YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO
THE PICK OF TV & FILM ON DEMAND
Edited
TRIPLE THREAT
Edwin (George Rexstrew), Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and Charles (Jayden Revri) are on the case
SITCOM Good Times
All 10 episodes available now
If you’re aged 60-plus and American, the title of this new animated sitcom will spark some memories: it’s a reboot of a hit live-action comedy from the 1970s, which at the time broke new ground by being the first sitcom in the classic two-parent family set-up to feature black lead characters. Three generations on, the Evans clan still live in Apartment 17C, but the animated format allows for greater flights of fancy, the social commentary hits harder and the jokes have some of the saltiness of Family Guy — the creator of that show, Seth MacFarlane, is an executive producer. JS
PACKHAM’S PICK
Dark
DRAMA
Dead Boy Detectives
All 8 episodes available from Thursday on Netflix
Based on the Neil Gaiman comic and qualifying as part of the Sandman Universe, this drama for teens and young adults never sits still: every scene is a visually impressive feat of imagination and, while you might struggle slightly to piece it all together into a coherent narrative, it’s never dull. Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) are best friends — at least, they are now they’ve died, having lived several decades apart. Their ghostly vocation is to solve paranormal mysteries, with the help of a mortal psychic, Crystal (Kassius Nelson). As demons, witches and creepy living people cross their path, the cast sell every unlikely twist convincingly. JACK SEALE
MORE NEIL GAIMAN TO STREAM
American Gods
Amazon Prime Video Ex-con Shadow Moon meets a strange man named Mr Wednesday (Ian McShane) and war between the Old and the New Gods ensues.
The Sandman
Netflix Tom Sturridge, David Thewlis and Jenna Coleman star in the 2022 adaptation of the fantasy graphic novel.
Good Omens
Amazon Prime Video Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collaborate, David Tennant and Michael Sheen star — good and evil collide.
Stardust Paramount+
Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro lead an all-star cast for 2007’s film fantasy romance.
PROLIFIC
Neil Gaiman
COMEDY DRAMA Where’d You Go Bernadette 111
h
All 3 series available now on Netflix “Science fiction is my favourite genre and I like time-travel-tales, so I loved Dark on Netflix. The production values are high, the characters are great and the story is convoluted and surprising so it keeps you on your toes. It finally disappears up its own vortex at the end of series three, but it’s a fabulous saga.”
Available now
q
Cate Blanchett leads this comedy drama, playing a reclusive homebody who was once a rising star in the world of architecture. When she goes missing, her husband (Billy Crudup) and daughter (Emma Nelson) worry for her mental wellbeing and set out to find her. Blanchett impresses with a character who is both comically erratic and affectingly vulnerable, and although Richard Linklater has made some terrific films about growing up (including Boyhood), this only occasionally rings with truth. TERRY STAUNTON
ROMANTIC DRAMA
The Greatest Hits
111 Available now
In this sweet, if slow, romantic drama, grieving Harriet (Lucy Boynton) discovers that she can visit her dead boyfriend Max (David Corenswet) in the past by listening to a song from their time together. While obsessing over finding the specific song that might help her to save him, Harriet is also conflicted over her feelings for David (Justin H Min), a man from her group counselling sessions. The film’s exploration of grief is rather surface level, but writer/ director Ned Benson uses the time-travel elements well, and Min is hugely likeable. JAYNE NELSON
DOCUMENTARY
Tiger Available from Monday
Mark Linfield (Planet Earth) directs and Priyanka Chopra Jonas narrates a slickly produced, feature-length documentary released to celebrate Earth Day. Created from over 1,500 days of filming, the programme follows Ambar, a tigress raising her family in the Indian jungle — a task that involves teaching and controlling naughty cubs who are vulnerable to snakes, bears and marauding male tigers. The sheer awesomeness of an adult tiger going about their business is something to celebrate, which the programme does with enthusiasm. JS
DOCUMENTARY
Thank You, Goodnight: the Bon Jovi Story
All 4 episodes available from Friday
As their 40th anniversary looms and with comeback shows to rehearse for, one of America’s biggest ever bands are afforded a lavish retrospective. The group’s life story recalls how Bon Jovi were a product of the same 1970s New
ACTION Argylle 111 h
Available now
q Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn returns to the world of espionage with this star-studded take on the genre. Author Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) has just completed her latest book about super-spy Aubrey Argylle (Henry Cavill). However, when a rogue agent (Sam Rockwell) informs her that the plots of her novels are eerily similar to actual events, Conway finds herself forced into a real-world mission. The rather convoluted story is packed with twists and turns, and while the humour is hit and miss, the game cast is likeable. PATRICK CREMONA
COMEDY DRAMA
The Big Door Prize
Series 2 episodes 1—3
available Wednesday
A series that just about got away with its unusual concept in season one — a small American town is rocked by the arrival of a machine that issues the user with a card, on which is written a cryptic clue about the different life they might have led — doubles down on it for the second run. Dusty (Chris O’Dowd) is making some big decisions about his future, in a show that gently asks the question of ordinary family life: is that definitely all there is?
JACK SEALE
ROMANTIC COMEDY
Música 1111 h Available now
q
This entertaining and unusual romantic comedy is bursting with warmth. Student Rudy (Rudy Mancuso) is drifting through life.
