TV Archives – CULTURE MIX

The following content is generally available worldwide, except where otherwise noted. All TV shows listed are for networks and streaming services based in the United States. All movies listed are those released in U.S. cinemas. This schedule is for content and events premiering this week and does not include content that has already been made available.

September 30 – October 6, 2024

TV/Streaming Services

All times listed are Eastern Time/Pacific Time, unless otherwise noted.

Netflix’s documentary series “Unsolved Mysteries” premieres Season 5 on Wednesday, October 2 at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT.

Monday, September 30

“Contraband: Seized at the Border”
“Does Your Wife Know?” (Episode 410)
Monday, September 30, 8 p.m., Discovery

“Signs of a Psychopath”
“I’m Not Your Typical Murderer”
Monday, September 30, 8 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Fatal Attraction”
“A Fatal Fairytale” (Episode 1446)
Monday, September 30, 9 p.m., TV One

“The Real Murders on Elm Street”
“Cruel Intentions” (Episode 104)
Monday, September 30, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery, Max

“Cabin in the Woods”
“Mississippi” (Episode 104)
Monday, September 30, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery, Max

“Deadly Case Files”
“Detective Clint Rucker” (Episode 111)
Monday, September 30, 10 p.m., TV One

“Gangland Chronicles”
“The Cleveland Mafia” (Episode 112)
Monday, September 30, 9:30 p.m., History Channel

Tuesday, October 1

“Body Cam: On the Scene”
“Condition Critical” (Episode 903)
Tuesday, October 1, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Road Rage”
“Disorderly Conduct” (Episode 203)
Tuesday, October 1, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Exposed: Naked Crimes”
“Naked and Unafraid” (Episode 203)
Tuesday, October 1, 10:30 p.m., Investigation Discovery

Wednesday, October 2

“Unsolved Mysteries” (Season 5)
Wednesday, October 2, 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT, Netflix

“To Catch a Smuggler”
“No Rest for the Wicked” (Episode 806)
Wednesday, October 2, 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel

“Fatal Attraction”
“Desperate Measures” (Episode 1519)
Wednesday, October 2, 9 p.m., TV One

“See No Evil”
“The Painted Truck” (Episode 1309)
Wednesday, October 2, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Court Cam”
(Episode 803)
Wednesday, October 2, 9 p.m., A&E

“Court Cam”
(Episode 804)
Wednesday, October 2, 9:30 p.m., A&E

“How (Not) to Get Rid of a Body”
“A Neighborhood of Monsters” (Episode 105)
Wednesday, October 2, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Celebrity Crime Files”
“Meg the Stallion” (Episode 106)
Wednesday, October 2, 10 p.m., TV One

Thursday, October 3

“Dateline: The Smoking Gun”
“In Cold Blood” (Episode 101) **Series Premiere**
Thursday, October 3, 8 p.m. ET/PT, Oxygen

“The Tailor of Sin City”
“Monkey in the Middle” (Episode 104) **Series Finale**
Thursday, October 3, 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT, Sundance Now, AMC+
Thursday, October 3, 10 p.m. ET/PT, Sundance TV

Friday, October 4

“20/20”
TBA
Friday, October 4, 9 p.m., ABC

“On Patrol: Live”
TBA
Friday, October 4, 9 p.m., Reelz

“Dateline”
(Episode 3302)
Friday, October 4, 9 p.m., NBC

“20/20”
TBA
Friday, October 4, 9 p.m., ABC

Saturday, October 5

“On Patrol: First Shift”
TBA
Saturday, October 5, 8 p.m., Reelz

“On Patrol: Live”
TBA
Saturday, October 5, 9 p.m., Reelz

“Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins”
“Buried Secrets” (Episode 308)
Saturday, October 5, 8 p.m., Oxygen

“The Real Murders of Atlanta”
“Homicide on the Ranch” (Episode 308)
Saturday, October 5, 9 p.m., Oxygen

Sunday, October 6

“Snapped”
“Cathleen Roth”
Sunday, October 6, 6 p.m., Oxygen

“Snapped: Behind Bars”
“Cristina Rodriguez” (Episode 206) **Season Finale**
Sunday, October 6, 7 p.m., Oxygen

“Victim to Verdict With Ted Rowlands”
“The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery” (Episode 205)
Sunday, October 6, 8 p.m., Court TV

“Evil Lives Here”
“I Knew My Brother Was a Killer” (Episode 1607)
Sunday, October 6, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Witches: Truth Behind the Trials”
“Scotland: The King and the Witches” (Episode 103)
Sunday, October 6, 9 p.m., National Geographic Channel

“Witches: Truth Behind the Trials”
“England: The Witchfinders’ Cruel Crusade” (Episode 104)
Sunday, October 6, 10 p.m., National Geographic Channel

Movies in Theaters or on Home Video

No new true crime documentaries releasing in theaters or on home video this week.

Radio/Podcasts

No new true crime podcast series premiering this week.

Events

Events listed here are not considered endorsements by this website. All ticket buyers with questions or concerns about the event should contact the event promoter or ticket seller directly.

All start times listed are local time, unless otherwise noted.

No new true crime events this week.

2024 Primetime Emmy Awards: ‘Shogun’ is the top winner

September 15, 2024

by Carla Hay

With 18 prizes, including Outstanding Drama Series, FX’s “Shōgun” was the top winner at the 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which were presented at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. “Shōgun” went into the ceremony with the most nominations (25) and was expected to win the most Emmys. Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy (the Emmy-winning former stars of “Schitt’s Creek”) hosted the ceremony, which ABC televised live in the United States.

The Primetime Emmy Awards show is presented by the Television Academy, which votes for the nominees and the winners. The 76th Creative Arts Emmy Awards (the technical categories for the Primetime Emmy Awards) were presented at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live on September 7 and September 8, 2024

Other prizes for “Shōgun” included Outstanding Lead Actor in Drama Series (for Hiroyuki Sanada); Outstanding Lead Actress in Drama Series (for Anna Sawai); and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (for Frederick E.O. Toye).

FX on Hulu’s “The Bear” had the second-highest number of Emmy victories, by winning 11 out of the show’s 23 nominations. Among the prizes for “The Bear” were Outstanding Lead Actor in Comedy Series (for Jeremy Allen White); Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series (for Ebon Moss-Bachrach); Outstanding Supporting Actress in Drama Series (for Liza Colón-Zayas); and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (for Christopher Storer).

“The Bear” lost out to Max’s “Hacks” in the categories of Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (for Jean Smart); and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (for Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky).

For limited and anthology series, Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” was the top winner, with six prizes, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (for Richard Gadd); Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (for Jessica Gunning); and Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (for Gadd).

The Governors Award (a non-competitive category) went to executive producer/writer Greg Berlanti, whose TV credits include “Dawson’s Creek,” “Arrow,” “The Flash and “Found.”

In addition, the ceremony had a few skits featuring cast member reunions of popular TV series. These on-stage reunions included “Happy Days” (Ron Howard and Henry Winkler) and “The West Wing” (Martin Sheen, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff and Allison Janney).

Presenters at the show were Christine Baranski, Kathy Bates, Meredith Baxter, Candice Bergen, Gael Garcia Bernal Matt Bomer, Zach Braff, Connie Britton, Nicola Coughlan, Billy Crystal, Viola Davis, Giancarlo Esposito, Colin Farrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lily Gladstone, Selena Gomez, Dulé Hill, Ron Howard, Brendan Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Allison Janney, Don Johnson, Mindy Kaling, Jimmy Kimmel, Padma Lakshmi, Greta Lee, John Leguizamo, George Lopez, Diego Luna, Jane Lynch, Steve Martin, Nava Mau, Reba McEntire, Janel Moloney Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Niecy Nash-Betts, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Mekhi Phifer, Melissa Peterman, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Sam Richardson, Maya Rudolph, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Martin Short, Jean Smart, Jimmy Smits, Antony Starr, Gina Torres, Dick Van Dyke, Susan Kelechi Watson, Damon Wayans, Kristen Wiig, Henry Winkler, Bowen Yang and Steven Yeun.

