Author: Daniel

Streaming Favourites of 2020

With months of travel restrictions and social distancing still to get through, we could all use some entertainment. So, here are a few favourites from 2020. I didn’t watch nearly enough TV (cough) to claim these are the “Best of the Year”; they’re just personal recommendations based on what I enjoyed. I’m limiting the list to streaming movies and television series, both to keep the length reasonable and because 2020 was pretty dire for theatrical movies.

Netflix

Better Call Saul, Season 05

Season 05 of Better Call Saul was the best thing I watched in 2020. Like its predecessor, Saul is set within the Breaking Bad universe and charts the decline and fall of a flawed man. But it has steadily established itself as an original creation and more than a mere spin-off. Whereas the outwardly respectable Walter White was doomed by his arrogance and resentment, Jimmy McGill is, in many ways, a more sympathetic and interesting (certainly more fun) character. A charming rogue, he’s being brought down as much by the low expectations of his “respectable” peers as his own shortcomings.

This being a Vince Gilligan production, the story is propelled by meticulous attention to detail, clever plotting that never resorts to shortcuts or phoney leaps of logic, great directing, and a great cast. Comedian Bob Odenkirk has been a revelation as Jimmy McGill (Saul) and any one of the compelling secondary characters could lead their own show: Mike, the ultimate professional; “Nacho”, the conflicted dealer; “Lalo”, the deadly cartel enforcer; and, of course, Jimmy’s girlfriend, Kim Wexler.

Brilliant, tough, and a by the book champion for justice, Kim has long been Jimmy’s conscience. But one of the threads running through this season has been a deeper dive into her character and the problematical reasons for her attraction to the wrong man. Agonizing over Kim’s fate has long been a hobby among reviewers, and that question is now even more fraught.

Season 05’s other main thread is Jimmy’s involvement with the drug underworld. He has finally become, as Jesse Pinkman described him, a “criminal lawyer”. That is, a lawyer who is a criminal. Saul is now racing toward its end (it has been renewed for a 6th and final season) and the tension keeps ratcheting higher, even as the show’s character work becomes more complicated and subtle. I’m bending my own rules here as Netflix receives Saul on a delay; its library currently only reaches Season 04, but 05 should drop on the service shortly before the sixth season premiers.

Babylon Berlin, Season 03

The corruption and decadence of between the wars Berlin is a great setting for a dark detective thriller and Seasons 01 and 02 of Babylon Berlin (released together in 2017) might have been the noiriest noir since Bogart put on a fedora. They were a complex stew of murder, Trotskyite plotting, revanchist Army officer scheming, political intrigue, and strange psychology, all set in a Weimar Germany starting to fall apart as the street fighting between communists Nazis intensifies.

After the twists, turns, side plots, and just plain weirdness of the first two seasons, 03 tells a more straightforward story. Transplanted detective, Gereon Rath, is now a permanent member of the Berlin Police and occasional sex worker Charlotte Ritter has joined him as a detective in training. Together (professionally and – perhaps – personally) they investigate the murderer of a Berlin film actress. Complex as the case turns out to be, the pacing does lag occasionally as Berlin attempts to stretch a single murder investigation over twelve episodes.

As, always, though, there are side plots aplenty of political intrigue and corrupt cover-ups to test our heroes, as well as a terrific cast of vividly drawn secondary characters, any one of whom might be the culprit. The period recreation of 1920’s Berlin remains incredibly rich with its close-up view of glamour, depravity, and grinding poverty all living side by side. You almost have to take a shower after watching. But I would happily see Babylon Berlin continue indefinitely, with Gereon and Charlotte investigating a new crime every year or so.

Dead to Me, Season 02

Dead to Me begins as a simple odd-couple comedy when sensitive if flaky Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini) befriends alpha realtor Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) at a grief support group. Soon, though, the revelation of a dark secret turns the show into a twisting thriller with a cliff-hanger at the end of almost every episode. As each revelation uncovers more of the tortured backgrounds and mixed motivations of both women, Dead to Me also becomes a painfully realistic examination of the crippling effects of grief and guilt. This mix of conflicting ingredients should never have worked but, somehow, Season 01 blended them into one of the very best shows on Netflix.

