Critical Week: I feel pretty

While all eyes continue to be on Los Angeles as the extent of the fire damage becomes even more horrifically clear, the film industry here in London continues relatively as normal. Bafta announced their film awards nominations on Wednesday, the usual expected lists with idiosyncratic touches here and there. And among screenings this week, Michelle Yeoh popped in (on great form) for a lively Q&A at a press screening for Star Trek: Section 31, which spins her Discovery character Philippa Georgiou off for her own action-comedy mayhem. It will be interesting to see how franchise fans take on the film's riotous tone.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
I'm Still Here • The Writer
A Complete Unknown
ALL REVIEWS >

There was also a late screening of Leigh Whannell's latest reworking of a monster classic: Wolf Man. Stars Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner make the most of the emotional angles in the somewhat thin script, and the grisly suspense will keep fans entertained. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite with Robert Zemeckis for Here, a gimmicky experimental film that places a camera in one place for millions of years. The effects and imagery is impressive, but the mini-melodramas feel arch. From Lithuania, the New York-set drama The Writer features just two actors as they talk over the course of one afternoon, and it's properly gripping stuff, taking on big issues and quietly intimate emotion. Finally there was Charlie Shackleton's Zodiac Killer Project, documenting the film he never got to make. It's witty and inventive, and premieres at Sundance.

This coming week, among the films I'll be watching are Steven Soderbergh's Presence, the Irish drama Four Mothers, the musician doc Luther: Never Too Much and a restored screening of Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock, which I've never seen projected.

Critical Week: A walk in the park

London's cinema community is gearing up for this Sunday's British Academy Film Awards, which will be hosted by Richard E Grant at the Royal Festival Hall with all the stars in attendance. And this year the Baftas will air some of the awards live (but only a handful). I'll watch it at home, but I'm attending a few parties over the weekend, which should be fun ... and rather glamorous. More about all that on Monday, after the dust settles.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Inspection • Framing Agnes
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
PERHAPS AVOID:
Devil's Peak
ALL REVIEWS >

Meanwhile, we're starting to see movies released early in the year, far from awards consideration. Sharper is a thriller about con artists, so it's no surprise that it's packed with twists, turns and revelations. All of that is fun, even if it's a bit predictable, but it helps that the film stars Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and (above) Briana Middleton and Justice Smith. Also sticking to the formula is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the latest slice of Marvel mayhem. The action largely swamps Paul Rudd's superb sense of humour, but the film does have its moments, and Jonathan Majors is seriously good as the villainous Kang. And then there's Devil's Peak, a backwoods thriller that sinks completely under the weight of its cliches, even as strong actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Robin Wright do what they can.

A little further afield, 88 is a political thriller with a nicely complex plot, although the dialog is overstuffed with lectures. From Italy, Nostalgia is an involving drama about a man trying to return home even as his past warns him to leave. From Spain, 8 Years artfully mixes colourful energy with thoughtful emotion as a man ponders the good and bad in a broken relationship. Chase Joynt's astonishingly inventive doc Framing Agnes works on many levels to explore trans experiences and social justice. And Gaspar Noe has rearranged his shocking 2002 classic as Irreversible: Straight Cut, which becomes something very different chronologically.

In addition to British Academy Film Awards events this weekend, this coming week I'll see the nutty thriller Cocaine Bear, Michael Shannon in A Little White Lie, Kore-eda's drama Broker, the Argentine drama Wandering Heart and the climate activism thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline.

Critical Week: Chart a course

Britain is slowly emerging from lockdown after five very long months, and next week's shift includes reopening cinemas. It'll take awhile to get back up to full-speed, but it feels hopeful to be moving in the right direction. Meanwhile, I'm still watching everything on links, with the biggest film this week being the thriller Voyagers stars Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp and Colin Farrell in an oddly dull and timid riff on Lord of the Flies in space. Melanie Laurent is terrific in the claustrophobic thriller Oxygen, which has a lot of enjoyable twists and turns, even if it begins to feel a little silly. Kelvin Harrison Jr once again shines in Monster, a powerful legal drama that got stuck in distribution chaos for three years. And Robin Wright makes her feature directing debut with the beautiful but thin back-to-nature drama Land, in which she also delivers a terrific central performance.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Never Gonna Snow Again
The Perfect Candidate
Servants • End of Sentence
The Crime of the Century
PERHAPS AVOID: The Reckoning
ALL REVIEWS >