Jelly Roll performed for the “In Memoriam” segment that paid tribute to notable people in the TV industry who passed away since the previous Primetime Emmys ceremony.

Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment were executive producers of the 76th Emmy Awards.

Alan Cumming at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Jeremy Allen White, Liza Colón-Zayas and Ebon Moss-Bachrach at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

John Oliver at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Jon Stewart at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Elizabeth Debicki at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Billy Crudup at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Frederick E.O.Toye at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Jessica Gunning and Richard Gadding at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Jodie Foster at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Lamorne Morris at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Jean Smart at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners for the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards:

*=winner

Outstanding Drama Series

The Crown (Netflix)
Fallout (Prime Video)
The Gilded Age (HBO)
The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Shōgun (FX)*
Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
3 Body Problem (Netflix)

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)
The Bear (FX)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Hacks (Max)*
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
Reservation Dogs (FX)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

Baby Reindeer (Netflix)*
Fargo (FX)
Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Ripley (Netflix)
True Detective: Night Country (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Idris Elba – Hijack (Apple TV+)
Donald Glover – Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Walton Goggins – Fallout (Prime Video)
Gary Oldman – Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Hiroyuki Sanada – Shōgun (FX)*
Dominic West – The Crown (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age (HBO)
Maya Erskine – Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Anna Sawai – Shōgun (FX)*
Imelda Staunton – The Crown (Netflix)
Reese Witherspoon – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Matt Berry – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai – Reservation Dogs (FX)
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (FX)*

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear (FX)
Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Maya Rudolph – Loot (Apple TV+)
Jean Smart – Hacks (Max)*
Kristen Wiig – Palm Royale as Maxine Simmons (Apple TV+)

Oustanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Matt Bomer – Fellow Travelers (Showtime)
Richard Gadd – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)*
Jon Hamm – Fargo (FX)
Tom Hollander – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Andrew Scott – Ripley (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Jodie Foster – True Detective: Night Country (HBO)*
Brie Larson – Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Juno Temple – Fargo (FX)
Sofía Vergara – Griselda (Netflix)
Naomi Watts – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)

Outstanding Talk Series

“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)*
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
“Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC)
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (CBS)

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV)*
“Survivor” (CBS)
“Top Chef” (Bravo)
“The Voice” (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Christine Baranski – The Gilded Age (HBO)
Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown as Princess Diana (Netflix)*
Greta Lee – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Lesley Manville – The Crown (Netflix)
Karen Pittman – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Holland Taylor – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Tadanobu Asano – Shōgun (FX)
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)*
Mark Duplass – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Jon Hamm – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Takehiro Hira – Shōgun (FX)
Jack Lowden – Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Jonathan Pryce – The Crown (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Carol Burnett – Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
Liza Colón-Zayas – The Bear (FX)*
Hannah Einbinder – Hacks (Max)
Janelle James – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Sheryl Lee Ralph – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Meryl Streep – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Lionel Boyce – The Bear (FX)
Paul W. Downs – Hacks (Max)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear (FX)*
Paul Rudd – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Tyler James Williams – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Bowen Yang – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Dakota Fanning – Ripley (Netflix)
Lily Gladstone – Under the Bridge (Hulu)
Jessica Gunning – Baby Reindeer as Martha Scott (Netflix)*
Aja Naomi King – Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Diane Lane – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Nava Mau – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Kali Reis – True Detective: Night Country (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Jonathan Bailey – Fellow Travelers as Tim Laughlin (Showtime)
Robert Downey Jr. – The Sympathizer (HBO)
Tom Goodman-Hill – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
John Hawkes – True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
Lamorne Morris – Fargo (FX)*
Lewis Pullman – Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Treat Williams – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)

Outstanding Scripted Variety Series

“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (HBO)*
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

The Amazing Race (CBS)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Traitors (Peacock)*
The Voice (NBC)

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (“Party,” directed by Randall Einhorn)
The Bear (“Fishes,” directed by Christopher Storer)*
The Bear (“Honeydew,” directed by Ramy Youssef)
The Gentlemen (“Refined Aggression,” directed by Guy Ritchie)
Hacks (“Bulletproof,” directed by Lucia Aniello)
The Ms. Pat Show (“I’m the Pappy,” directed by Mary Lou Belli)

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

The Crown (“Sleep, Dearie Sleep,” directed by Stephen Daldry)
The Morning Show (“The Overview Effect,” directed by Mimi Leder)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (“First Date,” directed by Hiro Murai)
Shōgun (“Crimson Sky,” directed by Frederick E. O. Toye)
Slow Horses (“Strange Games,” directed by Saul Metzstein)
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (“Beat L.A.,” directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield)

Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Baby Reindeer (“Episode 4,” directed by Weronika Tofilska)
Fargo (“The Tragedy of the Commons,” directed by Noah Hawley)
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans: “Pilot,” directed by Gus Van Sant)
Lessons in Chemistry (“Poirot,” directed by Millicent Shelton)
Ripley (directed by Steven Zaillian)*
True Detective: Night Country (“Part 6,” directed by Issa López)

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (“Career Day,” written by Quinta Brunson)
The Bear (“Fishes,” written by Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo)
Girls5eva (“Orlando,” written by Meredith Scardino and Sam Means)
Hacks (“Bulletproof,” written by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky)‡
The Other Two (“Brooke Hosts a Night of Undeniable Good,” written by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider)
What We Do in the Shadows (“Pride Parade,” written by Jake Bender and Zach Dunn)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

The Crown (“Ritz,” written by Peter Morgan and Meriel Sheibani-Clare)
Fallout (“The End,” written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (“First Date,” written by Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover)
Shōgun (“Anjin,” written by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks)
Shōgun (“Crimson Sky,” written by Rachel Kondo and Caillin Puente)
Slow Horses (“Negotiating with Tigers,” written by Will Smith)*

Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Anthology Series or Movie

Baby Reindeer (written by Richard Gadd)*
Black Mirror (“Joan Is Awful,” written by Charlie Brooker)
Fargo (“The Tragedy of the Commons,” written by Noah Hawley)
Fellow Travelers (“You’re Wonderful,” written by Ron Nyswaner)
Ripley (written by Steven Zaillian)
True Detective: Night Country (“Part 6,” written by Issa López)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series

“The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” (Comedy Central)
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (HBO)*
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special

Alex Edelman: Just for Us (HBO), written by Alex Edelman*
Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees (Netflix), written by Jacqueline Novak
John Early: Now More Than Ever (HBO), written by John Early (HBO)
Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool (Netflix), written by Mike Birbiglia
The Oscars (ABC), written by Jamie Abrahams, Rory Albanese, Amberia Allen, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Bryan Cook, Blaire Erskine, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Jimmy Kimmel, Carol Leifer, Jon Macks, Mitch Marchand, Gregory Martin, Jesse McLaren, Molly McNearney, Keaton Patti, Danny Ricker, Louis Virtel, and Troy Walker

Review: ‘Speak No Evil’ (2022), starring Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt, Karina Smulders, Liva Forsberg and Marius Damslev

September 14, 2024

by Carla Hay

Sidsel Siem Koch and Morten Burian in “Speak No Evil” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films and Shudder)

“Speak No Evil” (2022)

Directed by Christian Tafdrup

Danish, Dutch and English with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Netherlands (and briefly in Italy and in Denmark), the horror film “Speak No Evil” features an almost all-white group of people (with one person of Middle Eastern heritage) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: While on vacation in Italy, a Danish family of three meet a Dutch family of three, and later experience terror as guests in the Dutch family’s home.

Culture Audience: “Speak No Evil” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of psychological thrillers and don’t mind if there are some lapses in logic in the story.

