Netflix’s Sandman, Apple’s Five Days among the great shows to stream this week

Listen to the Stuff To Watch podcast by hitting the “play” button below, or find it in podcast apps like Apple or Spotify.

BLACK BIRD (APPLE TV+)

Those who have followed Taron Egerton’s career on the big screen are in for a shock.

The British actor best known for his roles as Elton John, Eddie the Eagle and Kingsman’s Eggsy has grown a lot for his final role in this six-part true crime drama. The 32-year-old looks chiseled and muscular as he portrays the series’ protagonist—and author of the 2010 autobiographical novel it’s based on—James Keene.

Initially sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison for drug and firearms offenses, he is given “the choice of life”. Either serve his full sentence with no chance of parole, or enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend a suspected serial killer.

While directing is split between former directors of The Wire and The Drop, it’s the script from veteran crime writer Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) that really shines. Memorable dialogue abounds as mystery and intrigue deepens with each scene and you are drawn into both Keene’s investigation and riddle until you become completely absorbed in it, pushing yourself to “just one more episode.” ” to watch.

FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL (APPLE TV+)

It was the storm that some had long feared. A Category 5 hurricane that would kill more than 1,800 people and cause approximately $125 billion in damage.

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Katrina’s devastating arrival on August 29, 2005, navigating many of New Orleans’ neighborhoods in an outboard-powered dinghy was still easier than it was by car.

As John Ridley and Carlton Cuse’s terrifying and sometimes harrowing adaptation of Sheri Fink’s Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction book opens, health officials arrive at the now-abandoned Memorial Medical Center.

Beneath the expected debris and water damage, however, is a shocking discovery: 45 bodies, spread across the chapel and second-floor walkway. While the researchers then consulted experienced internal medicine specialist Dr. Horace Baltz (Robert Pine) questioning how this could have happened, he tells of the nightmarish 120-hour staff, patients and the thousands forced to shelter them when one of the worst storms in American history hit. toll on the 80 year old building.

Traversed between different departments, crises minor and major, and the growing chaos around them, Five Days at Memorial reminds you of arguably the greatest American medical drama of all time – ER. Ridley and Cuse quickly establish the disparate personalities of their main characters and cause them to be anthropomorphized, while maintaining the focus on the unfolding disaster.

READ MORE:
* Five Amazing, Underrated Performances From Melanie Lynskey (And Where To Watch Them)
* No, Bullet Train and Disney+’s Prey are among the must-see movies of August
* Disney’s She-Hulk, Neon’s House of the Dragon, Netflix’ Sandman Among August’s Must-See TV

THE MOST HATED MAN ON THE INTERNET (NETFLIX)

Three-part docu-series that follows a woman’s mission to take down the self-proclaimed “King of Revenge Porn” after nude photos of her daughter were posted online.

Hunter Moore, a self-proclaimed “professional life destroyer”, was especially notable for refusing all takedown requests and was called “the most hated man on the internet”. in a 2012 Rolling Stone article. He was also known to hack into email accounts, looking for nude photos to post on the site.

Charlotte Laws conducted a two-year investigation, collecting evidence from more than 40 victims, before handing it over to the FBI.

“The series successfully frames the whole story as a story about a bully and braggart who got involved with the wrong mother,” wrote John Doyle of The Globe and Mail.

PAPER GIRLS (PRIME VIDEO)

With its tween protagonists, 80s setting, American Midwestern background, and sci-fi styles, it’s hard not to see this as Amazon’s answer to Stranger Things.

And indeed, the eight-part adaptation of Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chiang’s comic book series Paper Girls certainly leans into any comparison, filling the primordial 1988 Cleveland, Ohio setting with a plethora of pop culture references, from Freddy Krueger and Teen From costumes from wolves to walkmans and the ever-present threat of nuclear war.

An appealing mix of The Goonies, Stand By Me and the Terminator and Back to the Future series, Paper Girls delights with its diverse characters and twist on traditional ’80s teen and tween movie styles. Our central quartet is all made up of more than monotonous characters, showing plenty of sass and chutzpah, while also exposing their hopes, fears, and respective brushes with racism, anti-Semitism, and other abuses.

Though perhaps not as smooth – nor scary – as the Duffer brothers world-conquering Netflix seriesPaper Girls might be a more inclusive, thought-provoking coming-of-age story — and all the more impactful.

PLAYERS (TVNZ+)

Ten-part mockumentary that follows a fictional pro-Leauge of Legends esports team as they set their sights on their first championship.

After years of close calls and heartbreak, Fugitive Gaming believes this will finally be their year. But to win it all, they need their 17-year-old rookie and their 27-year-old veteran to put their egos aside and work together.

“You don’t have to be a gamer to enjoy Players, even though the inside references will probably make gamers smile,” wrote Collider’s Joel Keller. “It’s a classic tale of the veteran being replaced by an overconfident rookie, and it’s one that was executed well.”

RAP SH!T (NEON)

Issa Rae from Insecure made this eight-part comedy about two estranged high school friends from Miami who get back together to form a rap group. Shawna Clark is stuck in a dead-end job at a hotel, while solo mom Mia Knight struggles to support herself and her four-year-old daughter. But when Shawna surprisingly invites Mia over for a drink, the unexpected happens.

“The jokes here pack a punch, even if they tiptoe into a corny area, the visuals are smooth and the chemistry between the performers feels warm and familiar,” he wrote. Lovia Gyarkye from The Hollywood Reporter.

THE SANDMAN (NETFLIX)

It’s the comic book adaptation that many thought would never see the light of day.

The one whose author once remarked that he’d rather make it “no movie” than a “bad movie”. A project that, when first mooted, was considered around the same time that Warren Beatty was playing Dick Tracy, Jennifer Connelly was dating The Rocketeer, and production of the first big-budget Bat sequel had failed.

But despite a wait of more than three decades and a change in format to a first 10-part TV series, Netflix’s take on Neil Gaiman’s beloved Sandman is an evocative, atmospheric and opulent-looking triumph.

Based on the first two volumes – Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll’s House – Gaiman and his fellow writers David S. Goyer of The Dark Knight and Allan Heinberg of Wonder Woman initially do a pretty brilliantly concise work of world building. Filled with impressive visual effects, top-notch production design, and a bleak aesthetic that might give you nightmares, Sandman offers top-notch fantasy, for avid fans and more casual streamers alike.

VICTORIA’S SECRET: ANGELS & DEMONS (PRIME VIDEO)

While this fascinating, enlightening, and sometimes shocking three-part documentary series highlights, behind the “tits and glitter” of the mega-popular annual runway show was a dark side, as the infamous Jeffrey Epstein used his connections with CEO Les Wexner to his own nefarious ends. His conduct, posing as a recruiter, was the subject of numerous complaints as early as 1993, accusing Wexner of ignoring them, brushing them under the rug, or both.

However, while like the 10-piece Secrets of Playboy series earlier this year, Matt Tyrnauer’s research rightly exposes the seedy side of this business empire, also providing a fascinating look at the rise and fall of an iconic fashion brand. How an Ohio businessman turned a faltering husband-and-wife passion project into a $7.5 billion venture, and how an apparently female-focused company failed to adapt and so out of step with the time and the demands of women to get outside the “narrow band of beauty” they were seemingly selling?

Through new interviews with employees, fashion experts, designers and models, as well as extensive archive footage with internal videos and a 2017 sit-down with Wexner himself, you’ll learn about the intriguing history of both the man and the brand.