From the Czech Republic, Servants is a visually stunning, thematically powerful drama set in a Catholic seminary during Soviet occupation. From Romania, Two Lottery Tickets is the dryly amusing story of three hapless friends trying to improve their aimless lives. The horror pastiche Psycho Goreman is packed with hilariously big characters and riotously grisly effects. And Alex Gibney's riveting, engaging two-part documentary The Crime of the Century is a must-see portrait of the opioid crisis from a variety of pointed perspectives.

With cinemas opening on Monday, I actually have a physical screening in the diary for next week, the first since early December, for the Emily Blunt thriller A Quiet Place Part II. Otherwise I have links to watch for various things, including Amy Adams in The Woman in the Window, Angelina Jolie in Those Who Wish Me Dead, Fionn Whitehead in Port Authority, the Austrian drama Why Not You and the short film collection The Dutch Boys. 

Shadows on the Screen: Summer TV roundup

So many shows, new and returning, converged this spring that it was a relief that this year's season of Game of Thrones was delayed. It's been intriguing to see the convergence of so many political shows tackling the same themes: Homeland, Veep, Scandal and House of Cards at times felt like the same show, struggling to be more outrageous than what was actually happening in Washington. And then The Handmaid's Tale (ahem!) trumped all of them. 

SOMETHING NEW

Twin Peaks

To get ready for this, I binged the 1990-91 series, plus the 1992 movie Fire Walk With Me, chilled each time "25 years later" was mentioned. And now here we are. The new shows have a different tone, more fragmented and much drier. But David Lynch is cleverly maintaining the open-ended mystery, dropping clues everywhere without explaining anything, giving just enough plot to make it riveting. Most of the returning cast members are appearing in cameos, but Kyle McLachlan has even more work to do as Dale Cooper tries to, well, put himself back together after a quarter century in red-curtained limbo (although his duality is beginning to feel draggy). The show is also still very funny, although not quite as silly as the original shows were. It's also just as magnetic, impossible to look away. This season continues until September, and Lynch says there's more to come after that.

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood's novel is more than 30 years old, and yet its premise feels chillingly relevant in this creepy series set in a very near future ("When they blamed terrorists and suspended freedom temporarily, we let them") ruled by a theocratic government that brutally enforces "traditional" values. Produced with artistry and anchored by yet another riveting performance from Elisabeth Moss, this is a punchy exploration of human nature and the dangers of subverting it for whatever reason. It's somehow shocking to hear Offred's fiery internal thoughts as she plays such a passive role on the outside, a rare fertile woman in a polluted world, assigned to bear children for a wealthy commander (Joseph Fiennes) and yearning for her stolen daughter (Jordana Blake). What this says about fanaticism and resilience is astonishing. And it's emotionally riveting. A second season is coming, praised be.

Santa Clarita Diet

A witty, original approach to the zombie genre, this sitcom is thoroughly engaging thanks to the likeable central performances of Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant as estate agents in suburbia dealing with her sudden appetite for human flesh. The carnage is played for laughs, and since this is Netflix the grisliness and language are pretty full-on. It's all rather broad, and the short episodes never really go anywhere. Indeed, the 10-episode first season feels very slight. But there are hilarious moments dotted throughout every episode, and the side roles are pretty fabulous, from teens Liv Hewson and Skyler Gisondo to the likes of Portia De Rossi, Patton Oswalt, Nathan Fillion, Ricardo Chavira, Thomas Lennon and the great Grace Zabriskie.

Thirteen Reasons Why

There's a loose realism to this series that continually takes the viewer by surprise. Corny but involving, it holds the interest with dramatic intensity and the seriousness of the teen-suicide theme. Dylan Minette is excellent as a highschooler trying to understand why one of his classmates killed herself then left him a set of old-fashioned cassette tapes to explain herself and to lead him on a kind of scavenger hunt. It's all a bit gimmicky, contriving to drag things out over the 13 stretched-out episodes that turn every character (including the dead girl) into someone who isn't remotely likeable. There are some important points, but it's not as truthful as it pretends to be.

