India Rag

Between big new prestige series and several film festival releases finally making their way to streaming, it’s a week overflowing with quality content. The headliners include Sofía Vergara, Austin Butler, Tom Cruise, and Nicole Kidman, but there’s plenty of talent in every title.

What to watch on Netflix

Griselda 

A gripping series that isn’t so much true crime as it is heavily dramatized crime, Griselda tells the story of notorious drug queenpin Griselda Blanco. Sofía Vergara stars as the criminal mastermind, who dominated the city of Miami in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Griselda traveled from Colombia to the States with her kids, a brick of cocaine, and a fierce determination to make her own way, no matter the moral cost. As she rises through the ranks of the drug scene, she becomes a bigger target for her rivals and the law. Griselda premiered Thursday, January 25th. Read Observer’s review.

Shortcomings

While Sundance is currently ongoing, delivering snow and exciting indie movies in equal measure, why not enjoy one of last year’s festival favorites? Shortcomings marks the feature directorial debut of comedian and actor Randall Park, and it’s an adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. The film revolves around Ben, a cinephile and film school dropout who has difficulty with the women in his life, to say the least. His girlfriend Miko is a proud member of their local Asian American community, a sentiment he can’t quite replicate himself, and a bevy of toxic internalized behaviors manifest from there. Shortcomings premieres Thursday, February 1st.

What to watch on Hulu

The Imitation Game 

With the Oscar nominations earlier this week presenting a competitive race for Best Adapted Screenplay, why not watch a well-received winner from nearly 10 years ago? The Imitation Game stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the brilliant man whose work served as the basis for the modern computer despite his tragic end. The film focuses on his time working with British intelligence during World War II, trying to crack the code that the Nazis used to send messages about their war plans. It’s a story about discovery, complex moral decisions, and the anxiety inherent in leading a gay life in the mid-20th century. The Imitation Game streams Friday, January 26th.

R.M.N. 

From the director of the riveting, Palme d’Or-winning abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days comes this story about the frequent intersection of xenophobia and labor issues. R.M.N. takes place in a small Romanian village, where many people have looked outward for better employment and higher wages. That creates an issue for the local bakery, which can’t meet those standards without raising its prices. But when the owner hires some Sri Lankan workers from outside the small (and small-minded) community, long-simmering tensions about race and ethnicity boil over. R.M.N. streams starting Sunday, January 28th.

What to watch on Amazon Prime

Expats 

Lulu Wang made quite an impression back in 2019 with her fantastic film The Farewell, and she returns with her biggest project since then this week. Expats is a new drama based on the novel of the same name, and it stars Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue, and Ji-young Yoo as a trio of women living in 2014 Hong Kong whose lives intersect and fall apart. While each woman deals with her own personal baggage and family drama, the show also delves into the relationship between the wealthy and those they employ, the live-in help who are “like family” but will never be family. Expats premieres Friday, January 26th. Read Observer’s review.

What to watch on Apple TV+

Masters of the Air 

Taking cues (and producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg) from critically acclaimed war miniseries like Band of Brothers and The Pacific, Masters of the Air stars some of today’s biggest names as members of the Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group during World War II. Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan, and Ncuti Gatwa (among many, many others) make up the bomber squadron that conducted massive raids over Nazi Germany, and the epic historical series will explore everything from the difficult conditions pilots faced in aerial warfare to the toll that such battles took. Masters of the Air premieres Friday, January 26th.

What to watch on Paramount+

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning 

A blockbuster in every sense of the word, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and all of its death-defying stunts are landing on streaming this week. Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt returns to fight perhaps his greatest enemy yet: a rogue artificial intelligence entity with the power to become the most dangerous weapon on the planet. As per usual, the team helping hunt includes the likes of Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson, with Hayley Atwell serving as a cunning newcomer to the franchise’s proceedings. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning premiered on streaming Thursday, January 25th. Read Observer’s review.

What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.

3 girls, one metropolis, and plenty of tricks and complicated relationships between them—that’s the basis upon which Expats is crafted. Developed by Lulu Wang (director of The Farewell) and dependent on the e-book The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee, this six-episode sequence ranges from the complexities of motherhood and womanhood to the political unrest in Hong Kong for the duration of the 2014 Umbrella Revolution. And when a lot of its matter matter resonates, the series ends up ringing a little bit hollow.

Expats’ principal plot issues how tragedy begets trauma, with mother of 3 Margaret (Nicole Kidman) crumbling following the loss of her youngest, Gus. She’s alienated her other little ones nearly entirely, cannot comprehend her husband’s (Brian Tee) pleas for normalcy, and her suspicions about the fateful party have all but poisoned her friendships. That involves her romantic relationship with neighbors Hilary (Sarayu Blue) and David (Jack Huston), a couple whose marriage is on the rocks soon after Margaret’s accusations and difficult disagreements about getting kids. Beyond their large-rise Hong Kong apartment intricate, there’s Mercy (Ji-youthful Yoo), whose steps (or deficiency thereof) set matters into movement in the very first place. The clearly show weaves a lots of-layered net, and characters only get more tied alongside one another as the collection goes on.

