Apple TV continues to roll in the streaming arena with two new killer series that debuted recently.
They are different in tone, but both extremely captivating.
The first: “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” starring Tatiana Maslany (“She-Hulk”) which is oddly comedic while offering a sinister story with very few likeable characters. Good stuff.
Maslany, an actress who’s stood out in everything she’s done, including the aforementioned “She-Hulk” and HBO’s prequel of a classic legal character in “Perry Mason,” stars as Paula, a divorced mother of one fighting a custody battle against her manipulative ex-husband Karl (Jake Johnson) and his narcissistic affair wife Mallory (Jessy Hodges).
Of course, that’s not enough for her to have to contend as her life goes horribly off track when she indulges her loneliness by videoconferencing with a “camboy” and makes the mistake of revealing the most intimate details of her life.
That boy toy, looks to leverage that information to get his business off the ground. Yes, she is the victim of a scam and when that boy toy ends up dead, she eventually becomes the prime suspect in his murder. There is so much more going on with “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” however.
Creator David Rosen and his staff of talented writers weave a complex and tantalizing tale of a mystery that proves thoroughly unpredictable, raises the stakes with subsequent episodes, thoroughly ratcheting up the tension, all while generally keeping a sense of humor about all the proceedings.
Maslany is thoroughly brilliant as the put-upon Paula who has to deal with her life being torn asunder through no fault of her own. Hey, we all have needs, right?
She’s an extremely sympathetic character despite the fact that her choices can be deemed naïve at best and stupid at the absolute worst.
The supporting cast contributes to her rising anxiety and personal terror. Johnson and Hodges are particularly effective with a high hissability factor.
Ultimately, however, the star here is a plot that takes more turns than a race track. The first four of the 10-episode run are available now with new entries streaming weekly.
Streaming: Apple TV weekly
Grade: B+
‘Cape Fear’ proves to be a simply sinister remake of Martin Scorsese classic
Normally no one would advocate for a remake of an underappreciated film of an esteemed director such as Martin Scorsese, but when it’s done right, who can complain?
Such is the case for “Cape Fear,” a movie that was a Scorsese remade from a 1962 film, but it was just done oh so well that it’s developed a reputation in his filmography.
First question: how does anyone take a film that ran a little over two hours and turn it into a 10-episode television series?
It would be easy for the series creator, in this case Nick Antosca, to run out of material. He doesn’t. Instead, he and his team of writers have developed a pathway to exploring more than a few extremely flawed characters in this intricate web of conspiracies and paranoia.
Leading the way: Oscar winner Javier Bardem’s recently freed Max Cady, a man who did years in prison because of the work of prosecutor Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson) and his wife Anna Bowden (Amy Adams), who served as Cady’s defense attorney.
See the conflict? Cady did and no one could possibly blame him for wanting some sort of retribution. And given that suspicious things start happening to the Bowdens and their children the minute Cady re-appears in their lives as a crusader to free the wrongly convicted, no one could blame them for suspecting Cady.
The beauty of this thriller that has streamed two episodes of 10 so far lies in the creators’ ability to keep viewers on their toes.
All of that is aided by a chilling turn from Bardem with complementary turns from Adams and Wilson, whose characters each have their own issues.
Streaming: Apple TV for 10 episodes with the third installment dropping June 12.
Grade: B
Maurice White, Earth, Wind & Fire get HBO documentary
Musician Questlove takes to the director’s chair for the documentary “Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World” with a film that isn’t as comprehensive as some fans might want it to be (this one included), but still offers insight in one of the best bands to ever create music and hit the stage.
With archival footage and interviews of those who took the journey to stardom with the band led by White and featuring Phillip Bailey, it certainly tees up the nostalgia for anyone who lived during that period.
However, the focus here, and probably rightly so, is on White’s role in forming and ultimately controlling the band. He’s presented as visionary, but also the very flawed human he was. Note that it doesn’t delve too deeply into band dynamics and what made everything click with them. It’s certainly something worth exploring in a follow-up if the opportunity presented itself.
Canceled NBC series leads streaming charts
A years-old NBC series, “La Brea,” ended its network run more than two years ago and now finds itself at the top of the overall ratings courtesy of streaming on Netflix. Here are the top shows in streaming overall, for originals and movies for the week ending May 10:
Overall
Original
Movies
George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Apple TV scores with series starring Tatiana Maslany, Javier Bardem
Reporting by George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
