Media diary: October 20, 2019

Media commentary for October 20, 2019:

What's new on Netflix? I'm in a skip-and-sample mood:

The Spy

Exceptionally taut thriller -- tense and exciting from the first shot -- sharp script.

This is serious work inspired by historical events, in no way a vanity vehicle for Sasha Baron Cohen: it's an ensemble effort to which Cohen contributes his understated but intense performance.

Highly recommended.

Traitor

Co-star and executive producer Don Cheadle does admirable work in this timely and nuanced thriller. Set in Sudan and Yemen, the film is rich in, and sympathic to, Arab cultural life.

Highly recommended.

Battle Creek

Also, from the other day: Battle Creek -- mismatched-cop-buddies show -- highly recommended. The buddy dynamic and the humor in general reminds me of The Good Guys, although Battle Creek does not have the comic absurdism of TGG.

Highly recommended.

-- Karl Jones