Netflix
Tick, tick ... BOOM!
Film, US, 2021 – out 19 November
Word-singing multi-hyphenate Lin-Manuel Miranda (best-known as the creator of Hamilton) is one of those rare, slightly annoying overachievers, in that he gives the impression of somebody who creates great art in the time it takes most of us to consume breakfast. Miranda’s first feature film as a director adapts an autobiographical musical by acclaimed composer and playwright Jonathan Larson, starring Andrew Garfield as Larson in his late 20s.
The narrative follows his pre-breakthrough life as a writer juggling work on Rent with paying the bills by waiting tables at a New York diner. In the film Larson is encouraged to “try writing about what you know”, a classic in the “writer’s advice” genre that can apply to directing too. Miranda certainly knows a thing or two about being an acclaimed playwright; hopes are high that his directorial debut will deliver the goods.
Tiger King season 2
TV, US, 2021 – out 17 November
The evergreen appeal of the “stranger than fiction” true story partly explains the surprise mega-success of Tiger King, a scrappily made documentary series that drew a very, very large audience, introducing the world to real-life characters such as mulleted former zookeeper Joe Exotic and conservationist Carole Baskin.
An interesting question surrounding the premiere of the second season is whether it will replicate anything close to the success of the first, which generated zillions of think pieces across the net. We’ll find out soon enough.
Red Notice
Film, US, 2021 – out 12 November
Netflix’s new action-comedy starring Dwayne Johnson as an FBI agent pursuing thieves of high-end art is, according to the star, “the biggest investment Netflix has ever made in a film”, with a budget reportedly in the vicinity of US$200m. A large chunk of that sum goes to Johnson and co-stars Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds receiving a sickeningly good deal believed to be around, at least, US$20m a piece. Expect the streaming giant’s algorithms to give this title extra special attention.
Honourable mentions: The Harder They Fall (film, 3 November), A Cop Movie (film, 5 November), Arcane (TV, 6 November), The Dressmaker (film, 16 November), Riverdale season 6 (TV, 17 November), Procession (film, 19 November), Bruised (film, 24 November)
Stan
Nitram
Film, Australia, 2021 – out 24 November
At a time when homogenous blockbusters such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe series are increasingly conditioning audiences not to expect individual style, distinctive auteurs are rarer than ever. One of them is Australia’s Justin Kurzel, who is brilliant at evoking a sense of escalating dread. The director’s latest is an intensely disquieting and masterfully made drama about Martin Bryant, which navigates a minefield of ethical issues and doesn’t commit the (often exploitative) errors of many other productions about mass shooters.
The Great season 2
TV, US, 2021 – out 20 November
There is something lewdly compelling about period productions that revisit old-school settings through a fogged-up contemporary lens, infusing tales of yesteryear with sex, swear words and garishness. The first season of The Great (created by Australian writer Tony McNamara) is an entertainingly irreverent take on the rise of Catherine the Great, the Russian ruler played with bold, witty flair by Elle Fanning. The second season will continue to prioritise risqué over realism, the series belonging to a trend of recent productions (like Apple TV’s Dickinson and the feature film Emma) that reconfigure the stories of influential historical women from modern and in this case post-#MeToo perspectives.
Honourable mentions: Deliverance (film, 6 November), The Shawshank Redemption (film, 10 November), Disclosure (film, 15 November), Seven (film, 15 November), Staying Alive (film, 16 November), The Artist (film, 16 November), Dunkirk (film, 23 November), Mystery Road season 2 (TV, 23 November), The Fifth Element (film, 26 November).
Binge
The Sopranos seasons 1-6
TV, US, 1996-2007 – release date TBC
“Woke up this morning, got a blue moon in your eyes!”
If you read that sentence and didn’t immediately envision James Gandolfini driving through New Jersey while smoking a cigar, where the hell were you from 1999 to 2007? Not in front of the teev, because, had you been, you would have seen creator David Chase’s great gangster series The Sopranos, which famously kicks off with Gandolfini’s mob boss protagonist dealing with a midlife crisis symbolised by the arrival of a family of ducks in his swimming pool.
You’re better off revisiting the original The Sopranos than watching the new, disappointing spinoff movie The Many Saints of Newark. Or if you (gasp!) haven’t seen the show, time to get acquainted, time to get a ... “blue moon in your eeyyess!”
Synchronic
Film, US, 2019 – out 6 November
Christopher Nolan’s smugly cerebral and intensely confusing sci-fi Tenet was one of the big disappointments of 2020, an admittedly foul year for all and sundry. A much better time travel-themed noodle scratcher that also arrived in Australian cinemas last year came from tag team film-makers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who specialise in intelligent low-budget films with big ideas.
A new designer drug has hit the market, allowing users to travel back in time at their exact location – for precisely seven minutes. Paramedic Steve (Anthony Mackie) uses the titular drug to search for the daughter of his colleague Dennis (Jamie Dornan), who may be stranded somewhere in the past. Kooky ideas are thoughtfully tossed about in a film that (like David Lowery’s A Ghost Story) jumps around in time while maintaining a strong sense of location.
