Netflix Is A Joke — Cultural Digest #3
Dare I toot my own horn?
It’s a Netflix takeover.
In my last post I talked about an intense 18 month period of work and the fruits of my labour are finally birthing out into the world — and everything’s everywhere all at once. Wasn’t planning quadruplets but no one ever is. I’m British so I’m thrilled but also a little bit embarrassed so let’s get this over with!
Three Netflix projects in the next four weeks INCOMING plus a cheeky little movie three weeks after that. So that’s three in four on Netflix and then the fourth in another three, in cinemas. Still with me? In fact the first of the three, A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou, is already available to watch because it landed on Netflix earlier this week.
Here. We. Go.
A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou
28 February 2023, Netflix
This might be the most surreal and joyous thing I have ever filmed and/or been a part of.
Jamie Demetriou aka Bus Rodent aka Tooth Man aka Stath (who Let’s Flats) aka multi-BAFTA Award winning comedy genius has made this hour long special and I got to spend two days laughing till I choked working on it. Good luck if you can spot me in it though, even friends of mine didn’t recognise me but I promise I’m in the mix there somewhere sporting a delightful wig, with a classic combo of kaftan and trainers.
A Whole Lifetime is a series of absurdist musical comedy sketches straight out of Jamie’s bizarre and brilliant mind. It defs won’t be for everyone but it is for those who love Jamie’s work or who love off-the-wall comedy, or who love any number of the unbelievable collection of comedians who pop up in it. It’s already out on Netflix and I’ve watched it five times.
The only thing it’s missing is Jamie’s superstar sister, Natasia, who was away working on What We Do In The Shadows so sadly couldn’t be a part of it, though funnily enough she voices a character alongside me in…
The Magician’s Elephant
17 March 2023, Netflix
“Extraordinary things are possible, if you believe…”
The Magician’s Elephant
What if, what if, what if…?
This animation is so so SO beautiful - even just to look at but the story is gorgeous too. It’s directed by the wonderful and hugely experienced Wendy Rogers who is currently doing the rounds on the film awards circuit for her work on the supremely enjoyable Puss In Boots.
Based on Kate DiCamillo’s beloved children’s book of the same name, The Magician’s Elephant follows the story of Peter (Noah Jupe), an orphan desperate to find his long-lost sister, presumed dead, whilst living in a town aching with loss and still finding it’s new foundations following a lengthy and brutal war.
After spending his last penny on a fortune teller (Natasia Demetriou) who confirms that his sister is still alive but gives him no indication of how to find her other than giving him a cryptic instruction to ‘follow the elephant’, Peter must trust the signs, believe in the impossible and restore hope to the city in order to find his sister and fulfil his destiny.
I first started work on this almost three years ago (so goes the painstakingly long process of making an animation) with an amazing ensemble of actors including Brian Tyree Henry, Benedict Wong, Miranda Richardson, Mandy Patinkin and of course Natasia Demetriou. It’s perfect family viewing, more optimistic than the sun on a crisp Winter’s day and for anyone seeking some HOPE, coming in at just under 1 hour 40 mins I think it’s a worthy whirl to be given.
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UNSTABLE
30 March 2023, Netflix
As one of the biggest Parks & Recreation fans in existence, this is the big one.
For other mega fans of Parks you’ll certainly get why I was starstruck on set every day — UNSTABLE stars Rob Lowe and features Alison Becker (yes, the Shauna Malwae-Tweep) and Fred Armisen (Sister City ep anyone??) to name but a few, alongside a brrrrrilliant ensemble including Rob’s actual son, John Owen Lowe, playing his character’s son — things are about to get super meta!
Rob plays Ellis Dragon, a universally admired, eccentric, narcissist-adjacent biotech entrepreneur, who’s recently lost his wife and is struggling to show up to the planet saving break-through he’s on the verge of solving. I play Anna, his Chief Financial Officer — likes shoulder pads, spreadsheets and colleagues who do what she tells them.
Whilst Ellis attempts to re-find himself - working on everything but the project the company needs him to - Anna (me) sends for his estranged son, Jackson, to come and help bring his father back to life, back to earth and back to the lab to focus on the great and good work he was born to do.
I truly can’t believe I’m in this — the first scene I had to film with Rob I had a full out of body experience. Turns out, having someone’s face on your wall as a teenager makes for a lot of cognitive dissonance when they’re apparently now your peer, but I’m proud of this one. We had so much fun making it and I think that translates wonderfully to the end product not least for the incredible chemistry between Rob and his son, who famously troll each other online and now get to do it in front of all of us, in person.
It’s an out and out US sitcom, silly in all the right ways and full of heart in none of the wrong ones.
CHEVALIER
21st April 2023, in cinemas and on Disney+
Who is Chevalier?
In 1745, Joseph Bologne was born to Nanon, an enslaved Senegalese woman and Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges a wealthy and married plantation owner in the then French Colony of Guadeloupe.
A gifted musician, his father brought him to Paris to be educated where his talents for fencing as well as music excelled him to prominence within the French Court and he too was made Chevalier by Marie-Antoinette, who he befriended for a period before she denied him the conductorship at the Paris Opera - the most coveted cultural position in Paris at the time - in an attempt to save her reputation before her own gruesome demise.
An uncompromising artist and contemporary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Bologne is considered Mozart’s equal if not his better - so why haven’t we heard of him?
Joseph’s very existence was actively erased by Napoleon himself, who - and this is one of the most shocking facts I learnt whilst working on this project - remains the only ruler to have reinstated slavery, which he did in 1802. Napoleon also ordered the suppression and prohibition of Joseph’s works. The rest, as they say, is history.
Joseph Bologne lived such an extraordinary life you could make ten films about him and still not be done but this is the first. Starring Kelvin Harrison Jr - who is FIRE (he played BB King in Elvis if you saw that) - this is Joseph’s story, restored.
What have you been watching this week? I’m always on the lookout for binge-worthy shows or great movies so would love to hear what you’ve been enjoying!
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