The Madison has had one of the most random release schedules of recent times. The Taylor Sheridan/ Paramount+ series, gave us three episodes a week over two weeks, totalling six episodes.
The Madison follows the Clyburn family, originally from New York City, who relocate to the Madison River valley of southwest Montana for emotional recovery following a major life-changing tragedy that both shocks and permanently changes the family.
Michelle Pfeiffer & Kurt Russell lead as the heads of the family, alongside Beau Garrett, Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, Amiah Miller, Alaina Pollack, Ben Schnetzer, Kevin Zegers, Rebecca Spence, & Lost's Matthew Fox.
Last August, (way) ahead of the series premiere, The Madison was renewed for a second season.
So production on this Yellowstone style drama kicked off a while back. The first season began in August 2024, with recording set to take place in Montana, New York, and Texas. Over six weeks was spent shooting in Three Forks, Montana before moving to Boulder in early November.
Crews then moved to Dallas & Fort Worth, Texas later in the month, with with Downtown Fort Worth eventually standing-in for the New York City-set scenes. Filming there continued into December before wrapping that year.
The second season followed a similar filming schedule in 2025. To accommodate Russel's availability all of his scenes in the first season were shot alongside the season two.
Filming started in September in Montana and shifted to Dallas, Denton, and Fort Worth in December. In Texas, the second season held soundstages at new studios co-owned by Sheridan and Glasser in Alliance.Shooting then wrapped shortly before Christmas.
The Madison has had mixed reviews, the SMH weren't kind with a two star review today. However I liked this.
Paramount+ has some solid series right now. Weekly Y: Marshals, a Yellowstone story, NCIS Sydney, with Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey coming.
56 Days is a buzzy thriller series on Amazon Prime Video. Lots of media interest reporting "lot's" of sex. Realistically though, compared to Pornhub, this was nothing! So TAME
Developed by Karyn Usher and Lisa Zwerling, based on Catherine Ryan Howard's 2022 novel of the same name, and executive produced by James Wan. Yes that Aussie James Wan, who does like MEGAN, Saw, decent stuff. Well this isn't decent, it's trashy AF. Almost not in a good way trashy!
Starring hunky, Avan Jogia, alongside Dove Cameron, Karla Souza, & Dorian Crossmond Missick.
Over eight episodes, the series alternates between two timelines, following Oliver and Ciara's relationship after meeting in a supermarket, and 56 days later, when a corpse is found in their apartment with two detectives trying to uncover what happened.
Landing mid-February, I'm almost up to date with my Amazon series. Just have Cross season two and local series Deadloch to watch. The later only returned Friday with all six episodes.
So give me more info on this trashy, not that sexy series. Oliver Kennedy (Jogia) and Ciara Wyse ( Cameron) start an intense relationship after meeting in a supermarket but police fear it has ended in murder after an unidentifiable body is found.
This was LAME AF in my mind.
With hunky Avan Jogia, James Wan behind the scenes, I was expecting more. Not to mention the hype the series received online.
Amazon has had a CRACKING start to 2026. Steal, The Night Manager and Scarpetta all in the first quarter. Deadloch and Cross returning. The Boys next month! They are shitting on Netflix right about now!
This is a solid AF lineup!
So back to 56 Days, this gave solid, everything is wrapped up miniseries vibes, so I may change this when I publish RATED for Q1, 2026. Here's a line about the dreary finale.
Karl and Lee put together some final pieces to truly understand everything about Oliver and Ciara's intense, charged and fatal love affair.
Well that proved Amazon need to stick to their macho male series, teeny bopper Summer I Turned Pretty's or The Boys franchise. Cause this ain't it!
Before stepping into Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, I was sure I saw the OG at the cinema. And yes I did. It was back in a simpler time. The series that year was Cinema Slut #2019. Here is my review from back then.
This serves as a direct sequel to Ready or Not, with Samara Weaving reprising her role as Grace MacCaullay.
Alongside Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, & Elijah Wood all star.
Set immediately after the events of the first film, it follows Grace (Weaving) as she must protect her estranged sister while being hunted by four rival elite families in a high-stakes ritual to claim a seat of ultimate power.
Grace discovers she’s reached the next level of the nightmarish game and this time with her estranged sister Faith (Newton) at her side.
Grace has one chance to survive, keep her sister alive, and claim the High Seat of the Council that controls the world. Four rival families are hunting her for the throne, and whoever wins rules it all.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come premiered at the 2026 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival earlier this month. The sequel has thus far received generally positive reviews from critics.
