English Teacher is a new comedy drama series created by Brian Jordan Alvarez, who also stars as main character Evan Marquez. It is not very Disney+ but FX titles, stream on Disney+ down under.
Now straight off the bat, this was excellent. Like easy top five for my Summer Streamin' 24 RATED post, early in 2025.
Alongside Marquez, Stephanie Koenig, Enrico Colantoni, and Sean Patton star in this stellar new series. Only landing at the start of September with a double episode. Sadly last night, it concluded after only eight episodes. I am actually praying this gets renewed. Hopefully receiving generally positive reviews from critics along with decent exposure on the Disney+ app, it will return!
What's it about you ask?
High school teacher Evan Marquez (Brian Jordan Alvarez) finds himself at the intersection of professional, political, and personal aspects of working at a high school. Spoilers about the finale below. You have been warned!
In the finale, it’s Evan’s birthday and turning 35. FB Malcolm talks him into going to a leather daddy bar, wearing a latex T-shirt and short shorts.
Then outta nowhere, Evan’s school friends are waiting there to party with him.
My favourite part of the episode was sports teacher, Markie runs into an old high school football teammate, and it takes a while for it to dawn on him that the guy is gay.
He does have a crush on Gwen too, who broke up with her boyfriend, then at the end of the episode, well...
Guidance counselor Rick is intrigued to learn about poppers. Then hunky Harry shows up.
Remember that kiss. Harry & Evan say an awkward hello, and Harry says he wanted to show up to support him on his birthday.
Scene stealer this episode, Gwen is getting drunker and more desperate, pestering the DJ to let her do karaoke.
She also gushes to Markie about how great he is. Sadly for Markie he thinks could be a green light to finally share his feelings for her.
In the bathroom, Malcolm takes credit for inviting Harry. Evan is as usual with him, unimpressed.
Gwen gets her hands on a microphone and stars singing a cappella about Gay Town City before getting yanked off stage.
Malcolm then takes the mike to pay tribute to Evan, singing an absolute classic, Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You. I absolutely love that song! Like love it! The first time I heard it, I was like WOW!
Awkwardly Malcolm, brings Harry up to sing with him, and Markie notices Evan is looking at them longingly, encouraging him to go up there. Evan does, it pasues a bit for dramatic effect, who will he choose, messy Malcolm or handsome AF Harry in the open relationship?
He marches up to them and kisses, Malcolm. BOO!
Evan later explains to a confused Markie that Malcolm has a special place in my heart. Then tells him. Malcolm left the party to go to an orgy.
Gwen then announces she is back together with her boyfriend Nick, giving Markie all the credit for reuniting them.
The episode ends with folks eating burgers and debriefing on the nights events. Such a me thing to have done in years gone by after a big night.
That finale was everything. The season was excellent as a whole. I can't say enough good things about English Teacher. That was EXCELLENT!
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, based on the acclaimed 2020 iHeart true-crime podcast, follows the infamous story of how an armed robbery on the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight changed not only one man’s life but ultimately transformed Atlanta into the Black Mecca.
With a stellar all star cast, this Peacock true crime drama promises a lot. Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Terrence Howard, Dexter Darden, Taraji P. Henson, Myles Bullock, Don Cheadle, Chloe Bailey, Melvin Gregg, Artrece Johnson, Jalyn Hall, Clifton Powell, Lori Harvey and Marsha Stephanie Blake all star in this 8 part miniseries.
The series reunites Taraji P. Henson with Kevin Hart after co-starring with him in Think Like A Man, Think Like A Man Too, and Top Five. Not to mention, it is Henson’s third collaboration with Terrence Howard, whom she had previously collaborated with in Hustle & Flow and the series Empire. Remember Empire. The trainwreck COIVD interrupted final run? Man that show went from top of the pops, to an easy to forget family dynasty series.
So what is Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist all about? Hustler, Chicken Man (Hart) hosts an afterparty to celebrate the fight with a guest list of the country’s wealthiest, the night ends with the most brazen criminal underworld heist in Atlanta’s history.
Suspected of masterminding the crime, Chicken Man is hellbent on clearing his name but must convince his old adversary, J.D. Hudson (Cheadle), one of the first Black detectives in the city’s desegregated police force, who is tasked with bringing those responsible to justice.
The limited series premiered early September, on Peacock with its first three episodes. Then week to week, until last week. It was a quick turnaround with this hitting streaming, with filming only commencing in February this year , in Atlanta, Georgia.
