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The Age
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
What to stream this week: Mark Ruffalo's sad dad, plus five more to add to your list
This week's picks include a gentle dramedy with Mark Ruffalo as a hopeless dad, Law and Order star Mariska Hargitay's documentary about her famous mum, and Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney's new thriller. Hal and Harper ★★★★ (Stan*) The gap between the casual and a crisis is worryingly small and always unclear in this quicksilver US dramedy. 'I feel like a fragile sculpture,' says Harper (Lili Reinhart), one of the show's titular twenty-something siblings. She's drily referring to her new haircut, an experiment with a fringe that speaks to mishandling unease, but a different, altogether more painful, definition is close at hand: crack, crumble, collapse. Hal and Harper is a show that is deeply attuned to emotional upheaval overwhelming the everyday. It's an intriguing, idiosyncratic vision from creator Cooper Raiff, the independent filmmaker (Cha Cha Real Smooth) who transitions to television by writing and directing all eight episodes. Cooper, who also plays younger brother Hal, wants to dig into the unspoken. His Californian characters are poised on the precipice of change they can no longer avoid. Hal is about to finish university, but is still emotionally dependent on Harper, who has a dead-end first job and a relationship, with Jesse (Alyah Chanelle Scott), that's imploding. The two are, in so many ways, the children of Michael (Mark Ruffalo), the novelist and single father who raised them with a pronounced lack of emotional support; Harper has been mothering Hal since she was nine and he was seven. When Michael announces that his girlfriend, Kate (Betty Gilpin), is pregnant, the celebratory news lights a fuse to individual reckonings. He's terrified of failing another child, and his adult children can't avoid facing their childhood trauma. It seems our performative ease with therapy-speak doesn't actually fix anything. Raiff crafts these little earthquakes with droll exchanges, lived-in eccentricities and roiling montages that feel like they're lifting the characters out of the plot's safe space. His innovations skirt the absurd to find deeper truths, most notably in lengthy primary school flashbacks where Reinhart and Raiff play the younger Harper and Hal. She's an old soul, he's nervy and enthusiastic, and there's something solemn and bittersweet about seeing the adults these two children will become, learning about life. The little jokes and quick reassurances the grown siblings swap with each other and those close to them are a coping mechanism that can't endure. 'She broke my heart,' adult Hal laments of a fellow student, Abby (Havana Rose Liu), before Harper stumps him by asking, 'What's her last name?' The performances have a low-key desperation and deeply held churn. Solving these issues isn't the crux of Hal and Harper, it's actually just being able to acknowledge them. That's both sad and a joke, which is exactly where this first-rate show wants to be. My Mom Jayne ★★★½ (Max) Separating the public from the private is a near impossible task in this documentary from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay. The actress was just three years old when her mother, Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield, died in a car accident in 1967. Hargitay, who was asleep in the vehicle's back seat, has spent her life struggling to understand a famous parent she has no memories of. This feature-length documentary is her attempt at reconciliation. With an outlook on fame that feels contemporary, the platinum blonde Mansfield was the most photographed woman in the world in the 1950s. 'She was always on display,' recalls her former publicist, the now 99-year-old 'Rusty' Strait. The film untangles the divide between Mansfield as sex kitten and loving mother, and charts her increasingly perilous career and marriages, including her second with Mickey Hargitay, a former Mr Universe. Mariska Hargitay directs the film, and is often on camera, including interviews with her siblings. There's no outside scrutiny to this story, but the trade-off is a deeply genuine sense of loss and longing; an outsider couldn't deliver the raw exchanges these family members share. Hargitay folds in her youthful rebellion and belated yearning and, in a nod to the entertainment industry she's spent her whole life adjacent to, there's an almighty twist in the third act that completes this heartfelt journey. Echo Valley ★★★ (Apple TV+) Written by Brad Ingelsby (Mare of Easttown) and set in rural Pennsylvania, this familial thriller from British director Michael Pearce (Beast) has a familiar shape and the overqualified cast to paper over the cracks. Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney play estranged mother and daughter, reunited when the latter's latest misdeed brings her home to the former. Helping your child is just another form of debt that must be collected, but the film keeps the leads apart while fraying the plot with twists and double-crosses. The story lacks a visceral edge. Countdown ★★½ (Amazon Prime Video) Amazon's yen for 'Dad action' in shows such as Reacher and The Terminal List – all hard-nosed action sequences, stoic leading men, and a sardonic commentary while doing good – goes a step too far with this crime drama about a US task force whose murder investigation uncovers a vast conspiracy. Countdown is efficient but generic, too often echoing the procedural roots of creator Derek Haas (Chicago Fire). Supernatural star Jensen Ackles knows how to embody the protagonist, LAPD detective Mark Meachum, but he's not given a great deal to work with. Predator: Killer of Killers ★★★ (Disney+) Of the many ageing intellectual property franchises being tended and exploited by Hollywood studios, Predator may well be having the most interesting second act. The 1987 original remains an action classic, but recently there's been some smart additions to the science-fiction series about the alien warrior race that periodically hunts humans. After directing the underrated 2022 live action feature Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg returns with this animated anthology about Predator encounters with different historic eras. It's all bloody ultra-violence and comic book excess which is a good change of pace. Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem ★★½ (Netflix) Trainwreck is Netflix's modern scandal documentary franchise: occasionally tragic, mostly tawdry, with a focus on jaw-dropping testimony over historic analysis. Alongside the newly released holiday nightmare Poop Cruise, the Mayor of Mayhem is indicative of the Trainwreck process. It recounts the fireball career of Toronto mayor Rob Ford, a populist who assumed the position in 2010 and within three years was the headline subject of a video that showed him smoking crack cocaine. Was Ford an addict? Yes. Does that hold as much weight here as his propensity for saying bonkers stuff in public? No.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
