Dear friends,
I’m writing this later than usual because I can’t stop watching Poker Face and Shrinking, both of which are among our top picks this week. Between these two and shows like the instant hit The Last of Us and the quietly powerful The Makanai, I think January’s been a stellar year for TV. If this is an indication of what’s to come for this year, then count me in. More, please!
As always, I hope you have a good weekend.
OUR TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
Lockwood and Co.
New on Netflix 🍅 rating:—
Our top TV show this week is Lockwood and Co., which follows a trio of gifted teenagers who’ve set up a ghost-hunting agency of their own. Up against frightening ghouls and competing ghost-hunting companies, the Lockwood team do their best to seize the day.
It’s Ghostbusters by way of YA fiction, equal parts chilly and cute. The impressive CGI and costume design give it a prestigious sheen (it’s not tacky, in other words), while the tender moments make it as relatable as any well-told teen drama.
OUR TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
Bad Axe
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, starting at $6.99 🍅 rating: 96%
Bad Axe is an intimate documentary that follows the Sievs, a tight-knit family that runs a restaurant in the city of Bad Axe, Michigan. When the rise of COVID restrictions and racist hate groups put their business at risk, the Sievs try to hold on to each other while also carefully, in their own way, fighting back.
Mostly shot in the unforgettable year that is 2020, Bad Axe captures the fraught intensity and existential panic we all spiraled into during the global pandemic. It’s a charged film, but underneath all that buzz is a story about a family with its own tensions and histories and contradictions to deal with. Bad Axe is at once simple and complex, and like family, you just kind of love it, flaws and all.
Top picks outside of Netflix and Amazon Prime
One of the most anticipated shows of the year is finally here! Created by Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Glass Onion) and starring Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), Poker Face is a murder mystery that has its unwitting detective, Charlie Cale (Lyonne), solve a different murder case in each episode. From the very start, Poker Face lays out all the cards—it shows us who dies and in the hands of whom. But the thrill lies not in seeing when Charlie solves the case but in how she does it, which is full of heart and humor. As the Vulture review puts it, “it’s a show to watch because you already know what the end will look like, and all the half-tedious, half-revelatory step-by-step machinery that gets you there is the fun part.” The first four episodes are now streaming on Peacock Premium.
Another great show you should be on the lookout for is Shrinking, starring Jason Segel as a newly-widowed therapist who’s trying to make amends with his loved ones after isolating himself for so long. It sounds depressing, but Shrinking has the delightful buoyancy of a show like Ted Lasso (which makes sense given that they’re created and directed by the same person). It’s warm and affecting, and it has the added bonus of proving that Harrison Ford (who plays Segel’s boss) is actually, objectively hilarious. The first two episodes are up on AppleTV+.
New titles worth your time
Apart from Lockwood, there are no noteworthy arrivals on Netflix. But over at Amazon Prime, the critically acclaimed drama The King’s Speech, the searing exposé Blackfish, the samurai film 13 Assasins, and the mouthwatering documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi are new and worth checking out.
Great titles that will soon expire
January 31 is your last chance to watch the British coming-of-age film Rocks, the delightful musical Sing Street, and the Renaissance-era period series The Borgias on Netflix.
Meanwhile, on Prime, the comedic social experiment Nathan For You and later seasons of sketch show Key & Peele are leaving on January 31. Also leaving on the same day are the films Superbad, La La Land, Mississippi Burning, and Neil Young: Heart of Gold. On February 4, the American TV drama The Affair and the British TV crime drama The Tunnel are also leaving the platform.
That’s all for this week. This edition of the newsletter will be back on Friday, Feb 3.
Till then,
Renee