Outside of the major people, who are all some variation of wealthy or if not privileged expats keeping in Hong Kong, there are numerous other critical members of the ensemble: there is Essie (Ruby Ruiz) and Puri (Amelyn Pardenilla), the Filipino housekeepers for Margaret and Hilary’s respective residences, as well as Charly (Bonde Sham), an idealistic community who catches Mercy’s eye. Collectively, this group paints rather the picture of Hong Kong, incorporating to Wang’s visible aptitude for capturing city daily life objectively, with static shots of bustling streets, cramped scenes in crappy flats, and additional.

There is a lot to appreciate about Expats and how it captures complexities. The reduction of Gus is not as slash and dry as the first episode tends to make it appear to be, with a single of Margaret’s other small children drawing a photograph of his brother standing with Jesus generating a slew of thoughts. Gus is gone, certainly, but not always dead—the boy is missing, perhaps kidnapped, maybe even worse, but no one particular is aware of for positive. That absence of a resolution haunts Margaret and Clarke in different strategies, with the former obsessed with discovering him and the latter coming to the conclusion that it may possibly be greater to go on for the sake of their remaining young ones. That moral conundrum is wealthy, and Kidman and Tee mine it for all it’s worth. It is rarely a secret to be solved and there’s no culprit to be caught, and the drama at the heart of the show advantages.

One more highlight of the sequence is how it treats the relationship among employer and employee in the home. It is the norm for very well-to-do expats like Margaret and Hilary to have are living-in help, and when just about every girl tries to set up boundaries, they discover it hard. Margaret constantly feels the need to make it distinct that Essie is “like family”—she all but raised their kids—but that “like” is generally the operative phrase Hilary attempts to keep her marriage to Puri as qualified as she can, but that does not end her from bringing Puri out as a witness to her and her husband’s arguments, or from putting her personal petty wishes previously mentioned Puri’s. In turn, Essie obviously cares for Margaret and Clarke’s little ones, and Puri wants to see Hilary do well in spite of her difficult marriage. The power imbalance isn’t usually stagnant among these people today, but it is often there. The element-length fifth episode explores these interactions a lot more comprehensively (together with a handful of other subplots of various necessity and thematic importance), and Ruiz and Pardenilla deliver some of the show’s most coronary heart-wrenching moments.

Yoo is a different standout in the show, a relative not known tasked with carrying a person of the series’ extra difficult emotional arcs. Her narration opens and closes Expats, earning it as a lot Mercy’s story as Margaret’s or anybody else’s. Mercy is a hard young lady to figure out—she’s a Columbia grad, but a scholarship pupil in a sea of trust fund little ones she moved to Hong Kong for a “fresh start” at 24, but she doesn’t know a lick of Cantonese she says she’s all but broke, but she spends her times biding her time. Throw in the trauma that she triggered (and that she obtained in return), and she’s a veritable mess, albeit 1 who appears to be place with each other from the outside the house. Mercy’s gradual unraveling and unveiling marks one of the show’s greater throughlines, and Yoo guides her character by means of it with out lacking a beat.

That reported, there are a several beats that Expats does miss. Inspite of a stirring efficiency from Blue, Hilary frequently stands as the odd woman out amongst the cast of figures. She has connections to both of those Mercy and Margaret, but they’re rather tenuous and she’s usually in her personal plot totally. For instance, the fourth episode sees her trapped in an elevator with her individual challenging mom and taciturn neighbor for virtually the entire runtime, a contrived plot issue that qualified prospects to unlimited on-the-nose monologues and dialogues about how her mother handled her and her not seeking her possess young ones. Hilary does get some terrific strains that talk to woman empowerment, but they’re encased in such a removed story that they never make an impression.

https://www.youtube.com/view?v=whHb3ClSdrQ

Similarly, while the ambiguity of Margaret’s reduction is sturdy, her psychological fallout from it feels uneven. Kidman’s performance hinges on nuts at periods, making for an escalation that will come far much too immediately for the series’ slow rate. Other people mention her unfastened grip on reason and reality put up-Gus, and even though that comes throughout excellently at situations (Margaret’s strategies of retaining her young children “safe” could make you recoil), it feels much more scripted than thoroughly understood at many others.

That concern underlies Expats’ biggest trouble, which is not a main detraction so significantly as a mark of missed possibilities. The series is very well prepared, perfectly shot and effectively acted on the full, but very well-designed doesn’t mean perfect. It is a great present, and surely a sensible just one much too, but it is lacking some thing to tie it all together.

The very first two episodes of ‘Expats’ premiere on Amazon Primary Online video on January 26.

The first trailer for Paramount’s Mean Girls, based on the Broadway musical based on the 2004 film, used every trick in the book to hide the fact that it hinges on buoyant, theatrical song and dance numbers. The trailer was soundtracked by Olivia Rodrigo’s “Get Him Back,” a song that isn’t in the final film. It was almost as if Paramount didn’t want audience to know that Mean Girls is—gasp!—a musical. 

But why? Historically, musicals have been sizable hits at the Hollywood box office, dating back to 1927’s The Jazz Singer. Disney’s animated musicals are among the highest-grossing musical films of all time, a list that is topped by The Lion King and Frozen II. Movies like Mamma Mia!, Pitch Perfect, and La La Land have been massive, award-winning hits, not to mention fan favorites. These days, however, movie studios seem afraid to promote their potential blockbusters as musicals at all. From Wonka to The Color Purple, trailers and marketing materials have recently ignored the original songs and whimsical choreography, instead cutting together scenes that pretend it’s just a regular old movie. 

