All the entertainment you need while stuck indoors
If you, like many Australians - and those across the globe - are stuck indoors as we battle to control the deadly coronavirus, we’ve got a handy list of options to keep you occupied, from streaming dramas to sesnational podcasts, handy kids shows to blockbuster movies earlier than you expected.
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- Two new movies you can actually watch this weekend
- Australia’s $4 billion concert industry on the brink of collapse
If you, like many Australians - and those across the globe - are stuck indoors as we battle to control the deadly coronavirus, we’ve got a handy list of options to keep you occupied, from streaming dramas to sesnational podcasts, handy kids shows to blockbuster movies earlier than you expected.
STREAM
HARLEY QUINN: BIRDS OF PREY
Expected to drop March 24
With the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic obliterating the film industry, studios are bringing their home entertainment releases forward to help stem some of the bleeding and give those stuck indoors something new to watch. There’s usually at least a three-month delay with movies hitting the small screen, but we are in uncharted territory and rules are being thrown out the window.
One of those blockbusters we’ll soon be able to watch after working in our pyjamas is Birds Of Prey. Still available to watch in the few cinemas that remain open, we wouldn’t have expected to see Margot Robbie’s complex character available to stream until much later in the year. Robbie received rave reviews for playing the unpredictable DC Comics antihero, as did Ewan McGregor for his portrayal of crime lord Roman Sionis, also known as Black Mask. It’s loud, violent and entertaining.
Other blockbusters being fast-tracked in the US — and hopefully that extends to Australia — include The Invisible Man, Emma, Onward and controversial thriller The Hunt. Check your streaming platforms regularly for updates.
KIDS
HENRY DANGER
Watch it on Foxtel
MY kids have watched every episode of this show about 20 times. That makes it both extremely annoying and super handy. It’s appeal probably comes down to the fact the kid is a superhero. Pretty simple, but what youngster doesn’t at some stage want to wear a cape and save his mates from some dastardly supervillain. The best thing about this show is that Jace Norman, who plays Henry Danger, actually isn’t a terrible actor.
PODCAST
CATCH AND KILL WITH RONAN FARROW
Wherever you stream your podcasts from
THIS is a fascinating insight into the creepy, horrific acts of jailed Hollywood sex offender Harvey Weinstein — and the lengths he went to in trying to smother the story of his crimes before they could see the light of day. Farrow (right) is surprisingly easy to listen to and has clearly done the hard yards in brining this horror story to life.
STREAM
THE ENGLISH GAME
Watch it on Netflix
DOWNTON Abbey genius Julian Fellowes may have stumbled across the perfect combination to maximise his audience — period drama and sport.
That’s exactly what you get with The English Game, a six-part series that has just dropped on Netflix about the professional birth of what many consider the greatest game on the planet: football.
The world game is unmatched in popularity across most of Europe, but how did it traverse class divides that were as wide
in the early 1880s as they are today?
The English Game is set around the 1883 FA Cup final, a competition that included the first two
paid players.
The dramatised version of this match, played at London’s historic Kennington Oval between Blackburn Olympic and the Old Estonians, is beautifully paced, sumptuously shot, and full of that familiar Fellowes magic.
STREAM
SECRET CITY
Watch Season 1 and 2 on Foxtel On Demand
THERE have been very few thrillers set in our nation’s capital, and with good political thrillers not the regular go-to for Australian producers, this one is a rare gem.
Canberra is the perfect location for this gripping series, its distinctive architecture and concentrated halls of power playing right into this story of secrets, lies and murder.
Anna Torv plays Harriet Dunkley, a renegade political reporter who doesn’t have much time for her superiors and isn’t shy of following a story way outside her patch.
In the first series, based on the books by Channel 9 political editor Chris Uhlmann and journalist Steve Lewis, Dunkley finds herself knee deep in the deepening tensions between China and the US. Dan Wyllie plays Defence Minister Mal Paxton, a long-time target of Dunkley’s and the focus of her new investigation. An old photo of the minister in handcuffs while in China is mysteriously shared with Dunkley who doesn’t hesitate to start sniffing around. What she uncovers is a vast web of conspiracies that link Australia, China and the US and sees a few bodies turn up in its wake.
It would have been easy to overplay the closed door machinations of Canberra — and they are definitely dramatised and more exciting than reality — but it doesn’t feel overdone.
Season two sees Dunkley take on a new role as a political staffer to an outspoken MP whose electorate was the site of a drone strike.
STREAM
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Watch it on Google Play and You Tube
AS every zombie fan knows, it’s not a true viral outbreak until the dead are reanimating and trying to eat your face. But, as you’re sitting on your couch with nothing but 117 rolls of toilet paper and a jumbo-sized tin of baked beans to comfort you, you don’t need more tales of doom and destruction.
Shaun Of The Dead gives you that virus experience without the depressing ending. The horror-comedy from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright sees commitment-phobic Shaun (Pegg) and his slacker best mate Ed (Nick Frost) become unlikely heroes when the zombie plague starts.
At first they don’t realise what is going on, thinking
that the shambling, groaning pack is just the usual commuters with a hangover. But, when the penny drops, they have to rescue Shaun’s mum and
ex-girlfriend Liz and save the day from a pack of the stupidest zombies ever assembled.
There’s so much to love about this movie. The scene where Shaun and Ed go through his record collection to decide which ones might make suitable missiles to throw at a zombie is gold. And Bill Nighy, as Shaun’s stepdad, provides the most poignant slide into zombie-ness ever filmed. There’s nothing left of the man you loved, Shaun tells his devastated mother as they look at Nighy, trapped in the car — only for zombie Nighy to reach over and turn off the loud music with a groan of approval.
There will be deaths, there will be blood and gore but there is a positive message to come out of it — sometimes our lives can be made better by a crisis.
Oh, and leftover zombies makes great trolley boys.
AUDIO BOOK
WOLF HALL
THE paper version of the conclusion to this acclaimed historical trilogy is currently No.2 on the Nielsen top 10 charts AND our Sunday Book Club book of the month. But if you are not yet familiar with Hilary Mantel’s fly-on-the account of the machinations inside the court of King Henry VIII this 24-hour audio book is a great place to start.
Narrator Simon Slater’s beautiful read makes it an easy listen for those who might struggle with Mantel’s dense prose on the page, putting his audience right at the shoulder of her complex protagonist Henry Cromwell.
Yes, it’s long, as are the second and third instalments but for history buffs who need something meaty during isolation, it’s perfect.
For those who don’t do books, the BBC miniseries (available You Tube and Google Play) starring Mark Rylance, Damien Lewis
and Claire Foye is also excellent.
Originally published as All the entertainment you need while stuck indoors