In Australia Binge (Foxtel) was smart getting in early and grabbing a new deal with NBC/Peacock. Originally Stan had the deal meaning they have legacy series like Poker Face, Dr Death and Bel-Air. This is a major loss for Stan. However Binge will need Peacock/NBC to bring the content with HBO new titles likely to disappear sometime next year.
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist is a star studded, big name, big crime series. It could have done with a few less filler episodes. However it wasn't all filler. The last few episodes were rather decent. Until next time, enjoy my new Summer Streamin' 24 series.
I ended up at the cinema way more this past week, than previous weeks. On Saturday morning, I checked in with an empty session of The Critic. Yes I was the only one in the entire cinema.
Yes it was windy, the tail end of the October school holidays but all tickets were $8 this weekend!
This British period thriller film, is directed by Anand Tucker and written by Patrick Marber, based on the 2015 novel Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, How to Get Away with Murder's Alfred Enoch, Romola Garai, and Lesley Manville.
Premiering last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Critic has finally got a 2024 release.
So how does The Critic fair up to critics and bloggers, film goers like me? Check out below the trailer.
But first a little more on the plot. Set in London in 1934, Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen) is the theatre critic for The Daily Chronicle. It's a right-wing tabloid newspaper owned and run by Viscount David Brooke (Mark Strong) after the death of his father.
Erskine delights in writing vitriolic reviews of plays that he believes fall short of his high standards, despite requests from Brooke to tone it down.
They are loads of gay themes in the film too with, Erskine and his secretary and lover Tom Turner (Alfred Enoch - HTGAWM) are arrested for homosexuality, Brooke dismisses him, along with other older employees.
The old restructure. In Australia though (particularly government) then tend to hang onto the old dead wood. Weird right?
Erskine plots and schemes for the remainder of the film, in an almost sinister fashion.
I wasn't expecting the film to take such a dark turn. Oh well. In the end it wasn't a long film, it did feel a little long with the story dragging a bit in the second half.
I enjoyed the film for the most part, however I feel if Jimmy Erskine was reviewing this in his vile style, he may not pass it.
However I saw this for $8, and I for the most part enjoyed the film. 3 Stars.
Last King of the Cross has just concluded its action pack second season. Following John Ibrahim's (Lincoln Younes) established empire in King's Cross, Ibrahim sets his sights on 1990s Oxford Street in Sydney. When Mardi Gras was pumping and lockout laws were something reserved for the Handmaid's Tale.
The second season commenced it's slightly shorter season late August. It's now done leaving with a real cliffhanger along with more drama tipped still to come.
Paramount+ used to have a lot more Australian dramas on offer, however with Five Bedrooms concluding and NCIS: Sydney also appearing on Channel Ten and CBS in the States, this is one of the only remaining, ongoing local dramas.
I enjoyed the look at my old haunt, Oxford Street this season as Ibrahim turned his eye to a new patch.
Ibrahim found himself against fellow club owner, Naveen Andrews as Ray Kinnock. While season two also brings popular actor, Luke Arnold as Dean Taylor. Arnold also stars in the recent SBS series, I loved Four Years Later.
This season really (towards the last few episodes) focused on a number of violent crimes. So it brings me to ask, is celebrating criminals on TV OK? Well it sure is popular, true crime.
Ibrahim has always positioned himself as a businessman, however in season two, he plays out more like a criminal.
The weakest link this series had to be the Kylie Sandilands connection. That was really off.
However seasoned actors like Younes, Andrews and Arnold made for a well rounded season, showcasing when Sydney used to have a nightlife, a pulse or as those in power call a "Nighttime economy".
Sadly Sydney's economy passed 10pm goes till sleep till the next day post COVID, lockout laws and the light rail construction.
Apparently Last King of the Cross was conceived as a 3 season kinda show, however with Paramount+/Channel 10 already doing their upfronts presentation, with no mention of a third season. We will have to wait patiently for news on a third run. Till next time!
Days out from the US election for 2024, comes The Apprentice. The biographical drama film directed by Ali Abbasi & written by Gabriel Sherman. What's it all about? MAGA king himself, Donald Trump's career as a real estate businessman in New York in the 1970s and 1980s. With Sebastian Stan playing DJT as per his number plate, the return of Succession's Jeremy Strong, Martin Donovan, and Maria Bakalova.