Marc Weinstock, president of global marketing and distribution at Paramount, told Variety this week that “to start off saying musical, musical, musical, you have the potential to turn off audiences.” “We didn’t want to run out and say it’s a musical because people tend to treat musicals differently,” he said. “This movie is a broad comedy with music. Yes, it could be considered a musical but it appeals to a larger audience. You can see in [trailers for] Wonka and The Color Purple, they don’t say musical either. We have a musical note on the title, so there are hints to it without being overbearing.”

As clever it is to put a musical note in the title, this assertion ignores the fact that moviegoers—and humans in general—like songs. Greta Gerwig’s runaway success Barbie features Broadway-ready song and dance numbers and is widely assumed to take home the Oscar for Best Original Song for one of three possible tracks. In fact, Marc Ronson, who wrote much of the film’s music, recently said he’s “waiting for the call” to make Barbie into a stage show. “Greta basically made a musical that’s without calling it a musical,” Ronson added, raising the question of whether that was Gerwig’s decision or that of Warner Bros.  

It’s easy to see where the fear comes from. Many recent movie musicals, from Cats to Dear Evan Hanson to Cyrano, were misfires, both critically and at the box office. But despite some strong vocal performances, these examples were poorly made and ill-translated to the screen. There’s a big difference between Rob Marshall’s Chicago, which won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and grossed more than $306 million worldwide, and Cats, one of the worst movie ever made. One is good, musical or not, and one is so embarrassing its cast probably hopes it will never be mentioned again (sorry). 

In 2018, The Greatest Showman became one of the most successful box office hits of all time without ever shying away from its dynamic performance sequences (and in spite of poor reviews). The musical was a slow build in theaters, Twentieth Century Fox used the songs to its advantage to generate momentum. The studio, now part of Disney, famously paid influencers to cover songs from the movie, something Paramount could have done now with TikTok if it wasn’t trying to hide the fact that the Mean Girls characters sing for most of the movie. 

Surely it’s not happenstance that Wonka and Mean Girls have succeeded during their theatrical runs so far. Mean Girls took in $28 million in its first three days, bringing it to No. 1. It may be a mediocre movie that mostly serves as a vehicle to showcase the talents of Reneé Rapp and Auli?i Cravalho but it has people talking and audiences going to the theater. (Rapp, who put out her first album last year and led the Mean Girls soundtrack with a Megan Thee Stallion collaboration, is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend.) Have any of those audience members felt tricked once they sat down? Maybe, but it’s doubtful that Paramount’s cagey marketing strategy got people in seats who wouldn’t already be interested in a Mean Girls revival. 

According to Paramount’s own data, 75 percent of audiences knew it was a musical before buying a ticket, while only 16 percent left the theater “disappointed” by the revelation. On social media, some fans even expressed frustration that Paramount refused to bill Mean Girls for what it is. The trailer was purposefully misleading, they claimed, which is basically false advising. What is the point of doing a movie musical if it is too risky to market it as a movie musical,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The deception for people who do not follow musical theatre is not cool.”

But the post-Covid musical slump does seem to be coming to an end, whether or not studios want to admit that people actually enjoy fun songs. John Chu’s Wicked, which stars Ariana Grande, is on the way in two parts and there’s no way Universal will be able to disguise its origin as a hit Broadway show. Todd Phillips’ highly-anticipated sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, out in October, is being billed as a “musical thriller.” It features pop star Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s titular villain. Even Paramount has another one upcoming: Bob Marley: One Love, about the life and career of the reggae musician. 

Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, recently told Billboard that, in fact, “musicals are on a roll. “It seems like a lot of studios run away from putting musical on their films for fear of limiting their audience pool,” he noted. “But I think this is a genre Hollywood should embrace and highlight.”

What does it mean for an episode of The Sopranos to be “underrated?” David Chase’s technology-defining drama is just one of the most immaculate tv sequence of all time, and even its weakest chapters are a lower above. Nonetheless, there are a handful of episodes from throughout its six seasons that critical or enthusiast consensus has positioned near the base of the heap. Following all, no make any difference how lots of designed fellas you’ve acquired at the desk, somebody’s gotta be the very low person, appropriate? Each individual of the following episodes has been singled out in a single way or a different as a sub-par entry in the Sopranos tale, but I would not be so brief to dump them into the Hudson. 

“Down Neck” (year 1, episode 7)

When The Ringer’s Justin Sayles ranked all 86 episodes of The Sopranos, I was stunned to find “Down Neck” close to the base, at #82. This early episode is one particular of the 1st deep dives into Tony’s past, as Anthony Jr.’s escalating delinquency prompts the depressed Don of New Jersey to revisit his connection with his own father, small-time racketeer Johnny Boy Soprano. Tony’s flashbacks to the summer months of 1967 supply a style of what we’d sooner or later see in The Lots of Saints of Newark, though, as that movie demonstrates, this is definitely as significantly of a Sopranos origin tale as we at any time necessary. By means of a handful of scenes established a few months aside, writers Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess proficiently set up Johnny as a person with large desires but a weak will, Livia as a terrifying authority figure, and even a hint of Tony’s rivalry with older sister Janice, who experienced nonetheless to seem as an adult on the collection. Most of all, as Tony unpacks his flashbacks with Dr. Melfi, we get to look at his complicated feelings to the family members company, an interaction in between sincere delight and executed disgrace that allows to define his character for years to come. 

