Steven Soderbergh used to treat crime stories as a director’s magic act – he exulted in misdirection and showmanship. But the filmmaker is long pastOcean’s Eleven and his new limited series is about how everything unravels,most notably the lies we deceive ourselves with. Set before and after a botched kidnapping that ties together multiple strands,Full Circle has a churning momentum – enhanced by noir-like strings – that is gripping.
Ed Solomon’s dense script reveals the fateful crime from high above and up close,tying together a wealthy Manhattan corporate family,including CEO Sam (Claire Danes) and her celebrity chef father Jeff (Dennis Quaid),and the naive young Guyanese men,Xavier (Sheyi Cole) and Louis (Gerald Jones),flown north to work for a Queens crime syndicate. The fallout is too heavy for anyone to not only control but even carry.
The quirks are sharply jarring:the lead investigator,Harmony (Zazie Beetz),is driven and intuitive,but possibly also unstable – her scenes with Danes have a vivid frequency. The come-full-circle motif is plain throughout,but Soderbergh’s masterful direction and cinematography (under a pseudonym) keep the narrative rolling. The warm washes of light his characters move through remain,but they’re just momentary refuges. No one is truly safe.
Sleeping Dog
Netflix
A knotty crime thriller by design,this six-part German mystery works best as a character study of Mike Atlas (Max Riemelt),a former police detective now living homeless on the fringes of society who must re-examine his past when an old case resurfaces and he begins to doubt his work. The plot ranges across guilt,vengeance and institutional corruption,but it’s best illustrated by the tenuous bond between Atlas and a young prosecutor,Jule Andergast (Luise von Finckh),who initially judges him by his circumstances.
Bruce Springsteen&the E Street Band – The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concert
Paramount+
It takes a fair amount of confidence to add “legendary” to the title of your own performance,but this Madison Square Garden benefit set was for decades a revered bootleg among Bruce Springsteen fans until it got an official release in 2021. The just-released concert film backs up the self-belief:a few days shy of turning 30,Springsteen was on the cusp of becoming rock music’s central figure. A suitably ragged multi-camera shoot is all energy and outreach,complete with an unstoppable performance ofBorn to Run.
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Foundation (season 2)
Apple TV+,Friday
Few shows are taking as big a swing as this epic adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s canonical science-fiction novels about the millennium-long clash between a galactic Empire and the scientist who foresaw its demise. With Lee Pace and Jared Harris as adversaries,the show mostly manages to tie together personal stakes and planet-hopping history in a way that sci-fi aficionados will enjoy. Creator David S. Goyer reportedly plans eight seasons (the third is already shooting) and his approach is sound:the use of physical locations grounds the storytelling in ways green screens can’t.
E2 Design
Shelter
Narrated by Brad Pitt,this succinct,informative documentary series ranges across the many applications of sustainable architecture. Without being contradictory,the narrative rewrites assumptions:the first episode explores how New York is per capita one of the greenest cities in America,because of the density of population,public transport usage,and collective consumption. In looking at Manhattan’s next generation of skyscrapers,the show details both the technical means and personal will required to improve building techniques. Subsequent episodes head to China and rural Mexico.
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