Leigh Paatsch reviews latest shows to stream

IT’S cold, wet and miserable outside — what a perfect opportunity for a comfy couch and your favourite streaming service. Leigh Paatsch reviews the latest shows to stream.

LEIGH Paatsch reviews the latest new shows to stream for a wet, cold, miserable weekend best spent on the couch.

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The one to cuddle up to on a cold, cold night

THE BIG SICK (M) ****

STAN

The heavily regimented formula of the rom-com lost all life and vitality a long time ago.

So when an amusing love story as alive and vital as The Big Sick comes along, it would be a grave mistake to miss it.

Kumail Nanjiani (TV’s Silicon Valley) plays a young Pakistani stand-up comic from Chicago who has found his perfect match in Emily (Zoe Kazan).

However, his parents, unaware of the relationship, keep pressing for a traditional arranged marriage.

This cultural disconnect forces the couple to part, after which Emily contracts an illness that puts her in a deep coma. If you expect the movie to start desperately grasping for the nearest sentimental cliché, think again.

Nanjiani (who co-wrote the screenplay with his wife based on their own fraught courtship) has a lot to say about modern love, ancient prejudices and the healing act of being there for someone who doesn’t even know you’re there. Though you’ll be listening hard, you’ll often be laughing even harder.

The one that gets you worried about the future

ANON (MA15+) **1/2

NETFLIX

This slick techno-thriller is by no means the worst Netflix Original feature movie to drop in 2018. Nevertheless, considering its strong casting and creative pedigree, it could have been a whole lot better.

The story unfolds in a future wherever everyone’s mind is a virtual dash-cam, reporting all movements back to a central government server. The high-tech initiative has done wonders for the long-term eradication of crime, naturally.

Clive Owen in a scene from Netflix drama Anon. Picture

So when dead bodies begin turning up with their internal surveillance records eerily blank, it is up to veteran detective Sal Frieland (Clive Owen) to uncover what could be an analog motive for these digital murders.

All clues point to an enigmatic femme fatale known only as The Girl (Amanda Seyfried), who may be carrying around the intel that is beating the monitoring system time and time again.

While the production design impresses and both Owen and Seyfried wholly commit to their inscrutable roles, the feeling something is slightly off here never quite goes away. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol (In Time).

The one that gets you worried about the past

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING (M) ***1/2

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A classy combo of mystery, romance and regret, based on the novel by Julian Barnes. Tony Webster (Jim Broadbent) has just learned a diary has been left to him in a will by someone he barely knew.

The diary is now in possession of a former lover (Charlotte Rampling) who is most reluctant to hand it over.

The reasons why could hark back to their brief romance as students, and also a mutual friend who loomed large in their lives at that time.

For all of its airs of shifting intrigue, the movie truly comes alive when Broadbent and company allow a little warmth and wit into the mix.

The one that gets you scared of creepy toy dolls (again)

ANNABELLE: CREATION (MA15+) ***

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Though a sizeable enough box-office hit upon release in cinemas, this origin story for the demonic little doll from The Conjuring had its thunder stolen by crackerjack horror rivals in 2017 such as Get Out and It.

The time is the 1950s, the place is an orphanage for young girls, and Annabelle is having the time of her afterlife picking off the residents one by one.

The pacing can get way too slow, and the gaps between big frights are way too wide. Nevertheless, this middle-of-the-road chiller still carries enough creepy oomph to have plenty of horror fans waking in the middle of the night. Stars Miranda Otto, Anthony LaPaglia.

Anthony LaPaglia in Annabelle: Creation. Picture: Supplied

The one that makes you laugh over and over (again)

JOHN MULANEY: KID GORGEOUS (MA15+) ****1/2

NETFLIX

Throughout a chequered career to date (a passing affiliation with Saturday Night Live and a failed sitcom), American stand-up comedian John Mulaney has been consistently touted as “the next Jerry Seinfeld.”

In a fantastic new concert special recorded live at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, Mulaney not only finally makes good on that promise. In fact, he actually takes his act up several notches in standard from what those familiar with his work will have experienced before.

Newcomers to the Mulaney effect — with its sharp writing and deceptively acerbic delivery — will be blown away as well. Highly recommended.

John Mulaney has been touted as “the next Jerry Seinfeld.” Picture: Supplied

The one for teenagers with nothing good to watch

EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING (PG) ***1/2

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The acclaimed recent cinema release Love, Simon proves there is still plenty of life left in the young adult romance genre, particularly if filmmakers freshen their approach.

This affecting and genuinely engrossing adaptation of author Nicola Yoon’s hit novel is a fine example of how YA fans don’t have to settle for second-best.

Amandla Stenberg (Rue from The Hunger Games) stars as Maddy, a 17-year-old woman who has spent her entire life in a specially sealed bedroom due to a severe immunity disorder. One day blurs into another until she keeps noticing a new neighbour (Nick Robinson of Jurassic World) is noticing her right back.

The one that belongs in the no-go zone (forever)

THE WEEK OF (M) *

NETFLIX

Some pundits believe Netflix will have shelled out in excess of 100 million bucks to be the home of Adam Sandler comedies by the time the polarising funnyman’s 8-picture output deal comes to an end in 2021.

If you end up watching the lot, you too will have paid a hefty price. With your sanity. The latest box of flagging gaggery to fall off the assembly line at Sandler’s Happy Madison production house is one of his laziest efforts on record.

Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in The Week Of. Picture: Supplied

Which is really saying something. Sandler pays a broke working-class dad determined to pay for his daughter’s wedding, even though the groom’s rich doctor dad (a wasted Chris Rock) is more than happy to chip in for the bill.

What follows is a lot of shouting, the occasional group hug, some more shouting, a lot of jokes at the expense of an 80-year-old uncle with no legs, even more shouting, and some random jokes at the expense of the obese, the culturally clueless, the mentally ill, anyone who is not from America and, umm, anyone who is not played by Adam Sandler. Co-stars Steve Buscemi, Rachel Dratch.

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