackie‘s John Doe, who gets hired for a suicidal mission to deliver a mysterious package on the far side of the continent, and we’re off. Yes, it’s Mad Max with the serial numbers filed off – Italy had a whole cottage industry dedicated to churning out this sort of thing in the early ’80s. Twisted Metal is a bit more polished than those, but at its best taps into the same anarchic vibe. On Stan, with a triple-episode premiere drop, and the next nine episodes coming weekly.
The Shield
As Binge flails about trying to cauterise the bleeding wound that HBO Max launching in Australia tore in their programming, they occasionally make some interesting choices. The latest example is this exemplary crime drama, with all seven seasons of The Shield appearing unheralded on the streamer’s New Arrivals carousel. Michael Chiklis became unlikely star off the back of his turn as Vic Mackey, ruthless leader of a unit of insaaaaaaaaanely corrupt LA cops. Like so many dramas of the early 2000s, The Shield puts us in the shoes of a villainous protagonist, and then we get to enjoy our conflict over how much we like the guy even as he commits more and more despicable acts. Also features an electrifying early turn from Walton Goggins as loose cannon cop Shane Vendrell.
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