THE DRAMA CONTINUES

Sense8: Series 2

After nearly two years, this ground-breaking, earth-shattering series returns, and it kicks off with a fierce attack on endemic bigotry in society - a seriously complex, thoughtful and provocative exploration of sexism, misogyny and homophobia. This is a show about what binds humanity together in the face of various man-made divisions. And it's staggeringly well written, acted and assembled as a ripping thriller this time, with stronger characters and a punchy momentum that grabs hold and doesn't let up. Sadly, after this enormous set-up, Netflix has decided not to continue the story. Although it definitely needs some kind of conclusion, please.

House of Cards: Series 5

It seems impossible that this show could get any darker, but here we are. This season is so bleak and nasty that it's not easy to watch, but we're kind of afraid that the Underwoods might hunt us down and kill us if we stop. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are astounding as always, offering a terrifying portrayal of a couple clinging relentlessly to power through sheer force of will. And as they subtly begin turning on each other, this becomes must-see drama. The nastier gyrations of the plot may feel exaggerated and contrived until we remember what's happened in the so-called civilised world over the past year. Our political landscape might not be quite this violent, but it's not as far removed as we'd like to think. And where this is going for future seasons is more than a little scary.

Fargo: Series 3

The almost freakishly talented Noah Hawley (see also Legion) continues this anthology series with a new scenario in snowy 2010 Minnesota, quickly spinning events out of control over the first few episodes, then deepening characters and intrigue in fiendishly inventive ways. Some of the flourishes are a bit gimmicky (and one episode seems to have snuck in here from Twin Peaks), but there's a snaky underlying attitude that keeps it riveting. And the cast is simply wonderful, anchored by the superb Carrie Coon and a double dose of Ewan McGregor. Produced to a very high standard, it's also a rare show that allows for unnerving complexity in its themes, including the moral questions about who's good and evil. Fiendishly clever.

The Get Down: Series 1b

The second half of Baz Luhrmann's groovy and stylish 11-episode dramatisation of the birth of hip-hop in 1978 continues in the same exhilarating style, anchored by the engaging central performance from Justice Smith. This is bold television, exploring a range of issues with intelligence, humour and real insight, plus a terrific use of old and new songs that makes Empire look feeble by comparison. Some of the excesses are a bit overused (there's far too much animation, oddly including key plot moments). But the impressionistic approach is fascinating, even if it's perhaps too artful for purists who want to see the gritty details of this period of history, both for New York and for music. 

JUST A LAUGH

Veep: Series 6

The writing is as good as ever in this sixth season, even though the characters are spread out in a variety of places around the political world. Which just proves the resilience of the characters and the actors playing them. No one's anywhere near the White House this time, which somehow makes everything even funnier. Julia Louis-Dreyfus has the best comedic timing on television, period. And what makes this show so unmissable is that she's happily playing such a self-absorbed buffoon, while everyone around her is even more appalling. We really should hate all of these idiots, and the chaos they bring to US government, but their relentless cynicism makes them likeable. And also frighteningly authentic.

Grace and Frankie: Series 3

It was impressive to see the cast and writers push these characters in some bold directions during this season. Instead of the gentle holding pattern of Series 2, this year was packed with challenges, and the writing was sharply funny as well as more intelligent and introspective, which drew superbly textured performances from Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston and others. Some elements felt a bit farcical, in a sitcom sort of way (namely Bud's hypochondriac girlfriend), but there were plenty of clever surprises along the way. And everything touched on much bigger themes about various forms of bigotry, along with the general indignities of getting older.