I was dubious whether such a high concept could work a second time out (the example set by the likes of Killing Eve or Barry is not encouraging) but I should have had more faith. Launched by the revelation of yet another big secret, and buoyed by the amazing performances of both Applegate and Cardellini, Season 02 continues to dive deeper into both women’s complex psychology and even more complicated friendship, while also beginning to show what it might take for them to achieve some kind of peace or forgiveness. The season ends with yet another big reveal, but the show has been renewed for a third and also final season. That seems exactly right to deal with the new secret and finish telling this terrific story.

The Queen’s Gambit, Season 00

If you didn’t know beforehand that The Queen’s Gambit is based on a novel, the very literary subject matter would give the game away. It’s the fictional biography of a neglected orphan girl who becomes a chess prodigy in the 1970’s. Along the way Gambit deals with themes of abandonment, addiction to prescription drugs, and the struggle for independence and to find your own identity as an adult.

After an initial round of almost unqualified praise, the series has received some criticism for casting the beautiful Anya Taylor-Joy as the book’s homely protagonist and for making her progress a little too triumphant. Certainly, the series has an element of wish fulfillment, but it’s also compellingly told and an utterly bingeable watch. So, while it may not be one of the all-time greats (like Saul) it’s still a very good series, and a compellingly told tale. Taylor-Joy may be too pretty to match the book’s depiction of the protagonist, but her performance is a large part of what makes Gambit work – both the subtlety with which she conveys Beth’s pain and drive and the intensity of her gaze as those enormous eyes stare across a chess board.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Season 07

Since Parks and Recreation and The Good Place finished their runs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been my go-to sitcom. In 2020 its shortened 7th season wasn’t quite as consistent as the earlier outings but, when it’s hitting on all cylinders, it’s still the funniest and best workplace comedy on air. The beating heart of the show is, of course, its terrific ensemble of strange, funny, and yet sympathetic characters, led but not overwhelmed by Andy Samberg’s Jake Peralta. Over the years Brooklyn has developed a number of wacky traditions (such as the Halloween Heist) that shake up the formula and keep things fresh. In addition to delivering a terrific combination of heart and humour, it’s one of the cleverest and funniest sitcoms to come along in a long while. I just hope to be able to hang out with this crew for a few more seasons yet.

The Crown, Season 04

Compellingly directed, beautifully acted, and featuring incredible period recreations (including lots of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” porn) The Crown continues to be one of the most watchable shows on TV. However, the closer it gets to the present, the more its liberties with history cause me to itch a little. With Season 04 centring on a fictionalized account of the Princess Diana / Margaret Thatcher years, that carbuncle reaches a particularly festered state.

The factual liberties are easy to spot, such as the portrayal of Elizabeth II as the driving force behind Commonwealth sanctions against apartheid South Africa. This completely writes out Canada’s key role in the campaign, especially Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s personal leadership at various international gatherings, including the Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Conferences. (Canada, the largest and most populous member of the Commonwealth Realm doesn’t exist in The Crown; it prefers the scenery of Australia for any ventures outside the UK). It is well known that the Queen takes her role as Head of the Commonwealth seriously and was privately concerned about the harm South African membership could do the organization. But showing her taking such a strong public stand drastically misrepresents the function of a constitutional monarch.

In the Diana Spencer storyline factual errors – minor in themselves – also reveal questionable efforts to manipulate the story. She is shown as being left isolated and alone in a palace in the weeks before the marriage, for example, when there are actually photographs of her out and about with Charles during this time. However, the lie is used to reinforce a pattern of royal brutality toward Diana that the season is determined to prove.

Obviously, there are questions about Diana’s treatment by the royal family, but the extent to which there was a pattern of deliberate abuse is a complicated issue with no clear answer. The problem with The Crown isn’t so much that it bends facts to make a simpler, more dramatic story, but that it tends to bend them in a consistent direction to support a certain ideology. Most viewers would assume that anyone spending years of their life to tell the story of Elizabeth II would be sympathetic to her, which makes this bias all the more pernicious. In fact, the creator, Peter Morgan is a staunch republican (that is, someone who wants to replace the monarchy with an elected head of state).

