WARNER BROS. CENTENARY SPECIAL HEADS FROM CANNES TO FOXTEL

Direct from its World Premiere at the 2023 Festival de Cannes, the four-part documentary special 100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS. will debut from June 11 on Australian fee-vee provider Foxtel. Narrated by Morgan Freeman and directed by Academy Award® and Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, the in-depth portrait of the first century of Hollywwod’s most innovative studio explores the impact of Warner Bros. on art, commerce and culture.

 
100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS features insights and first-person stories from directors, actors, executives, journalists and historians, as the four specials trace Warner Bros.’ underdog origins – from its founding in the early 1920s by four brothers from an immigrant family, through decades of creative risks and impactful storytelling, to the historic mergers of the 2000s that transformed the company into a global entertainment powerhouse. 

The four episodes cover four key segments in the major's growth:

1. THE STUFF THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF: Four brothers (pictured, right) set out to build a movie studio from the ground up–while making a giant leap from silent films to “talkies.” As the Warners stand up to WWII Nazism, personal ambitions lead to family betrayal.

2. CLINT, KUBRICK AND KRYPTONITE: After a historic sale, Warner Bros. navigates the upheavals of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Under a new strategist CEO, the company enters an era of unmatched storytelling with groundbreaking projects.

3. HEROES, VILLAINS AND FRIENDS: In the ‘80s, a new generation helps crown Warner Bros. as a forerunner in Hollywood’s blockbuster age. After a historic merger, the company becomes one of the biggest entertainment giants in the world.

4. WIZARDING WORLD AND THE BIG BANG: As the millennium brings a new era of business partnerships bookended by mergers, Warner Bros. continues to champion authentic voices while harnessing the latest technologies of the digital age.

The four documentary specials feature over 60 interviews with legendary, studio-aligned  stars as Kim Basinger, Candice Bergen, Linda Blair, Orlando Bloom, Quinta Brunson, LeVar Burton, Lynda Carter, George Clooney, Kevin Costner, Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gal Gadot, Andy Garcia, Ke Huy Quan, Harvey Keitel, Linda Lavin, Matthew Modine,, Edward James Olmos, Jesse Palmer, Daniel Radcliffe, Keanu Reeves, Oprah Winfrey and Constance Wu. (Pictured, left: Director Leslie Iwerks)

Filmmakers and execs who have helped forge the Warners brand who contribute recollections include Tim Burton, Jon M. Chu, Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Ernest Dickerson, Toby Emmerich, William Friedkin, Ron Howard, Patty Jenkins, Tony Gilroy, Baz Luhrmann, Todd Phillips, Chuck Lorre, Gregory Nava, Christopher Nolan, Gregory Orr, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and John Wells, with critic/academic Leonard Maltin providing important historical context.

The streamer will further support the movie industry giant’s centenary with programming ‘pop-up’ channels. From June 30 to July 27 on Channels 128 and 402, ‘WB 100 Movies Pop-Up’ will feature more than 200 movies from 1939 to today’s blockbusters, including Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Dumb & Dumber, Caddyshack (pictured, right), The Dark Knight, the Vacation franchise, The Witches of Eastwick and Elvis. And the ‘Cartoon Network WB 100 Classics Pop-Up’ will feature classic cartoons from the Warner Bros. catalogue, amongst them such animated icons as Tom & Jerry, Scooby-Doo, Jellystone and many more (June 30 to July 14 on Channel 700).

100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS. debuts from Sunday, June 11 at 8.30pm on Fox Docos and available On Demand on FOXTEL

NICHOLAS BRAUN HITS OZ RED CARPET FOR SUCCESSION BIG-SCREEN EVENT

To celebrate the fourth and final season of the Emmy-winning drama series Succession, Nicholas Braun, who  plays 'Cousin Greg' Hirsch, was joined by a mix of local celebrities and members of industry for a big-screen showing of Episode 2, 'Rehearsal' at the Hoyts EQ multiplex in Sydney last night, Monday April 3.