The Trip to Spain:
Series 3

This hilarious improvised comedy directed by Michael Winterbottom sends Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on another wacky road trip, taking in the sights and tastes while engaging in stream-of-consciousness repartee. Once again, these six half-hour episodes are engaging and packed with witty gags, delicious food and lovely landscapes. This time it also feels rather grumpy and deliberately self-indulgent, overdoing the starry impersonations to the point of exhaustion (they seem to notice this as well). As before, there are a few side characters to add some narrative continuity, and of course a string of smart running jokes. Plus a nice wave of Cervantes-style surrealism popping up now and again. But if they travel somewhere else, it would be nice to freshen up their banter.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Series 3

Because of the breakneck pace and relentless goofiness, this third season takes awhile to find its feet. But once it sets up the story arcs for its central characters, the series takes off into a series of riotous, astute directions. The rapid-fire dialog is flat-out hilarious, played broadly by gifted actors who are able to turn their dim-witted, oblivious characters into people who are surprisingly loveable. And along the way, there are some serious issues that gurgle quietly in the background, cleverly remaining fodder for jokes rather than preachy messaging (such as racist sports franchise names or the gentrification of quirky neighbourhoods). So even if everything is utterly bonkers, there's an edge to this show that makes it irresistible.

I GIVE UP

There were three shows that I just couldn't stick with. Generally I try to give a show at least three episodes before I tune out... 

• American Gods: A bewildering melange of fantasy, mythology, comedy and thrills, this hyper-violent series is so smug that it never lets the viewer into what's going on. I struggled through three episodes. 
• Dear White People: Justin Simien cleverly adapts his provocative film for TV, using an inventive structure that focusses on different perspectives. I love the complex, witty exploration of race issues, but it feels oddly ingrown, and far too pleased with itself.
• I Love Dick: Jill Soloway brings the brilliant Kathryn Hahn with her from Transparent to this cynical comedy about a bunch of unlikeable artists. Even with the terrific cast and some surprising storytelling, I didn't make it past episode 5.

Coming up: Game of Thrones, Master of None, The Carmichael Show, something new?

LFF 2: Live in the now

The 57th London Film Festival continues at venues all around the city, plus red carpet events in Leicester Square tonight, as filmmakers and stars brave the chilly drizzle. Here are some highlights...

The Spectacular Now
dir James Ponsoldt;  with Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley 13/US ****
Credit to these filmmakers for creating an adolescent comedy-drama that feels bracingly raw and honest. And their willingness to go places most movies shy away from gives the actors a chance to create fresh characters who are engaging even when they do stupid teenager things... [full review to come]

Adore
dir Anne Fontaine; with Naomi Watts, Robin Wright 13/Aus ***.
Infused with a sense of sun-kissed physicality, this drama has a provocative premise that would be hard to take if it weren't shot so beautifully and played with such offhanded authenticity by the solid cast. And despite the Australian surf-community setting, the film has a refreshingly grown-up European sensibility... FULL REVIEW >

Mystery Road
dir Ivan Sen; with Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving 13/Aus ***.
Writer-director Sen captures a vivid sense of life in the Australian Outback in this rural Wild West-style drama. And he cleverly undermines the film's thriller-like plot with low-key pacing and a refusal to indulge in genre cliches. The problem is that this makes the film almost inert, as it never generates even a hint of suspense... [full review to come]

Child's Pose
dir Calin Peter Netzer with Luminita Gheorghiu, Bogdan Dumitrache 13/Rom ***.
Romanian filmmaker Netzer takes a strikingly intimate look at the layers of control within families and society. And while some of the details are a little heavy-handed, witty touches and rippingly honest acting hold our attention. As does the unusually intimate, urgent filmmaking... [full review to come]

The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
dir Wiktor Ericsson; with Joseph Sarno, Peggy Steffans Sarno 13/Swe ***.
Leave it to a Swedish filmmaker to find the important social relevance in the 1960s sexploitation movies of the legendary Joseph Sarno! But that's exactly what this documentary manages to do while exploring the filmmaker's lengthy career, his enduring marriage and the history of cinema itself since the 1960s... [full review to come]

LFF 1: Aye aye, captain!

The 57th London Film Festival kicked off last night with the Leicester Square premiere of Captain Phillips, and star Tom Hanks braved the suddenly chilly evening with his wife Rita Wilson as well as director Paul Greengrass and a range of celebrities, from Tom Ford to Terry Gilliam. Tonight it was Sandra Bullock and Alfonso Cuaron's turn to present Gravity. Here are some highlights from the first day...