“Speak No Evil” rips apart the false sense of security that people have when they think strangers are instant friends. The horror in this thriller isn’t delivered until the movie’s last third, but it packs a very bleak wallop. “Speak No Evil” has some noticeable flaws and plot holes, but the movie’s message is loud and clear: If something doesn’t feel right, don’t be passive because you’re afraid people will think you’re being rude for standing up for yourself.

Directed by Christian Tafdrup (who co-wrote the “Speak No Evil” screenplay with his brother Mads Tafdrup) had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The movie begins by showing a foreboding scene that takes place at night. A grim-looking man and woman are driving a car in an isolated wooded area into the driveway of their farmhouse. With them is a boy who’s about 11 years old. Viewers of “Speak No Evil” will eventually find out who this family is and that the area is in an unnamed part of southern Holland.

The next scene shows a seemingly idyllic and sunny scene at a swimming pool at an unnamed resort in Italy. It’s here that two married couples with children, who are all about the same age as each other, will meet and have their lives collide under tragic circumstances. One of the couples at this resort is the same couple seen in the beginning of the film , but instead of looking somber, they look very cheerful.

Patrick (played by Fedja van Huêt) and Karin (played by Karina Smulders) are visiting from Holland. They have an 11-year-old boy named Abel (played by Marius Damslev), whom they introduce as their son. Abel is mute because, as Patrick explains, Abel has congenital ankyloglossia, which is the medical term for being born with a very short or stunted tongue. Patrick says he’s a medical doctor. The movie never mentions details about any job experiences that Bjørn, Louise and Karin have had.

Patrick is the first to introduce himself to the other couple in the story. Bjørn (played by Morten Burian) and Louise (played by Sidsel Siem Koch) are visiting from Denmark and are accompanied by their daughter Agnes (played by Liva Forsberg), who’s about 11 years old. Patrick meets this family when he asks if they are using an empty lounge chair next to them because he would like to take the chair over to his family and use it. Bjørn and Louise politely tell Patrick that the chair is available for him to take.

This vacation resort is the type that has long dining tables for several people to eat at the same table. Bjørn and Louise notice that Patrick is an “alpha male” extrovert type because he leads a toast at the table. Karin is less talkative and seems to be the type of wife who will do whatever her husband tells her to do. Bjørn and Louise have the opposite dynamic in their relationship: Bjørn is much more passive and less inclined than Louise to speak up if something is wrong.

Agnes is unusually attached to a stuffed bunny rabbit toy named Ninus that she has brought with her on this trip. One day on this trip, Agnes announces with distress to Bjørn that she can’t find Ninus. Bjørn goes looking for the rabbit toy and eventually finds it left on a stone barrier overlooking a scenic area.

Bjørn, Louise, Karin and Patrick eventually strike up another conversation with each other when Bjørn returns from finding Ninus and sees that Patrick and Karin are talking to Louise and Agnes. The couples and their children eventually hang out together for the remainder of their time in Italy.

When Bjørn and Louise are back in Denmark a few months later, they get a postcard from Patrick and Karin. The postcard photo is a picture of the two families on vacation in Italy. The postcard is a welcoming invitation for Bjørn, Louise and Agnes to visit Patrick, Karin and Abel and stay with them at Patrick and Karin’s home in southern Holland. The invitation says that Abel misses Agnes and would like to see her again.

Louise has some doubts about staying at the house of people they barely know, in a country they aren’t very familiar with either. But after Bjørn and Louise discuss the matter with another married couple who are close friends, they decide to accept the invitation from Patrick and Karin. It’s a decision that Bjørn and Louise will eventually regret.

Bjørn, Louise and Agnes arrive at the remote house by starting off with good cheer because of the warm welcome they receive from Patrick and Karin. But eventually, Patrick and Karin start testing the boundaries of what Bjørn and Louise will find acceptable. First, Patrick insists that Louise eat the red meat that he prepared for a meal, even though he knows that she’s a pescatarian. Louise uncomfortably obliges. In return, Patrick mocks Louise for calling herself a vegetarian when Louise says that she eats fish.

Another moment of discomfort comes when Patrick and Karin plan a family outing at a restaurant, but Bjørn and Louise are surprised to find out that Patrick and Karin don’t want the kids to come along for this outing. Instead, Patrick and Karin surprise Bjørn and Louise by telling them that Agnes and Abel will be looked after by a “neighborhood babysitter”: a scruffy-looking man named Muhajid (played by Hichem Yacoubi), who doesn’t speak Danish, Dutch or English.

Louise is very uneasy about this arrangement because she doesn’t know anything about Muhajid and is wary of leaving her child along with this stranger. Patrick and Karin insist that the kids will be safe with Muhajid, whom they say gives cheap babysitting services. Bjørn is much more accepting of this explanation and tries to make Louise feel like she’s overreacting. Not wanting to be rude, Louise goes along with this arrangement.

Without giving away too much information, it’s enough to say that Patrick and Karin (especially Patrick) keep pushing boundaries that make Louise uncomfortable. Some of the boundary crossing is very inappropriate (such as Patrick watching Bjørn and Louise have sex without the couple’s consent) and some of the boundary crossing has blurred lines of inappopriateness, such as Karin scolding Agnes on what type of manners to have while eating.

All of the acting in “Speak No Evil” is competent, although the scenarios might frustrate some viewers who think they would act very differently from all the passiveness and indecisiveness exhibited by Bjørn and Louise. The movie doesn’t tell much about Bjørn and Louise beyond the fact that they are from Denmark. The last third of “Speak No Evil” is the most suspenseful and terrifying, but when a major secret is revealed, it’s handled a bit clumsily. The end of “Speak No Evil” is horrifyingly dark and raises questions that are never answered, which is the intention of making the ending so unsettling to viewers.

IFC Films released “Speak No Evil” in select U.S. cinemas on September 9, 2022. Shudder premiered the movie on September 13, 2022.

Review: ‘Gary’ (2024), starring Dion Mial, Todd Bridges, Shannon Price, Sue Coleman, Willie Coleman, Victor Perillo and Anna Gray

August 28, 2024

by Carla Hay

Dion Mial in “Gary” (Photo courtesy of Peacock/Raw TV Ltd.)

“Gary” (2024)

Directed by Robin Dashwood

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Gary” features a group of white and African American people discussing the life and career of actor Gary Coleman, who died of complications from a head injury in 2010, at the age of 42.

Culture Clash: Coleman rose to massive fame as the star of the sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes,” but his life was plagued by health problems and turmoil in his personal relationships.

Culture Audience: “Gary” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of “Diff’rent Strokes” and are interested in watching documentaries about former child stars.

Shannon Price in “Gary” (Photo courtesy of Peacock/Raw TV Ltd.)

There seems to be a never-ending fascination with stories about former child stars who have tragic outcomes in their lives. “Gary” chronicles one of these stories. This watchable documentary about Gary Coleman doesn’t reveal anything new but it exposes how he had questionable judgment in choosing so-called “close friends” who gained financially from him. The movie needed more investigation about crime allegations. The only people who will be surprised by anything in this documentary are those who are unaware of all the previous media coverage about Coleman’s personal problems and his 2010 death at the age of 42.

The cause of Coleman’s death was a head injury, which happened in his home in Santaquin, Utah. He was taken off life support after being in a coma for two days at a hospital in Provo, Utah. A medical examiner’s report and a police investigation ruled that the cause of Coleman’s death was accidental. His ex-wife Shannon Price, who was still living with Coleman after their divorce, has maintained her story that Coleman’s injury was caused by him falling down the stairs in their home. She says that she was in another room at the time that he fell down the stairs.

Directed by Robin Dashwood, “Gary” has a major advantage that other news reports and documentaries about Coleman don’t have: The “Gary” documentary features interviews with just about everyone who was very close to Coleman in his life, including rare interviews with his parents Willie Coleman and Sue Coleman, who were estranged from Gary for years because of accusations that they stole money from him when they were managing his earnings. Price is also interviewed, as well as some of Gary’s friends and former colleagues. The documentary also has audio and video clips of archival interviews that Gary did.

