Friday Recs #2

Crime, Comedy, Coming of Age, and Canadians!

Happy Friday!

(Ok, so it’s Saturday…my bad! I promise I’ll get into a better rhythm with these weekly posts soon.)

Welcome to Friday Recs—short, weekly lists that share film & TV recommendations for the mood you’re in or how you want to feel, and/or are related to current happenings in my world or the culture at large.

Friday Recs will always be free.

Here we go:

Only 8 recommendations for you this week, but they’re all so good—let me know if you watch them!

1. I don’t remember exactly when I first watched Steven Zaillian’s excellent limited series, The Night Of (HBO/Crave), but I know I’ll never forget it. If you’re in the mood for a superbly written, fascinating crime series with a cast of stellar actors, including Riz Ahmed, John Turturro, Michael K. Williams (The Wire) and Bill Camp, I highly recommend this series. If you don’t know writer/director Steven Zaillian by name, you will definitely know his work, for example, the chilling and stunningly crafted Ripley (2024) starring Andrew Scott. As a writer, Zaillian is prolific and exemplary—case in point, he wrote the following screenplays: Schindler’s List (1993), Awakenings (1990 ), Looking for Bobby Fisher (1993), The Irishman (2019), Moneyball (2011), and many more. As a director, Zallian often uses specific lighting to create a connection between his characters and the audience.¹ His films are powerfully character-driven, and in The Night Of, his storytelling examines crime from various angles through the points of view of characters in the series. You definitely need to watch this.

2. Who else has fallen under the spell of whatever’s happening in Widow’s Bay? This new AppleTV series stars one of my favourite actors, Matthew Rhys, as the Mayor of a fictional coastal town with an ominous name. Rhys shines once again, using his entire body, but most notably his sad, wild, fearful, and expressive eyes to make us feel what he’s experiencing. A spooky, weird dark comedy with lots of jump scares, this new, original series is fresh, hilarious, dark, and downright fascinating. Highly recommend!

Matthew Rhys as Tom Loftis, Mayor of Widow’s Bay. 📷 AppleTV

More Matthew Rhys:

When you need a hug

3. If you’re looking for even more dark laughter, but this time with a heavy dose of anxiety by way of a hilarious, “yelly” family, check out Big Mistakes on Netflix. Brought to you by Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek), Big Mistakes stars Levy, the unbelievably talented Laurie Metcalf, and talented, relative newcomers Taylor Ortega, Boran Kuzum, and Jack Innanen.² With Big Mistakes, Levy takes what he knows (comedy and family dynamics) and injects a crime-based storyline, resulting in a ridiculous (in the best way) family crime caper comedy! (Did I just name this genre?)

4. Fans of The Bear likely noticed recently that a new episode dropped on Disney+. A standalone episode that seems to serve as a bridge between Season 5 and the upcoming final season, “Gary” brings us back in time as we join Mikey (Jon Bernthal) and Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach on a road trip to Gary, Indiana, to complete a job for Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt). The acting in this episode is just—wow. Also, they made an excellent casting choice to include Marin Ireland (Homeland, Hell or Highwater), who always delivers powerful, authentic performances.

5. Ok—I promise you I don’t just watch dark dramas, dark crime series, and dark comedies! I also like laughter, romance, and perfectly imperfect characters! Issa Rae’s HBO series Insecure is a great watch if you’re looking to fall in love with a group of friends in LA who are navigating modern Black millennial life, career, friendship, love, purpose, and self-discovery. Rae’s warm, smart, and self-effacing comedic style leads the series, as she plays Issa Dee, a character based on herself. Your heart will be warmed, you’ll laugh with Issa and her friends, and you’ll get a less-glossy, more real version of Los Angeles.

Issa Rae as Issa Dee in Insecure. 📷: Merie W. Wallace / HBO via The New Yorker

6. One of my absolute favourite movie genres is coming-of-age. Call me sentimental, but I love to watch a young person’s journey as they travel through the young adult phase of life, getting to know themselves, learning, growing, striving, failing, and forming relationships. When Heated Rivalry was brand new, and the world was introduced to the acting talents of Connor Storrie, I decided to watch the few films that he’d been in thus far, one of them being a coming-of-age film about a closeted male high school football player named Riley (HBO/Crave). Storrie doesn’t play the title role; rather, he plays a supporting character named Liam, and he steals every scene he’s in. This man is going to win an Oscar someday, mark my words! The film itself is a quiet but powerful indie that will tug at your heartstrings and make you think.

Do you also love coming-of-age films?

Here’s a list of some of my favourites.

7. In the mood for some funny/smart stand-up comedy? Check out the latest HBO special from Comedian Ramy Youssef called Ramy Youssef: In Love (Crave/HBO). In his easygoing, approachable style, this writer/actor/comedian waxes philosophical with material about his recent marriage, AI, his dog, religion, and more. If you like comedians like Hasan Minhaj or Mike Birbiglia, I think you’ll also like Ramy. It’s hard to compare him to anyone, though; he’s totally himself.

📷 IMDB

8. “This is the Tom Green Farm, it’s not the Green Tom Farm…” Canadian Comedian Tom Green is back with a brand new show on Prime Video called The Tom Green Farm. In the same vein as his former talk show, The Tom Green Show, which brought him to Hollywood, The Tom Green Farm is also a talk show hosted by…you guessed it: Tom Green! This time, Tom has moved back to Canada, he’s married, and he’s hosting his show from his sprawling, picturesque farm, which I believe is in rural Quebec. Amid his herd of horses, donkeys, cows, and his sweet rescue dog Charley, Tom interviews celebrity guests like Tony Hawk, Michael Cera, Dan Aykroyd, Chantal Kreviazuk, Jay Baruchel and more, while introducing them to the farm. His parents are there, too, of course, for those of us who remember their sweet and hilarious appearances in his former shows. For a slice of Canadiana and some quirky humour in a beautiful pastoral setting, I recommend The Tom Green Farm.

Tom Green with his dog, Charley. 📷 Bell Media via The Lede.

Ok, that’s it for now—have a happy weekend!

Thanks for reading Friday Recs on watch this: feel that. Please let me know if you watch any of these films or series! If you’ve already seen them, share what you thought in the comments!

Also, it would make my day if you’d consider sharing this post with a friend, restacking it in the Substack app, or tapping the little ❤️ to tell me you liked it.

Enjoy,

~Heather

1. https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/robert-elswit--asc--the-cinematography-of-ripley

2. Like Dan Levy, Jack Innanen is also Canadian, and he’s rumoured to be cast in Season 2 of Heated Rivalry! And yes, I will bring up Heated Rivalry whenever I can ;)