The Apprentice had its world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival back in May, earning some hype and drama.
During the film, we see the early years of Trump's business career, the film focuses on the relationship of Trump and Roy Cohn (Strong), a New York City prosecutor known for working with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare.
There are some full on scenes in this 2 hour plus film. It was well done with Sebastian Stan going from playing Tommy Lee in the Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy, to Donald J Trump.
Jeremy Strong was truly outstanding too.
This was one interesting insight into New York in the 70's and 80's. With Trump's real estate empire built on lies and his fathers hard work.
I'm not going to lie, I had no idea what to expect going into this film, however I left with my expectations meet and exceeded.
2024 is getting a strong finish to the year at the cinema, with The Substance and Speak No Evil both recently impressing. Not to mention sweet indie film, Thelma.
I'm not sure what to see next, however for now, The Apprentice is well worth a look. 4 Stars.
OK, so I am Four Years Later is a miniseries as everyone it's listed as an eight-part Australian-Indian romance drama, plus SBS don't really do long running series.
It premiered on SBS before the October long weekend. My mum smashed it in an afternoon, as all episodes were available to binge on SBS on Demand. I was more restrained and took a week.
Four Years Later follows the love story of two residents from Jaipur, one of them being an aspiring doctor, whose families plan an arranged marriage. The doctor is almost immediately offered a medical traineeship in Australia, while the other resident (Sridevi) stays in India, resulting in the couple being separated for four years.
Filming of the eight-part romance drama series began in the Indian cities of Mumbai and Jaipur in January 2024.
Filming then moved to Sydney in February. Originally titled Four Years, the series was created by Mithila Gupta, who also wrote the series alongside Nicole Reddy and S. Shakthidharan.
The series uses both Hindi and English.
With strong leads in Shahana Goswami as Sridevi & Akshay Ajit Singh as Yash. They are joined by
Kate Box as Gabs, Taj Aldeeb as Jamal, Roy Joseph as Arun, Luke Arnold as Matt and Yohan Philip as Rohit.
You can read a more comprehensive review here of the lovely romance. However this is realistic, it's not all happy endings and happy-happy joy-joy.
The team behind this and SBS have done well.
Hoping SBS will have some more quality dramas in 2025!
Bad Monkey, is another Apple TV+ series featuring another Hollywood player. This time it's Vince Vaughn.
The black comedy/crime/drama series is developed & executive produced by Bill Lawrence. Based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen.
Alongside Vaughn, L. Scott Caldwell, Rob Delaney, Meredith Hagner, Natalie Martinez, Alex Moffat, Michelle Monaghan, Ronald Peet, and Jodie Turner-Smith all star.
Bad Monkey commenced mid-August, a little before yesterday's Slow Horses. So I have been busy on Apple TV+ series. So what's it all about?
Andrew Yancy (Vaughn) is a former police detective who has been reduced to conducting restaurant inspections in South Florida. A severed arm found by a tourist pulls Yancy into a world of greed and corruption that decimates the land and environment in both Florida and The Bahamas.
It's a little bat shit crazy, but by the finale We're in the Memory-Making Business, it all comes full circle, with a little look into a possible second season.
Currently Bad Monkey has not been renewed.
It all begins with a severed arm is discovered by a fishing boat off the coast of the Florida Keys. Ex-detective Andrew Yancy, suspended for having assaulted the husband of his lover, is tasked to deliver the arm to the Miami morgue.
The arm is identified by Dr. Rosa Campesino as having belonged to Nick Stripling and is returned to his wife Eve. Eve's step-daughter Caitlin believes she killed her father for his money. At a bar, Yancy witnesses Charles Phinney, the first mate of the boat where the arm was found, being shot dead.
On Andros Island, resident Neville Stafford consults with the local Obeah, Gracie, known as the "Dragon Queen", to put a curse on the developers seeking to replace his home with a resort. Christopher, the man developing the resort and Eve's new boyfriend, is revealed to have been the one who shot Phinney.
It is part crime, part comedy set in sun of Florida, USA.
The ten episodes breezed by so if you are looking for something new to watch, this might be up your alley. It's a mega series finale week with Fight Night concluding tonight on Binge and tomorrow morning The Last King of the Cross concluding on Paramount+.
Next Week the English Teacher, Reasonable Doubt and Tell Me Lies all conclude and all on Disney+.
