Michael (2026) * *

 

Directed by:  Antoine Fuqua

Starring:  Jafaar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Miles Teller, Nia Long, Juliano Krue Valdi, Larenz Tate

We are more than aware of Michael Jackson's controversial history which came to light in the 1990's and dogged him until his death in 2009.  He was only fifty when he died and left enough for ten legacies.  Michael only brings his story up to 1988 with a promise of his story continuing.  Will the next installment cover the allegations of sexual molestation and his later trial?  If it doesn't, then the entire story is dishonest and guilty of the sin of omission.  It would be like a film encompassing World War II which doesn't mention the Nazis.  

I'm reviewing what's in Michael, not what isn't in it.  The movie does not need to foreshadow his later sins with every scene.  Michael seems to exist in the moment, and at the peak of his fame, he is depicted as a near-saint who yearns for a lost childhood and a father figure that is anyone other than his real father Joseph (Domingo).  There is naturally plenty of music and dancing, and Michael Jackson was indeed a superstar and a trail blazer as far as music is concerned.  Admitting that in no way means that his later actions are condoned or acceptable.  

Jafaar Jackson (Michael's real-life nephew) captures the spirit of Michael Jackson and has the moves.  He does what he can, but the movie itself only goes skin deep in its depiction of him.  There isn't a lot of depth here and it feels like a standard musical biopic.  It is meh extended out to a little over two hours of running time, even with Domingo relishing his role as the antagonistic Joseph.  The other Jackson brothers exist only to support Michael and don't have any personalities or traits of their own.  This movie is all about Michael Jackson and everyone else is relegated to the background.  Janet Jackson, who of course created her own path on the way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, doesn't even exist in Michael.  Were there legal wranglings or did she just not want to be associated with the film?  I'm reminded of 2023's The Iron Claw about the Von Erich wrestling family which left out an entire child who himself committed suicide under the spotlight of being a member of the famous clan.  

Michael's reviews have been ugly, but the movie isn't as bad as those notices.  It only tells part of the story and not very insightfully.   It sees much but doesn't see through.  Will the next chapter treat its subject the same way?  Only time will tell. 

The Morning Show (2019-present) * * *

 

Starring:  Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, Mark Duplass, Billy Crudup, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Julianna Margulies, Jack Davenport, Greta Lee, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Karen Pittman, Desean K. Terry, Nestor Carbonell, Jon Hamm    

The Morning Show is probably as accurate a depiction of "behind the scenes" of a network morning show as Shrinking is about psychiatry.  It's a soap opera and despite its unevenness at times, it works and maintains interest even when its plot developments make you scratch your head.  The show should be called, "Fuck you.  I quit.  Welcome back," Translated:  I lost count of how many times one character says "Fuck you" to another (usually a superior).  The character quits and then through contrived circumstances winds up welcomed back to the show with open arms.   Yes, it's silly but it's guilty fun.

I won't encapsulate all of the characters and subplots for the four seasons of Apple TV's flagship show.  In the pilot episode, UBA's The Morning Show is rocked by scandal.  Co-anchor Mitch Kessler (Carell) is fired in the wake of sexual assault and harassment claims by several female staffers.  His co-star Alex Levy (Aniston) is devastated by the news and at first distances herself from Mitch but soon reconciles with him amidst the scandal.  It turns out they slept together once or twice and how much did the producers and network know about Mitch's behavior?  A replacement is needed, and one is found in Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon), a West Virginia on-air reporter who goes viral after a confrontation with a protestor in the area.  She at first appears on The Morning Show as a guest, but Alex then paints the network into a corner during contract negotiations by publicly announcing Bradley as Mitch's successor.  Gasp.  

Bradley doesn't know if she even wants the job, but network news President Cory Ellison (Crudup) likes her, and likely even loves her, so he lets it ride.  Crudup's performance is the best part of The Morning Show.  Yes, he's a confident schemer who is always playing an angle, but the subplots involving his unrequited love for Bradley and how he handles his dying mother bring depth to a character whom we think we have nailed down.  The people in The Morning Show don't realize they are part of a daytime drama.  Over four seasons, these people have endured so much drama that they should be treated for PTSD.  Perhaps that will be part of the fifth season.  