Honourable mentions: Wentworth seasons 1-9 (TV, release date TBC), What Happened, Brittany Murphy? (film, 7 November), The Hangover (film, 19 November), We’re the Millers (film, 20 November).
SBS on Demand
Aguirre Wrath of God
Film, Germany/Mexico/Peru, 1972 – out 5 November
Werner Herzog’s classic 1972 adventure movie has a great outdoorsy spirit of largesse and a journeying, mythical quality. Following conquistadors down the Amazon River circa 1560 as they search for the legendary city of El Dorado, an unhinged second-in-command (Klaus Kinski) kills the leader and demands his men continue their perilous quest. Herzog visually investigates every moment and every location, establishing an explorative style with an unbroken introductory long take that holds the frame for almost three minutes.
Honourable mentions: My Different Ways (TV, 4 November), Manayek (TV, 4 November), The Pianist (film, 7 November), Furia (TV 16 November), This is England (film, 17 November), Tell Me Who I am (TV, 18 November), The King’s Speech (film, 19 November), Muhammad Ali (TV, 28 November).
ABC iView
Total Control season 2
TV, Australia, 2021 – out 7 November
I’m not aware of any peer-reviewed studies that have vindicated the following hypothesis, yet it is incontrovertibly true: it is impossible not to like Deborah Mailman. The first season of ABC’s good – but not great – series Total Control gave the great Australian actor her first lead role, casting her as a straight-talking layperson parachuted into Australian politics following the death of a senator.
Stories about average, decent people entering the political arena will never get old nor cease to be relevant; fingers crossed the second series of Total Control ups the ante and raises the stakes.
Preppers
TV, Australia, 2021 – out 10 November
Doomsday preppers used to be kinda cute, with their “end is nigh” this and “sky’s gonna fall down” that. But in the age of QAnon and misinformation-filled social media, it is becoming increasingly difficult to laugh away the antics of hysterical people seemingly allergic to science and reason.
Black Comedy director Steven McGregor finds an interesting perspective in the story of a young Aboriginal woman, Charlie (Nakkiah Lui), who joins a community of preppers founded by Monty (Jack Charles). This group is – quoting the press notes – a place where Charlie “tries to come to terms with the dissatisfaction, loneliness and alienation she’s always felt trying to find her place in a White Australia”.
Honourable mentions: Community season 1 (TV, 2 November), Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac (film, 3 November), Girl Like You (film, 7 November), Noughts + Crosses (TV, 7 November), Ridley Road (TV, 13 November), Books that Made Us (TV, 23 November).
Amazon Prime Video
Burning
Film, Australia, 2021 – out 26 November
Every once in a while a documentary comes along that boils your blood, rattles your bones and leaves audiences longing, praying and (hopefully) demanding political change. Eva Orner’s Burning is one of them: a tremendously powerful film about Australia’s horrific Black Summer bushfires.
Among many other things it is a catalogue of national shame, detailing how the great tragedy of the fires was that we saw them coming (warnings of the effects of anthropogenic climate change being well documented and voiced time and time again to our reluctant and recalcitrant leaders). Orner folds together expert voices, criticism of conservative media outlets, notes of optimism in the form of activist portraits and much more, in one of the most vital Australian documentaries in recent years.
Honourable mentions: Tommy Little: I’ll See Myself Out (TV, 5 November), Tampa Baes (film, 5 November), Great White (film, 7 November) Mayor Pete (film, 12 November), Warrior (TV, 15 November), The Truffle Hunters (film, 18 November), The Wheel of Time (TV, 19 November).
Disney+
The Beatles: Get Back
TV, UK/US/New Zealand, 2021 – out 25 November
Made with the cooperation of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated three-part Beatles series uses previously unseen footage documenting the making of Let It Be – one of two albums considered to be the band’s grand finale, depending on your point of view.
Offering what it claims to be “over 57 hours of the most intimate footage ever shot of the band”, Jackson’s series allows fans to travel Across the Universe and down The Long and Winding Road in order to Get Back to the golden years of the Beatles.
Honourable mentions: Home Sweet Home Alone (film, 12 November), Dopesick (TV, 12 November), Marvel’s Hit-Monkey (TV, 17 November), Hawkeye (TV, 24 November), Becoming Cousteau (film, 24 November).
Paramount+
Dexter: New Blood
TV, US, 2021 – release date TBC
In this day and age, very few hit, long-running, “finished” TV shows stay dormant for long. Thus the return of old mate Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall), the forensic psychologist working for the police who was also a serial killer with a knack for cleaning up after himself and a fondness for plastic wrap that puts Bad Boy Bubby and the killer from the original Twin Peaks to shame.
In this revival series, Dexter has been living covertly, under a false name, for a decade, keeping his killing instincts under control. But good drama that does not maketh – thus the arrival of his son, who upturns his life and gets Dexter reacquainting with his “Dark Passenger”.
Honourable mentions: Yellowjackets (TV, date TBC), The Astronauts (TV, 1 November), Stillwater (film, 4 November), Mayor of Kingstown (TV, 15 November), Four Hours at the Capitol (film, 17 November), South Park: Post Covid (film, 26 November).