“A Strike is a Hit” (time 1, episode 10)

On IMDb, where consumers can give every episode of a sequence a rating of up to ten stars, only three episodes of The Sopranos have an average rating of under 8.. Tied for the least expensive rating (7.8) is this episode in which Christopher and Adrianna get included in the new music business enterprise, backing a band named Visiting Working day. However in some cases dismissed as silly or inconsequential, “A Hit is a Hit” is a charming anomaly in the early times of The Sopranos, when the producers were being nevertheless calibrating the show’s drama/comedy dial. Admittedly, a great deal of my fondness for this episode will come from expanding up amidst New Jersey’s rock scene, and the knowledge that, as cartoonish a stereotype as the boys from Going to Working day might seem, these men are completely genuine. (I simply cannot communicate to the portrayal of gangsta rapper Massive Genius.) But, own attachment aside, “A Hit is a Hit” features some of the very first season’s most hilarious or bleakly humorous line deliveries, from “I’ve recorded in Denmark” to “He bought horse.”

“Mr. Ruggerio’s Neighborhood” (time 3, episode 1)

Speaking of particular attachments, the debut episode of The Sopranos’ third season earns a area on this listing for the reason that my father, a lifelong New Jersey resident who has watched the series upwards of 20 instances, habitually skips it. I can sort of fully grasp why, as “Mr. Ruggerio’s Neighborhood” diverges from the show’s established rhythm and focuses on the FBI’s endeavours to plant a bug at the Soprano home. We invest somewhat tiny time with the typical solid, often from the standpoint of the feds who are shadowing them—and the feds don’t see them carrying out nearly anything appealing. It is a puzzling way to open up a period, but it’s also of a piece with The Sopranos as a collection, which delights in stripping the coolness away from the crime genre one particular layer at a time. The same way absolutely everyone in the Soprano crew thinks they are in Goodfellas, the FBI activity power thinks they are slick, but they are conspicuous and embarrassing, flustered by the slightest complication. This episode would not be in my Leading 10, but by skipping it, you’re depriving by yourself of Tony singing Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” to himself when he drives to function. So, lay off, Dad!

“Christopher” (year 4, episode 3)

Look for “worst Sopranos episode” and the overwhelmingly preferred impression is “Christopher,” co-created by Christopher Moltisanti actor Michael Imperioli, but named for Christopher Columbus. Here, conflict simmers among groups of Native People and Italian-Us citizens over Newark’s upcoming Columbus Working day parade. While it may not progress the season’s ongoing tale arc in any meaningful way, “Christopher” is an episode which is only gotten additional poignant given that it first aired in 2002. To Tony’s community (particularly Silvio), it is more essential to preserve Columbus as a symbol of Italian delight than to admit his position in colonization, slave investing, and genocide. This has turn into a common situation in the culture war battles about the historic reassessment of America’s bloody previous. There’s a scene in which Hesh is willing to concur with his mate “Reuben the Cuban’s” condemnation of Columbus appropriate until eventually Reuben compares him to Hitler, threatening Hesh’s situation on his imaginary hierarchy of oppressed peoples. Who amongst us has not stumbled throughout (or into) this dialogue on Twitter? For an episode intended to “stick it” to Italian-American anti-defamation teams who condemned The Sopranos, it holds up terrifically.

“Chasing It” (period 6, episode 16)

The 3rd episode to rating underneath 8. on IMDb (together with “A Strike is a Hit” and “Christopher”), “Chasing It” is, to some, the very low place of the usually unimpeachable last season of The Sopranos. In this chapter, Tony’s gambling habit will get the better of him, and a string of poor bets puts him in credit card debt. Tony has produced his residing exploiting people’s vices, and typically derides the “degenerates” who uncover them selves owing him. Now, struggling with an addiction of his have, he’s each and every bit as foolish and cruel as any of his consumers. (His buddy David Scatino, whose money owed to Tony expense him his sporting items shop, his family, and his existence, arrives to mind.) No one will get murdered in “Chasing It” but a great deal of psychic destruction is dealt out. This is Tony — and the writers — at their most casually cruel. Tony and Carmella have what could be their ugliest combat, which starts when Carm declines to permit Tony bet the profits from her spec dwelling on the Jets recreation. Tony’s friendship with Hesh is discovered to be as empty as the rest of his interactions, as the pair wages a war of passive-aggression about a 6-figure bridge bank loan. And, last but not least, tiny Vito Spatafore Jr. receives delivered off to a draconian disciplinary camp after Tony gambles away the dollars that would have supplied the Spatafores a fresh begin in Maine. All this distress in an episode exactly where, in the grand scheme, “nothing significant takes place.” Just a further Sunday for Tony Soprano.

It has certainly been really the calendar year for the Screen Actors Guild. Pursuing the significant summer months of strikes in Hollywood, potentially more attention is on the union than at any time, but it’s yet to be found if that will translate to viewers for this year’s SAG Awards. Which is primarily since the awards physique signed an exceptional deal with Netflix that’s completely heading into movement this year—while the 29th SAG Awards were being broadcast by means of livestream from the Netflix YouTube channel, the 30th edition will be streaming reside on Netflix. The streamer has had some hiccups in its forays into reside gatherings (past year’s delayed Adore is Blind reunion was a encounter plant, and specials like Chris Rock: Selective Outrage and The Netflix Cup experienced their honest share of glitches), so there may possibly perfectly be more emphasis on the stream than the honorees. It’s an ironic bookend to the strike saga of the streaming age, with awards now currently being the probable sticking position instead than residuals.