What did I think though? I gave the original 3.5 stars, how will the sequel fair?
Look this was a bit of Friday fun. The cinema was mostly packed too! Is cinema making a comeback? Is horror always going to dominate?
A lot of questions. No answers. Just this was a bit of fun. Samara Weaving is fab. Whilst getting TV legends on board for this. Iconic.
Scream queen, Buffy boss and recently Dexter recruit, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Animal Kingdom's moody brother, Shawn Hatosy and recent Yellowjackets, former teen hunk Elijah Wood! What a cast.
I liked this. Will there be a third? Time will tell. Hopefully not another 7 or so year wait.
ted has concluded its Seth MacFarlane created comedy on Peacock/Binge (AU).
ted is the third instalment in the Ted franchise, it serves as a prequel to the, first film and its sequel. Starring MacFarlane reprising his role as the voice of the titular character, alongside Max Burkholder, Alanna Ubach, Scott Grimes, and Giorgia Whigham.
Back in May 2024, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered earlier this month. MacFarlane also confirmed that there were no plans for a third season, citing the show's high production costs.
In the finale season, we land in 1994, and senior year of high school is underway for Ted the foul-mouthed teddy bear and his best friend, likeable but awkward John Bennett. Together they live in a working-class Boston home with John's parents (Matty and Susan) and cousin (Blaire).
Matty is a blustering, blue-collar Bostonian who sees himself as the unequivocal boss of the house and frequently clashes with his liberal niece. Susan is kind, selfless, and almost pathologically sweet when it comes to caring for her family. Blaire is an outspoken college student who often finds herself at odds with her more traditional-minded relatives.
To be honest, this was more enjoyable than the first season from two years ago. It's hard to believe its been two years since the series landed on Binge.
In the (now confirmed last ever episode) its four months after finishing high school, John fails to do anything with his life. Matty angrily calls him out on his laziness, but suffers a heart attack and is ordered to stay calm for a week while recovering from his artery stints.
When the O.J. Simpson verdict is decided, a guilt-ridden John is worried that Matty will die of another heart attack and decides to block him from seeing the actual news with the help of Ted and Blaire. After cutting the house's cable, they print a fake newspaper and rehire Bert to film fake news broadcasts to cushion Matty's worldview. Upon recovering, Matty goes outside and is ridiculed for defending the fake verdict and believing in the fake stories. Tired of lying, Blaire hands Matty the real paper, resulting in another heart attack.
John apologises for making Matty angry in the first place, but Matty reveals he's impressed by the amount of effort he put into his deception and tells him he can do whatever he sets his mind to.
In the end, John decides to hit the gym and become incredibly buff. Incoming Marky Mark to the two ted films.
Seriously a HUGE improvement on season one. What will Peacock stream next? Also Binge is really on the blink. Seriously, the limited new content is really making me consider, should I rest it for a bit.
If Colin From Accounts, High Country and a new version of Wentworth weren't incoming, this streaming service would be getting the axe ASAP.
Blue Murder Motel is a New Zealand murder mystery series which just landed on ABC iView.
All six episodes landed last Saturday. I concluded the final few episodes today on my most relaxing Friday the 13th.
Blue Murder Motel stars Australian actors Michala Banas and Brett Tucker, who previously appeared together in the Australian drama series McLeod's Daughters.
Two married Australian police officers have taken early retirement and have purchased the Blue Motel in New Zealand to run as a business.
Following a series of local murders, the couple being to investigate & to help hunky local sole-charge police officer solve the crimes.
At the end of the first episode, the advertising display for the motel is tagged, changing its name from Blue Motel to Blue Murder Motel. A later episode indicates that local residents also refer to it as that.
The series is located in the fictional seaside community of Mōwai Bay, which is described as being "somewhere near Auckland".
Filming took place at Orewa on the Hibiscus Coast north of Auckland. Locations included the Edgewater Motel as the Blue Motel, and Ōrewa Beach Holiday Park as the Shady Vista Holiday Park, which was featured in episode 3.
So this is the first series I couldn't find a trailer for, so you are stuck with the below promo picture.
Jayden Daniels as Constable Jamie Haira, a recently graduated sole-charge constable is my favourite. He is damn fine.
In the finale, a summer market turns deadly, when a local candy merchant dies in a freak accident. Vinny and Cole dig deeper and discover it was murder.
There is no cliffhanger, however this could easily be back for a second run of episodes. This was easy viewing, with some lovely Kiwi scenery and excellent Aussie leads. Bring on more Blue Murder Motel. Thanks ABC for screaming this one.