Dion Mial, a former Michael Jackson impersonator, is the friend who gets the most screen time in the documentary. Mial met Gary when Gary was 10, and Mial was 14. Their friendship lasted for the rest of their lives, even after Gary moved on to a new set of friends when he relocated from California to Utah in the mid-2000s. In the documentary, Mial talks very fondly of Gary and shows how he has kept a lot of Gary’s personal possessions in storage in his garage.

Gary’s former agent Victor Perillo, who represented Gary from 1975 to 1987, is interviewed in the documentary. Perillo, like many others who knew Gary as a child, describe him as unusually mature and funny for his young age. Gary got his first significant break as an actor by starring in a Harris Bank commercial in 1977. It led to guest appearances on sitcoms such as “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times.” And then came his breakthrough starring role on the TV comedy series “Diff’rent Strokes,” which was on the air from 1978 to 1986.

Diff’rent Strokes,” which was created by Jeff Harris and Bernie Kukoff, was about two orphaned brothers in New York City—Arnold Jackson (played by Gary Coleman) and Willis Jackson (played by Todd Bridges)—who are adopted by wealthy businessman Phillip Drummond (played by Conrad Bain), who employed the Jackson brothers’ widowed mother as a housekeeper for many years. The mother of Arnold and Willis had asked on her deathbed for Phillip to adopt her sons. Phillip is a widower whose daughter Kimberly (played by Dana Plato) is raised with Arnold and Willis. (Plato died of a drug overdose in 1999, at the age of 34. Bain died in 2013, at age 89.)

“Diff’rent Strokes” was groundbreaking for being the first primetime American TV series about an interracial adoptive family. (The Jackson brothers were African American, and the Conrads were white.) “Diff’rent Strokes” co-star Bridges and “Diff’rent Strokes” casting director Eve Brandstein, who are interviewed separately in the “Gary” documentary, say that “Diff’rent Strokes” got some complaints and hate mail from white viewers and black viewers who didn’t like seeing this type of interracial family on TV. Coincidentally, Gary (who was born in 1968, in Zion, Illinois) was adopted in real life, but he was not raised with any siblings.

Bridges, who says that Gary was a like a younger brother to him, comments on the accusation that Phillip Drummond was a “white savior” character: “It wasn’t that it was a white savior there. It was just a man trying to save two kids from ending up being on the streets. No matter what the hate mail was on both sides, we knew what we were doing was right. The thing that our show proved was that love conquers all.”

“Diff’rent Strokes” made Gary a huge star around the world. His catch phrase from the show (which he would deliver with a playful pout) was “Whatchu talkin’ about?” It was a line that Gary would come to hate in his adult years because people who met him always expected him to say that line, like a talking puppet.

Gary’s persona of being a “grown man in a little boy’s body” resulted from his kidney disease and medical treatment that stunted his growth (he was only 4’8″ as an adult) and made him have puffy cheeks. His mother Sue explains that Gary was born with a rare kidney disease and had a kidney transplant at the age of 5. The surgery didn’t stop his exuberance and energy level, says Sue: “Two weeks after the surgery, he was standing on his head.”

The immunosuppressant medication that Gary was given after the kidney transplant caused him to have the size of a child throughout his entire life. Gary would have painful dialysis treatments that also affected him. He also lived without any kidneys for the last 25 years of his life. Even with these health issues, Perillo remembers Gary being intensely focused on his work. Perillo says that as a child, Gary would watch episodes of “Diff’rent Strokes” and take notes.

Friends and former colleagues also describe Gary as having a big interest in writing fiction stories, especially about outer space. It was an interest he had from a young age and stayed with him for his entire life. The documentary never explains or mentions why Gary didn’t pursue success as a fiction writer when his career as an actor was on a decline.

Gary’s physical appearance made him famous, but it also prevented him from getting the types of roles he wanted to play, such as action heroes or villains. When he reached his teen years on “Diff’rent Strokes,” the show was still having him do storylines where he had to act like a pre-teen child. Gary openly expressed his frustration at not being able to have his Arnold Jackson character mature as Gary was doing in real life.

But as Gary got older, his ego problems got bigger. Gary became extremely difficult and demanding after becoming famous, according to former “Diff’rent Strokes” hair stylist Joan Stafford-Chaney. She puts it bluntly when talking about Gary’s change in attitude after he became a major star: “He went from being cute to ugly. He picked up all the ugliness from his dad.” Stafford-Chaney says, “Nobody wanted Willie on set because he created havoc.” She describes Willie as a bully who used Gary and Gary’s fame to make outrageous demands.

The documentary has conflicting accounts of how much Gary was pushed into doing work that put his health in jeopardy. Willie Coleman and Perillo both say that Gary was never over-worked. Perillo says that he turned down lucrative offers for Gary because Gary was undergoing dialysis. By contrast, Bridges says he saw many instances where Gary was dangerously pushed to the brink of extreme exhaustion by the people handling his business affairs.

Speaking of Gary’s business affairs, the documentary gives well-known and public details about the legal disputes between Gary and his parents, who still claim they did nothing deliberately wrong in mismanaging his money. In 1987, Gary fired his parents and his entire business team and hired Mial to be his manager. Mial says that Gary also cut himself off from almost all of the showbiz friends that Gary had at the time. The documentary doesn’t mention Gary’s failed and short-lived attempt at becoming a rapper when he and Mial teamed up as a musical duo for a 1987 single called “The Outlaw and the Indian,” which was released on 12″ vinyl and was a big flop.

In 1989, Gary sued his parents and his former business manager Anita DeThomas (who died in 2006) and accused them of stealing money from him. It’s estimated that Gary made about $18 million at the height of his fame, but he didn’t receive the vast majority of the money, which went mostly to people who worked for him, including his parents. The outcome of this lawsuit is mentioned in the documentary. Gary’s parents don’t have much to say about this lawsuit but seem to blame Mial for influencing Gary to turn against his parents. Willie is vehement that he and Sue had Gary’s best interests at heart, and he claims it was other people in Gary’s management team who were the unscrupulous ones.

In the documentary, Mial says Mial was the who was always looking out for Gary’s best interests. Mial claims Gary’s parents not only knew about the embezzlement but he says that Gary’s parents were also willing participants. Mial admits he was inexperienced at the time he became Gary’s manager, but he says that he was one of the few people whom Gary could trust. Years later, Mial stopped being Gary’s manager, but they remained close friends.

Gary is not presented as a saintly victim. He had a nasty temper and could act like an egotistical tyrant, according to what several people say in the documentary. There are also clips of Gary being difficult during interviews when he is asked questions that he doesn’t like. He had a love/hate relationship with his fame as an actor. According to Mial, Gary wanted to quit the entertainment business after “Diff’rent Strokes” ended. And yet, Gary never really permanently left showbiz, even when Gary complained and said he wanted to quit.

The documentary also doesn’t shy away from examples of Gary having a violent side to him. Price (who was married to Gary from 2007 to 2008) and other people in the documentary admit that she and Gary were physically abusive to each other during their relationship. She downplays this violence by describing it as something that can be expected when couples argue. Gary and Price were both arrested in 2009 for domestic violence against each other. The documentary includes photos of their arrest mug shots.

Former “Diff’rent Strokes” hair stylist Stafford-Chaney says Gary once rudely told her that he wanted to slap her, and she stood up for herself and told him she would hit him back in self-defense. Stafford-Chaney says that although Gary found fame and fortune in comedy, “He wasn’t happy.” Mial hints that Gary had a tendency to indulge in self-pity: “He constantly referred to himself as ‘God’s punching bag.'” Mial said at the lowest points of Gary’s life, Gary had suicidal thoughts and depression. However, the documentary also points out that a lot of Gary’s misery came from his own terrible actions and his own bad choices.