The New York native has risen in prominence in the key part of the somewhat-clueless, easily-manipulated 'Cousin Greg', earning two Emmy nominations and becoming an internet meme phenomenon. Having worked the red carpet for the benefit of the gathered photographers, Braun sat with BINGE executive and co-host of the channel's in-house podcast Skip Intro, Alison Hurbert-Burns, for a brief QA ahead of the screening.

Succession explores themes of power and family dynamics through the eyes of patriarch Logan Roy, played with a fierce intensity by Brian Cox, and the high-stakes corporate and personal conflict he shares with his grown children, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Siobhan (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin), as well as the stuttering political career of his eldest, Connor (Alan Ruck). (Pictured, below; Braun, right, with co-star Matthew Macfadyen)

In Season 4, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is complete. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.

Since its 2018 debut, the series has garnered 48 Emmy nominations and 13 wins, including Outstanding Drama Series, for the second and third season. Season three, which premiered October 2021, earned the SAG Award for drama ensemble and swept at WGA, DGA, and PGA.

Succession Season 4 is available to stream now on BINGE in Australia and HBO in U.S.; new episodes drop every Monday. 

THE BEST TELEVISION SHOWS OF 2022

I’m predominantly a film reviewer, so I didn’t get to watch a lot of very high-profile, critically acclaimed television content in 2022. For the passionate advocates out there of shows like Slow Horses, Pachinko, Loot, Moon Knight, Tokyo Vice and Irma Vep, my apologies; I just couldn’t get to these well received properties. And I did indulge in many hours of sport, especially the brilliant coverage of Major League Baseball on ESPN and the World Cup football on SBS. But I’m pretty chuffed with what did make my twenty best…

10. UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN Created by Dustin Lance Black; Stars Andrew Garfield, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Gil Birmingham, Sam Worthington.
From its framework as a based-on-fact police procedural emerges a gripping study in faith vs duty, with a terrific Andrew Garfield playing the devout LDS detective who must face ugly truths about his fundamentalist community and its role in a double murder.
Must-See TV Moment: The faithful family feast, during which the insidious patriarchal structure is slyly revealed to Brenda and the life she is bound by love to live dawns on her.
7 episodes of FX from April 28.

9. WEDNESDAY Created by Albert Gough and Miles Millar; Stars Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Emma Myers, Hunter Doohan.
With Tim Burton overseeing the dark quirkiness and Jenna Ortega rolling the dice on ‘It-Girl’ stardom in the lead role, all indicators suggested this reworking of Wednesday Addams lore into a school-for-ghouls clique drama/smalltown supernatural mystery ought to succeed. But its status as both a legit pop-culture force and critical darling must have surprised even Netflix. For Your Emmy Consideration - the disembodied Victor Dorobantu, as the scene-stealing Thing.
Must-See TV Moment: Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps.
8 episodes on Netflix from November 22.

8. PEACEMAKER Created by James Gunn; Stars John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma)
James Gunn brings the ensemble joys of his Guardians of the Galaxy films while also exploiting the freedom afforded by HBO Max’s more adult-skewing audience to exercise his gift for sharp, foul dialogue and gross-out gore effects. The spirit of Super, his 2010 caped crusader satire, lives on in this often disgusting, very sweary but hugely entertaining sci-fi/comedy romp.
Must-See TV Moment: You know the best way to defy that horrible ‘Skip Intro’ impulse? Choreograph your cast dancing to Icelandic glam metal band Wig Wam’s 2010 album track, "Do Ya Wanna Taste It."
9 episodes on HBO Max from January 13.

7. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING Season 2 Created by John Hoffman and Steve Martin; Stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Cara Delevigne.
Selena Gomez emerged as Season 2’s MVP; her soulful presence, sweet-and-sour demeanour and comedic skill opposite two funnyman icons 40 years her senior made Only Murders in The Building the perfect comfort viewing deep dive. The Martins were sublimely funny, especially Short, each relishing their own finely nuanced character growth.   
Must-See TV Moment: Mabel’s coming out, to which Oliver observes, “You’re lucky. You know, back in the ’70s, I had to hide the fact that I had a lesbian lover.”
10 episodes on Hulu from June 28.

6. STRANGER THINGS Season 4 Created by Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer; Stars Millie Bobbie Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Winona Ryder.
The sure hand that The Duffer Brothers have exhibited in expanding the Stranger Things universe ought to be studied in film schools. The fantasy realm in which Eleven and her friends find themselves is a vast hellscape ruled by the best TV villain of the year, yet the ties that bind them are stronger than ever. The nightmare reality of Stranger Things and the emotional umbrella under which all the characters survive remain both achingly real.
Must-See TV Moment: The visceral gut-punch that was episode 4, ‘Dear Billy’, culminating in the best needle drop of the year - Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill.
9 episodes on Netflix from May 27.

5. THE LAST MOVIE STARS Created by Ethan Hawke; Featuring Ethan Hawke, Laura Linney, Mark Rufalo, Zoe Kazan.
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward remain amongst Hollywood’s most iconic stars and beloved married couples. The truth behind their home lives, careers and personal demons are explored by Ethan Hawke, working from unpublished transcripts and utilising a who’s-who of American acting talent to bring yesteryear’s stars alive.
Must-See TV Moment: Vincent D’Onofrio’s demonstration of method acting, with the big man tapping a memory and turning on the tears before our very eyes.
6 episodes on HBO Max from July 21.

4. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Created by Ryan J. Condal and George R.R. Martin; Stars Milly Alcock, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke.
Full disclosure - I’ve never seen a single episode of Game of Thrones. So for this highly-touted prequel series to not only pique my interest but blocking my calendar to see the latest installment astonishes no one more than me. Martin’s narrative, in the hands of a remarkable cast and imagined into fire-breathing medieval life, is gripping viewing, both as a study in familial power struggles and as a series of personal arcs rife with existential consequences.
Must-See TV Moment: Vaemond starts mouthing off about the illegitimacy of Rhaenyra’s children and is silenced by Daemon’s blade.
10 episodes on HBO Max from August 21.

3. BAD SISTERS Created by Brett Baer, Dave Finkel and Sharon Horgan; Stars Sharon Horgan, Claes Bang, Eve Hewson, Sarah Greene.
Side-scrolling into past-and-present timelines and staying abreast of the intermingled sexual, professional and personal turmoils of a monstrous misogynist, two desperate insurance investigators and five would-be murderesses sounds like the latest high-pitched telenovela melodrama. Instead, it’s the best written black comedy/thriller of 2022. With Catastrophe, This Way Up and now Bad Sisters on her resume, all the television money should be thrown at Sharon Horgan.
Must-See TV Moment: Jean-Paul unleashes the darkest of his monstrous instincts, revealing to Grace untold truths about Eva’s past.
10 episodes on AppleTV+ from August 19.

2. THE AUSTRALIAN WARS Created by Rachel Perkins; Features Rachel Perkins, Marcia Langton, Henry Reynolds, Nicholas Clements.
Rachel Perkins takes small but mighty steps in rectifying the false history that white Australia has preached for 200 years with her incendiary documentary series. Upon arrival, British colonists undertook military-style campaigns to eradicate the Aboriginal people and seize the land. With Indigenous elders, historians and descendants by her side, Perkins sets about rewriting our history in the words and emotions of First Nations people.
Must-See TV Moment: Glenda Chalker and her granddaughter Kiahni, descendants of those killed at The Appin Massacre, visit the National Museum of Australia, where the remains of more than 400 Indigenous people are kept.
3 episodes on SBS from September 21

