Netflix’s Lidia Poet, Disney+’s Mila in the Multiverse are among the great shows available to stream this week

ALASKA DAILY (DISNEY+)

The Oscar-winning director and co-writer of Spotlight has returned to editing — and bought a two-time Academy Award-winning actor with him.

Like that true story of The Boston Globe’s revelation of a huge scandal in which the Catholic Church covered up child abuse, Tom McCarthy’s Alaska Daily is a testament to the power of investigative journalism and the importance of a newspaper to maintain community. informed and the responsibility of its leaders.

Hilary Swank plays hard-boiled New York journalist Eileen Fitzgerald, who is reluctantly forced to make a fresh start at an Anchorage newspaper after a scandal shatters her illustrious career in the Big Apple.

Sort of a cross between Sharp Objects and Northern Exposure, Alaska Daily benefits greatly from McCarthy’s ability to create colorful characters and give them something meaningful to say.

FREDDIE FLINTOFF’S DREAM FIELD (TVNZ+)

This 2022 three-part BBC series follows the former English all-rounder, current Top Gear presenter and pedal boat enthusiast, as he attempts to assemble a team from a group of eclectic teenagers from Preston, his Lancashire hometown.

Reminiscent of Jamie Oliver’s attempts to introduce cooking as a career to underprivileged young people – in both the UK and Australia – in the early 1990s. Field of Dreams is an entertaining and captivating watch, thanks to Flintoff’s easygoing charisma and unassuming humor and the young “characters” the producers dug up.

Part of the joy comes from the youngsters’ pithy comments about and contempt for England’s national treasure, Flintoff. Much more impressed with his wife Rachel’s “fitness” than his MBE, if I didn’t point out his posh-bashing is a bit rich because he comes from a man who owns a Ferrari (“I enjoy it really like being coached by a millionaire’, a brutally japes), they are shocked by the proposed show’s synopses describing them as “underprivileged kids”.

READ MORE:
* Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams: TVNZ debuts Top Gear presenter’s delightful new cricket reality series
* Star Trek: Picard, Funny Woman, Rūrangi: Rising Lights among February’s must-see TVs
* Poker Face: Knives Out’s Rian Johnson’s scripting just as sharp on new TVNZ+ show
* After The Last of Us, what will be the other must-watch TV shows of 2023?

FUNNY WOMAN (NEON)

Gemma Arterton headlines this six-part adaptation of Nick Hornby’s 2014 1960s novel Funny Girl. She plays Barbara Parker, a Blackpool beauty queen who decides her true passion lies in comedy. Inspired by her idol Lucille Ball, she is determined to make it as a sitcom star.

Arterton is a charismatic and compelling presence here, transitioning seamlessly between the lighter and darker moments of the story with ease. Like her character, she has the ability to channel a number of voices (Barbara’s talent was inspired by constantly listening to radio plays with her father from a very young age) and boasts great comedic timing. But she also does not shy away from the moments of doubt, harrowing setbacks and traumatic encounters that (usually) men stand in her way.

The impressive ensemble also includes David Threlfall, Morwenna Banks, Tom Bateman and Rupert Everett.

THE LAW ACCORDING TO LIDIA POETTER (NETFLIX)

Inspired by Italy’s first female lawyer, this gripping six-part period drama sees Lidia Poet (Matilda De Angelis) investigate murders as she fights for her rightful place in the legal profession. Cases include the death of a ballerina, an anarchist accused of murder, a séance gone wrong at a wild party, and a man confessing to parricide in Poet’s own childhood home.

“It’s more or less a classic mystery, set in the late 19th century to satisfy fans of sexy costume dramas. But it is backed up by the radiant presence of De Angelis.” wrote Joel Kelly of Decider.

KINDRED (DISNEY+)

Eight-part sci-fi miniseries about aspiring writer Dana James (We crashedMallori Johnson) who has just moved to Los Angeles to make a life close to her only remaining family – an aunt – when she finds herself transported back to a 19th century plantation.

Based on the beloved 1979 novel by Octavia E. Butler.

“This gripping adaptation expands Butler’s seminal exploration of America’s racist history into a profound puzzle thriller,” wrote Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly.

MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN (FIRST VIDEO)

Much grittier and darker than his wildly popular Yellowstone, this feels more like Taylor Sheridan’s big-screen tales like Wind River – and in particular – Sicario. There’s also a sense of trying to evoke something akin to David Simon’s The Wire, with its focus on the interactions between those on opposite sides of the law, but the more melodramatic moments mean it sometimes feels closer to Prison Break, or a of Dick Wolf’s lengthy police proceedings.

What is beyond dispute is that Mayor provides a great showcase for the often underappreciated Jeremy Renner. Nearly lost to us after a recent snowplow accident, the 52-year-old is simply fantastic as the beleaguered elected official Mike McLusky.

It’s a role that gives him the chance to show his softer side, as well as the tenacious broodiness that has been his trademark in movies like The pain box and American Hustle, not to mention his recurring role as Clint “Hawkeye” Barton in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

MILA IN THE MULTIVERSE (DISNEY+)

No, it’s not the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but rather an eight-part Brazilian sci-fi series about 16-year-old Mila (Laura Luz), who on her birthday gains the power to travel back and forth between different parallel universes.

While initially trying to use it to locate her long-missing mother Elis (Malu Mader), Mila soon discovers that there are numerous dangers lurking.

“A fun show for teens and teens that parents can watch too, especially if they want to relive some of the sci-fi shows from when they were kids,” wrote Joel Keller of Decider.

SHRINK (APPLE TV+)

Jason Segel joins forces with Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, one of the stars of that show, for this 10-part comedy about a grieving therapist (Segel) who starts breaking the rules by telling his clients exactly what he’s thinking.

Ignoring his education and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes in people’s lives – including his own. The cast also includes Christa Miller, Jessica Williams and Harrison Ford.

Closer to late 1990s/early 2010s dramedies like Californication, Nurse Jackie or The Big C than Lasso, how much you enjoy the show will really depend on your love/tolerance for the hapless hero/slapstick comedy styles of former Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five-Year Engagement, and The Muppets star Segel.