Best Shows, Books & Podcasts – March 2024
While lost in Jersey, we subscribed to every streaming service out there: Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, Prime, HBO Max, and beyond. Janette watches a ton of TV, and Rachel does her part too. We also read some and search for the best podcasts to inspire us to keep going. We aren’t the NYTimes reviews, but we have our opinions. Last month, we shared them and it was a hit! So we’ve decided to make it a monthly segment. So tune in and watch our Picks & Skips and let us know what you think! Comments are open. Plus, we will keep adding to our monthly webpage so keep checking back in to see what’s new!
Best Shows to Watch
Deadlock on Amazon Prime
Not new but a newly found gem. Two vastly different female detectives are thrown together to solve the murder of a local man in the sleepy seaside hamlet of Deadloch. Rachel really enjoyed this show, mentioning that she laughed out loud, but she’s a laugher. More convincingly, her husband also laughed out loud, so it might indeed be very funny! Check out this Australian show Deadlock on Amazon Prime. Rachel describes it as a dark comedy murder mystery with clever twists on gender stereotypes. Recommended.
Constellation on Apple
Worth the watch, but with some fast-forwarding involved. Not too much, because once you get to episode 6, you will want to backtrack. It’s good, verging on really good, TBD based on how the session wraps up. However, Episode 6 sold Janette on this series. Also, be ready to deal with Apple TV pausing glitches. Initially, I thought it was a creative choice but later realized it was a streaming problem.
American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders on Netflix
The first episode really repeats itself, but as the series progresses, it truly makes you wonder about the deep state. Watch it if you enjoy true crime.
The Gentleman on Netflix
Janette was sick on Friday and Saturday and binge-watched this. It started out promising and got a little silly, but then picked back up. It turned out to be a very stylized, fast-paced mix of Breaking Bad meeting Ocean’s Eleven type of series. It has pretty things to look at with funny undertones throughout. Stream it.
Shogun on FX
When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies. It’s a fictionalized version of true events with a lot of creative license from what I’ve read on the internet machine. It’s a fresh version of James Clavell’s 1975. I love that it’s in Japanese. It’s visually beautiful. It does at times come off as silly with the British and Japanese love interests that seem to be brewing. Janette had a hard time finishing episodes 4 and 5 because of the love brewing. It might just be her. Nevertheless, Janette says to watch it with some small reservations.
Shows We Have Mixed Feelings About
Palm Royal on Apple TV
The cast drew me in immediately. Carol Burnett is in it! Then Kristen Wig, Laura Dern, Allison Janney, love them all. The premise per IMDB “An ambitious woman schemes to secure her seat at America’s most exclusive table: Palm Beach high society circa 1969.” Three episodes are out. The first one was shaky. The writing is good but not great. But Kristen Wig and the other characters with their 1969 snobbery antics kept me watching along with great custom and set design. There’s a rooting for the underdog quality and an anticipation to see Carol Burnett take hold of an entire episode that keeps me holding on. It’s not a love at first episode but it grows on you.
The Regime on HBO
The Regime, starring Academy Award winner Kate Winslet, tells the story of life within the walls of a modern authoritarian regime as it unravels. The darkly comedic, six-episode series. It pains us to say skip it – maybe. We both love Kate Winslet, but the creative direction of the first episode lost our interest almost immediately. One episode is out, maybe the next one will turn us around.
The New Look on Apple
Janette is watching The New Look on Apple TV, which is about Coco Chanel and Christian Dior. The show does not explicitly mention Germany’s occupation of France or how Coco and Dior navigated that time. It is decent, although it’s strange that it’s in English. However, it drags a bit and doesn’t delve deeply enough into the main topics of fashion or the French occupation to make it a must-watch. Overall, Janette rates it around a 6 out of 10.
True Detective: Night Country on HBO
Now that we’ve seen the whole season we say watch it to see the great acting, but skip through it to get to the end. Be sure to Google What the hell is going on in True Detective because it’s like, um, well, it’s crazy. Rachel rates this higher than Janette but still agrees it was nuts.
Movie Recommendations
Revolution on Canvas on HBO
Seminal Iranian modern artist and pro-democracy activist, Nicky Nodjoumi, fled Iran in 1980, and joined his wife, Nahid, and daughter, Sara, in New York City. Forty years later, Sara begins an investigation to track down and reclaim her father’s lost artwork from Tehran. A Revolution on Canvas chronicles her search while examining religious and political extremism, the sacrifices of creative freedom and activism, and the enduring power of art. Highly recommended by Janette, the filmmakers are her friends. She’s seen it twice. Just released on HBO.
A hapless family man (Nicolas Cage) finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. When his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom. Janette saw this at the Montclair Film Festival, and it was pretty darn good. Recommend it for a quirky, dark look at what internet fame can give and take.
Podcast Recommendation
The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome Podcast
In December 2016, a US official in Havana went to the embassy medical center to report a debilitating and confounding illness. The symptoms included headaches, nausea, hearing loss, problems with memory and vision – and its onset was characterized by hearing… something. A buzzing, hissing, grinding sound. Highly recommended by Rachel.
Book Recommendation
Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
A journalist’s twenty-year fascination with the Manson murders leads to gobsmacking (The Ringer) new revelations about the FBI’s involvement in this kaleidoscopic (The New York Times) reassessment of an infamous case in American history. Only on chapter 6, but it’s a pretty good read or listen in Janette’s case. All Janette can say at the moment is wow, things are not as they seem. And some grannies are hiding secrets.
For more recommendations see our last month’s picks.
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