Regardless, the 30th Monitor Actors Guild Awards will boast a good deal of the industry’s largest stars. The awards present is slated for Saturday, February 24th at 8 p.m. ET. The nominations ended up announced earlier this morning by Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani on Instagram Reside, and the complete list of nominees is below.

Remarkable Performance by a Forged in a Motion Photograph

American Fiction

Barbie

The Coloration Purple

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Remarkable Functionality by a Male Actor in a Primary Part

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Colman Domingo, Rustin

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

Remarkable Overall performance by a Woman Actor in a Leading Position

Annette Bening, NYAD

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Carey Mulligan, Maestro

Margot Robbie, Barbie

Emma Stone, Bad Matters

Superb Efficiency by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction

Willem Dafoe, Weak Items

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Excellent General performance by a Feminine Actor in a Supporting Role

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Coloration Purple

Penelope Cruz, Ferrari

Jodie Foster, NYAD

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Outstanding Action Functionality by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Barbie

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

John Wick: Chapter 4

Mission – Impossible: Lifeless Reckoning Part 1

Exceptional Overall performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

The Crown

The Gilded Age

The Final of Us

The Early morning Demonstrate

Succession

Fantastic Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary

Barry

The Bear

Only Murders in the Setting up

Ted Lasso

Fantastic Overall performance by a Male Actor in a Television Film or Limited Sequence

Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers

Jon Hamm, Fargo

David Oyelowo, Lawmen: Bass Reeves

Tony Shalhoub, Mr. Monk’s Last Situation: A Monk Film

Steven Yeun, Beef

Remarkable General performance by a Woman Actor in a Tv Motion picture or Minimal Sequence

Uzo Aduba, Painkiller

Kathryn Hahn, Tiny Gorgeous Matters

Brie Larson, Classes in Chemistry

Bel Powley, A Modest Light

Ali Wong, Beef

Remarkable Functionality by a Male Actor in a Drama Sequence

Brian Cox, Succession

Billy Crudup, The Early morning Demonstrate

Kieran Culkin, Succession

Matthew Macfadyen, Succession

Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us

Superb Effectiveness by a Woman Actor in a Drama Sequence

Jennifer Aniston, The Early morning Present

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

Bella Ramsey, The Final of Us

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Sarah Snook, Succession

Fantastic Effectiveness by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso

Bill Hader, Barry

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Fantastic General performance by a Woman Actor in a Comedy Sequence

Alex Borstein, The Great Mrs. Maisel

Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso

Fantastic Action General performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Ahsoka

Barry

Beef

The Very last of Us

The Mandalorian

Screen Actors Guild Life span Achievement Award

Barbra Streisand

Last night’s Golden Globes kicked off awards season, as well as a new vibe for the oft-embattled awards body. While things didn’t quite go off without a hitch, the Globes brought unexpected winners, big milestones (with Lily Gladstone becoming the first Native American to win a Best Actress award) and plenty to sift through for awards season and pop culture junkies. Below are the biggest takeaways from the show, from potential Oscar frontrunners to an especially thankless hosting gig.

Oppenheimer is the new Best Picture favorite

Oppenheimer had the largest haul of any movie last night, taking home five awards—including Best Picture, Drama. While other frontrunners emerged (The Holdovers, Poor Things, and a key surprise win for Anatomy of a Fall), Oppenheimer claimed the show from beginning to end. 

Robert Downey Jr. livened up the proceedings with his speech after he won Best Supporting Actor, thanking the Globes for acknowledging him as the “most improved” of his fellow nominees. When Christopher Nolan won for Best Director, he began his speech by mentioning that the last time he was on stage for the Globes it was to accept an award on behalf of the late Heath Ledger for his work in The Dark Knight. As a director with a reputation for emotionally detached movies, it was a heartfelt, human moment. Cillian Murphy’s speech following his win for Best Actor, Drama showed a new side to the notoriously private actor too. Though he largely avoided pre-show red carpet interviews, an unbuttoned Murphy first asked if he had lipstick all over his nose (he did) before cheering his two decades of collaboration with Nolan. There’s clearly more for him to celebrate, as Oppenheimer becomes a major awards frontrunner with these wins.

A near Succession sweep

The beloved satirical series raked in almost every award for a drama series last night, winning four out of five of the categories it was nominated for, including the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series. Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, and Matthew Macfadyen also took home awards for their outstanding work in the HBO show’s final season. The only category Succession missed out on was Best Supporting Actress, with Elizabeth Debicki’s performance in The Crown winning out over J. Smith-Cameron. With the Emmys coming up next week, could this be a preview of the winners we’ll be seeing?

The Bear and Beef win big

Beyond Succession, the other television winners had some big hauls too. Beef swept the limited series categories, with Ali Wong, Steven Yeun, and the show itself winning. The Bear collected in the comedy categories as well, keeping series like Barry, Ted Lasso, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from winning in their respective final seasons. Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri each won Globes for their work on the Chicago-set series, cementing their ascents to stardom. Again, there could very well be a repeat of these proceedings at next week’s long-delayed Emmys.