Captain Phillips
dir Paul Greengrass; with Tom Hanks, Barkhi Abdi 13/US *****
Coming straight from the headlines and adapted with a documentary-style attention to detail, this fiercely well-crafted thriller would be impossible to believe if it weren't true. And even though we know the end of the story, this film generates so much nerve-shredding suspense that we feel like we need to be debriefed afterwards... FULL REVIEW >

Gravity
dir Alfonso Cuaron; with Sandra Bullock, George Clooney 13/US ****
Cuaron takes us on a 91-minute thrill ride deploying cutting-edge cinema technology and a harrowing performance from Sandra Bullock to root us in our seats. So even if the plot is rather contrived, the film looks so amazing that we barely breathe as we're hurled here and there just on the cusp of Earth's atmosphere... [full review coming soon]

As I Lay Dying
dir James Franco; with James Franco, Tim Blake Nelson 13/US ***
For his first narrative feature as a director, Franco ambitiously adapts William Faulkner's notoriously grim novel. And what a surprise: the film is relentlessly downbeat, and pretty dull too. Franco may prove that he has a fresh visual eye, but the highly emotive story is oddly uninvolving... FULL REVIEW >

Jeune & Jolie
dir Francois Ozon; with Marine Vacth, Geraldine Pailhas 13/Fr ****
Ozon explores a transgressive side of sexuality in this internalised drama about a teen prostitute. But this isn't the usual trip to the seedy low-life: these are well-off people who seem balanced and intelligent. And it's tricky for us to admit that this is just as realistic as the grimier depictions we see in preachier films... FULL REVIEW >

The Congress
dir Ari Folman; with Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel 13/Isr ***.
A film of two halves, this brain-bending drama/thriller is either a provocative exploration of identity in an increasingly digital age or an indulgent visual kaleidoscope that only the filmmaker can understand. Either way, it's bracingly original and often thrilling to watch... FULL REVIEW >

Critical Week: She's not human

I'm not feeling massively human myself after such a busy week. The 21st Raindance Film Festival came to a close Sunday night with the creepy British thriller The Machine (pictured), which also won the top prize for best UK feature. Exploring artificial intelligence with an emotional edge, the film features sharp performances and some genuinely unnerving touches. Also at Raindance, I caught up with the Argentine comedy The Critic, which touched a few nerves in its engaging, cleverly told tale of a film critic's messy life.

I saw a couple of independent films outside Raindance: Who Needs Enemies is a low-budget London crime thriller that takes a clever approach to the genre and has a superb cast, but doesn't quite come together. And the comedy-documentary Seduced & Abandoned is a joy for movie fans, as Alec Baldwin and James Toback hit Cannes to sell their Iraq-set remake Last Tango in Tikrit. Pointed and very funny, it's packed with big-name cameos including Bertolucci himself, as well as surprisingly adept raconteur Ryan Gosling. And just last night I attended a massive Ender's Game teaser event with Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld and Ben Kingsley in attendance, but we'll have to wait to actually see the movie.

In continuing press screenings for the 57th London Film Festival, which opens Wednesday night, we caught up with Robert Redford's staggeringly well-made but somewhat over-done solo thriller All Is Lost; the amazing Robin Wright as a version of herself in Ari Folman's striking but confusing live-action/animated The Congress; the warm but implausible Brit-com Hello Carter with the likeable Charlie Cox, Christian Cooke and Jodie Whittaker; the provocative French drama Stranger by the Lake, which morphs from a quiet drama into a Hitcockian freakout on a gay-naturist beach; and the documentary Teenage, mixing terrific archive footage along with matching faked scenes that kind of undermine the entire point.

This coming week is pretty much devoted to the LFF with screenings of: Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, Alexander Payne's Nebraska, Jason Reitman's Labor Day, Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem, Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves, Xavier Dolan's Tom at the Farm, Bruno Dumont's Camille Claudel 1915, Lukas Moodysson's We Are the Best, David Mackenzie's Starred Up, Hong Sangsoo's Haewon, the Berlinale winner Child's Pose, and the sexploitation doc The Sarnos. There's also a screening of two London movies: the crime thriller Vendetta and the comedy World of Hurt. Whew.

