Tag: Chris Bauer

His & Hers

STREAMING REVIEW:

Netflix;
Thriller;
Rated TV-MA.
Stars Tessa Thompson, Jon Bernthal, Pablo Schreiber, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Sunita Mani, Crystal Fox, Marin Ireland, Poppy Liu, Chris Bauer.

Netflix’s “His & Hers” is a sharp and engaging limited series (six 45-minute episodes) that retools the traditional small-town murder mystery into a study of domestic wreckage and professional rivalry. Set in the humid outskirts of Atlanta in Dahlonega, the story tracks a high-profile newscaster who, after a year of exile following the death of her infant, returns to her job and hometown to investigate murders involving her childhood friends. It is a sleek, industry-focused noir — a style that uses dark, cynical themes but polishes them with high-end production to show the cutthroat nature of the news media world. While it doesn’t reach the level of prestige series such as “Breaking Bad” or “Ozark,” it features a powerhouse cast and top-tier production, making it an addictive, “guilty pleasure” thriller.

The series avoids the sterile, “catalog-ready” look of many streaming mysteries. Instead, showrunner and British film and theatre director William Oldroyd uses gritty, tactile realism. You can practically feel the Georgia heat and the mess of the grieving households, which makes the small-town setting feel less like a safe haven and more like a weaponized trap. The show is a major project for Freckle Films, the banner led by Jessica Chastain, who partnered with Fifth Season — the studio behind “Severance” — to ensure the show looks expensive and cinematic, even when the plot gets “theatrical.”

Tessa Thompson holds the mystery together as Anna Andrews, a woman caught between professional ambition and personal ruin. Thompson, who you might recognize from her roles as Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Bianca in the “Creed” franchise, brings a grounded, volatile energy to Anna. Opposite her, Jon Bernthal provides a necessary anchor as Jack Harper, Anna’s estranged husband and the lead detective. Bernthal is a veteran of intense, character-driven action, having led Marvel’s “The Punisher” and played the unforgettable Shane in “The Walking Dead.” Bernthal makes it work despite his character being deeply flawed and making several missteps.

The “juice” of the show is the web of infidelity: Jack slept with a murder victim, and Anna retaliated by sleeping with Richard (Pablo Schreiber), the cameraman husband of her professional rival. Their interracial dynamic is handled naturally, focusing on the remains of a broken marriage — defined here as the total emotional and structural collapse of a private life — rather than social tropes. By casting actors of Thompson and Bernthal’s stature, the production ensures that these messy, personal betrayals feel like high-stakes drama rather than simple tabloid fodder.

The supporting cast keeps the pacing lean, tracing a group of characters still stuck in high school pecking orders. Rebecca Rittenhouse shines as Lexy Jones, the rival newscaster who changed her name from Catherine Kelly to bury a past of being severely bullied for being fat. Her transformation from a victimized outsider into a thin, ruthless competitor highlights the theme that you can’t outrun your origins. Joining the investigation is Sunita Mani, known from “Glow” and “Mr. Robot,” as Detective Priya, Jack’s partner. Mani plays a vital role as the team player who throws us off; as a secondary sleuth, she often casts doubt on the primary investigation, keeping us wondering if the detectives themselves have something to hide. While the series occasionally goes over the top — like a grandstanding news report where you’ll want to yell at the mayor to grab the mic — the acting keeps you invested.

“His & Hers” isn’t perfect, but it respects our time by delivering a fast-paced, intentionally misdirected story that is worth watching.

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Thunderbolts*

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Street Date 7/29/25;
Disney/Marvel;
Action;
Box Office $189.99 million;
$34.99 DVD, $40.99 Blu-ray, $43.99 UHD BD; $55.99 UHD Steelbook;
Rated ‘PG-13’ for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references.
Stars Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Olga Kurylenko, Wendell Pierce, Chris Bauer, Geraldine Viswanathan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thunderbolts* finds the franchise in a bit of a rebuilding mode coming off a string of underwhelming adventures while trying to set up the next big crossover.

Mostly a sequel to Black Widow, the highly entertaining film comes across like Marvel’s version of DC’s Suicide Squad, in which a dysfunctional team of rogues conduct covert missions for a shadowy figure in the U.S. government.

