Bangi Member of Parliament and friend of the site, Ong Kian Ming, just tested positive for COVID-19. He is asymptomatic (phew!) and will be spending the next 10 days quarantining at home. Being the responsible public servant that he is, we’re pretty sure that Kian Ming will be using this time wisely, catching up on all of his constituency work, and serving the nation by way of WhatsApp and Zoom.
That said, we know how mentally and physically draining it can be being cooped up in a room with no access to the outside world, so we decided to put together a sort of quarantine mix-tape to stave away the boredom and melancholy.
1. Mare of Easttown
Mare of Easttown is one of those rare things on television; a prestige drama series that isn’t based on any existing intellectual property, with beautifully crafted characters, equal parts grit, and heart, and humour, and a truly compelling mystery at its core.
This is a series that isn’t afraid of its audience. It knows that you’re here and that you’re willing to put in the time. So why not give these performers the space to breathe real life into their characters. Growing them from small town caricatures, to actual people, with a lived history, and a deep seated sense of place in this deprived backwater of Pennsylvania.
Mare of Easttown is available to stream on HBO GO.
2. Midnight Mass
Over the last few years, with Hill House, Bly Manor, and even Doctor Sleep, Mike Flanagan has really begun to carve out his own unique voice when it comes to horror. And Midnight Mass feels like an evolution of that style. These are scary stories that are rooted in all of the things that haunt us as human beings, our weaknesses and our failures, as well as the mistakes we have made and the accidents that continue to torment us. There may be actual ghosts from time to time, but the real terror comes from the burden of being human.
Midnight Mass is available to stream on Netflix.
3. Foundation
Every broadcaster, streaming or otherwise, wants their own Game of Thrones. A fantastically popular series that grips the mass imagination while racking up awards for everything from its writing, costuming, make up and acting, to even its credit sequence. If you can throw in a few warring empires then all the better. Whether or not Apple TV Plus’ adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation turns out to be their Game of Thrones, Josh Friedman and David S. Goyer’s take does at least learn some lessons from Benioff and Weiss’ folly. 1) Don’t base yourself too slavishly on the books. 2) Make sure to leave plenty of room to develop your own story (and hopefully an ending!) that works for TV.
Friedman and Goyer change enough of the source material to make it something dramatic, transforming a loosely connected series of novels into a format far more palatable for a peak TV audience. This is premium sci-fi, one that’s full of the kind of philosophical and intellectual musings that will get you thinking deeply about your own life and the world around you.
Foundation is now streaming on Apple TV Plus.
4. Come From Away
Based on the book The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, and adapted by the husband-and-wife team of David Hein and Irene Sankoff, Come From Away is built around a series of snappy vignettes that describe the surreal true story of a time when thousands of people unexpectedly descended upon a small town in Canada.
On September 11, 2001, 7000 scared and displaced strangers were suddenly thrust upon a town with a population of just 9300. It had six traffic lights and only 500 hotel rooms. So what did the Ganderites do with these “come from aways?” They took them in. They sheltered them in their homes, fed and clothed them, entertained and comforted them. Without thinking, these selfless individuals put their lives on hold to help others in distress.
The story of what happened there is something truly remarkable. At a time when the world was angry, confused, and reeling at yet another senseless act of mass murder, the townsfolk of Gander reminded us that kindness and compassion weren’t choices but compulsions. They showed the world what being good was all about.
Come From Away is now streaming on Apple TV Plus.
5. Only Murders in the Building
Created by Steve Martin (you know who he is!) and John Hoffman (Grace and Frankie), Only Murders in the Building fluently melds the suspense of Alfred Hitchcock, with the twists of Agatha Christie, and the whimsy of Woody Allen. Like those Thin Man movies of yore, this is essentially a drawing room comedy that happens to have a dead body in the corner. It is a series that doesn’t just use the object of the true crime podcast as a source of inspiration, but as a basis for character and comedy.
This is a love letter to a great many things. It is as jubilant a tribute to New York as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. It is as astute an homage to the genre as Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. It is a celebration of the genius of both Steve Martin and Martin Short. And it is your next great watch. I promise.
6. Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso is, objectively speaking, the best thing on television right now. It is also something of an anachronism. A 30 minute sitcom, that’s based on a series of NBC Sports ads about a fish-out-of-water American football coach, that’s basically a riff on the American idiot abroad stereotype, seems anathema to the kind of content that is usually embraced by audiences today. It isn’t edgy or cynical. It’s proudly old-fashioned.
This series is wholesome and kind, without being overly sweet or cloying. It is earnest and genuinely good natured. It takes on real issues in clever ways. It takes on genuine human issues in a way that is mature, incredibly well observed, and stunningly relevant.
Ted Lasso is now streaming on Apple TV Plus.
7. Clarkson’s Farm
Jeremy Clarkson is probably the most unlikely farmer you’re ever going to encounter. On Clarkson’s Farm, his brand new documentary series on Amazon Prime Video, the ex-Top Gear presenter trades in his racing gloves for some gumboots, ditches the Lamborghini Gallardo for a Lamborghini tractor, and sets out to farm his 1000 acre property in The Cotswolds.
He made this decision over a year ago and has had a camera crew follow him on his journey to build a successful farming business. Little did he know that his time as a farmer would be plagued, not just by some of the worst weather conditions in history, but also by a global pandemic. Hilarity ensues. But also self-doubt, pathos, and deep reflection. Clarkson’s Farm is incredibly entertaining, but it also has a much deeper message about the plight of the farmer and the ingenuity required to survive in this rapidly changing world.
Clarkson’s Farm is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
8. Oslo
Oslo might just be one the timeliest movies ever. Based on the Tony award winning play of the same name by J.T. Rogers, it chronicles the once secret, back-channel negotiations that lead to the pivotal 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. It tells the story of that one, brief, shining moment in recent history when we genuinely believed that there would be peace in our time.
While the accords didn’t result in a lasting peace, they nevertheless remain a monument to the good that can happen when people come together and talk. This is a story that needs to be told and retold. Especially now, more than ever, at a time when we have have so many avenues for discourse and yet find ourselves unable to actually communicate with one another.
Oslo is now streaming on HBO GO.
9. Space Sweepers
A group of misfits, the crew of a real banger of a spaceship, each one with an unsavoury past that they’re running away from, stumble upon a girl with mysterious powers, and get caught up in an interplanetary conspiracy that’s way over their heads. If any (or all) of that sounds familiar, it could be because you’ve seen it a hundred times before, in Cowboy Bebop, in Firefly, in The Mandalorian, and in everything in between. Space Sweepers, South Korea’s first ever space opera, isn’t a reinvention in any way or form, but it is an absolute blast.
Director Jo Sung-hee wears his inspirations on his sleeve. From its opening minutes, with that Vangelis-like score and Blade Runner-esque pan across a futuristic landscape, to its many references to The Fifth Element, and Akira, and Serenity, and Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars (of course), this feels like the work of a lifelong fan who finally got the chance to make his own version of the movies he loved watching as a kid.
Space Sweepers is now streaming on Netflix.
10. Kickflip
If there is one bright side to these 18 or so months without cinema, it’s that Malaysian movies like Roh and Kickflip were given a chance to shine. Being two of only a handful of local productions released last year meant that they weren’t drowned out by the deluge of utter garbage that usually gets churned out by the local film industry. What this means is that those who are interested in Malaysian stories will finally be able to experience a movie that is about something and somebody. Johan, for all of his failings, is someone we should care about. He suffers. He smiles. He hopes. He exists. He has purpose. His is a story worth telling. And worth watching. More so when it’s told this well.
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