Sinners (In theaters)

Ryan Coogler has become a powerhouse as a young director after the success of The Black Panther and Creed. For the first hour, I was completely invested in Coogler’s newest film, in large part because of the performance(s) of Michael B. Jordan, who plays twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown after making it big in Chicago. It’s clear from the way people respond to them that nobody in this small southern town is indifferent toward these two, as they seem to have left abruptly, leaving a lot of people either angry or confused.

The brothers buy an old run-down warehouse with the intention of turning it into a juke joint, and as opening night approaches they start making the rounds to promote people to play music, or just generally show up to support their new adventure, flashing wads of bills as incentive. The thing that sucked me in during this first half of the film was the growing tension as Smoke and Stack run across old lovers and former enemies. The buildup to the big opening night is very nicely done, and the sets and costumes, not to mention the music, take the viewer into the story in a visceral way. So I was caught off guard when we finally get to the big scene and it suddenly became a (Spoiler alert) vampire movie.

It was so unexpected, and underdeveloped, that I spent the rest of the movie wondering whether we were ever going to return to some of the emotional dynamics that pulled me in to begin with, but alas, it did not. So I’m sorry to not be able to recommend this one, especially after such a promising beginning.

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Becoming Led Zeppelin (Amazon Prime)

I am on the record as being a big fan of rockumentaries, and this one is really good. And the main reason it rises to such heights is exactly the reason this band was so good, which is that almost the entire documentary is the band themselves, talking about how they came together, what they intended to accomplish, and what it was like to be in the middle of such a remarkable group.

Jimmy Page was the brainchild for this band, having just left The Yardbirds, and he still lights up as he describes the clear vision he had for what he wanted with this band. The fact that he happened to meet just the right people for that vision certainly gives the making of this band one of those stories that feels like divine intervention. John Paul Jones was considered one of the more accomplished bass players around, and he just happened to be free, and he recommended John Bonham, who most people in the know consider to be in the top three drummers of all time.

And of course Zeppelin would not be what it was without the incredible voice (and lyrics) of Robert Plant, who was essentially homeless when Page invited him to join the band. The three surviving members (Bonham died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 32 in 1980) are so articulate about their experience with the band that it feels like a real gift that they took the time to share their stories. I’ve seen Page in other documentaries, and he always seemed a little stand-offish, so maybe he was just waiting for the chance to get to the real meat of his story. He’s especially fascinating in this film. What comes through more than anything is the fact that, like so many of the most successful artists, the reason Page and Zeppelin reached such heights was in large part because he was one of those guys who was constantly practicing and thinking about music. The way he describes the development of so many of their best songs is riveting.

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The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Amazon Prime)

If you’re a fan of Bridge over the River Kwai, you will want to check out this series, which just came out on Amazon (sorry!). The story bounces between a Japanese prison camp in 1943 and the present day, focusing on the character of Dorrigo Evans, who is one of the Australian prisoners in the camp that has been given the assignment of completing a bridge at all costs, which of course includes many prisoners dying from various ailments.

The parallel story brings us to the pending book launch for the present day Dorrigo, who has become a celebrated surgeon. Dorrigo has also turned out to be kind of an asshole, in large part because he has never found the same love in his present life that he did with the woman he was involved with before the war. As Dorrigo revisits his past with the publication of his book, he tries to recapture some of the emotion of that earlier time by engaging in an affair, but it becomes clear that his unhappiness runs deep enough that he has become a complete control freak, a fact that leads to a questionable decision while performing a surgical procedure.

Both of the actors who play Dorrigo are excellent, with the veteran Irish actor Ciarán Hinds playing the older version. You have to overlook the fact that Hinds and Jacob Elordi bear almost no physical resemblance, but that’s a small price to pay for the quality of their performances. And Odessa Young is also excellent as Dorrigo’s love interest before the war. There are some brutal scenes in the prison camp, so this series has the feel of authenticity that is sometimes uncomfortable. But it also adds to the intrigue.

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Traitors

Not to be confused with the recent series starring Alan Cumming, this six part series features a group of spies operating in Europe just after the end of World War II. Which is part of what makes this story interesting—the fact that they still have spy operations after the war. Emma Appleton is very good as Feef Symonds, a British civil service worker who gets lured, although very willingly, into the world of espionage. But when she falls under the tutelage of Rowe, an American operative that lords his power over her in ways that quickly become uncomfortable and frightening, both for her and for us, the viewers, the story becomes a dark study of how people who are truly dedicated to helping their country can often find themselves in situations that challenge their sense of right and wrong. The story becomes especially fraught when Feef discovers a brutal crime that Rowe committed early in their working relationship.

Michael Stuhlbarg, who is one of those accomplished character actors that you will all recognize, is outstandingly creepy as Rowe. And Keely Hawes, another face that will be familiar to most of you, is also very good as one of Feef’s co-workers who is quietly carrying out her own form of deception.

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Glue

When a story revolves around a group of twenty-something friends, so much of the success depends on the actors chosen to play the main characters, and in this case, hats off to the casting director for the entire cast of a series that focuses on the death of a young man who is part of a tight-knit group of friends with a complicated history.

When the body of a young man named Cash is discovered on a local farm, it first appears to be an accident, but it soon becomes evident to law enforcement that Cash’s death is more complicated than it first appears. Cash’s older brother Eli, played by Callum Turner, is especially distraught over the death of his brother, and Turner does a nice job of playing the moody Eli with a sense of mystery.

But each of the main characters has their own distinct personality, as well as a reason for suspicion, especially a young man named Rob, who has a carefree and often careless attitude toward life, and sometimes pushes himself and those around him into uncomfortable situations. Rob’s semi-serious connection to the drug world complicates the story, as does his inability to commit to the young woman, Tina, who obviously loves him. So although Rob immediately becomes suspect, there is also reason to think others might have their own motives, especially when it is discovered that one of the characters was romantically involved with Cash.

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