Mea Culpa
Netflix
If you're looking for the kind of movie to watch with the gals over a bottle of wine for a few laughs, Mea Culpa is it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Not that it's a comedy - it's supposed to be a sexy thriller, but it is just unintentionally hilarious.
The film, which puts Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland in the lead role, follows a Chicago lawyer, conveniently named Mea, who takes on the case of an artist who has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend.
Her insufferable brother-in-law is the assistant district attorney who is prosecuting the case, causing tension within her already strained marriage to ramp up.
The artist, Zyair (Trevante Rhodes, from Moonlight), is cocky and self-assured, and almost immediately starts flirting with his new lawyer.
It's a shame that there's zero chemistry between them and their dialogue is utterly cringe-inducing (Zyair says, "I hug you when I see you because I love the way you feel", despite us never having seen him hug Mea).
Add to that a cartoonishly ridiculous mother-in-law who is constantly demeaning Mea in what seems to be an attempt to spark outrage in viewers, leaps in plot progression that make no sense, and laughably silly sex scenes and you've got your next hate watch.
The film was written and directed by Tyler Perry, and it's difficult to reconcile that the man who made the pensive and understated A Jazzman's Blues also made this film.
But when you've got the creative freedom of running your own studio, it seems you can make whatever you want, however terrible.
The Greatest Love Story Never Told
Prime Video
Coming on the heels of Jennifer Lopez's 'cinematic original' This Is Me ... Then - a sort of narrative-driven, semi-autobiographical visual album project - is this documentary, taking viewers behind the scenes of the making of that project.
The feature-length doco is far more interesting and well-conceived than the film itself, and pulls back the curtain on JLo's relationship with Ben Affleck.
Affleck, who barely appears in This Is Me ... Then, is a big part of The Greatest Love Story Never Told, speaking to camera himself and also serving as interviewer to his famous wife.
The doco charts the making of the album and accompanying cinematic original, Lopez's decision to self-fund after her deal falls through, and some history of the notorious couple's history.
The name of the documentary comes from a collection of letters and emails Affleck pulled together into a book for Lopez, which she then shared with her album/film collaborators.
"I did see the irony in that it's 'the greatest love story never told' and if you're making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it", he says early on.
Most interesting is the ease with which JLo and co just name all the people who she tried to get in her film who said no or pulled out, like Khloe Kardashian, Anthony Ramos and Vanessa Hudgens.
The biggest takeaway from this documentary (which is probably only really suited to people who are already invested in this famous pair, unlike JLo's Netflix documentary Halftime, which is a great watch for anyone) is how much Lopez really loves Affleck, and how supportive the couple are of one another.
Shogun
Disney+
This lush new series takes a dive into feudal Japan, with various important houses vying for control of country in the early 1600s.
Straight away it's clear that a lot of attention has been paid to costuming detail to ensure it's period accurate, and this goes a long way to immersing the audience in the expensive-looking show.
We open with some European sailors in search of 'the Japans', and they're speaking English, before jumping into a significant stretch of Japanese language drama.
Stars Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat), Cosmo Jarvis (Persuasion) and more.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Netflix
It's always dangerous to adapt something as fiercely loved as Avatar: The Last Airbender series (see the much-maligned 2010 film), but this series tries to capture the feel of the animation.