In this case, the team is comprised of several secondary characters and villains from previous Marvel movies and TV series whose actors were still under contract and could be assembled for a team-up project easily enough.

Leading the pack is Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, who continues to struggle to find meaning in the world following the events of Avengers: Endgame, so she dutifully carries out missions on behalf of embattled CIA chief Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

After blowing up a secret laboratory, Yelena wants out of the business. Val, however, needs to thwart a congressional investigation by eliminating all evidence of her off-the-books activities. So she sends all her secret operatives to kill each other at an isolated warehouse. They include U.S. Agent John Walker (Wyatt Russell) from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) from Black Widow, and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) from Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Their fight is interrupted by the awakening of Bob (Lewis Pullman), who had been in stasis at the site as part of another of Val’s secret projects that centered on creating new superheroes to fill the void left by the members of the Avengers going their separate ways.

The group quickly assesses what Val was up to and join forces to try to stop her. They are soon joined by Yelena’s adoptive father Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who is now a congressman following the events of Captain America: Brave New World.

The film has some Guardians of the Galaxy vibes in the way the group of lovable losers comes together to find purpose in their alliance. The story is breezy and irreverent, though it turns dark and serious toward the end before rebounding back to the humorous sensibilities that make it a fun watch overall.

The home entertainment presentations of the film include a good commentary with director Jake Schreier; a funny three-minute gag reel; two 30-second deleted scenes that aren’t very significant; and three featurettes: The nine-minute “Around the World and Back Again,” about the film’s locations and production design; the seven-and-a-half-minute “Assembling a Team to Remember,” about the cast; and the 10-and-a-half-minute “All About Bob, Sentry & The Void,” a look at Pullman’s pivotal role in the story.

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*The New Avengers

Heels: The Complete First Season

DVD REVIEW: 

Lionsgate;
Drama;
$34.98 two-DVD set;
Not rated.
Stars Stephen Amell, Alexander Ludwig, Allison Luff, Mary McCormack, Kelli Berglund, Allen Maldonado, James Harrison, Roxton Garcia, Chris Bauer, David James Elliott.

The Starz series “Heels” examines the behind-the-scenes drama of a fictional independent family run wrestling organization in rural Georgia.

Former “Arrow” star Stephen Amell is a natural choice to headline the series, given he’s such a huge fan of professional wrestling he actually participated in storylines and matches for WWE.

Amell plays Jack Spade, who runs the Duffy Wrestling League and also serves as its champion. Jack is the DWL’s primary “heel,” which is wrestling parlance for a bad guy. His brother Ace (Alexander Ludwig) is the DWL’s primary face, aka good guy, and the top contender for the title.

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While the DWL remains a popular attraction among the locals, it is struggling financially, fending off a glitzy, well-funded upstart organization from Florida. By day, Jack works as a salesman for riding lawnmowers, though he remains dedicated to keeping the DWL alive to maintain the legacy of his father (David James Elliott), who committed suicide a year earlier and whose plight is depicted in flashbacks.

Wrestling fans should enjoy some of the nods to the inner workings of professional wrestling, but the show also works simply as a family drama. Non-fans will get a good lesson in the mechanics of the wrestling business, including terms such as “kayfabe,” which refers to the presentation of the fictional storylines and characters as if they were real. This often extends to performers who are friends in real life but enemies in the ring avoiding each other in public just to keep up appearances and help sell their feud to the audience.

While the matches might be staged, the competition behind-the-scenes is very real, with the wrestlers jockeying for position among the company’s roster. Solid performers will get a push, and loyalty is rewarded.

 

When Ace’s ego begins to blur the lines between his character and his real self, the in-ring feud between the brothers boils over into real life, which could have a devastating impact on the future of the DWL.

The flipside of kayfabe, however, sometimes means pretending things that weren’t planned were indeed part of the intended storyline all along, so as not to give the impression the organizers don’t have a handle on what they’re doing.

 

With Ace as a wild card in Jack’s attempts to steer the DWL toward lasting success despite the pressure of a rival organization, the series manages to apply the framework of wrestling storylines to the Spades’ family drama. The potential for betrayal constantly looms, subverting audience expectations over how the DWL’s in-ring storyline is supposed to play out.

The eight episodes of the first season provide a solid foundation for a series that can be enjoyed by both wrestling fans and casual viewers alike.

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