Critical Week: Summer's last hurrah

London had a flurry of hot summery sunshine last week before the much cooler weekend arrived with rainstorms and more typically chilly autumnal weather. All hope isn't gone for a bit more warmth, but the effect is likely to be pretty dramatic at the box office! Meanwhile, I caught up with the summery Adore, a beach-town drama from Australia starring Naomi Watts and Robin Wright as lifelong friends who fall for each others' sons (Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville). It's a strikingly grown-up, startlingly involving movie by French filmmaker Anne Fontaine.

Not only did it open in the US last week, but it features in the line-up for the forthcoming 57th London Film Festival, which was announced last week at a gala launch event attended by Paul Greengrass, director of the opening night film Captain Phillips. The LFF is a festival of festival, with no significant world premieres but lots of amazing movies from other festivals. It runs 9-20 October, but press screenings begin on 23 September.

Other films viewed by UK press last week include: 42, a hugely involving biopic about groundbreaking baseball icon Jackie Robinson; R.I.P.D., a derivative and unfunny ghostly action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges; Like Father Like Son, a masterful Japanese drama about parenthood from the gifted Hirokazu Kore-eda;  Cal, a darkly dramatic sequel to the Bristol gang-drama Shank; The Broken Circle Breakdown, a gorgeously made and bleakly emotional Belgian drama infused with bluegrass music; and Fire in the Blood, an urgently important documentary about the injustices of Big Pharma when dealing with the global impact of Aids. I also caught up with two stunning restorations: the trippy 1969 ancient Rome odyssey Fellini-Satyricon and the magisterial 1924 expedition doc The Epic of Everest - watching each of these was like having a mystical experience. Very different ones, I should add.

This coming week, we have screenings of: Naomi Watts in the already notorious Diana biopic, Anna Kendrick in the comedy Drinking Buddies, the Danny Trejo in the B-movie sequel Machete Kills, Brie Larson in the acclaimed drama Short Term 12, the Glasgow rom-com Not Another Happy Ending, the British thriller Harrigan, the thriller The Conspiracy, and a restoration of Herzog/Kinski's gonzo classic Nosferatu.

Shadows on the Screen: Summer TV roundup

As a film critic, I love movies even though watching them feels like work as I have to analyse every detail and remember everyone's names! To escape - and to recapture my enjoyment of less demanding entertainment - I watch guilty pleasure television. Sometimes this is quality stuff like Mad Men or Top of the Lake, but I like silly TV like Franklin & Bash or Downton Abbey just as much. And I love smart-funny sitcoms (Veep, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation are favourites). Here's what I've been watching this summer, in chronological order...

Mad Men: series 6
created by Matthew Weiner; with Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks; AMC/US *****
The quality of this show never flags, as the scripts continually provoke characters to their breaking points. So much happened in this season that it's impossible to outline briefly: each character went through an odyssey that left them profoundly changed. Many of them were heading in all-new directions as the final episode wrapped up. What's fascinating is watching each person try to do the right thing but fail at every turn because of weakness, lust, ambition or even ignorance. These are amazing people, staggeringly well-played by a first-rate cast, including strong new roles this season for Linda Cardellini, Harry Hamlin and James Wolk. They even pushed young Sally (Kiernan Shipka) in some pretty intense directions, in the process thankfully bringing back her nice-creepy friend Glen (Marten Holden Weiner). (May-Jun.13)

Franklin & Bash: series 3

created by Bill Chais, Kevin Falls; with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Breckin Meyer, Reed Diamond, Malcolm McDowell, Heather Locklear; TBS/US ***.
This is a rare beast: a mindless guilty pleasure that's silly and inconsequential, but never stupid. Gosselaar (all grown up since Saved by the Bell) and Meyer have terrific chemistry as womanising, rule-defying surfer lawyers who join an elite Los Angeles legal firm run by McDowell's eccentric renaissance man. This season, the firm is managed by a whip-cracking Locklear, who adds even more energy to the show, not that it needed it. This is a free-wheeling comedy that has a lot of fun with its weekly oddball court cases, including celebrity judge guest stars. And all of the characters are hilarious, including the guys' assistants, who live with them in their Malibu beach house, where their neighbourly feud with Rob Lowe gets a nice pay-off. Yes, it's utterly ridiculous, but it constantly surprises us with smart comedy and even some character depth when we least expect it. (Jul.13)