Faces of Death (2026) * * *

 

Directed by:  Daniel Goldhaber

Starring:  Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Jermaine Fowler, Josie Totah, Aaron Holliday, Charli XCX

I'm dating myself but I recall combing video stores with friends looking for videos to rent and Faces of Death sat on the shelf, waiting for someone to rent it and see what the fuss was about.  For those unfamiliar, Faces of Death (and its two sequels) was a pseudo-documentary which recreated (and in some cases used actual footage) horrific deaths such as a SWAT team opening fire on an armed man, a monkey bludgeoned to death and then having its brains eaten, and other assorted pleasantries.  All hosted by "Doctor" Francis B. Gross (get it?) who narrates the affair with monotone detachment.  Dr. Gross is played by actor Michael Carr, who assures us all he's as horrified and puzzled as the rest of us.  The box on the videotape promised that Faces of Death was "banned in 66 countries" but obviously not the United States. 

The 2026 movie isn't based on Faces of Death directly, but its serial killer uses the killings in the VHS video as inspiration for his crimes.  The elevator pitch for Faces of Death could be Seven meets Untraceable (an underrated 2008 Diane Lane film) in which its killer posts grisly murders that mimic the crimes on Faces of Death and gets way too many likes from a supposedly civilized society.   Our hero is Margot (Ferreira), who works at a TikTok-like service reviewing posts and determining whether they should be tagged or deleted per its standards.  She underwent recent trauma in which her sister was killed by a moving train while both were posting a video.  Margot sees videos of a man being executed in the electric chair and another having his head bashed in by mannequins.   Surely, these are fake, right?  But they are disturbing enough for Margot to research them and then realizes they are indeed recreations of scenes from Faces of Death.  Her roommate just so happens to have a VCR and a copy of the movie for her to discover.  

The videos are courtesy of Arthur Spevak (Montgomery), a John Doe-like serial killer who kills not just for enjoyment but to spread a message about society's sickness as if he isn't contributing to it.  Montgomery is an effectively creepy killer while Ferreira gives us a wounded, but feisty protagonist who wants to stop the killings.  I didn't know what to expect from Faces of Death and on some level, I was pleasantly surprised by its slick production values and its simple story which focuses on the strengths of the genre.  And in some weird way, it harkens back to the days when going to Blockbuster or West Coast Video was an adventure in itself.  It was good to see Dr. Francis B. Gross again.  

Ted Lasso (2020-present) * *

Starring:  Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Juno Temple, Phil Dunster, Nick Mohammed, Brendan Hunt

Ted Lasso begins as a promising fish-out-of-water series about an American football coach hired by a scheming European League soccer team owner in hopes he will flop and humiliate her ex-husband who formerly owned the team.  But then it grew into a slog and ran out of gas by the end of season two.  Whether I'll watch season three is still up in the air.  Where did a series that started so swimmingly go so wrong?

Ted Lasso (Sudeikis) is hired by Richmond FC owner Rebecca Wilton (Waddingham) after a video of him celebrating a Division II football title went viral.  She recently was awarded full ownership of the club in her divorce.  Does she want to win?  No, she wants to get back at her ex by running the team he loves into the ground.   Ted is a folksy optimist who admittedly knows nothing about soccer but wishes to learn.  He takes his longtime assistant "Beard" (Hunt) along for the trip to London.  Ted's eternal positivity is hard to withstand, even for Rebecca, who receives a daily helping of biscuits from Ted each morning.  It doesn't take long for Rebecca to succumb to Ted's charms (although not romantically) and soon enough she feels guilty and confesses her plot to him, which takes away a good part of the edge.  Rebecca is no Rachel Phelps (for those Major League fans out there).

Ted has to deal with two different types of team distractions:  Jamie (Dunster), the egotistical star of the team who doesn't play well with others, and gruff veteran Roy Kent (Goldstein), who doesn't like Jamie and can't stand having a novice like Ted coach the team.  We know the scales will fall from their eyes eventually.  The biggest concern with the first two seasons is how Ted Lasso simply plods along without much direction.  There isn't enough soccer for us to care about, and the characters aren't entirely engrossing.  Like the show, they are compelling in spurts, but not enough to carry our attention over two seasons. 