Perfectly paired presenters

The Globes are known for being the “fun” awards show, and the presenters were more than game. From Keri Russell and Ray Romano’s delightful bit about the uselessness of honesty in Hollywood to Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig’s inadvertent dance break, the presenters leaned into the show’s inherent silliness. Special shoutout to Andra Day and Jon Batiste’s impromptu Super Mario Bros. a capella performance and the peak cringe comedy that was America Ferrera earnestly presenting alongside Kevin Costner, who may or may not have actually seen Barbie.

Jo Koy’s middling monologue

It’s a good thing that so many presenters brought some fun, because comedian and host Jo Koy did not. His monologue was generic, taking broad swings at the run time of Oppenheimer and making some jabs about genitalia in Saltburn and the lack thereof in Barbie. But when jokes clearly weren’t landing in the room, Koy all but abandoned ship. It’s one thing to bomb and own the awkwardness, it’s another thing entirely to act like it’s not your fault. Defensive deflections like “I got the gig 10 days ago, you want a perfect monologue?” and insisting that all of the jokes that didn’t land were written by someone else isn’t a good look. When he mumbled out a joke about nominee Taylor Swift being on camera at NFL games only to strangely apologize directly after, it was the nail in the coffin of an already dead-on-arrival hosting job. Koy essentially disappeared later in the evening, so at least his performance was short.

Barbie misses out on major wins

While Greta Gerwig’s fantastically plastic movie didn’t go home empty-handed, its haul was lighter than  expected. Billie Eilish and Finneas won Best Original Song for the pitch perfect “What Was I Made For?” and Barbie is the inaugural winner of the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award, but the film didn’t win anywhere else. It’s clearly an awards season with some exceptionally qualified comedies, as the likes of The Holdovers, May December, Poor Things, and American Fiction are all stiff competition, but given Barbie’s cultural dominance, a few more wins seemed likely.

That said, Barbie’s win for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement did yield one of the night’s better speeches. While the award itself remains a bit suspect (did Barbie just win because it made the most money?), powerhouse producer Margot Robbie accepted the trophy and gave some great perspective to the proceedings. She thanked “everyone who dressed up and went to the greatest place on earth: the movie theaters,” adding that the award “celebrates movie fans” above all else. “We made [Barbie] with love, and thank you for loving it back,” she told audience members, both in the room and watching on TV. Even if it didn’t score the biggest awards, it can’t be denied that Barbie made perhaps the biggest impact of any movie last year, and Robbie and co. were glad to celebrate that.

Cord Jefferson is troubled by the cultural fascination with stories about Black trauma and suffering. It’s an observation that the Emmy-winning writer first made during his days as a journalist, when he would regularly be asked to write an essay about the latest Black tragedy that was making headlines. Even after venturing into writing for TV and film and pursuing a career in Hollywood, where he believed executives would be interested in telling different kinds of stories, Jefferson was approached to write narratives about slaves, gang members, and drug addicts and dealers.

Jefferson’s frustrations, in some ways, helped fuel his feature directorial debut, American Fiction, which premiered to critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and has been getting Oscar buzz ever since. Adapted and helmed by Jefferson and based on Perceval Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, the comedy-drama film stars Jeffrey Wright as Monk, a frustrated novelist and professor who is fed up with the establishment commoditizing and profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. One night, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black book” of his own called My Pafology, which turns out to be a critical and commercial hit. Before long, Monk is forced to reckon with his own hypocrisy and deal with a monster of his own making.

“I want to make it clear to people that I’m not critiquing those movies [about Black trauma],” Jefferson tells Observer. “I’m happy that those movies exist because, as Issa Rae’s character says in the film, these are some people’s lived experiences. There are people who are trying to erase slavery from American history right now. It’s important for people to remember that there were slaves and that they weren’t learning valuable skills, as Ron DeSantis says. It was terrible. I’m not saying those movies shouldn’t exist, and I don’t want people to walk away from this movie with that idea.

“The question is, why is this the most valuable work to these people who are greenlighting these movies and these stories, the vast majority of whom are not people of color? Why is that the most interesting thing to them?” Jefferson asks. These are questions that the filmmaker has discussed at length with his Latino friends as well. “For instance, why is every story about Mexico about a drug cartel or somebody fleeing their miserable circumstances in their home state? What is it about the salaciousness of [those stories] that really appeals to people?”

Below, Jefferson — who has worked on acclaimed series such as Watchmen, Succession, Master of None, and The Good Place — explains the process of writing and casting his directorial debut, why he doesn’t think anyone has the answers to the film’s lofty questions, and the key conversation between Wright’s Monk and Rae’s Sintara in the film.

You’ve said that there is a real “poverty of imagination” when it comes to people’s perceptions about what Black life can be. Why do you think stories about Black trauma and suffering are considered the standard for prestige Black art in America, and how did you want to go about making those incisive critiques that you and your colleagues have long had about this business?

Cord Jefferson: I don’t have an answer for that. I think this movie asked that question because it’s something that I’ve been rolling over in my mind since I started writing. Why are we seemingly most interested in Black teenagers when they’re killed by the police? It just feels like there’s so much more to these groups of people than we’re letting on. I think that it’s a question that I would like to ask some of these studio heads and the publishers of these books: Why are we most interesting to you when we’re going through some violent trauma or trying to work our way out of poverty, or when we’re addicted to crack? Why is that the most interesting thing to you?

