It’s been a rough two months in the entertainment industry. No, I’m not talking about layoffs or strikes; I’m talking about the dearth of high-quality 2024 movies and TV shows out there. Since January 1, there have been more critical misses than hits: Mean Girls, The Book of Clarence, Good Grief, Argylle, Madame Web … the list seems endless. Only True Detective: Night Country and Masters of the Air have broken through and satisfied audiences.
Well, Netflix is going to change all that in March. Their programming slate is packed with potential hits like Damsel with Millie Bobby Brown and 3 Body Problem from the creators of Game of Thrones. But three shows stand out and warrant special attention: one is a streaming spinoff of an underrated Guy Ritchie movie, another is a real-life version of Boogie Nights without the disco and flattering prosthetics, and the last one could be the next breakout streaming hit.
Time has been kind to Guy Ritchie. The British filmmaker has been one of the most consistent directors of the last 20 years, churning out one good British crime movie after another. (We’ll just forget Swept Away with his then-wife Madonna ever happened, OK?) One of his best was the 2019 movie The Gentlemen, a very funny, very violent action-comedy that starred Matthew McConaughey as an American in Paris England who wants to quit his successful marijuana-selling business and retire. His decision sets off a succession war that involves Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant, Jeremy Strong, Henry Golding, and a host of great English character actors.
The series The Gentlemen is a spinoff of the movie, and boasts a great cast as well. The White Lotus‘ Theo James is the lead pot dealer, with Joely Richardson, Kaya Scodelario, Giancarlo Esposito, Vinnie Jones, and Ray Winstone all wanting a piece of the Mary Jane action. Ritchie helmed the first two of eight episodes, so there’s sure to be the director’s trademark irreverent humor and sudden bursts of violence throughout the series.
Call this one A Porn Star is Born. Like the great Paul Thomas Anderson movie Boogie Nights, Supersex chronicles the rise of an actor in the adult movie industry. Unlike Boogie‘s Dirk Diggler, Supersex‘s protagonist is real: Rocco Siffredi, an Italian actor who became one of porn’s most recognizable figures in the 1990s and 2000s. The series promises an epic take on an unusual life, with scenes depicting everything from Siffredi’s humble origins in a tiny Italian village to the beginning of his career in Paris’ seedy Pigalle district to finding international fame in America and abroad.
The show might sound salacious, but it’s backed by an impressive creative team that includes lead actor Alessandro Borghi, who starred in one of 2023’s best movies, The Eight Mountains, and showrunner Francesca Manieri, who wanted to explore Siffredi’s life and masculinity through a feminist lens. Unlike Netflix’s other, more moderate biopics like Maestro and Rustin, Supersex, at the very least, won’t be boring to watch.
From drugs to sex to even more drugs, Iron Reign promises to outdo The Gentlemen in the violence department with little of the Guy Ritchie humor to alleviate the tension. That’s a good thing, as this series hailing from Spain promises to be just as thrilling as other classic Netflix shows like Narcos and Money Heist.
The plot is pretty simple: family man Joaquín Manchado oversees a successful seaport in Barcelona that is secretly used as a main shipment center for drugs. But once a big shipment of cocaine goes missing, Joaquín has to protect himself and his family from the fallout and find out what happened — and fast. What Iron Reign lacks in recognizable faces, it more than makes up for its intriguing plot. This one has the potential to be a nail-biter, and could be Netflix‘s next big binge-worthy hit.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.