This is the story of two Baltimore women in the 1960s: affluent white Jewish housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz [played by Natalie Portman] and Black, all-but-single mother Cleo [Moses Ingram] who is working three jobs to try to lift herself and her children out of the life of struggle that otherwise beckons, and away from the temptations and dangers offered by the underbelly of the city.Guardian critic Lucy Mangan calls this mini-series “altogether masterly” and “an incredibly sumptuous and fearless aesthetic experience.” She goes on to write: “The whole endeavour is a dense, clever, impeccably written, acted, shot and scored offering that is designed to be consumed slowly, episode by episode, not binged. You may finish each one feeling slightly battered and exhausted—perhaps more impressed than moved, but that’s OK. Give it a few days to bed in and the love will come.”
Their lives begin to converge when a child, Tessie, goes missing at the Thanksgiving Day parade. The indifference of Maddie’s husband, Milton (Brett Gelman), triggers a fury in his long-frustrated wife, who ends up finding Tessie’s body herself and leaving Milton and her son, Seth (Noah Jupe), to start afresh. The only place she can afford on her own is in a Black area [of Baltimore, Maryland] and even that requires faking a robbery of her insured jewellery when she falls behind in rent. As the investigation into Tessie’s murder continues, Maddie’s latent journalistic ambitions stir and she begins to claw her way into the favour of the Baltimore Sun.
Lady in the Lake will run through August 23. A trailer is below.
• In Reference to Murder reports that “Michael Mann is making a sequel to his 1995 film Heat and is working on writing the screenplay, which is based on the novel Heat 2 that he co-authored with Meg Gardiner. Mann told the Los Angeles Times that he wants to begin shooting the film by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. Heat followed the conflict between LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and a career thief, Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro), and also starred Val Kilmer as McCauley's right-hand man. Heat 2 will function as both a prequel and a sequel to Heat, jumping between two time periods. Although there's no word official yet on casting, Adam Driver and Austin Butler are rumored to be taking over DeNiro and Kilmer’s roles.”
• Sherlock Holmes once again demonstrates his durability, as Deadline brings more news about the casting of Young Sherlock, a Prime Video series from director Guy Ritchie. The latest recruit is English actor Colin Firth, who is slated to play a character with a mouthful of a moniker, Sir Bucephalus Hodge. He joins previously confirmed cast members Hero Fiennes, Zine Tseng, Joseph Fiennes, and Natascha McElhone. “Written by Matthew Parkhill [and] inspired by Andy Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes book series, the show re-imagines Sherlock Holmes at age 19,” Deadline explains. “Disgraced, raw, unfiltered, and unformed, he finds himself caught up in a murder mystery at Oxford University which threatens his freedom. Diving into his first-ever case with a wild lack of discipline, Sherlock (Fiennes Tiffin) manages to unravel a globe-trotting conspiracy that will change his life forever.” Filming of Young Sherlock began earlier this month.
• Speaking of Prime, we have finally received word that the crime thriller series Cross—produced by and starring Aldis Hodge—will debut on that Amazon premium channel come November 14. It is based on James Patterson’s long-running succession of novels about Alex Cross, described by Deadline as “a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, to identify—and ultimately capture—the murderers.” I recall Hodge fondly from Leverage and its sequel, Leverage: Redemption; it’ll be nice to see him back on the small screen. He will be joined on Cross by Isaiah Mustafa, Juanita Jennings, Alona Tal, Samantha Walkes, Caleb Elijah, and others. Ben Watkins, formerly of Truth Be Told and Burn Notice, will serve as the drama’s showrunner.
• Tucked deep in this Variety piece about the influential Hollywood talent agency Independent Artists Group is news that a series adapted from John Connolly’s “beloved novels about the detective Charlie Parker” is in “early development” by Village Roadshow Television. Its producers include Colin Farrell and Bryan Cranston.
• A final TV-related note: Filming of the second season of Peacock’s Poker Face, starring Natasha Lyonne and created by Rian Johnson (Knives Out), began on July 1. Among the guest stars signed to appear in the new episodes, says Variety, are Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Holmes, Gaby Hoffmann, and Kumail Nanjiani. Lyonne directed one of those forthcoming installments.
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