Morgan has admitted to taking liberties with the facts more than once, always justifying this as necessary to suit the needs of the story, or to illuminate “deeper truths” about his subject. I suspect his deeper truths are often just his political bias misrepresenting itself. As with Mank (see below) the combination of authorial ideology and the simplifications required to turn history into a compelling drama often intertwine in cancerous ways.

Just as Morgan turns the royal family into monsters to punch up the Diana storyline, he exaggerates the Queen’s private disagreements with Margaret Thatcher to weave a tale of two strong women at odds – turning Thatcher into a cartoon villain in the process.

The core problem of The Crown is that, having chosen to present Elizabeth’s life as a saga, its lead character (a constitutional monarch) is actually just a spectator of many of its dramatic events. Attempting to turn her into the protagonist, and politically opposed to the monarchy anyway, Morgan consistently exaggerates the Queen’s involvement in politics while ignoring or misunderstanding the Crown’s actual constitutional role.

So, why have I included The Crown in this list and given it the longest review of all? Well, for all my quibbling, Morgan is a terrific storyteller. I may find his larger picture distorted and unconvincing, but individual scenes of The Crown just sing with sharply observed details and telling observations. From my limited experience I think he gets the zeitgeist of the British upper classes exactly right. This includes the studied casualness at home, the fetishization of the countryside, the use of manners as a weapon… So, it’s best to watch The Crown as pure fiction. Then the historical objections melt away, and it becomes a ripping yarn about the perils of privilege, the weight of duty, and the complicated obligations of family.

Schitt’s Creek, Season 06

Schitt’s Creek has long seemed to me the most over-rated series on television. And, regarding the early seasons, I stand by that. The deliberate obscurity of the North Generica location (so it can play as a Canadian show at home and as set in the US for that market) robs the comedy of any specificity or bite. And, early on, there was entirely too much dependence on idiot humour (isn’t it funny how rich people can’t do anything?), which gets stale awfully quickly.

A lot of seemingly important story lines were also introduced only to be dropped before they went anywhere. The only thing that kept me watching through the first three seasons was Annie Murphy’s brilliant performance as the oblivious and entitled Alexis – a loopy bundle of eccentric physical and verbal tics combined with massively unearned self-confidence, all made bearable by the genuinely good heart just detectable underneath.

Somewhere around Season 04, though, the show began to get better as the Rose family started working at real jobs in the eponymous town and developing deeper relationships with its inhabitants. As David made a success of his store, Johnny helped manage the hotel, Alexis stopped dabbling and found her calling in PR, and Moira joined the town council, the Roses became more than bumbling idiots and the townsfolk more than rubes. As its characters turned into real people, rather than cartoons, the show got funnier and sharper, its humour more character-based, about people whose foibles we had got to know well.

The show also became more serialized, with deeper stories as plot developments were allowed to run from episode to episode. Now, with 06, the entire season is focussed on the preparations for and wedding of David and Patrick. This detailed, sympathetic portrayal of a loving gay relationship has helped Schitt’s Creek become a critical hit in the US. Even viewed as a television show, rather than a social document, it’s a pretty good send-off for characters I grew to like a lot more than expected. (Note: also available in Canada on CBC Gem.)

The Baby-Sitters Club, Season 01

I am not at all a member of The Baby-Sitters Club demographic but some reviewers I follow recommended it, and the show proved a surprisingly good coming of age tale about a group of tween girls who – um – form a baby-sitter’s club. The wholesome look reflects the fact that it’s based on a reportedly beloved series of 1980s US children’s books (none of the Canadian women I asked knew of them…). However, it’s been deftly updated to include a more diverse cast and to deal with more contemporary issues – fortunately without turning into an “issues” show or a social justice lecture. For sure, the girls learn life lessons about stuff like taking responsibility and accepting people who are different, but these all emerge organically from believable, well-told stories.

