Today
OceanGate disaster doco lays bare company’s failures
Netflix’s documentary about the Titan catastrophe uses familiar techniques to spotlight the faulty judgment of billionaire owner Stockton Rush.
This Month
Warner Bros Discovery ‘fumbling through disruption’ as cable TV struggles
This week’s effective break-up of the US media group after just three years has left staff exasperated as the swashbuckling pay television era disintegrates.
Owen Wilson’s charm helps land ‘Stick’ on the green
Think “Ted Lasso” with clubs in this story of a former golf pro searching for redemption that manages to be a comedy with heart without being too warm and fuzzy.
A frank take on love and money (with wealth porn)
The new movie Materialists is a fresh look at an age-old conundrum: is it better to be with someone for love or money?
BBC-owned Britbox renews big bet on the British niche viewer
Britbox is relaunching after five years in Australia after the BBC took full ownership of the British content platform.
IMAX bets that bigger, louder will win people back from streaming
The NYSE-listed maker of large-screen cinema systems will more than double its presence in Australia by 2027, hoping that premium content can save the movies.
May
The Handmaid’s Tale reveals the limits of dystopian television
Six seasons of suffering proved more than enough for many viewers of Hulu’s once zeitgeist-seizing show.
From the creator of ‘Succession,’ a delicious satire of the tech right
Much of the pleasure of Mountainhead is in the lens it offers on our preposterous nightmare world.
Premier League turns into Optus’ biggest headache
The telecoms giant has broadcast the English Premier League for nearly a decade. That could all change in a matter of months, but it all depends on price.
In this hit show, the rich are miserable, flailing and depressed
In “Your Friends and Neighbours”, the world of the wealthy is a place where unhappiness is magnified and financial security is an illusion.
Nicole Kidman still overshadowed by The White Lotus
The second season of Nine Perfect Strangers has wealthy neurotics flailing in paradise – just not as compellingly as in the Mike White series.
‘Black Mirror’ showed us a future. Some of it is here now.
The long-running tech drama always felt as if it took place in a dystopian near future. How much of that future has come to pass?
What if China invaded Taiwan? This TV drama paints a visceral picture
Controversial series “Zero Day” is the first to realistically depict a Chinese assault on the democratic but divided island.
Netflix is getting its first serious makeover in 12 years
The most powerful home page in entertainment is changing, with more video and animations and fewer titles to endlessly scroll through. There will be AI too.
‘The Last of Us’ flips the script and sets off in a new direction
The second season of the zombie hit has more focus on action sequences than the first, and feels closer to the game with its exploration of post-apocalyptic cities, looting and foraging for supplies.
Why Alan Alda is the last decent actor in Hollywood
The perennial “nice dad”, finally back on screens in Netflix’s “The Four Seasons” remake, represents a Hollywood that no longer exists: one for adults.
Netflix rakes in $1.3b in Australia and sends most of it offshore
The streaming giant posted a revenue jump of 18 per cent in Australia, but paid almost all of that to other parts of Netflix.
Only one episode a week? Why ‘stinge-watching’ is back
The old, leisurely way to watch television drama is in vogue – although revenue-hungry streaming services are driving the trend as much as viewers.
Loved ‘Only Murders in the Building’? Try this
There’s been a murder at a White House state dinner, and Netflix’s The Residence pulls all the Agatha Christie tricks to keep you guessing whodunit.
April
DAZN is already reviewing the future of Foxtel’s big Hubbl bet
The London-based sports streamer acquired the local broadcaster this month. It has begun by assessing what was meant to be the company’s new flagship product.