As soon as I noticed that Bad Monkey was based on a Carl Hiaasen book of the same name, I knew I was in for a treat. Hiaasen is reliably loopy, witty, dark, with indelible characters and absurd but compelling murder mystery plots. And Apple+ has a well-deserved reputation for ensuring that television series respect the source material.
Adolescence is a four part series about a thirteen year old boy who is accused of knifing a female classmate, Katie Leonard, to death. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that he did commit the crime, as the viewer is presented with incontrovertible evidence late in the first episode.
Each episode is filmed in a single shot sequence, a remarkable accomplishment in itself. West Wing, famed for its single-shot sequences, never managed more than 17 minutes. By doing it this way, director Philip Barantini throws away most of the usual narrative and plot tropes seen in such shows and replaces it with something far more realistic and compelling.
It’s hard to imagine a title more Canadian than North of North. “The true North, strong and free” is part of the Canadian anthem, and while few Canadians have ever been north of Edmonton, polar bears, baby seals, and rawhide snowshoes are a large part of the national identity.
This is a Korean sitcom, which means that where the science is at times problematic, it never descends to the level of bat-science. You’ll learn a lot more valid neuropsychology and the physiology of brain functions than you ever learn from Oz or any of the other pop “doctors” on American television. And yes, behind the comedy is serious, deadly drama.
The first thing to know about Netflix’s high-budget 6 part series about the struggle for the territory of Utah is that it is a western in the grimdark genre. It’s hyper-realistic, dark, bloody, violent and with compelling acting and characters. It’s in the same vein as Godless, The English, or Deadwood.
The Sticky is “The absolutely not true story of the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.” If that disclaimer sounds familiar, think “The names have been changed to protect the guilty.” It’s not the only element that will remind you of the classic Coen Brothers’ movie, Fargo. It has the same recipe of idiosyncratic characters caught up in an increasingly absurd and violent web of insane circumstances—and like Fargo, it is howlingly funny and utterly unforgettable.
I mentioned The Sopranos, and I will also mention Breaking Bad, because both have the same elements that propel The Penguin: an exceptionally strong, large cast, a unique and compelling world, and a lead character whose performance is utterly incandescent. Farrell’s performance is right up there with Gandolfini or Cranston. It is utterly amazing.
Pantheon is solid, intelligent, probing science fiction, as good an example of the genre as you can hope to encounter. The scientific literacy and verisimilitude will remind you of Andy Weir or Peter Cawdron, and the moral and ethical complexity and ambiguity is straight from the pages of Harlan Ellison or Phillip K. Dick. Yes, it’s that good.
I didn’t do a lot of reviews this past year. Fifty three in all. It was an election year and I write mostly about politics, and I have a backlog going into 2025. Also, if I think something is rubbish, I’m very unlikely to review it. And there was a fair old bit of rubbish that came out last year.
Also known as Arcane: League of Legends Genre Action-adventure, Adult animation, Drama, Science fantasy, Steampunk Created by Christian Linke, Alex Yee Based on League of Legends by Riot Games Showrunners Christian Linke, Alex Yee Directed by Pascal Charrue, Arnaud Delord, Bart Maunoury Voices of Hailee Steinfeld Ella Purnell Kevin Alejandro Katie Leung Jason Spisak Toks …