Thom Yorke in Anima
Anima
This succinct slice of weirdness has just showed up on Netflix and it's well worth your time. And not just because it only demands 15 minutes of it. Anima is a collaboration between acclaimed film director Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread) and Radiohead's Thom Yorke, and is described as "a one-reeler". This is an esoteric way to say "short film", although we'd opt for the more accurate term "music video" because really that's what this is. The difference being that instead of accompanying just one song, this intriguingly odd and surreal short has been scored to various songs from Yorke's accompanying, and excellent, new album of the same name. So what's it about? Hard to say, although familiarity with his usual preoccupations - alienation, rebelling against routine/the system/corporations, the zombie state of society etc - will help grasp understanding. The dreamlike nature of its narrative and its heavy lean into interpretive dance leaves the viewer to discover the bigger meanings and themes behind Anderson's beautifully shot and haunting visuals for themselves. (Netflix)
The InBetween
This new crime drama sounds a bit like the producers were inspired by our very own Sensing Murder, but instead of pretending "real" psychic powers were involved they decided to just be upfront about the show being fiction. Described as a "paranormal drama" the show follows a medium who is reluctantly roped in to using her psychic powers to help a veteran police detective solve a grizzly murder. But not everyone involved in solving the case believes in her insights or the legitimacy of her dark visions. The supernatural twist makes it stand out from the glut of procedurals and the series is said to be high on spooky suspense. New episodes weekly from tomorrow. (Lightbox)
Crazy Rich Asians
The rom-com the world fell in love with last year sashays extravagantly on to Neon this Saturday. And yes, that is a valid enough reason to cancel any plans you may have had for the evening. The movie, adapted from Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel, is about a professor who discovers her boyfriend's family is insanely wealthy - and more than a little bit crazy - after they travel to his home in Singapore to attend his buddy's wedding. Even TimeOut's usually hard-nosed reviewer found the movie's charms impossible to resist describing it as an, "effervescent breath of fresh cinematic air" and calling it "ridiculously entertaining" in our four-star review. (Neon)
Stranger Things
Everybody's favourite 80s sci-fi horror throwback returns for its third season today. Set a year after the events of season two, the gang faces new dangers, enemies, monsters and perhaps their greatest horror of all: a new shopping mall ...
Yes, it's true. The sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana is getting its first mall. At this stage we're not sure what terrifying creatures will be lurking inside, underneath or upside down this church of consumerism, but if it's being mentioned in the press release then you know that only means one thing for the kids: trouble. (Netflix)