This is an honest thing that I’ve done before, and this has happened more than once. It’s not like it happens every day, but it has happened a couple of times where I’ve written a script and I’ve gotten a note back from people saying—and they never say this directly, but it’s like, “This character doesn’t really feel Black enough. How can we ‘Blacken’ this character up?” I would say, “Well, how would I make them ‘Blacker’? What could I do to make the character ‘Blacker?’” And guess what? They never answer the question because they know that they would put their foot in their mouth if they say, “Oh, well, here’s how this character could be Blacker.”

Imagine if somebody was saying, “I’d like this to be more Asian.” It’s like, “Well, what does more Asian mean to you?” It just sort of erases the spectrum of humanity that exists in all of our groups. What are we trying to say here? I think that is a question that I asked that I’ve never had answered. It’s literally a question that I’ve asked and nobody was willing to answer me because I think that they realize how ridiculous they sound if they try to answer that question.

It’s funny that you mention that you’ve had this conversation with other people of color, because I’ve had a version of this conversation with my friends and colleagues as well. We’re always approached to write stories about people from our ethnic or cultural background. But at a certain point, we want to tell different kinds of stories; we want to be able to write about more than just what we know.

A lot of people have this conversation, and I really appreciate you sharing that because I want this to not necessarily be about a Black family. It is about a Black family, but I think it’s also just about how a lot of people feel like they’re pigeonholed despite their unique personhood.

You’ve said that you initially read Monk’s lines in Jeffrey Wright’s voice. When did you know, during the writing or pre-production process, that you wanted him as the emotional heart of the film? And how did you go about finding the supporting actors to service the rest of this story?

Jeffrey brings a real gravity to the role. That’s why I had my heart set on him, and the movie became more real in a lot of people’s minds when Jeffrey signed on. That’s when the financiers were willing to part with more money; that’s when it started becoming much easier to get other actors interested in the project. So he was going to be the emotional center of the film because I just knew he was going to bring a weight to that character. He’s a very funny comedic actor, and people don’t really recognize that, so I knew that he was going to be funny in that part. 

Monk is such a closed-off, isolated, prickly grump that I knew the people around him needed to be buoyant and lively to play off of that, to be formidable foils to his energy. So people like Issa, Tracee Ellis Ross, Leslie Uggams, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander are buoyant and lively, and I knew that they were going to bring that to the roles. They were the perfect casting to accompany that. Leslie Uggams is just incredible in the movie. I think she plays it so deftly and subtly, and I think that, at the age of 80, to be able to still do that and get out there and perform incredible work is just a testament to her abilities.

It’s very common for family members to have a lot of similarities, even in terms of the way they speak, but in this case, you decided to create a number of distinctive voices.

One of my pet peeves when it comes to writing is writing every person the same. I think there are writers who do that, and it’s their style, and that’s fine. It’s just not my style for every character to speak the same, and then you can tell that they were all written by the same person because they’re all witty geniuses. I love watching it sometimes, but I never want to write that way. So, I wanted to make sure that there was a range of characters and that these people felt like real human beings.

For instance, if this movie were more plot-driven and focused on just getting these main themes across, there’s no reason to have Lorraine and Maynard get married. There’s no reason to have that storyline at all. In some ways, there’s no reason to have those characters at all, right? Because it’s not like they’re driving the plot forward. And yet, I would lose a huge part of what I really like about that movie if those characters weren’t there and that storyline wasn’t there. I think that’s what rounds it out and makes it something that was very special to me.

Did you ever receive any pushback about that storyline, considering that it wasn’t exactly, like you said, driving the plot with Monk?

Early on in the script, there were some people that I talked to that were like, “Well, what’s this about? Why do we have to go into the wedding and this love story?” And I was like, “Well, sometimes when you’re going on with your life, this weird thing happens where this person in your life falls in love and wants to get married and move away.” That sometimes happens, and you have to deal with that.

I don’t know if you agree, but I actually think that I wanted to make sure that this movie was satirical and funny, but without turning into farce. Actually, a lot of the family stuff is what grounds the satire so [that] it doesn’t become farcical, so it doesn’t just become this silly satirical take where it’s slap-sticky. I think those family moments make it feel more authentic and real instead of just being this crazy, wild comedy.

You’re absolutely right. Besides the really touching storylines with Monk’s extended family, I was really interested to see this mini-showdown between Monk and Sintara, the author of the bestselling book that Monk thought played into every offensive trope about the Black community, because Sintara doesn’t know that Monk also wrote My Pafology to poke fun at her in a way. What did you want to convey in the dialogue of that scene?

That scene is not in the book, so when I was reading the novel, I was like, “Oh, I can’t wait until these two characters meet and have this debate about their different ideologies.” But when I got to the end of the book and that scene never arrived, I was like, “Oh, I need to include this when I make the film,” just because I was so desperate to see it.

I think what I want people to walk away from understanding in that conversation is that I don’t even know how I feel about that. I don’t even have an answer as to who’s right and who’s wrong, and those are my favorite scenes. I read an interview with Christopher Nolan one time where I think he said, “Every time that you write an argument, make sure that nobody wins.” And that, to me, is the most interesting filmmaking.

That’s an interesting way to think about it, and I think that ambiguity is what will make viewers uncomfortable and more willing to have these difficult conversations, since both characters make some valid points.

A lot of people, but Americans especially, have a difficult time with nuance and complexity, and they think there should be a definitive answer to everything. But with these issues of identity and race, there is no easy answer. These are all very complex and difficult things that people have literally been thinking about for thousands of years, and nobody’s come to a conclusion about it. Nobody’s been able to say, “Yes, this is exactly what we need to do when it comes to these kinds of issues of race, identity, class, gender, and sexuality.” I really want this to be a film that feels like the only way we’re going to solve these problems is by talking about them in the open and acknowledging that they’re there and addressing them through civil conversation with each other.

I love that scene because I think that it gives voice to this important discussion, and it was important that the movie not say that there’s a right way to be Black, to be a Black creative, to represent your race. I never wanted this movie to feel like [the book] The Talented Tenth, and like we’re finger wagging like [when] Bill Cosby [said to young Black men], “Don’t sag your pants. You need to look good in front of white people.” That was the thing that Jeffrey and I talked about at length when we first met to discuss the film. I said to him, “I want to make clear that that is not my goal.” Part of why that scene was important was because I never wanted people to walk away saying, “Oh, Sintara is a villain. She’s bad, and Monk is the right one.”

I think that we probably will be talking about this 20 years from now, unfortunately, but hopefully we’re a little bit closer to the conclusion of that conversation in 20 years, and the only thing that we can do is try to get there. And hopefully, this movie does at least pave the way for more nuanced conversations.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Some unorthodox family comedies, a gripping criminal drama, and a new movie from the man behind Schitt’s Creek grace streaming platforms this week, so you know you’ve got plenty to enjoy. Whether you want to laugh, cry, or learn, there’s something for you to watch.

What to watch on Netflix

The Brothers Sun 

An everything-and-the-kitchen-sink kind of show, The Brothers Sun is a crowd-pleasing action family dramedy. Across eight episodes, college student Bruce Sun (newcomer Sam Song Li) discovers that his quiet life with his single mom (Michelle Yeoh) is a lie—he’s actually the son of the head of a Taiwanese criminal dynasty. As his estranged brother (Justin Chien) narrowly escapes a new threat, the Sun family must come together like they never have before to protect each other and their legacy. With amazing stunt work and a stirring family saga, there’s something for everyone in this new series. The Brothers Sun premiered Thursday, January 4th. Read Observer’s review.

Good Grief 

Dan Levy may be best known for his stellar work in front of and behind the camera on Schitt’s Creek, but the multihyphenate is moving to the big screen with Good Grief. Levy’s feature directorial debut stars the actor as a man dealing with the death of his beloved and successful husband (Luke Evans). When he discovers a secret that his husband kept from him, though, he eschews his mopey mourning for a trip to Paris with his closest friends (Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel). Naturally, the journey ends up being more messy than relaxing. Good Grief premieres Friday, January 5th. Read Observer’s review.

What to watch on Hulu

Beyond Utopia 

Tapped as a likely Oscar nominee, Beyond Utopia is a daring documentary that captures what it’s like for people to flee North Korea. With footage captured in secret, the film tracks two rescue missions spearheaded by Seungeun Kim, a South Korean pastor who’s dedicated much of his life to helping people escape North Korea’s brutal authoritarian regime. One involves a mother who defected a decade ago and is looking to save her son; the other revolves around a family of five that spans three generations. The stakes are as high as they could ever possibly be for these people, who are risking everything for a chance at freedom. Beyond Utopia premieres Tuesday, January 9th.

What to watch on Amazon Prime

Landscape With Invisible Hand 

As high-concept as its wordy title implies, Landscape With Invisible Hand is a sci-fi rom com satire that gives you plenty to ponder. The film takes place in a world where a fairly benevolent alien race has taken over, controlling the global economy if not the human race. However, there is one commodity that people have over the aliens: romance. Landscape follows a pair of teens as they broadcast their relationship to these ETs as a get-rich-quick-scheme, only to find themselves at odds with each other once they’re successful. Landscape With Invisible Hand streams starting Tuesday, January 9th. Read Observer’s review.

What to watch on Apple TV+

Criminal Record 

This British crime thriller brings a case’s past failures to the present. Criminal Record stars Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo as two talented detectives at opposite ends of their careers: the former a veteran with a reputation to uphold, the latter a relative newcomer determined to prove herself. When an anonymous phone call shines a new light on an old murder case, the two clash over wrong, right, and the often unfair institution of the law. Justice isn’t always black and white, but this isn’t an unsolved murder mystery—it’s an intense drama about a corrupt system. Criminal Record premieres Wednesday, January 10th.

What to watch on Disney Plus

Echo 

Marvel goes darker in this new miniseries. Billed as the first Marvel Spotlight show, it focuses on individual characters rather than the cinematic universe at large. Echo stars Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, the title hero who finds herself pursued by one of New York’s biggest crime lords (Vincent D’Onofrio) after the events of Hawkeye. She returns to her hometown in Oklahoma to get away and reconnect with her Native American roots, but that’s not to say that she’s in the clear. Plus, Charlie Cox returns as Daredevil, and Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, and Devery Jacobs also star. Echo premieres Tuesday, January 9th.

What to watch on Peacock

Ted 

A prequel to the beloved raunchy comedy about a man and his teddy bear best friend, Ted takes the opening sequence of the film of the same name and greatly expands upon it. The year is 1993, and Ted the sentient toy has had his fifteen minutes of fame—now he has to attend high school with his best friend and quasi-creator John and figure out how a teddy bear should best live his life. Seth MacFarlane returns to voice the title toy, with Max Burkholder playing the teenaged John. All eight episodes of Ted premiere Thursday, January 11th.

What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.