The absolutely terrific young cast (plus Alicia Silverstone, now playing a mom – gawd, I feel old) really helps here; all the club members come alive as distinct and believable personalities. Baby-Sitters Club is good enough that, if you have a young daughter, recommending it will make you the cool parent for at least five minutes. Even if you’re not a tween girl, it still has something interesting to say about adolescence, that vital and terrifying time when you’re no longer a child, but not yet an adult – when you’re tackling new responsibilities and trying on identities in search of your own. (A stage of life that apparently arrives a couple years earlier for girls than it does for boys!)

Archer, Season 11

Archer is an animated spy spoof featuring a James Bond lookalike who, while a terrific spy, is also one of the most dysfunctional and psychologically damaged human beings on the planet. He works for an almost equally chaotic spy agency, staffed by a bizarre mixture of psychopaths, overgrown children, mad scientists and – his mother. Made by people who obviously love the genre (details of weapons, aircraft, etc are way more authentic than they need to be) and featuring a terrific voice cast, the early seasons of Archer ranked among the funniest shows on TV.

Now, at Season 11 and, having run through its entire bag of tricks at least twice over, Archer still shows a commendable willingness to shake up its formula. The last three seasons were based on the fever dreams of Sterling Archer as he lay bedridden in a coma. That gave Archer the freedom to turn itself into a spoof of Miami Vice, an Indiana Jones rip-off, and a space adventure. Season 11 seems to revert to formula with a freshly conscious Sterling returning to the agency.

The shake-up this time, though, is more psychological depth. The secondary characters have re-invented themselves (mostly for the better) during Archer’s prolonged absence. Add the fact that our super-spy’s injuries have left him with a gimpy leg, and he’ll have a hard time reverting to his old behaviours. A lot of the fun this season comes from its fresh take on a very familiar cast as they navigate new inter-personal dynamics. The show may no longer reach the heights it once scaled but, even at an abbreviated eight episodes, this is pretty good Archer. Which makes it better than most TV.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

The spread between Eurovision’s dire critical rating and hugely positive audience rating is one of the widest I’ve ever seen. Which is fair, given that objectively it isn’t a very good film; it’s another half-baked Will Ferrell vehicle, full of lazy plotting, saggy pacing, and slapdash writing. And yet, and yet… The subject is so loopy, the cast commit so completely to the madness, the songs are so catchy, the affection for its Icelandic underdogs so genuine – somehow the thing grows a real heart and earns that audience response. Like the bumblebee, it shouldn’t fly and does. Bonus delights include Canada’s sweetheart, Rachel McAdams, showing real comic chops as the loopy Sigrit, and the revelation that those supposedly sophisticated Yuropeans put on Eurovision every year, the tackiest, schlockiest, weirdest reality show of them all.

Mank

The days when the arrival of each new Netflix Original was A Very Big Deal are long (long) past but Mank was one of the service’s higher profile efforts in 2020. Directed by David Fincher and featuring an A-List cast (Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried…), Mank is a fictionalized retelling of the month a bedridden (he had been in a car crash) Herman Mankiewicz spent writing the screenplay for Citizen Kane (often considered the greatest movie of all time). With its self-consciously artistic style, Mank provides a lot for literature majors to think about. Citizen Kane was filmed in B&W and featured a circular story structure; Mank likewise is filmed in B&W and told in a circular fashion – between Mankiewicz’ isolated present, and his past as a celebrated writer in the decadent, roaring days of 1920’s Hollywood.

This is clever, and an exploration into the nature of creativity, or the relationship between art and reality, or… something. At a more prosaic level, however, there are issues with the storytelling. The flashbacks are split between fun recollections of studio movie making in Hollywood’s golden age and a rather less interesting story (if you’re not into California politics) of Louis Mayer’s corrupt intervention in a state election. Mank also portrays our hero as the sole author of the Citizen Kane script, casting Orson Wells’ efforts to claim the writing credit in a very negative light.

In fact, forensic examination of the various Citizen Kane drafts makes a convincing case that Mankiewicz did write most of the scenes, but set them within an overly long, conventional story. Wells trimmed his version considerably and rewrote the film into its famously circular structure. That both justifies Wells’ co-writing credit and makes the circular structure of this Mankiewicz biography look more like a gimmick than an actual insight into his process. As for that creative process, the real story of Citizen Kane shows it to be much more collaborative (even when it includes conflict) than the solitary writer in his garret, that this movie celebrates. Ah well, Mank is still fun to watch, mainly for the terrifically witty and literate dialogue, brilliantly delivered by Oldman in classic old movie style.