Top of the Lake
created by Jane Campion, Gerard Lee; with Elisabeth Moss, David Wenham, Peter Mullan, Thomas M Wright, Holly Hunter; BBC/NZ ****.
Embracing mystery and ambiguity in ways that we haven't seen on TV since Twin Peaks, this series plays with our curiosity, dropping all kinds of clues in every scene. We're never sure if these are important keys to understanding the bigger picture or off-handed details to reel us in. But it's absolutely mesmerising, set in a spectacular New Zealand mountain community. And Moss' riveting performance anchors the show impeccably, drawing us in with a mix of steely tenacity, earthy emotion and painful baggage. Her interaction with shifty cop Wenham, nice-guy childhood boyfriend Wright and bullish gangster Mullan is simply magical. Each of these men is a riot of conflicting personality traits that feeds into the central mystery about a missing pregnant teen. But where she is and who her baby's father is are secondary to Moss' own journey. And Hunter's seriously odd guru adds some absurd humour along the way. (Jul-Aug.13)

True Blood: series 6

created by Alan Ball; with Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell, Rob Kazinsky; HBO/US ***.
After a couple of rather soapy seasons, this series rocketed through a tense story that had everyone at each others' throats: government thugs are up to something awful, the now godlike Bill (Moyer) is trying to change the world, lovelorn Eric (Skarsgard) is out for revenge, Sam (Trammell) is caught between werewolves and shifters, and Sookie (Paquin) has met a super fairy-vamp (Kazinsky) who has pined after her for 5,000 years. Every episode is packed with jolts that catch us off guard, including a number of high-profile deaths. And even though it's completely over-the-top, it's packed with wonderfully entertaining side characters who make it unmissable, notably Anna Camp's insane vampire-hunter, Kristin Bauer van Straten's always-angry diva and Deborah Ann Woll's tormented young blood-sucker. But everyone surprises us in this series. (Jul-Aug.13)

House of Cards
created by Beau Willimon; with Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Michael Kelly, Corey Stoll; Netflix/US ****
Spacey brilliantly channels the ghost of Ian Richardson's character in this remake of the iconic 1990 British series about an ambitious politician ruthlessly pulling the strings of government for his own benefit. It's dark and twisted, and Spacey lets us see not only the character's manipulative cruelty but also his inner insecurities. Even more vivid is Wright's portrayal of his equally ambitious wife. This is one of the strongest women in film or TV at the moment, and you can't take your eyes off her. Mara is plucky but a bit soft as the reporter caught up in the nastiness. But Stoll shines as a Congressman forced into all kinds of dark corners. His plot strand may feel preachy and somewhat forced, but it's the most emotionally engaging element in the whole show. Unlike the original version, which was a stand-alone mini-series (continued in two further stand-alone series), this remake ends on a cliffhanger that clearly leads to a second season. (Aug.13)

Banshee
created by David Schickler, Jonathan Tropper; with Antony Starr, Ulrich Thomsen, Ivana Milicevic, Frankie Faison, Ben Cross; Cinemax/US ***
This small-town thriller is a decent guilty pleasure with its twisty plot and colourful characters - a Western set in present-day America. It centres on an ex-con (Starr) who passes himself off as the new sheriff in an unusually violent rural Pennsylvania town (shootouts every day!), where he's trying to win back his old girlfriend (Milicevic), daughter of the New York mob boss (Cross) who wants him dead. Meanwhile, he continually locks horns with a local gangster (Thomsen) who grew up in the local Amish community. Starr's central performance is eerily reminiscent of Arrow's Steven Amell (they could play twins): beefy but expressionless. But the show is also misogynistic and racist, while the writing and directing (and especially the fight choreography) are frequently quite lazy, all of which is surprising with Alan Ball's name attached as a producer. Amid continual violence, the sex is the stuff of male fantasy: women are often naked, helpless and thankless, but never the men. The only interesting character is Hoon Lee's cross-dressing fix-it expert, but he gets tamed as the series progresses. (Aug.13)

> Autumn highlights include the finale of Dexter, the returns of Homeland and Downton Abbey, and the new season of sitcoms.