#SetTheVCR: February 05-11, 2024

Monday, February 05

30 for 30: Four Falls of Buffalo (Anytime / Netflix-US)

A devesting 30 for 30: The Buffalo Bills went to four straight Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993. But rather than be remembered for that feat, they are instead remembered for losing each one of those final appearances. The ’90s Bills and ’90s Knicks. New York sports was in a “state” of struggle and hope in that dark decade: both teams were RIGHT THERE. Both teams couldn’t close.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE RE-EDUCATION OF MOLLY SINGER (ANYTIME / NETFLIX-US)

To save her job, a young lawyer must go undercover, enrolling as a freshman at her old alma mater, in order to resuscitate the well being of her Boss’ terribly awkward teenage son.
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We’ve seen everyone go back to school from Rodney Dangerfield to Adam Sandler to Drew Barrymore to Jonah Hill. To that list you can now add Britt Robertson who is the Molly Singer getting Re-Educated. Desperate to save her job, hard-partying attorney Molly Singer reenrolls at her alma mater to befriend her boss’s socially awkward son. Basically his cool is buried deep in a Trapper Keeper. Can Molly Singer successfully take him from zero to campus hero? Thankfully she’s not alone in A+ mission she’s joined by stand up comic Nico Santos. Having a sarcastic BFF helps: nobody likes to eat lunch alone. (And Nico killed it in this movie.) So…shall we join Molly Singer for this campus comedy? Programming Note: For more on The Re-Education of Molly Singer, the movie’s director Andy Palmer was a My Summer Lair guest.

Tuesday, February 06

Clone High: Season 2 (Anytime / Max & Crave)

A modern refresh of the hit series of the same name, Clone High follows a high school for clones of the greatest minds in history. Twenty years after the original experiment was put on ice, Joan, JFK, Abe, and Cleo have been thawed out to resume school with their new clone classmates – all while navigating a new set of cultural norms and overly dramatic teen relationships. This is a binge release: the full 10-episode second season is now streaming.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE STONES AND BRIAN JONES (ANYTIME / HOOPLA)

The Stones and Brian Jones examines the musical creativity of Jones, the secret to the band’s success, through candid interviews with all the essential performers and previously unreleased archive.
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I wrapped up My Life as a Rolling Stone: four hour-long films, each an intimate portrait of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts. It left me curious about Brian Jones (a founding Stone who died in 1969.). Thankfully the recent Nick Broomfield documentary The Stones and Brian Jones is now streaming on Hoopla (handy if you got a Toronto Library Card.). Broomfield’s 2002 doc Biggie & Tupac is outstanding. Highly Recommended viewing. He’s also released Whitney: Can I Be Me a Whitney Houston documentary. He specialized in telling this tragic music based stories. And sadly, Brian Jones is one of those stories.

Wednesday, February 07

Assembled: The Making Of Echo (Anytime / Disney+)

The unboxing of this series’ creation includes time with Vincent D’Onofrio as he brings the Kingpin to monstrous life plus much more.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE MARVELS (ANYTIME / DISNEY+)

Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.
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The 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Marvels is now streaming on Disney+. Are you gonna check it out? The Marvels doesn’t live up to its name: I detested Captain Marvel and the MCU has done the Skrulls dirty. This was always a streaming movie for me. I ran outta gas at the same time Marvel Studios ran outta gas with Phase 4. Branded as The Multiverse Saga it has been a struggle in this universe. I saw Black Widow (cinema), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (streaming), Eternals (streaming), Spider-Man: No Way Home (cinema) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (cinema). I enjoyed Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, both flawed but serviceable Marvel movies. The rest was junk. Closing out this awful phase is Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I didn’t even watch those two. Jumped right to Phase 5 with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (cinema) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (cinema). Anyways let’s get this phase over with…Deadpool 3 opens on July 26, 2024. I’m in for that! Programming Note: Also streaming on Disney+ today is Assembled: The Making of The Marvels. The standard behind the scenes how they made the movie kinda thing.