Apple TV+

Ted Lasso, Season 01

Apple first step, after deciding to develop its own streaming service, was to drop a trainload of money on an opening round of prestige releases. Featuring eye-watering budgets, big name creators, and A-List stars, almost all of these ended up being what could most charitably be described as near misses. Turns out, money can’t buy creativity. For All Mankind had a great premise but also huge pacing and story structure issues; The Morning Show had a compelling cast but often hit soap opera when it was aiming for prestige drama. And so on…

How ironic, then, that Apple TV +’s first breakout hit is the modest and low-key Ted Lasso. I actually resisted watching for a while as the premise didn’t seem promising: a naïve, relentlessly positive, small town American football coach (the eponymous Lasso) finds himself managing a Premier League British soccer team. And that lead character was originally developed by star Jason Sudeikis for a series of NBC Sports promotions. However, just as a Disney theme park ride could spawn the excellent (original) Pirates of the Caribbean, those NBC ads gave birth to one of the best shows of 2020.

The surprisingly complex first season reveals unexpected nuances in Lasso’s personality as well as real wisdom in his approach to coaching. In addition, a deep roster of secondary characters all get their own interesting season arcs, including a football bunny with unseen depths, an aging and angry team captain facing the end of his career, and a villainous but surprisingly sympathetic team owner with a hidden agenda.

Of course, there’s a lot of laughs to be had in Ted’s American wholesomeness going up against a bunch of cynical, potty-mouthed Brits. And Lasso also finds fun in Ted’s fish out of water experience of living in the show’s accurate and well detailed depiction of contemporary England. It’s a good example of the sly observational humour you can sneak in just by having a detailed and specific setting (looking at you, Schitt’s Creek!). The result is one of the most bingeable shows of 2020, made all the more delightful because it was so unexpected.

Wolfwalkers

Wolfwalkers is an animated fairy-tale set in mediaeval Ireland. It follows Robyn Goodfellowe, the young daughter of an English hunter who has been hired to kill the local wolves. Determined to prove she can be a hunter too, Robyn follows her father into the woods and meets an Irish girl who seems to have a mysterious connection with the wolves. Adventures ensue, full of youthful high spirits, delightful performances, and a unique animation style – the whole made even better by the charming accents and lively dialogue. As a bonus, Sean Bean voices the hunter, so there’s that for anyone who has been missing him playing a dad since Game of Thrones.

Greyhound

A slight but intense WWII drama, Greyhound is made better by the presence of Tom Hanks. He plays the Captain of the destroyer USS Keeling (call sign Greyhound) as it protects an Atlantic supply convoy at the height of the U-boat menace. In the tradition of Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, the action is authentically portrayed, close-up, and gripping. The focus is Hanks’ Captain fighting exhaustion and despair during several days of unremitting combat. And this is where he earns his pay, bringing a depth and humanity to the character despite an almost complete lack of character development or background.

Except for a brief (and almost pointless) flashback the entire movie focusses on the battle with the U-Boats. We learn a fair bit about WWII anti-submarine tactics but almost nothing about why such a relatively old Captain is commanding his first convey, how he has worked with or trained his crew, or how he has gained their loyalty and trust. This focus on the mechanics of battle, rather than the humans engaged in it is why I rate Greyhound as good, but slight.

Perhaps because it’s based on a British novel (The Good Shepherd by CS Forester), Greyhound does have the virtue of showing that other nations besides the US fought the Nazis. Keeling’s escort group is multi-national, with British and Polish destroyers and a Canadian corvette all figuring prominently in the action. (The latter is portrayed by an actual ship, HMCS Sackville, still on strength of the Royal Canadian Navy as a floating memorial.)