The Night Manager is a British spy thriller television serial based on the 1993 novel by John le Carré and adapted by David Farr.
The six-part first series, directed by Susanne Bier and starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander, David Harewood and Elizabeth Debicki, began broadcasting on BBC One on 21 February 2016. So it's honest to say, it's been a while between drinks between seasons.
The Night Manager's first season was nominated for thirty-six awards and won eleven, including two Primetime Emmy Awards (for director Bier and music composer Victor Reyes) and three Golden Globe Awards (for Hiddleston, Colman, and Laurie).
Back in April 2024, The Night Manager was renewed for a second & third series by BBC One and Amazon Prime Video, with Hiddleston and Colman reprising their roles, and Georgi Banks-Davies directing.
The second series concluded on Amazon early last month. Since it's been a number of years between seasons, I just waited till all six episodes streamed to jump back in.
There was a queer/bi baiting screen grab used of Tom Hiddleston (Jonathan Pine), Diego Calva as Teddy Dos Santos, a Colombian arms dealer & Camila Morrone as Roxana Bolaños in a sexy dance scene. This was short lived!
Shame.
Oh well, a third season is set up majorly in episode six, which I will go through below. Warning spoilers ahead!
Roxana, under orders from Roper, calls Pine claiming to have narrowly avoided capture. They arrange to meet, where Pine narrowly avoids being killed by Roper's men thanks to a tip-off from Teddy, who has learned that Roxana is compromised.
Carrascal becomes suspicious of Teddy, who subsequently kills him in an ensuing fight. Roper confronts Roxana, who suggests Teddy harbours feelings for Pine.
Sally facilitates the escape of Chief Justice Arbenz from armed supervision. They assemble a team of journalists to observe the arrival of the electromagnetic pulse bomb and reveal the plot of Roper and British Intelligence.
Meanwhile, Pine and Teddy head to Cabrera's military base, with Pine taking the guise of Teddy's prisoner. Teddy claims Roper and Pine are planning on double-crossing Cabrera by sending 50 armed men instead of the pulse bomb. Cabrera then agrees to divert the shipment to co-ordinates where Sally and Arbenz are waiting.
Roper arrives at the military base, where the group turns against him.
In London, Burr has gathered information against Mayra. The pair meet in a library where Burr announces the coup has been foiled. Back in Colombia, an aeroplane is heard overhead and it is revealed that Roper has sent two shipments.
The pulse weapon arrives at the military base while Sally and Arbenz receive a container empty, but for a red rose. Roper regains Cabrera's trust and Teddy and Pine's deceit is exposed. The unmoved Roper kills Teddy, but Martin and Octavo arrive. Martin shoots to disrupt proceedings, and in the shootout Pine is injured. Martin sacrifices his own life to provide a distraction to allow Pine to escape with Octavo.
Pine walks in the jungle with Octavo before collapsing.
In London, Mayra walks away from the meeting triumphant, and Burr is later killed at her home in France. The episode closes with Roper in England picking up Danny from boarding school, while news of the ongoing Colombian civil war plays on the radio, which Roper changes to play Odetta's version of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" as they drive away.
Will we have to wait another ten years for the third season? I doubt it. This has been a big hit again for Amazon. Continuing their fine start to 2026. With Cross, Steal and The Boys final season incoming. Plus the erotic hit, 56 Days. Amazon has come out of the blocks stronger than HBO. In mu opinion of course.
That said, can they keep up this pace. Till next time. Stay outta the humidity FML!
The Moment is a 2026 mockumentary film directed by Aidan Zamiri, who co-wrote it with Bertie Brandes from an original idea by Charli XCX.
Starring XCX in her full blown brat era, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell, & True Blood's Alexander Skarsgård.
The Moment premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in January, and was released in cinemas last Thursday.
So far, The Moment, has film received mixed reviews from critics.
I loved brat as an album. I loved Charli before the brat album. So this was a no brainer for me. Completely taking the piss out of fame, blowing up after years and years of working hard in the industry.
After years and years of hits, Charli XCX had her moment with the brat summer. The Sweat tour blew up! She brought a version to Laneway Festival back in 2025.
This was a fun insight into the world of brat! Of course A24 know how to back an indie film. My star score below for the queen XCX.
This was fun, intense, and manic.
Charli's life would have been a chaotic whirlwind following the release of the record. The press, the tour prep, the sponsorships, the lime green brat colour. It was a lot! Thank goodness it's all Wuthering Heights now!
I enjoyed this 3.5 Stars. Get it's not everyone's cup of tea.