Thursday, February 08

Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella (Anytime / CBC Gem)

A documentary about the Honourable Rosalie Abella – the first Jewish woman and refugee to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: HALO: SEASON 2 (ANYTIME / PARAMOUNT+)

Master Chief John-117 leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant.
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The popular Xbox video game franchise has been adapted for TV. Season 1 was released on March 24, 2022. It’s been a while since I played the game so here’s the premise. Halo follows a 26th-century “Red vs. Blue” war between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant, a theocratic-military alliance of several advanced alien races. Got it. I’m not sure how the Master Chief fits into all this but he is a genetically engineered supersoldier so that’s always fun. We’ve see how Last of Us another video game TV adaptation exploded in popularity. Will Halo experience the same dopamine boost? Programming Note: Premieres today with its first two episodes, the remaining 6 episodes will be released weekly.

Friday, February 09

Upgraded (Anytime / Prime Video)

Ana (Camila Mendes) is an ambitious intern dreaming of a career in the art world while trying to impress her demanding boss Claire (Marisa Tomei).
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TOKYO VICE: SEASON 2 (ANYTIME / MAX & CRAVE)

A Western journalist working for a publication in Tokyo takes on one of the city’s most powerful crime bosses.
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The HBO show based on American journalist Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat returns. (Tokyo Police Club is a funtastic band! You know their music?) This drama captures Adelstein’s daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem. And everyone is in terrible danger. I did not see the first season; it was one of those I want to check it out. Clearly enough people watched and here we are with a second season. I will watch…soon. Programming Note: Premieres today with its first two episodes, the remaining 8 episodes will be released weekly.

Saturday, February 10

#CyberSleuths: The Idaho Murders (Anytime / Paramount+)

Directed by Lucie Jourdan, the three-part docuseries follows an obsessed group of TikTok true-crime sleuths as they sift through clues, explore leads and try to unravel the brutal murders of four students at the University of Idaho. The absence of any solid lead created an information vacuum that the TikTokers were eager to fill as this whodunit case mushroomed into an American obsession. George Costanza Snort: This is I’ll Be Gone in The Dark 2.0.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SUNCOAST (ANYTIME / HULU & DISNEY+ CANADA)

Inspired by the semi-autobiographical story of a teenager (Nico Parker) who, while caring for her brother along with her audacious mother (Laura Linney), strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric activist (Woody Harrelson) who is protesting one of the most landmark medical cases of all time.
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This is my new Edge of Seventeen. Though it end up becoming my new Ginny & Georgia. This is a Florida set story and the backdrop is Michael Schiavo has been fighting in the courts to have wife Theresa Schiavo’s taken off life support. Although, she’s been in a vegetive state for 15 years, her parents have been contesting his efforts. Now activists like Woody Harrelson are getting involved and trying to protect life. What life? Doris played by Nico Parker has a brother Max dying of brain cancer. He’s been dying for a while which leaves Doris stuck between death and life and her mother with harsh unresolved emotions. How do you mourn a dead son who hasn’t died? How do you move on…when your son hasn’t “moved on?” Maybe this isn’t as a funny or as teen movie-ish as I’m hoping. Still, some Vitamin D is always helpful during winter so let’s spend some time on the Suncoast.

Sunday, February 11

Tracker: Season 1 (10 p.m. / CBS)

Series Premiere: Colter Shaw is a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family. Sounds a lot like Fall Guy…just without Heather Thomas. The series is based on the bestselling novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver. Programming Note: This’ll be streaming on Paramount+ which is helpful since the Super Bowl doesn’t exactly end on time.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SUPER BOWL LVIII (6:30 P.M. / FOX)

This will be the fourth Super Bowl hosted by the Phoenix, with the most recent being Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
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It’s chili and chicken wings o’clock. The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers battle it out for NFL supremacy and greatness at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. (Technically Las Vegas.) Usher is the halftime headliner. And you know what? This has the potential to be a solid Super Bowl. I anticipate a close game, I believe the Chiefs will win (Mahomes is 2-1 in the Super Bowl), I predict the commercials will be memorable and I’m prepared for the chili to be spicy. Oh and for sports fans who are nerds…look out for a Deadpool movie trailer…and any other key trailers that are expected to drop; it won’t all be Tide commercials. Go sports!

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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.