As expected, the documentary has a section about Gary’s 1998 arrest in California, for assaulting a fan named Tracy Fields. She asked for his autograph, he refused her request, and when she commented on his “has-been” status, he punched her in the eye. Gary was working as a security guard at the time but was off-duty when the assault happened. Gary pleaded no contest and received a 90-day suspended jail sentence. He was also ordered to pay Fields’ $1,665 hospital bill and to take anger management classes. The late 1990s was also a rough period for Gary financially: In 1999, he filed for bankruptcy.

Price is presented in the documentary as the biggest villain in Gary’s life, because several of his friends and associates believe that she is a greedy gold digger who hasn’t been honest about what caused Gary’s head injury that led to his death. Price met Gary in 2005, when she was an extra on the Utah set of his movie “Church Ball,” released in 2006. She says that Gary immediately flirted with her and asked for her phone number. On their first date, she says she was flattered because he brought her takeout food from Olive Garden, a low-priced Italian restaurant. Soon after making “Church Ball” and getting involved with Price (who was in her late teens at the time), Gary moved permanently to Utah, where he lived with Price.

In the documentary, Price tries to portray herself as someone who was desperate for love because her mother died when she was a child. But several of Gary’s friends and associates say that Price’s main interest in Gary was money that she could get from him. Randy Rester, who was Gary’s Utah attorney, describes the relationship between Gary and Price as “tumultuous” with raging fights and tearful reconciliations. Rester also says that he is sad that Gary never followed through on talking about get a restraining order against Price.

Price explains why she agreed to be interviewed for this documentary: “This is probably the last that I can actually speak truth because I’ve had a lot to absorb over the years.” Price makes a telling comment when she says, “The thing I liked most about Gary was he treated me like a queen.” Nowhere in the documentary does she say that she loved Gary. She also defends her decision to take a selfie photo of herself and Gary while he was in a coma and dying in a hospital bed. This photo ended up being published by a tabloid. Mial says with disgust that Price probably sold the photo to this tabloid.

Brandi Buys, a friend of Gary’s in Utah, says that Gary once commented to her about Price: “All she wants is money.” Shiela Erickson Rolls, Gary’s Utah-based theatrical agent, says that Price was intensely interested in getting Gary to work as much as possible. “The only thing that mattered to Gary was Shannon,” Erickson Rolls adds. The documentary includes footage of Gary and Price arguing about his work and money in an unaired pilot episode of a reality show that the couple wanted to star in together.

Also interviewed in the documentary is Anna Gray, who says she and Gary dated for seven years, beginning in the late 1990s, when he lived in California. Gray says she moved in with Gary about two weeks after meeting him. According to her documentary interview, she and Gary never sexually consummated their non-monogamous relationship because he was self-conscious about some physical issues. Gray says she had planned to move to Utah to be with Gary until she found out that he had fallen in love with Price.

Gray describes the tension she felt the first time she met Price. Gray says she never trusted Price and thinks Gary died under suspicious circumstances. Darren Nord is another person interviewed in the documentary who is identified as Gary’s “friend” who doesn’t like Price, although it’s not mentioned how he met Gary and how long they were friends. Also interviewed is California-based attorney Drew Ryce.

Mial and other friends of Gary say there was “too much blood” at the scene for Gary to have fallen down the stairs. However, the documentary fails to follow up on those suspicions by investigating further. Did the “Gary” documentary filmmakers make any attempt to interview the medical examiner or any of the first responders who were at the injury scene? Were there any measurements taken of the stairs to prove or disprove the theory that a fall down those stairs couldn’t cause the head injury that Gary had? Those questions were never answered in the documentary.

Another flaw in the documentary is some of the timeline editing, which seems a bit jumbled and could have been told in a more cohesive way. Suspicions and online gossip about Price are rushed into the last 15 minutes of the documentary. She still denies having anything to do with causing Gary’s head injury. Price also defends her decision not to follow the 911 operator’s advice to try to stop Gary’s bleeding because Price says she was in shock at the time and wanted to wait until medical professionals arrived.

“Gary” is a letdown as a documentary when it just repeats speculation and innuendo about Gary’s death possibly not being accidental, without revealing any new or helpful information. There is also no information about whether or not Gary wanted or sought out professional help for his mental health issues. However, the documentary’s interviews are compelling to watch, even when some of the people who are interviewed seem to be less than honest and have no self-awareness of how dodgy they look. It’s too bad that Gary Coleman couldn’t be a better judge of character of the people he chose to be close to him.

Viewers watching this documentary will notice how many people in Gary’s life accuse each other of taking advantage of him or not looking out for his best interests. It’s a sad commentary on what type of life he had that the people who claim to be closest to him also have a lot of bitter in-fighting about who really cared about him or not. Some of the “friends” whom Gary let into his life seem more impressed with knowing Gary as a “celebrity” than knowing Gary as a person. The “Gary” documentary can be seen as a cautionary tale that fame isn’t as wonderful as it appears to be, especially when fame robs that person of having healthy and happy relationships.

Peacock will premiere “Gary” on August 29, 2024.

Review: ‘Time Bomb Y2K,’ starring Peter de Jager, John Koskinen, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Candace Turner

August 25, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Time Bomb Y2K”

Directed by Brian Becker and Marley McDonald

Culture Representation: Taking place in various places, mostly in the United States, from 1996 to the early days of 2000, the documentary film “Time Bomb Y2K” features a predominantly white group of people (with some African Americans, Latin people and Asians) who are talk about the Y2K computer transition, where computers had to adjust to the years 2000 and beyond.

Culture Clash: Many people had fears that this Y2K computer transition would be disastrous if the problem was not corrected in time.

Culture Audience: “Time Bomb Y2K” will appeal mainly to people who interested in watching archival documentaries that show a chronicle of people’s hopes and fears of the future and computer technology.

A scene from “Time Bomb Y2K” (Photo by RTS/HBO)

“Time Bomb Y2K” isn’t as exciting as the title suggests. “Time Capsule Y2K” is a more accurate title for this all-archival documentary that looks back at the fears and preparations for computer operations transitioning to the year 2000. It’s not a bad movie, but it could’ve been better with hindsight interviews.

Directed by Brian Becker and Marley McDonald, “Time Bomb Y2K” has archival footage from 1996 to the early days of 2000. The movie is formatted like a countdown, with footage shown in chronological order by year, in order to show the growing sense of urgency (and often panic) that computer scientists and other members of the public had about the Y2K transition. Because the outcome of the Y2K transition is already known, there’s not much suspense when watching this documentary, but it’s an interesting study in sociological fears.

In the simplest of terms, for those who don’t know about the Y2K transition: In the mid-1990s, computer scientists and other experts noticed that most computers were not coded to understand years go past 1999. The theory was that on January 1, 2000, computers and computer programs would malfunction or stop working because of this inability to understand a year in the 21st century or beyond. There was an intense rush to have computers and computer programs recoded to be capable of understanding years beyond 1999, in order to prevent any computer-related catastrophes.

The leading expert who warned of the potential Y2K disasters was computer consultant/alarmist Peter de Jager, who is seen in several TV interviews in the documentary’s archival footage. This footage includes a contentious “Crossfire” interview with de Jager, where de Jager gets very defensive and angry when he is accused of unscrupulously profiting from his doomsday predictions. Also prominently featured in the documentary is John Koskinen, who was the leader of the President’s Council on Y2K Conversion.

Bill Clinton (who was president of the United States at the time) and Al Gore (who was vice president of the United States at the time) are seen in multiple segments showing them talking about testing new computer technology in the years leading up to Y2K. There’s some footage from 1996 of Clinton and Gore visiting Freepoint Elementary School in Sacramento, California, and testing what was an early version of webcam technology.

The documentary also has some acknowledgement of Grace Hopper, the U.S. Navy admiral/computer scientist who coined the term “computer bug,” which was literally inspired by an insect bug that accidentally got caught in a computer and caused a malfunction. Famous technology moguls such as Steve Jobs (Apple), Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) are seen in some interview and news footage, talking about how their companies are preparing for the future.

