Hi friends,
Longtime The Watch followers will know that we used to have Berlinale updates and dispatches care of this letter’s founder and OG writer, Bilal. I’m happy to report that tradition still continues albeit on a different platform! Bilal’s covering Berlinale for our film publication Projektor, so if you want to know the international features that caught his eye, you can head on over and read about them for yourself. :) I’ve only seen The Quiet Migration so far, and it was a lovely, lovely watch.
As always, I hope you have a lovely weekend!
OUR TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
The Consultant
New on Amazon Prime 🍅 rating: 71%
The Consultant is an eight-part miniseries starring Christoph Waltz as an executive adviser who takes over a software company after the CEO dies. As Regus Patoff, Waltz employs his trademark menace and effectively scares the remaining employees into either leaving or submitting to him. Meanwhile, lowly employees Craig (Nat Wolff) and Elaine (Brittany O'Grady), convinced that Patoff is a lying sociopath, try to get to the bottom of who Patoff really is before he continues destroying the company and its people.
The Consultant is not for everyone. It’s dark and disturbing, sometimes overbearingly so. But it’s an amazing showcase for Waltz, who always does the best with what he’s given. Bizarreness notwithstanding, it also makes valid points about the workplace and its neverending culture of toxicity. If the central mystery of the show leaves you wanting more, these two elements at least, make it worth the watch.
OUR TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
Broker
Now available to rent at Prime Video, Vudu, and Apple TV starting at $5.99 🍅 rating: 94%
Directed by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda, the Korean film Broker is a simple but tender story about chosen family. It follows Moon So-young (IU), a young mother who decides to drop her baby off at a church, seemingly for good. But when So-young decides to return for the child, she discovers that he’s been stolen by two brokers who’ve put the baby up for adoption on the black market. She joins them in the hopes of meeting her child’s prospective new parents (and staking a claim at the payment) but the more they spend time with each other, acting like a real family on the road as they do, the more it becomes real for her, and the more she feels conflicted about the decision she’s about to make.
As with any Hirokazu Koreeda film, Broker is an affecting, empathetic story that succeeds at humanizing its misunderstood cast of characters. Admittedly, it’s not the best Koreeda movie out there, even when the category is narrowed down to stories about found families (the best in that regard would be his 2018 film Shoplifters). And Koreeda fans will find Broker somewhat scrubbed and Disney-fied for a larger crowd, lacking the edge that his previous Japanese films had. But it is undeniably beautiful. Regardless of your view on Koreeda, Broker is well worth a watch.
Top picks outside of Netflix and Amazon Prime
I first saw Alcarràs at a film fest last year, and out of the many movies I sat through, it instantly became my favorite. Alcarràs follows a sprawling family of farmers as they fight to defend their land from a multinational that has plans to replace their peach orchard with solar panels. It’s a story about the family’s ties to land, livelihood, and each other, and it’s as moving as it is powerful. You can read more about it in my review here. Streaming on Mubi.
It’s finally here! Party Down, a dryly funny workplace comedy about wannabe LA actors working at a catering company, was unjustly canceled in 2011. But it returns 12 years later stronger than ever. The reboot still follows the catering company and their mishaps and various gigs, and it’s still a sharp satire about the frivolousness and fragility of Hollywood. But ushering in a breath of fresh air are new members, updated storylines, and an infectious energy that will have you laughing out loud in many scenes. Streaming on Starz.
New titles worth your time
On Netflix, there are new seasons available of the beloved shows Outer Banks, about teenage friends on a treasure hunt, and Formula 1: Drive to Survive, about the Formula One World Championship.
Over at Amazon Prime, the little-known mafia film Dinner Rush, the drag drama Viva, and the bizarrely funny musical film Sound of Noise are all new and well worth checking on the platform.
Great titles that will soon expire
A number of noteworthy films are expiring on the last day of the month, February 28th.
On Netflix, those are the epic war film Apocalypse Now Redux, the darkly mysterious The Gift, and the gripping Wall Street drama Margin Call.
And on Amazon Prime, the list includes the political drama Cry Freedom, the biopic Antwone Fisher (also starring Denzel Washington), the exacting documentary Blackfish, the Spike Lee masterpiece Do the Right Thing, the quietly delightful Beginners, and the romcoms About a Boy and Begin Again.
Notable series that are expiring on the same day on Amazon include the first seasons of the action comedy series Get Shorty and the crime thriller Godfather of Harlem.
That’s all for this week. This edition of the newsletter will be back on Friday, March 3.
Till then,
Renee
I also recommend Get Shorty if you're into Hollywood gangbuster films. I remember seeing it advertised on signs everywhere throughout LA. It took me a few years to come around because Ray Romano was on the billboard and I didn't know much about him (never watched ELR). He's great in it. Excited to check out The Consultant. Thanks for this!