SUGAR (trailer)

Private eye show starring Colin Farrell and Amy Ryan (plus what looks like a great cast) with every episode directed by Fernando Meirelles? I’m so in:

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (Martin Scorsese, 2023)

(**+ / *****) :: With some notable exceptions – the sheer power and importance of the story; the performances of Lily Gladstone, Robert DeNiro, and Jesse Plemmons (in a just world, he and DiCaprio, whose more-caricature-than-character performance veered into parody, would have switched roles); Robbie Robertson's (RIP) score; and the radio show postscript at the end – FLOWER MOON left me underwhelmed. Don’t me wrong: this story needed to be told and deserved to be told by a master like Scorsese; I only wish it hadn’t been told by a master seemingly second-guessing himself at every turn.

MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS, s1 (2023)

A rare feat: a show that managed to bore me (in spite of having an excellent cast and characters that I, for the most part, enjoyed having in my life) for at least half of the far-too-long episode count and then excite me for a second season over the last few episodes, especially the last few seconds of episode ten (again: it didn't need to be that long; I forgot most of the first half of the show). But hey, Godzilla! And I love Godzilla – though my favorite part was seeing the mad Swede from HELL ON WHEELS as a straightlaced American general. Heyerdahl forever.

MANHUNT (trailer)

I’d forgotten that this was incoming - but I’m so glad for the reminder. Swanson’s book is amazing (the follow-up much less so), and this looks like a fantastic pulse-pounder. P.S. Tobias Menzies has had my vote to pick up the Walter for a 60’s-set Bond run since his turn in THE CROWN.

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH (Joel Coen, 2021)

(Written and directed by Joel Coen from the play by William Shakespeare; starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Brendan Gleeson, and Kathryn Hunter. Released 25 December 2021; watched 2023w36 via AppleTV+

Beautifully stark and minimalist, Coen's MACBETH feels like how I see many of the stories in my head: its influences – particularly Dreyer's PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC and Bergman's SEVENTH SEAL – fit like a tailored suit in the hands of a solo Joel. Denzel is, unsurprisingly, electrifying; Frances McDormand, similarly, perfection. Special props to Kathryn Hunter whose prophetic contortions injected just the right amount of the deliciously weird and strange into this ageless yarn. Mesmerizing.