There’s also a lot of archival interviews and footage of a diverse array of everyday people giving their opinions on Y2K and what they think it means to them. Some of the more memorable comments are from young people who talk about their hopes for the future and what they think computer technology will impact people’s lives. Online chat room existed in 1999, so there’s also some foreshadowing of social media and how it can be addicting.

People who took their Y2K fears to the extreme get a lot of screen time in this documentary. Militia groups and fundamentalists Christians were among the most ardent doomsday preppers who stocked up on food, water, weapons and other survivalist resources. A farmer named Candace Turner talks about selling all of her assets to prepare for Y2K. Also featured is John Trochman, a militia man from Montana who peddled Y2K paranoia.

One of the documentary’s noticeable flaws is that it is very much focused on what was going on in the United States. There is very little screen time given to how people living outside the U.S. reacted to Y2K, even though the Y2K computer problem was said to be one that would be disastrous on a worldwide level. Toward the end of the documentary, there is a montage of what New Year’s Eve celebrations looked like in certain places around the world on December 31, 1999, and what happened when it became January 1, 2000, in those places. And this is not a spoiler alert: Nothing disastrous happened with computers worldwide when the Y2K transition actually happened.

People who will appreciate “Time Bomb Y2K” the most are those who were alive during the Y2K panicking and can remember all the doom and gloom forecasts that predicted apocalyptic-type computer malfunctions if the problem wasn’t fixed in time. It can be argued that the Y2K disaster potential was over-hyped. It can also be argued that the Y2K disaster potential was real but was prevented due to the work of untold numbers of people who toiled diligently behind the scenes. “Time Bomb Y2K” is not the movie that is going to give viewers all the technical data or personal stories about the people who were in the trenches of it all. However, the documentary is a fairly good historical compilation of how the Y2K transition affected people who were mostly in the United States at the time.

HBO and Max premiered “Time Bomb Y2K” on December 30, 2023.

Review: ‘Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net,’ starring Amber Basgall, Bill May, Emma Garrovillo, Rob Knowles, Pierre Parisien and Daniel Lamarre

August 19, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net”

Directed by Dawn Porter

Culture Representation: Taking place in Las Vegas, the documentary film “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” (filmed from 2020 to 2021) features a predominantly white group of people (with a few African Americans) who are connected in some way to the Montreal-based live performance company Cirque du Soleil.

Culture Clash: The team behind Cirque du Soleil’s long-running “O” show prepares to make a comeback in Vegas after being shut down for more than a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Culture Audience: “Cirque Du Soleil: Without a Net” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of Cirque du Soleil, acrobatic live performances, and documentaries about how businesses recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A scene from “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” (Photo courtesy of Prime Video)

“Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” is exactly what it appears to be: It’s a feel-good, occasionally dull promotional documentary about Cirque du Soleil’s “O” show return to Las Vegas after the COVID-19 pandemic. Only a few performers get personal profiles. Therefore, som viewers might be bored. This is the type of movie that should be seen on the biggest screen possible or viewers might quickly lose interest. Most of the documentary’s appeal is in the climactic scenes showing the spectacular results of the rehearsal footage that takes up most of the film.

Directed by Dawn Porter, “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” (which was filmed in 2020 and 2021) had its world premiere at the 2022 edition of DOC NYC but wasn’t released until nearly two years later on Prime Video. The movie’s epilogue wasn’t updated and still has wording as if 2023 is in the future. “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” also seems outdated in other areas too. The human stories behind the “O” show comeback hold the movie together when the footage about the show’s technicalities becomes repetitive and not very surprising.

“Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” begins by explaining that “O” isn’t just the longest-running Cirque du Soleil show, but it’s also the highest-grossing show in live entertainment. Most people who’ve seen “O” probably wouldn’t be able to tell you what the show’s story is about, but they usually rave about the spectacle of it all. There really is no plot to “O,” which has themes of surrealism and romance inspired by water and by European and Eastern cultures.

It’s a performance extravaganza of acrobats, artistic swimmers, trapeze artists, bike riders and dancers doing eye-popping and difficult stunts in an elaborate production set, including a massive stage filled with water. Documentary viewers are told that “O” needs about 2,000 costumes—just to give you an idea of how big the production is. The music of “O” (composed by Benoit Jutras) has a blend of classical Western and world instrumentation.

“Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” begins in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused shutdowns and quarantines worldwide. As most people know, businesses that require in-person interactions and were deemed “non-essential businesses” were hit the hardest by the pandemic. All of Cirque du Soleil’s shows around the world suddenly came to a halt and were cancelled. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cirque du Soleil (which is headquartered in Montreal) had to lay off more than 90% of its employees. The company also filed for bankruptcy.

Daniel Lamarre, who was Cirque du Soleil’s president/CEO at the time, is seen commenting during the start of these shutdowns: “I never felt in my life we’d have no shows—nothing … For a moment, I thought this was the end.”

It wasn’t the end, of course, but it was a very long hiatus: about 400 days. During this hiatus, many Cirque du Soleil employees had to find other jobs. Some could not return to the company when Las Vegas lifted many quarantine and mask policies, and live shows were allowed to resume. (Lamarre stepped down as Cirque du Soleil’s president/CEO in December 2021, and he was replaced by Stéphane Lefebvre.)

“Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” shows the preparations made for “O” to resume in Las Vegas, with the re-opening set for August 2021. The “O” performers whose personal lives are featured include:

Amber Basgall, an acrobat who took gymnastics as a child to help cope with her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Danut Coserat, an artist coach who is a single father to two children.
Emma Garrovillo, an aerialist whose husband Jeffrey Garovillo is a Cirque du Soleil technician.
Rob Knowles, a dancer who fondly remembers his formative years when he and his brother would take dance classes together.
Bill May, an artistic swimmer who hopes to someday compete in the Olympics if or when men are allowed in artistic swimming for the Olympics.

Basgall has the most compelling personal story. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was going through a difficult divorce. She also opens up about how the death of her brother (an Iraq War veteran who died when she was a teenager, after he returned home to the U.S.) has had a profound and lasting effect on her. She will only say that her brother died by gun violence. And during rehearsals, Basgall was dealing with anxiety issues, as well as some friction with her boyfriend Dre Brown.

Also featured in the documentary Cirque du Soleil employees who are not performers, such as senior artistic director Pierre Parisen, human performance manager Dan Niehaus, manager Joe Walsh, director of public relations Ann Paladie, hair/makeup technician Roger Stricker and senior company manager Tony Ricotta. The documentary only shows the personal lives of a select number of performers. And even then, it’s only fleeting, except for Basgall.

Most of the Cirque du Soleil employees who are identified by name in the documentary do not get enough screen time for viewers to find out anything meaningful about them as people. Also shown in “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” are acrobat Pierre Cottin, coach Al Light, carpentry supervisor Steve Dietrich, writer Franco Dragone, coach Kari Kreitzer, artistic director Christina Jones, acrobat Andriy Marchuk, diver Jorge Coseru, acrobat Artur Akhtiamov and coach Didier Antoine.

“Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” shows the technicalities that go into producing the “O” show, but there’s nothing surprising about the behind-the-scenes preparations. Even the “race against time” to get the show running again in less than a month doesn’t seem too suspenseful. Watching “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” is a perfectly fine way to pass the time for people interested in this subject matter, but this is a very “play it safe” documentary that doesn’t go beyond what you might expect from a corporate-approved movie.

Prime Video premiere “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net” on July 25, 2024.

Review: ‘Skywalkers: A Love Story,’ starring Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau

August 17, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Skywalkers: A Love Story”

Directed by Jeff Zimbalist

Culture Representation: Taking place in various parts of Europe and Asia, from 2015 to 2022, the documentary film “Skywalkers: A Love Story” features a predominantly white group of people (with some Asians) who are connected in some way to Russian daredevil skyscraper climbers Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau.

Culture Clash: Beerkus and Nikolau, who became a couple in real life, have their relatonship and other aspects of their life tested as they increase the stakes of of their skyscraper climbing, also known as rooftopping.

