![]() ![]() As with “Loch Henry,” the initial twists of “Beyond the Sea” are fairly easy to see coming. The most successful of the five episodes is “Beyond the Sea,” a sorrowful and ultimately dreadful sci-fi period piece about astronauts (played by Aaron Paul and Josh Hartnett) who beam their consciousnesses into robots so they can spend time with their families on Earth while still completing their mission in space. Still, “Loch Henry” has a pleasing wicked streak, splashing around in its darkness in a dim but inviting evocation of the invigorating shock of the Black Mirror heyday. ![]() Maybe there are some people out there who both watch Black Mirror and need that stinging wakeup call, but I’d have to imagine the Venn diagram overlap is a rather thin sliver. (Oh, the cheeky daring of spoofing the hand that feeds you!) Joan soon discovers, to her great alarm, that there is a Streamberry show based almost exactly on her own life, exposing her as the shifty little sad sack that she is. Annie Murphy, late of Schitt’s Creek, plays the titular character, a corporate drone at a company called Streamberry which is fashioned as an arch satire of Netflix. The premiere episode, “Joan Is Awful,” is more timely. The episode is set in 2006, perhaps in an attempt at retroactive relevance, but that doesn’t change much for viewers in the here and now. This may have been a salient theme around 15 years ago, long before the “Free Britney” movement began in 2023, it plays as a hoary and slightly unnecessary lecture. Brooker wants us to know that the paparazzi are bad, as are the nosy proclivities of those of us keeping them in business. Look to the brief horror piece “Mazey Day,” which takes celebrity obsession to a bloody, dire extreme. But overall, Brooker’s arguments feel creaky, his observations arriving, in some cases, years late. The five-episode sixth season of Black Mirror (June 15, Netflix) offers the usual skewering of our grim era’s tech and media and politics, to intermittently engaging effect. Which is why we can’t really blame Charlie Brooker, the creator and main writer of the sci-fi/fantasy anthology series Black Mirror, for lagging behind a bit. Inevitably, one loses one’s grip on some facet of modern existence and then everything else goes tumbling after it-or at least it can feel that way. But if you want to go deeper, and a bit darker, into what la belle France has to offer, here are some shows you’ll want to stream next.Contemporary life, its conundrums and vices and worrisome trends, is hard to keep up with. The French do crime better than anyone (except maybe the Scandis), and Sy is incredibly appealing, but Lupin has too much romanticism and frictionlessness to satisfy proper crime fans like me. But I have to say, especially when it comes to Lupin, I feel a bit left out. ( Call My Agent is also seducing the Champagne-streaming set with its Parisian blend of urbane workplace comedy and atomized sex appeal.) ![]() (And not just them: Lupin attracted the attention of some 70 million subscribers in January, according to Netflix, more than have watched Bridgerton, Emily in Paris, even- mon dieu-Tiger King.) And no wonder: Lupin is zippy, light, irresistible, the kir royale of TV. That’s mostly thanks to Netflix’s Lupin, the soigné gentleman-caper series starring Omar Sy that debuted on the service earlier this month and promptly swept The Queen’s Gambit crowd off its feet. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |