RNZ's Perlina Lau runs her eye over the best of the streamers coming up this month.
Photo: screenshot
Funny Woman
The decade is the ‘60s and Barbara Parker has just been crowned Miss Blackpool - but she’s got her sights set on more and she’s convinced there’s more to life than this seaside town.
Based on the book by Nick Hornby of the same title, Gemma Arterton plays the hero and takes off as London calls.
She faces a series of hurdles but lands a TV comedy show and becomes part of a new sitcom which impacts British comedy for decades.
The character finds herself in a male-dominated world - but her determination and comedic skill allows her to reinvent herself. Visually it looks like a feast and London’s answer to The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (which is a brilliant watch if you haven’t seen it)
Neon - 9 February
Hello Tomorrow
Billy Cruddup (Almost Famous, Big Fish, Watchmen) is having a good run with Apple TV at the moment - I’m still seeing flashes of him from The Morning Show.
This show gives me La La Land, Pleasantville meets The Truman Show vibes.
Set in a retro-future, Cruddup plays a very charming and charismatic salesman, Jack Billings, who leads a team of fellow associates in selling a dream.
Timeshares on a moon to be exact; to desperate and lonely people looking for a new adventure or some way to revitalise their life. It stars Hank Azara (best known for The Simpsons) and Allison Pill (The Newsroom, American Horror Story).
But the dream soon unravels as people start to realise they may not be getting the truth.
Apple TV - 17 February
The Consultant
It’s Christoph Waltz as we best recognise him: a calm and well-dressed villain.
The two-time Oscar winner plays Regus Patoff - a consultant brought in to an app-based gaming company to “improve the business”.
It’s a workplace thriller and dark comedy where the employees suddenly find themselves working for a boss with extreme demands and needing to prove how far they will go to survive.
Prime Video - 24 February
The Last of Us
Fans of the video game won’t need me to tell you about this one and chances are you’re already waiting for the next episode.
Based on the hugely popular and acclaimed action-adventure game from 2013 of the same title, the narrative-driven game lends itself well to TV.
It starts with an outbreak of a fungal virus in Jakarta, in which those infected become zombie-like with mushroom looking heads and it clearly spreads around the world. There’s a big moment for the main character, Joel Miller in the first episode, which I didn’t see coming, but fans of the game will know, which sets up his motivation for the series.
Fast forward to 20 years in Boston and the post-apocalyptic drama is in full swing. Joel is played by Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) who’s now a hardened smuggler and he’s tasked with taking a 14-year-old to the resistance research centre as she could be the answer to the future and humanity’s last hope.
It also stars Anna Torv (Mindhunter) and Game of Thrones fans will recognise Ellie Wiliams’ character played by Bella Ramsey.
The first episode alone is a hefty 1 hour 20 but it really sets up the world. It pays homage to the game in high-action and dramatic sequences by putting you in the position of the character and it plays out from their point-of-view as if you’re in a video game.
Episode 3 is perhaps one of the more brilliant episodes of TV I’ve watched recently. Expertly told and an emotional watch; it introduces new characters but by the end, you feel you’ve known them your whole life.
Melanie Lynsky appears in the latest episode this week - another guest cast I’m very much looking forward to seeing.
Neon
You - season 4
I’m not sure how we’re suddenly onto season 4 of this psychological thriller but here we are.
You is an incredibly bingeable show. It’s dark and sometimes ridiculous but I’ve had no trouble suspending my disbelief.
Penn Badgely’s character - Joe Goldberg (a creepy version of Gossip Girl’s lonely boy) has departed the sleepy suburbs in America and begins this new season in….London.
That’s despite a tease at the end of season 3 leading viewers to believe he’ll settle in Paris.
This time he’s promoted himself from book shop assistant to a literature professor named Jonathan Moore. But it seems Joe is not alone in his antics - as when members of London’s wealthy elite start disappearing, Joe realises there may be another stalker/murderer in his vicinity.
Netflix – 10 February
Cunk on Earth
If you’re in the mood for mockumentary and satire - look no further.
If you know Philomena Cunk, then you’ll know exactly what you’re in for.
Afterlife fans will immediately recognise Diane Morgan who plays Cunk - a fictional host and newswoman who tells the story behind the world’s great inventions.
Created by Black Mirror’s co-creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker - it’s made to echo serious BBC documentaries. It’s hilarious, silly and earnestly asks serious experts and academics all the big questions - like “How is it a mystery how the pyramids were built when it’s obviously just big bricks in a triangle?”.
The five-part, half hour series will surely have you in stitches and may be the perfect antidote to this gloomy-ish weather. I’m based in the North Island, can you tell? And no, we won’t stop harping on about it.
Netflix
Shameless and guilty pleasure watch this month:
It’s already out on Netflix now - Bling Empire New York. Super rich Asians, outrageous fashion, more money than sense, socialites and connections in high places - what’s not to love-hate? Escapism in its truest form.