Crave

Letterkenny, Season 09

The filthy, coarse, fast-talking Letterkenny is back for a ninth season of small-town Ontario antics as the hicks take on the skids and the hockey players once again. The slimness of the story lines betrays the show’s origin as a web series, but over the seasons Letterkenny has treated its characters with so much sensitivity and respect that they’ve acquired some real depth, lending an unexpected weight to the slight plots. For Canadian viewers (even non-Ontarians), there are also delightful moments of recognition, as when the crew start challenging each other’s pronunciation of Québec (ranging from full-on Anglo to the correct French, “Kaybec!”). So many supposedly Canadian shows are really just foreign productions taking advantage of the tax laws that it’s kind of wonderful to see ourselves portrayed on screen for once. And the rapid-fire verbal jousting – my god; there’s nothing on TV to compare.

CBC Gem

Decoys, Season 01

A modest little web series about modest (if quirky) Canadians with modest goals, Decoys follows four contestants as they prepare for the (fictional) Northern Alberta Carving Competition. Filmed in Mockumentary style (like The Office or Best in Show) Decoys starts out poking fun at its small-town heroes and their strange obsession with carving duck decoys. But, as you get to know them (and their long-suffering families) the show develops a real heart. Unlike Schitt’s Creek this is Canadian content that isn’t afraid to be specific about its setting, and much of the fun comes from its gentle spoofing of places and behavioural ticks we’ll all recognize. It is slow moving, and slow to develop – but, at six short episodes, it has the virtue that it won’t take much or your time. And it will provide a fix of eccentric small-town Canadian comedy for anyone who misses Corner Gas. Decoys is streaming on CBC Gem in Canada and can be viewed for free (with ads) even if you don’t have an account.

Disney +

The Mandalorian, Season 02

Steve Jobs once commented that putting Apple’s iTunes on Windows computers was like giving a glass of water to a man in the desert. Well, for Star Wars fans, it’s been a long dry trek since the original movies (forty years!). The Mandalorian doesn’t reach their heights – the story structure is too simple and repetitive for that – but it is the first live action production in four decades to actually feel like Star Wars. It gets the frontier setting and pulpy, western in space vibe exactly right and, thankfully, it’s not about saving the whole frigging galaxy for once. Instead, it’s a focussed, personal story about a mercenary who turns against his employers in order to rescue a child (Baby Yoda) they’re trying to exploit.

Season 02 continues to feature the great (for TV) production values of the first, with lots of callouts to familiar Star Wars gewgaws in the weapons, locations, spacecraft, etc. It also features some terrific cameos, which will have the fans cheering. Unfortunately, Mandalorian also continues to include a lot of padding; without time-consuming side quests and a plot that requires our hero take a McGuffin from point A to B only to get directions to Point C (repeat and rinse) the season would be even shorter than its already compact eight episodes. Ultimately, though, by getting the heart of Star Wars right, Mandalorian provides a fun ride and a drink of water in the desert for fans who’ve waited far too long. (Note: The Mandalorian might be your only reason to get Disney +, so I’ll note that at 16 x ½ hour episodes it’s easy to binge both seasons during the free trial period.)

HBO Max

The Flight Attendant, Season 01

For any Big Bang Theory fans needing a Penny Hofstadter fix, here is Kaley Cuoco as you’ve never seen her before. She plays the eponymous flight attendant, an alcoholic party girl who wakes up in Bangkok after a one-night stand with a passenger, only to find his throat cut and blood everywhere. Making every wrong move possible, she inexpertly tries to cover up her involvement and is soon on the run: from the cops, who suspect her of the murder, and the gangsters who actually did the crime and are looking for their money.

A lot of exotic travel ensues, along with a fun, lively, and somewhat silly thriller. To survive, Cuoco’s flight attendant will not only have to beat the professionals at their own game but face down her own personal demons. Give full credit to Kaley Cuoco that this mix of pulp and psychological drama works as well as it does. Alternatively, silly, terrified, and grimly determined, she’s the centre of almost every scene. One critic compared her performance to the type of blonde energy Goldie Hawn used to bring. Certainly, Cuoco displays a similar mix of ditziness, humour, dynamism, and hidden intelligence. You’d call it a star-making performance, if she wasn’t one already