There are roughly 47,000—oh, wait, a new Netflix Original just dropped; make that 47,001—TV shows and movies coming out each week. At Obsessed, we consider it our social duty to help you see the best and skip the rest.
We’ve already got a variety of in-depth, exclusive coverage on all of your streaming favorites and new releases, but sometimes what you’re looking for is a simple Do or Don’t. That’s why we created See/Skip, to tell you exactly what our writers think you should See and what you can Skip from the past week’s crowded entertainment landscape.
See: Ripley
Ripley exceeds expectations at every turn, leading with suspense and delicate craftsmanship to retell a classic in a bold new way. The series is a career high for Andrew Scott, who uses his natural charisma to pull people into an Italian riptide of deceitful double-dealing.
Here’s Nick Schager’s take:
“There’s no shortage of glowing things to say about Ripley, Netflix’s masterful adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, which is proof that hiring great artists is the surest means of producing great art. Written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, The Irishman, The Night Of), shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood), and starring acclaimed actor Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers, Fleabag), this is a sumptuous, suspenseful, and altogether stellar black-and-white series. It not only avoids making a misstep along its cunningly winding journey, but it also manages to exceed expectations at every turn, such that there isn’t a gesture or suggestion in its eight episodes that doesn’t enhance its overpowering overall effect. Premiering April 4 on Netflix (after having originally been produced for, and by, Showtime), Ripley is the platonic ideal of television.
To find a series as perfectly realized as this is a shock unto itself, and the fact that Ripley is a retelling of an oft-told tale that’s already received two superb big-screen adaptations (1960’s Purple Noon and 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley) simply makes its triumph that much more astonishing. Hewing closely to its source material even as it expands on it in canny ways that would make its subject proud, Zaillian’s saga begins in New York City with Tom Ripley (Scott), who gets by via low-level scams; he convinces doctors’ patients that they owe overdue payments, which he then has sent to his (fake) collection agency. Tom is a snake who hides in plain sight and knows how to play the angles. He’s also someone who has a particular knack—due to smarts and sociopathic self-interest—for slipping out of trouble, as he does when this ruse suddenly falls apart.”
See: Scoop
Scoop doesn’t aim to be much more than a glorified TV movie, and it’s all the better for it. Forget the fluff and high stakes, this journalism flick doesn’t need them. It’s gripping enough to watch a monstrous man make a fool of himself, even when we know it’s coming.
Here’s Coleman Spilde’s take:
“In November 2019, Prince Andrew, Duke of York and his team had a problem that would not go away. After a photo of Prince Andrew alongside convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was released about a decade earlier, allegations of sex abuse from Epstein survivors and rumors of lecherous behavior followed the Duke for years. When Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and private island home were raided in fall 2019, Prince Andrew’s association with Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, could no longer be outrun. The Duke had exhausted his options, and if he were to ever fulfill any of his public-facing duties again, he had to first face that very audience.
Scoop, premiering April 5 on Netflix, bores into the timeline leading up to Prince Andrew’s November 16, 2019 interview on the BBC’s Newsnight program, in which journalist Emily Maitlis held the Duke’s loafers to the fire for the first time. Though the events of this fictionalized retelling are recent, those living outside of the U.K. may be entirely unfamiliar with the now-infamous interview. But whether you’re intimately knowledgeable of this moment in royal history or completely unaware of its importance and impact, Scoop is still a treat to watch unfold.”
See: Música
Música finds real-life YouTuber Rudy Mancuso fashioning himself as a lovesick Casanova for his (semi-fictionalized) debut feature, and somehow, it works. The film is a clever oddball comedy that quite literally marches to the beat of its own drum.
Here’s Laura Bradley’s take:
“You know that guy who is cute and lovable but also a walking trainwreck? Maybe you dated a few in college, or maybe you’ve seen one on the subway talking up a woman who seems way too impressive to waste her time with him. That’s basically Vine star and YouTuber Rudy Mancuso’s character, also named Rudy, at the start of his feature debut, Música—a musical comedy about self-discovery, manifestation, and, above all, the perils that await anyone who lets other people make their decisions for them.
Rudy (the character) is charismatic as hell and, as we discover before too long, he’s an exceptional musician with a pretty funny idea for a puppet show. (Even if his mom won’t stop calling his puppet, Diego, a ‘doll.’) The problem is, he’s still stuck in the ‘too many brilliant ideas, too little time or money’ phase of his artistic career. From the outside, he mostly looks like a mess. But that doesn’t stop him from snagging two intelligent, beautiful women and foolishly trying to date them at the same time.”
See: 3 Body Problem
3 Body Problem might have dropped all of its episodes, but there are still plenty of unanswered questions, hidden details, and deeper meanings to probe into. The most pressing: Why did someone spend $20 million to own the fake set of rights to a star?
Here’s Barry Levitt’s take:
“Netflix’s mind-bending 3 Body Problem is one heck of a ride, and it’s only getting started. The series, created by Alexander Woo and Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, follows a group of scientists who get entangled with the San-Ti, an alien race headed for Earth. That’s an extremely simplified way to summarize the series, which deals with some seriously complicated ideas, including the titular three-body problem—one I’m frankly not smart enough to explain.
The first season of 3 Body Problem, which continues to sit in the streamer’s most-watched list weeks after its premiere, can’t tie up all of its loose ends. There’s plenty of ground to cover, as the series is based on the first book(-ish) of author Liu Cixin’s dense trilogy, and Season 1 only scratches the surface. It does, however, set up a lot of exciting avenues to explore in future seasons. (While Netflix hasn’t announced a Season 2 yet, based on the show’s reported popularity, it seems pretty likely.) For those of us who haven’t already read the books or watched the other recent adaptation, these are the seven questions we want answers to most urgently—most of which are serious inquiries, and one of which will haunt me for the rest of my days.”
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The post Andrew Scott’s ‘Ripley’ Will Make Everyone Hot-For-Murderer appeared first on The Daily Beast.