Dumped by his girlfriend Haley (Francesca Reale) and smothered by his Brazilian mother, he also experiences synaesthesia, and hears music in everyday noises. Rudy’s life is further complicated when he meets free spirit Isabella (Camila Mendes), but is he really over Haley?
Dramatising his own life, director/ writer/star Mancuso inventively upends narrative conventions with puppetry, stagecraft and animation.
PACKHAM’S PICK
Masters of the Air
All 9 episodes available now on Apple TV+
“My father was a keen military historian and, having lived through the Second World War as a child, it was a topic of great interest for him. Particularly aviation. I vividly recall him telling me tragic tales of the US Eighth Air Force’s terrible losses during their daylight bombing raids in B-17 Flying Fortresses. The aerial combat sequences in Masters of the Air are chaotic, terrifying and shocking — maybe as close to the real horror we will ever see. I wish my dad was still here to watch it with me.”
COMEDY DRAMA Palm Royale
Episode 8 available Wednesday
Some shows jump the shark — this week with three episodes left, Palm Royale beaches the whale.
A large, unexpected mammal on the Florida sand is the latest conundrum for Maxine (Kristen Wiig) as she desperately tries to keep her beloved Beach Ball in every important person’s diary. As the chaos left behind by a fraudster and several attempts on her life complicate Maxine’s quest still further, Robert (Ricky Martin) is granted a tender, regretful flashback. JS
HISTORICAL DRAMA Franklin
Episode 5 available Friday
It’s mostly just men in tights elaborately insulting each other and it consequently moves too slowly, but this historical drama is finally getting somewhere. While Benjamin Franklin, as played by Michael Douglas, is attracting plenty of female attention, his own focus remains on winning independence from Britain for the United States, via a military alliance with France. Now, with some of his own side against him as well as the Brits, he hatches a daring plan. JS
DRAMA Black Flies 111
Available from Friday 19 April
q
Tye Sheridan and Sean Penn star as New York paramedics in this gritty and grim drama. Sheridan plays rookie Ollie Cross, who joins the night shift with Penn’s grizzled veteran Gene Rutkovsky. Patrolling the Brooklyn borough of Brownsville, they bounce between emergency calls, each one seemingly more brutal and dangerous than the last. Stylishly made by French film-maker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog), the film feels grungily authentic, though some will find the relentlessly bleak narrative tough to take. JAMES MOTTRAM
ACTION
Land of Bad 111 j Available from Friday
This exciting, behind-enemy-lines thriller is set in the southern Philippines and revolves around a 48-hour battle against Islamic State. Tensions run high as drone operative Sergeant JJ “Playboy” Kinney (Liam Hemsworth) and his team (played by Liam’s brother Luke Hemsworth, plus Ricky Whittle and Milo Ventimiglia) attempt to rescue an asset. When the operation goes wrong, Playboy is left stranded alone in the jungle, while Captain Eddie Grimm “Reaper” (Russell Crowe) is back at base providing air support. William Eubank is a great action director, and the attack scenes are terrific. MATT
Inspiring people to enjoy more time together in their gardens MAINTENANCE FREE
To rent/buy
SCI-FI
Dune: Part Two
1111 h
Available now
Now available to buy or rent as a home premiere, the second part of director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel is simply awe-inspiring.
Picking up where the first film ended, Part Two sees Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) going from guerrilla fighter to reluctant messiah, while the spice-rich planet of Arrakis is coveted by Christopher Walken’s scheming galactic emperor. As with the Oscar-winning first instalment, Villeneuve shows mastery of scale and scope, with stunning cinematography and a thumping score from Hans Zimmer.
ASPINALL
ADVENTURE
The Three Musketeers: Milady 111 h
Available from Monday
q Following on from The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan the second part of Martin Bourboulon’s take on Alexandre Dumas’s novel is another action-packed adventure. The film starts with Eva Green’s scheming Milady breaking out of prison, while D’Artagnan (François Civil) chases after his kidnapped paramour Constance (Lyna Khoudri). It’s a shame the three musketeers are relegated to supporting players, but this remains a blood-and-thunder adaptation. JAMES MOTTRAM
DRAMA
The Holdovers 1111 j
Available now
Set at a New England boarding school in 1970, this Oscarnominated drama follows a crabby Classics professor (Paul Giamatti) as he reluctantly supervises the “holdovers” of the title — students who are forced to remain on campus over the Christmas holidays. Joining him and the morose Angus (Dominic Sessa) is the school’s head cook Mary (Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who is grieving the loss of her son. Alexander Payne (Sideways) directs with droll, slow-burn humour, while David Hemingson’s script conjures plenty of poignancy from the set-up. EMMA SIMMONDS
HOW & WHERE TO STREAM TV & FILM
DOCUMENTARY
High & Low:
John Galliano 1111 j
Available from Friday q Fashion designer John Galliano is the subject, star, hero and villain of this thoughtful documentary by Kevin Macdonald (Whitney). The film tells Galliano’s story in his own words, from his childhood in Gibraltar and career highs at Givenchy and Dior, to his antisemitic rant and fall from grace in 2011. Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell lend their voices to a complimentary chorus, but Macdonald cleverly steers clear of effusive profiling. MAX COPEMAN
