Haven’t seen Britain’s answer to ‘The Wire,’ ‘Top Boy’? Now’s the time
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As TV critic Lorraine Ali writes in this week’s Screen Gab, the long-awaited conclusion of British crime saga “Top Boy” is now on Netflix — and if you’re just wising up to the series, that means you have five seasons of riveting television ahead of you. It’s your lucky day. (Just don’t burn through it too quickly!)
Also this week, the “Golden Bachelor” explains how he handles dating on camera, a Hal Hartley retrospective comes to Criterion and the film that kicked off the summer lands on streaming.
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“Top Boy” (Netflix)
Often referred to as a British version of “The Wire,” the drug-dealing drama “Top Boy” finally returns to Netflix this week for its fifth and final season. The saga of Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson) has amassed a rabid fan base, but don’t feel too bad if it’s the first time you’ve heard of this gripping, intense saga set in Hackney, London’s blighted Summerhouse estate. Created and written by Ronan Bennett, the series premiered in the U.K. in 2011 on Channel 4, but was dropped after two seasons. Canadian rapper Drake took an interest in rebooting the show, and in 2017, he and his team executive produced the return of “Top Boy” as a Netflix original. Walters and Robinson reprised their roles as rival dealers who do what they must to stay one step ahead of the competition. Sophisticated storytelling and stellar performances make “Top Boy” an elevated drama worthy of “The Wire” comparisons, but warning to American audiences: a preponderance of London street slang and Jamaican Patois may require closed captioning and a translation guide. Examples include the greeting “Wagwan” (“What’s going on?”), and words such as “Zoot” (a joint or spliff) or “Wasteman” (short for “the guy’s a loser”). There’s three seasons of Netflix’s “Top Boy” to enjoy, and another two of the original British series, which the streamer re-branded as a prequel called “Top Boy: Summerhouse.” —Lorraine Ali
“Directed by Hal Hartley” (Criterion Channel)
Criterion Channel, that art house of the air, has mounted a complete retrospective of the films of Hal Hartley, from 1989’s “The Unbelievable Truth,” which made his name, to 2014’s “Ned Rifle,” financed on the back of a Kickstarter campaign. Hartley’s work has a poetic formality, visually and rhythmically, that is emblematic of its time without ever feeling dated. His sensibility is essentially comic, with a tendency to turn dark and even violent (though violence in Hartley is more about choreography than brutality). An evolving stock company, notably featuring Martin Donovan, Adrienne Shelley, Parker Posey, Thomas Jay Ryan, Elina Löwensohn, Robert John Burke and James Urbaniak, makes him something like a Preston Sturges for the millennium (with millennial interests), as filtered through Jean-Luc Godard. Accompanying such features as “Simple Men,” “Amateur” and “Henry Fool” are a wealth of more abstract shorter films, a new interview with the director and “Regarding Soon,” Hartley’s film on his stage play about the Branch Davidians. As this streaming festival demonstrates, even his less “successful” films are original, personal and interesting. In their deliberate execution, they have the quality of beautiful objects, but they are lenses, too, which in framing the world change how you see it. —Robert Lloyd
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After kicking off the summer movie season with a splash, the (mostly) live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” is now streaming on Disney+. This adaptation stars Halle Bailey as the undersea princess — a casting choice that largely pleased critics but upset overly protective fans of the 1989 animated classic and, well, anti-Black audiences. (Unbothered, Bailey told The Times earlier this year that “the racism didn’t surprise me. It’s a little disappointing, but it’s bound to happen. I didn’t let it affect me and just focused on the positive response I was getting. This moment is so much bigger than any of that.”)
The rest of us can readily replay the film’s fresh takes on those beloved Alan Menken-Howard Ashman songs (“Poor Unfortunate Souls” by Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula is, surprisingly, a showstopper) as well as the new tunes co-written by “Hamilton’s” Lin-Manuel Miranda (including that rap number with Awkwafina’s Scuttle and Daveed Diggs’ Sebastian). Parents of young viewers needn’t worry if their kids are looking up to yet another Disney princess, as director and co-writer Rob Marshall made sure that this version has updated subplots and character motivations. “It’s really a story about this beautiful, passionate, headstrong girl who feels like she doesn’t fit in with anyone around her because she sees something that no one else sees,” he explained. “And so, with great sacrifice, she goes on this journey of discovery, of herself and this whole other world.”
Of all Disney‘s “live-action” remakes of its cartoon masterpieces, this one is my favorite. To me, it preserves the best of the original material while also building upon its weaker spots — not by checking “politically correct” boxes, but by creating a heroine who’s more interesting and grounded than her animated predecessor. And it’s a unique kind of nostalgia to experience the music you grew up with in a completely new way, with stunning vocal riffs, sweeping orchestral arrangements and fish that actually move like underwater ballet dancers. I hope that future attempts to bring revered Disney properties back to life will do the same — even as the next one is already attracting a backlash of its own. —Ashley Lee
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It was already daunting enough for 72-year-old Gerry Turner to dive back into the dating pool after the death of his wife, Toni, in 2017. But of course the star of “The Golden Bachelor” (Sept. 28) can’t just go on any old date: There’s no such thing as “dinner and a movie” when it comes to ABC’s reality franchise, and privacy is nonexistent thanks to those hovering cameras. “It’s a huge responsibility, but also an easy responsibility to carry out,” said Turner, who appeared on the cover of The Times’ fall TV preview. “It cuts through a lot of the garbage that may be necessary or appear to be necessary to a younger generation.” Here are some outtakes from that conversation. —Greg Braxton
On being a “casual watcher” of “The Bachelor”: “I enjoyed the plotlines, seeing the chemistry between the man and the women grow and evolve. But when I started getting ready to be on the show, I watched it with much more critical eyes. I paid attention to who was asking a particular question, how much time was being allowed for a certain activity, that sort of thing. It helped me as I tried to organize my thoughts.”
On his early dates for the series: “They’ve been exciting and of different varieties. I learned so much more about the individuals I was with, as well as some of the individuals I wasn’t with, based on their reactions.”
On having his love life so exposed: “I try very hard to ignore the cameras. I try to get myself in the moment, putting myself in a situation like I was asking this woman out in my hometown. I really tried to have the kind of environment where I could focus on the person I’m with. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
The complete guide to home viewing
Get Screen Gab for everything about the TV shows and streaming movies everyone’s talking about.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