1. ANDOR Created by Tony Gilroy; Stars Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly, Adria Arjona.
Star Wars fans were mostly happy with The Mandalorian, less so The Book of Boba Fett, but neither really got anyone outside of the fan clans excited. Then Andor, the third Disney+ live-action Star Wars narrative, lands and suddenly, critics are sensing something special has finally clawed its way out of the Lucasfilm/Fox/Disney mash-up. With Oscar nominee Tony Gilroy guiding the character-driven story arcs with the assuredness needed to pull off the major themes at play, Andor defied fan-service pitfalls and emerged as television’s bravest, most confident creative vision.   
Must-See TV Moment: With the Pre-Mor forces closing in on them, Luthen hard-sells a new life for Cassian as a mercenary with a small rebel cell on Aldhani. “Don’t you want to fight these bastards for real?”
12 episodes on Disney+ from September 21

NEXT BEST TEN: 
THE DROPOUT; SEVERANCE; WELCOME TO WREXHAM ; FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE ; FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL; PAM & TOMMY; GASLIT; HIGH GROUND; THE WHITE LOTUS Season 2

THE WORST TELEVISION OF 2022
THE PENTAVERATE Created by Mike Myers; Stars Mike Myers, Lydia West, Debi Mazar, Jeremy Irons.
Seeing how far the great Mike Myers has fallen from one of comedy’s favourite sons is heartbreaking, but no nostalgia for his finer years can fuel any goodwill towards this grotesquely unfunny Netflix vanity project. He first broached the apparently hilarious notion of a group of five powerful men who dictate world events in So I Married an Axe Murderer in 1993; with 30 years to bring out the funny in the story, we all expected better. 
6 Episodes on Netflix from May 21.

APPLE TV+ ADDS BAD SISTERS SEASON 2 TO LIST OF RECENT RENEWALS

Apple TV+ have announced a second season for Bad Sisters, the darkly comedic murder mystery series from Emmy Award nominee and BAFTA Award-winning executive producer and star Sharon Horgan.

"If you’d have told me three years ago that I’d be making a series about five murderous sisters chasing a man around Ireland trying to kill him I’d have said; yeah, that sounds about right,” says Horgan, via press release. “The response to our show had been beyond what we could have hoped for. It gave us the opportunity to shine a light on stories that don’t always get such a global platform.” 

Based upon the Belgian series Clan, Bad Sisters has been hailed by critics as “one of the year's best shows,” “wickedly funny, genuinely poignant” and “this year’s most vicious comic treat.”; it currently holds a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The recently aired Season 1 finale was dubbed “the most satisfying TV finale of the year.” The Critics Choice Association Women’s Committee recently granted Bad Sisters with the newly launched Seal of Female Empowerment in Entertainment (SOFEE).

The series focuses on the tight-knit Garvey sisters, five women who have always looked out for each other. When their brother-in-law winds up dead, his life insurers launch an investigation to prove malicious intent — and set their sights on the sisters, all of whom had ample reason to kill him. 

In addition to Horgan, the Garvey sisters are played by Anne-Marie Duff (His Dark Materials; Shameless), Eva Birthistle (The Last Kingdom; Fate: The Winx Saga) , Sarah Greene (Frank of Ireland; Normal People) and Eve Hewson (The Knick; Behind Her Eyes).

In one of the great villainous turns of the 2022 television year, Claes Bang (The Square; The Northman) is unforgettable as Jean-Paul, with Brian Gleeson, Daryl McCormack, Assaad Bouab and newcomer Saise Quinn rounding out the stellar ensemble.

Bad Sisters is the latest Apple Original success to be rewarded with season extensions. Amongst the streamer’s hits due to return are Trying (S4), Physical (S3), Loot (S2), Slow Horses (S2), For All Mankind (S4), Pachinko (S2), Schmigadoon! (S2), Swagger (S2), as well as the second season of Emmy-nominated Severance.