Britain and the Blitz — Netflix
It’s more than 80 years since the bombing of British cities by the Luftwaffe helped to create the “keep calm and carry on” legend of the UK sticking together in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. World War 2 documentaries are a dime a dozen on the History Channel, but director Ella Wright, taking a page from Peter Jackson’s moving 2018 World War 1 documentary They Shall Never Grow Old, mostly breathes new life into her rich, colourised archive footage of the devastation of the period. Snippets of interviews from those who lived through it to paint a riveting portrait of a bygone era that shaped the national psyche of post-war Britain.
Tendaberry — Mubi.com
Taking its title from singer-songwriter Laura Nyro’s 1969 album New York Tendaberry, director Haley Elizabeth Anderson’s lyrical feature debut combines several formats, including razor-sharp 4K, grainy Super 8mm and 1980s VHS. It explores the daily life and inner world of its 20-something Dominican American protagonist, Dakota, as she navigates life in New York over the course of four seasons of a year. After her Ukrainian boyfriend goes to find his ailing father in his beleaguered homeland, Dakota is left to fend for herself in a place that’s both frustrating and harshly unsympathetic to her crises.
Better Man — Rent or buy from Apple TV+
On paper, director Michael Gracey’s VFX-heavy biopic seems preposterous. The story of the remarkable rise, dramatic fall and determined resurgence of pop star Robbie Williams told in the voice of its subject but substituting his presence with that of a CGI monkey sounds too ridiculous to be the idea for a feature film. But Gracey’s crazy idea mostly works to engaging and entertaining effect, turning the traditional, stale music biopic genre on its head and making much out of Williams’ story.
Long Way Home — Apple TV+
Best friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman have made something of a TV cottage industry out of their motorcycle travelogue journeys since 2004. Here they reunite, riding vintage bikes from McGregor’s Scottish home to Boorman’s English one via a very circuitous route that takes them through Europe and offers fans a chance to see them as still great friends as well as older and mostly wiser tour guides.
Casino — Prime Video
It’s 30 years since Martin Scorsese rejoined Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci for this epic expansion of the gangster world of Goodfellas. It follows the highs and lows of the story of two best friends who make very different marks on the shady world of Las Vegas. Still visually impressive in execution and carried by impressive performances, especially from Sharon Stone in an Oscar-winning turn as a Vegas hustler who worms her way into the heart of De Niro’s low-level Jewish mobster Ace Rothstein with destructive consequences, it’s a nostalgic but sharp-eyed examination of a bygone world that’s since been replaced by the shiny spectacle of the Vegas we know and hate today.
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