TOKYO VICE, s2 (2024)

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If the narrative and temporal catch-up to Jake and Katagiri's meeting with Tozawa's right hand from the (MIchael Mann-directed) pilot in one of the last episodes of this season is any indication, I'll be more surprised if there's a third season than if there isn't – but what a fantastic ending to a great, underrated show and/or season: more amped up than the first, a steady, pulpier unfolding with great characters (this season belonged to Show Kasamatu's Sato and Rinko Kincuchi's – still one of my favorite actors, her role in Rian Johnson's THE BROTHERS BLOOM being a favorite – Emi and, to a slightly lesser extent, Rachel Keller's Samantha) whom I'll miss – yes, even Engelgort's Jake, whom, like nearly every other character at one point in the show, I wanted to punch (Engelgort's still the weak point of the show; I wish they had kept Daniel Radcliffe in the role from the unproduced film version) – dearly. Great show: if you didn't watch it, give it a binge. (**** / *****)

KIMI (Steven Soderbergh, 2022)

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(****+ / *****) :: Nothing quite like Soderbergh putting on his genre hat – THE LIMEY, OUT OF SIGHT, and OCEAN'S 11 – and paying homage to his influences / inspirations while exploring modern (and timeless) themes in tight, taut, 90-minute packages: in the case of KIMI, Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW, De Palma's BLOW OUT, and Coppola's THE CONVERSATION (which I really, really need to revisit). Zoe Kravitz is exceptional and, until her turn here, I never imagined Rita Wilson as a company line corporate shill. More like this, please.

TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY (2024)

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(****+ / *****) :: Brilliant return to form (though I'm not among the legion that loathed season two, I can't remember much of anything about season three, other than Mahershala Ali being, unsurprisingly, excellent) courtesy of a director whose work I now need to devour. Should the series continue, would love to see it take the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE pre-McQuarrie route, a different writer/director taking a swing at a season/series (Barry Jenkins, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Lynne Ramsay, Jordan Peele, and Werner Herzog (see: BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS, great underrated film) being the first that spring to mind; would've included Jane Campion but she did it with TOP OF THE LAKE and Nicolas Winding-Refn but same with TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG and COPENHAGEN COWBOY). Will miss seeing the Ennisians on our Sunday night visit – I would've gladly spent the remainder of the long night with them (hanging with Rose would be brilliant) – but I'll especially miss Danvers's latest weekly variation on "fuck." Corpsicle FTW.

THE LOBSTER (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2015)

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Input trend of "catch up from the last 10-80 years and finally explore" – see: Cassavetes, The Safdies, Chester Himes, et al – continues with Yorgos Lanthimos (the cinematic Gogol?) and this gem: darkly hilarious in its exploration of the stupidity of extremes (no one here is immune – everyone seems to have the emotional capacity of schoolchildren at recess (which, when it comes to love, I suppose we all do), to wonderful – and horrifying – effect) and far more moving than its weird would lead one to believe. All of Lanthimos’s work duly added to the "must-watch" list.