Culture Audience: “Skywalkers” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in watching a well-edited documentary about daredevil athletes and the complexities of couples who work together.

Angela Nikolau and Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus in “Skywalkers: A Love Story” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

With stunning cinematography, “Skywalkers: A Love Story” (about rooftopping couple Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau) is an absorbing documentary that shows the parallels between the highs and lows in the couple’s skyscraper stunts and in their relationship. People who get queasy at seeing views from extreme heights, be warned: If you watch this documentary on the biggest screen possible, you might feel uncomfortable or even feel some sort of vertigo. The journey is worth seeing if you have an interest in watching true stories about unconventional people doing extreme stunts.

Directed by Jeff Zimbalist, “Skywalkers: A Love Story” was filmed from 2015 to 2022. The documentary had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Some of the footage was previously filmed archival footage from Russian couple Beerkus (whose nickname is Vanya) and Nikolau, who became a couple because of their shared passion for rooftopping, the daredevil (and often illegal) athletic stunt of climbing to the top of extremely tall buildings or structures without using ropes, nets or other safety measures.

Nikolau and Beerkus give voiceover narration to talk about their personal background, how they met and fell in love, and how they feel when their relationship goes through its ups and downs. The footage that was filmed exclusively for “Skywalkers: A Love Story” features cinematography by Renato Borrayo Serrano. Drones were used for much of the documentary’s exclusive and archival footage. The documentary begins by showing Nikolau and Beerkus attempting to do their most extreme and most dangerous stunt at the time: climbing the Merdeka 118, a skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Merdeka 118 was under construction at the time the couple decided to do this stunt in 2022. With a total height of 2,227 feet (or 678.9 meters), the Merdeka 118 is the second-tallest building in the world. After showing a glimpse of Nikolau and Beerkus starting this stunt, the movie flashes back to the beginning of their love story and shows how their relationship developed and some of their rooftopping stunts in countries such as France, China, and Thailan. “Skywalkers: A Love Story” then circles back to the Merdeka 118 stunt for the documentary’s very dramatic, tension-filled climax.

Nikolau opens up about some childhood turmoil that she experienced that might explain why she chose such an unconventional profession. Her parents, who were circus performers, split up when she was a child because her father abandoned the family. Nikolau says after this breakup, her mother became severely depressed and was unable to be an emotionally present mother. Nikolau was then raised primarily by her grandmother, whom Nikolau decribes as “a caretaker who taught me to be strong.”

Nikolau adds, “For years, I didn’t let myself cry. I didn’t know who I was. I was searching for who I was.” She adds that having a tough exterior helped when she found a passion in rooftopping but got resistance and prejudice from the male-dominated group of rooftoppers who didn’t accept her because they think women can’t be just as skilled as men in rooftopping. Nikolau comments, “I don’t want to prove a woman is strong like a man. We have our own strength in femininity.”

As for Beerkus, his parents remained together, but he says he turned to climbing buldings as an escape from when he would hear his parents arguing. Beerkus (just like Nikolau) describes himself as an eccentric loner. However, he met his match with Nikolau, whom he credits for opening up his mind to being more artful in rooftopping photos and videos. It wasn’t long before Nikolau and Beerkus began collaborating and documenting their work together on social media. The documentary has some scenes of Nikolau interacting with her loving grandmother and Beerkus interacting with his supportive parents.

“Skywalkers: A Love Story” has a disclaimer in the beginning of the movie that says these stunts are illegal and should not be done by the average person. As seen in the documentary, the issue of possibly getting arrested is an essential part of rooftoppers’ planning, since they often have to find ways to avoid security employees and security equipment. The documentary has footage from 2017 of Beerkus and Nikolau getting arrested in Paris for climbing the Eiffel Tower. Beerkus and Nikola spend the night in jail before beng released. It’s mentioned multiple times that other countries have much harsher punishments than France for illegally climbing buildings and other structures.

Even though rooftoppers often trespass or break other laws to get to the top of these structures, they can still make a living from what they do from sponsors who seek out extreme athletes. Such was the case with Beerkus and Nikolau, who were able to make a full-time income from the rooftopping activities. The documentary shows how the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on their income and put a strain on their relationship. A minor flaw of the documentary is that some of the editing of the couple’s arguments is very much like melodramatic reality TV. It doesn’t ruin the tone of the movie, but it’s noticeable.

“Skywalkers: A Love Story” also shows how the physical danger of rooftopping often isn’t as risky or as scary as the psychological or emotional effects of these extreme stunts. One of the people in this daredevil couple starts to have panic attacks and has doubts about staying in the relationship. “Skywalkers: A Love Story” isn’t just about looking about a couple climbing tall structures. The bigger picture is about how trust and honest communication are essential in order for a relationship to stay healthy and survive.

Netflix released “Skywalkers: A Love Story” in select U.S. cinemas on July 12, 2024. The movie premiered on Netflix on July 19, 2024.

2024 Primetime Emmy Awards: ‘Shōgun’ is the top nominee

July 16, 2024

Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai in “Shōgun” (Photo by Katie Yu/FX)

The following is a press release from the Television Academy:

Nominations for the 76th Emmy® Awards were announced from the historic El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, recognizing remarkable programs, extraordinary performances and impactful storytelling across multiple platforms. The live ceremony was hosted by Emmy winners Tony Hale and Sheryl Lee Ralph along with Television Academy Chair Cris Abrego.

The nearly 22,000 voting members of the Academy nominated an abundance of inspiring talent and a robust selection of diverse program offerings. In a year marked by significant challenges and changes in the Television landscape, the nominations recognize the excellent work of performers, producers, writers, directors, craftspeople, and professionals above and below the line on television programs from the 2023 – 2024 eligibility year.

“Television delivers stories that connect us, uplift us, challenge us, and always entertain us. Today, I am honored to celebrate the outstanding work of our extraordinarily talented and hardworking creative community,” said Television Academy Chair Cris Abrego. “This morning’s Emmy nominations are a testament to their contributions and highlight the incredible programming that has risen to the top of an exceptional year in TV.”

“The Bear” set a new record for nominations in a single year in the Comedy category with 23 (previously held by “30 Rock” with 22 nominations in 2009), and “Shōgun” lead this year’s Drama category with 25 nominations.

The 36 first-time performer nominees across all performer categories this year are Eric André (“The Eric Andre Show”), Tadanobu Asano (“Shōgun”), Jonathan Bailey (“Fellow Travelers”), Nicole Beharie (The Morning Show), Matt Berry (“What We Do in the Shadows”), Lionel Boyce (The Bear), Néstor Carbonell (“Shōgun”), Liza Colón-Zayas (“The Bear”), Dakota Fanning (“Ripley”), Richard Gadd (performance, producer and writing nominations for “Baby Reindeer”), Lily Gladstone (“Under the Bridge”), Tom Goodman-Hill (“Baby Reindeer”), Ryan Gosling (“Saturday Night Live”), Jessica Gunning (“Baby Reindeer”), John Hawkes (“”True Detective: Night Country), Takehiro Hira (“Shōgun”), Tom Hollander (“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans”), Aja Naomi King (“Lessons in Chemistry”), Greta Lee (“The Morning Show”), Tracy Letts (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”), Jack Lowden (“Slow Horses”), Lesley Manville (“The Crown”), Nava Mau (“Baby Reindeer”), Lamorne Morris (“Fargo”), Karen Pittman (“The Morning Show”), Parker Posey (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), Lewis Pullman (“Lessons in Chemistry”), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“Only Murders in the Building”), Kali Reis (“True Detective: Night Country”), Paul Rudd (performance for “Only Murders in the Building” and narrator for “Secrets of the Octopus”), Hiroyuki Sanada (“Shōgun”), Anna Sawai (“Shōgun”), Mena Suvari (“RZR”), Naomi Watts (“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans”), Dominic West (“The Crown”) and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (“Reservation Dogs”).