The Drama (2026) * * *

 

Directed by:  Kristoffer Borgli

Starring:  Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim

Kristoffer Borgli's Dream Scenario (2023) starred Nicolas Cage in a wicked satire about cancel culture.  If you recall, Cage's character inexplicably begins appearing in the dreams of random people and becomes a celebrity, until he suddenly starts killing people in the dreams.  Then, everyone wants nothing to do with him, and he is banished from polite society over something of which he has no control.  The movie took an absurd development and ran with it.  The Drama, Borgli's follow-up, begins with a couple approaching their upcoming wedding like most engaged couples do, and then a confession by Emma (Zendaya) to her husband-to-be Charlie (Pattinson) in front of their best friends alters everything.  It isn't what you think.  It's something no one could see coming but having an affair or a one-night stand would've been preferable in Charlie's mind and the mind of Emma's matron-of-honor (Haim).  

I won't reveal what Emma's secret is, but it forces Charlie to see Emma in a new light and question whether he even wants to marry her on the eve of their wedding.  No one can blame Charlie for having doubts, but the events involving Emma way back in high school did not actually occur.  There I am hinting at the secret, but The Drama is about others' reactions to it.  Emma loves Charlie and wants to marry him.  He's not so sure, but does he want to undo all of the wedding plans and disrupt everyone's schedule?  He oscillates between wanting to proceed with the nuptials and calling the whole thing off.

If nothing else, The Drama's underlying themes are that some things are better left unsaid and people may say they want total honesty from their partner, but the "total" part could present problems.  Zendaya and Pattinson are appealing, but are more acted upon than anything else.  They are almost deliberately unexciting, because what matters more is how Borgli uses them as vessels to further his plot and the questions it presents.  When someone asks you to be totally honest, maybe still think before you say something you'll regret. 

Shrinking (2023-2026) * * *

 

Starring:  Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Harrison Ford, Christa Miller, Ted McGinley, Lukita Maxwell, Jeff Daniels, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie, Brett Goldstein, Damon Wayans, Jr., Michael J. Fox, Wendie Malick, Lily Rabe

Three seasons into Shrinking, you can forgive it its trespasses because it creates a sense of family within its characters.  Sure, they can simply walk into each other's houses without knocking at the door, but we care about them warts and all.   They grow on you.

At the start, we meet psychiatrist Dr. Jimmy Laird (Segel) who numbs the pain of losing his wife in a car wreck with drugs and prostitutes.  His daughter Alice (Maxwell) barely speaks to him because Jimmy essentially left her to fend for herself with her own grieving.  Jimmy works for Dr. Paul Rhoades (Ford), a gruff, sometimes irascible straight-shooter who suffers from Parkinson's Disease.  Jimmy's other colleague is Gaby (Williams), herself going through a divorce and a strained relationship with her mother.  One day, Jimmy decides to deal with his patients in most unorthodox manners, such as a former solider with PTSD named Sean (Tennie), who punches first and asks questions later.  

Jimmy's concerned and well-meaning neighbors are Liz (Miller) and Derek (McGinley), with Liz being more outspoken and Derek coming off as a truly kind man.  All of these characters interact regularly, with Louis Winston, the drunk driver who killed Jimmy's wife in the accident, attempting to shoehorn his way into Jimmy's life by apologizing.  Is he able to succeed?   The answer may surprise you in touching ways.

Over three seasons, there are too many characters and subplots to encapsulate without driving yourself mad.  So, the review is meant to capture the overall feel of the show.  It's breezy and doesn't bog itself with heaviness even in the midst of tragic developments.  The more dramatic moments are still light without treading lightly.  Even when the characters behave badly, they aren't mean and they maintain their likability.  Some of the repeated joke themes can be tiresome, but by then everyone is on to the next joke or situation.   I'm no therapist, and Shrinking is probably as accurate about psychiatry as Rocky is about boxing, but it sure makes you feel good to watch.