In addition to Gadd and Rudd, performers with multiple nominations this year include Quinta Brunson (performance and writing for “Abbott Elementary”), Jodie Foster (performance and producer for “True Detective: Night Country”), Donald Glover (performance and writing for “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), Jon Hamm (performance for “Fargo” and “The Morning Show”), Brie Larson (performance and producer for “Lessons in Chemistry”), Jonathan Pryce (performance for “The Crown” and “Slow Horses”), Maya Rudolph (performance for “Loot,” performance and music & lyrics for “Saturday Night Live,” character voice-over for “Big Mouth”), Andrew Scott (performance and producer for “Ripley”) and Kristen Wiig (performance for “Palm Royale” and “Saturday Night Live”).

Emmy Nominations presenter Ralph was surprised by Abrego at the conclusion of the announcement ceremony with her third nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary.

The nominations rosters may be revised in cases where names or titles are incorrect or appeals for changes—including the addition or removal of names—are approved by the Television Academy’s Emmy Awards Committee. Producer eligibility is based primarily on title; producer nominees in certain program categories will be announced early August and may increase the number of multiple nominees. Final-round online voting begins August 15, 2024.

The complete list of Emmy nominations, as compiled by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP, is attached along with key categories. This and other Academy news and updates are available at Emmys.com.

As previously announced, Emmy Award winners Jesse Collins and Dionne Harmon along with Emmy-nominated Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment are set to return as executive producers of the 76th Emmy Awards. This marks their second consecutive year as producers of television’s biggest night.

The 76th Emmy Awards will broadcast live on ABC on Sunday, September 15, (8:00-11:00 PM EDT/5:00-8:00 PM PDT) from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE and stream the next day on Hulu. The 76th Creative Arts Emmy Awards take place at the Peacock Theater over two consecutive nights on Saturday, September 7, and Sunday, September 8, with an edited presentation to air on Saturday, September 14, at 8:00 PM EDT/PDT on FXX.

ABOUT THE TELEVISION ACADEMY
The Television Academy strives to shape and advance the dynamic television landscape; cultivate a diverse, inclusive and accessible professional community; and advocate for the television industry while capturing the spirit of a new generation of content creators and industry professionals. Through innovative programs, publications and events, the Academy and its Foundation foster and empower storytellers. The Academy also celebrates those who excel in the industry recognizing their achievements through awards and accolades, including the renowned Emmy® Award. Membership in the Academy is open to working professionals in the television industry. For more information, please visit
TelevisionAcademy.com.

Review: ‘The Devil’s Bath,’ starring Anja Plaschg, Maria Hofstätter and David Scheid

July 10, 2024

by Carla Hay

“The Devil’s Bath”

Directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz

German with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Austria, in 1750, the horror film “The Devil’s Bath” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A young newlywed becomes mentally ill in a conservative and judgmental religious community.

Culture Audience: “The Devil’s Bath” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s directors and horror films with religious themes.

Anja Plaschg in “The Devil’s Bath” (Photo courtesy of Shudder)

“The Devil’s Bath” is not easy to watch for people who expect horror movies to have quick pacing and obvious jump scares. This “slow burn” film, set in 1750 Austria, shows the terror of untreated mental illness in a strict religious community. It’s worth watching until the very end to understand the true impact of the story.

Written and directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, “The Devil’s Bath” is based on historical research by Kathy Stuart. The movie had its world premiere at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival and its U.S. premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival. “The Devil’s Bath” swept the 2024 Austrian Film Awards, winning seven prizes: Best Feature Film; Best Actress (for Anja Plaschg); Best Supporting Actress (for Maria Hofstätter); Best Film Editing; Best Production Design; Best Score; and Best Makeup.

The movie (which takes place in an unnamed Austrian village in 1750) begins with a terrifying scene of a woman named Ewa Schikin (played by Natalya Baranova) is walking through a wooded area with a baby (played by Frieda Seidl) until she reaches a cliff with a waterfall. Ewa then throws the baby over the waterfall. After committing this murder, she makes the sign of the cross on herself, calmly walks to a house, knocks on the door, and says to the unseen person opening the door: “I committed a crime.” Was is then shown beheaded, with her head on the ground. An unseen person cuts off one of her fingers.

And why did she commit this murder? That question is answered toward the end of the movie. In the meantime, a young couple named Agnes (played by Plaschg) and Wolf (played by David Scheid) are shown getting married. At the wedding reception, the guests play a game to behead a chicken while blindfolded.

Agnes and Wolf are living in a small shack-like house, near the house of Wolf’s mother Gänglin (played by Hofstätter), who has a close relationship with Wolf. Before Wolf and Agnes got married, the couple lived with Gänglin. Agnes liked living there and expresses disappointment to Wolf that the couple will now be living in this much smaller house. Wolf tells Agnes that he will soon inherit his mother’s farm, which is another way of saying he doesn’t expect Gänglin to live much longer.

This village community is very religious. Every time a clock chimes in the village, several of the residents make the sign of the cross. Women are expected to be wives and mothers. Young and healthy women are expected to out with any physical work that the men do.

Many of the villagers make their living by fishing for catfish. However, later in the movie, it’s shown that the village is experiencing a food shortage. Loaves and bread are rationed. This rationing leads to some tense moments where people have disputes about how much bread they deserve to get.

One day, Agnes is walking through the woods and looking for Wolf when she sees a drawing on a tree. The drawing depicts Ewa throwing a baby over a waterfall and later being beheaded while she was in prison. She also sees that Ewa’s beheaded body on display with Ewa’s head nearby in a small cage. It’s later revealed that Agnes now has the finger of Ewa that was taken from Ewa’s body.

Another death soon happens in the village: A young man named Lenz (played by Lorenz Tröbinger) has committed suicide by hanging. At Lenz’s funeral, a priest gives a sermon has this to say about Lenz’s suicide: “What he did is worse than murder.”

Agnes wants to become a mother but gets frustrated that she hasn’t gotten pregnant. She falls into a deep depression where she refuses to get out of bed. Agnes also overhears her mother-in-law Gänglin tells Wolf: “You should’ve married a local girl … someone who’s a better worker and can get pregnant.”

The movie’s title refers to 18th century Austrian vernacular that described depression as being trapped in “the devil’s bath.” Because psychology wasn’t developed as a science until the late 1870s, religion in Agnes’ 1750s community is used as an explanation for mental illness. In many of today’s communities, religion instead of science is still used as a “cure” or treatment for mental illness and other psychological issues.

“The Devil’s Bath” shows Agnes’ further mental deterioration as she continues to isolate herself. Some extreme things happen that are meant to be shocking but also demonstrate what can happen when desperate people do certain things when they feel trapped and take what they think is the best option. Religious oppression is inescapable in this story.

There are some haunting images scattered throughout the movie. For example, there’s a scene showing decapitated human arms floating in a barrel filled with water and catfish. Another is a scene where moths come out of Agnes’ mouth.

Some of the most squirm-worthy imagex are how the “treatments” that Agnes gets from Wolf in attempts to “cure” her of her depression. Leeches are put on Agnes to “let the melancholy out.” Wolf also uses a needle to thread a dangling string horizontally across the back of her neck, where Agnes tugs the string back and forth. It seems like a very crude and misguided way of treating nerve pinpoints, like a warped version of acupuncture.

“The Devil’s Bath” succeeds in its intention to depict a dark and claustrophobic experience of someone’s mental illness gradually getting worse and being stuck in a community that equates mental illness with demon possession. Religion is used with rigid harshness to punish those who are mentally ill.

As the troubled Agnes, Plaschg gives a complex performance that is both harrowing and heartbreaking. “The Devil’s Bath” deliberately takes its time to reveal certain deadly motives. The truth has nothing to do with devil possession and everything to do real-life religious fears that human beings place on each other.

Shudder released “The Devil’s Bath” in select U.S. cinemas on June 21, 2024. Shudder premiered the movie on June 28, 2024.