What to stream this week: Mark Ruffalo's sad dad, plus five more to add to your list
This week's picks include a gentle dramedy with Mark Ruffalo as a hopeless dad, Law and Order star Mariska Hargitay's documentary about her famous mum, and Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney's new thriller. Hal and Harper ★★★★ (Stan*) The gap between the casual and a crisis is worryingly small and always unclear in this quicksilver US dramedy. 'I feel like a fragile sculpture,' says Harper (Lili Reinhart), one of the show's titular twenty-something siblings. She's drily referring to her new haircut, an experiment with a fringe that speaks to mishandling unease, but a different, altogether more painful, definition is close at hand: crack, crumble, collapse. Hal and Harper is a show that is deeply attuned to emotional upheaval overwhelming the everyday. It's an intriguing, idiosyncratic vision from creator Cooper Raiff, the independent filmmaker (Cha Cha Real Smooth) who transitions to television by writing and directing all eight episodes. Cooper, who also plays younger brother Hal, wants to dig into the unspoken. His Californian characters are poised on the precipice of change they can no longer avoid. Hal is about to finish university, but is still emotionally dependent on Harper, who has a dead-end first job and a relationship, with Jesse (Alyah Chanelle Scott), that's imploding. The two are, in so many ways, the children of Michael (Mark Ruffalo), the novelist and single father who raised them with a pronounced lack of emotional support; Harper has been mothering Hal since she was nine and he was seven. When Michael announces that his girlfriend, Kate (Betty Gilpin), is pregnant, the celebratory news lights a fuse to individual reckonings. He's terrified of failing another child, and his adult children can't avoid facing their childhood trauma. It seems our performative ease with therapy-speak doesn't actually fix anything. Raiff crafts these little earthquakes with droll exchanges, lived-in eccentricities and roiling montages that feel like they're lifting the characters out of the plot's safe space. His innovations skirt the absurd to find deeper truths, most notably in lengthy primary school flashbacks where Reinhart and Raiff play the younger Harper and Hal. She's an old soul, he's nervy and enthusiastic, and there's something solemn and bittersweet about seeing the adults these two children will become, learning about life. The little jokes and quick reassurances the grown siblings swap with each other and those close to them are a coping mechanism that can't endure. 'She broke my heart,' adult Hal laments of a fellow student, Abby (Havana Rose Liu), before Harper stumps him by asking, 'What's her last name?' The performances have a low-key desperation and deeply held churn. Solving these issues isn't the crux of Hal and Harper, it's actually just being able to acknowledge them. That's both sad and a joke, which is exactly where this first-rate show wants to be. My Mom Jayne ★★★½ (Max) Separating the public from the private is a near impossible task in this documentary from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay. The actress was just three years old when her mother, Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield, died in a car accident in 1967. Hargitay, who was asleep in the vehicle's back seat, has spent her life struggling to understand a famous parent she has no memories of. This feature-length documentary is her attempt at reconciliation. With an outlook on fame that feels contemporary, the platinum blonde Mansfield was the most photographed woman in the world in the 1950s. 'She was always on display,' recalls her former publicist, the now 99-year-old 'Rusty' Strait. The film untangles the divide between Mansfield as sex kitten and loving mother, and charts her increasingly perilous career and marriages, including her second with Mickey Hargitay, a former Mr Universe. Mariska Hargitay directs the film, and is often on camera, including interviews with her siblings. There's no outside scrutiny to this story, but the trade-off is a deeply genuine sense of loss and longing; an outsider couldn't deliver the raw exchanges these family members share. Hargitay folds in her youthful rebellion and belated yearning and, in a nod to the entertainment industry she's spent her whole life adjacent to, there's an almighty twist in the third act that completes this heartfelt journey. Echo Valley ★★★ (Apple TV+) Written by Brad Ingelsby (Mare of Easttown) and set in rural Pennsylvania, this familial thriller from British director Michael Pearce (Beast) has a familiar shape and the overqualified cast to paper over the cracks. Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney play estranged mother and daughter, reunited when the latter's latest misdeed brings her home to the former. Helping your child is just another form of debt that must be collected, but the film keeps the leads apart while fraying the plot with twists and double-crosses. The story lacks a visceral edge. Countdown ★★½ (Amazon Prime Video) Amazon's yen for 'Dad action' in shows such as Reacher and The Terminal List – all hard-nosed action sequences, stoic leading men, and a sardonic commentary while doing good – goes a step too far with this crime drama about a US task force whose murder investigation uncovers a vast conspiracy. Countdown is efficient but generic, too often echoing the procedural roots of creator Derek Haas (Chicago Fire). Supernatural star Jensen Ackles knows how to embody the protagonist, LAPD detective Mark Meachum, but he's not given a great deal to work with. Predator: Killer of Killers ★★★ (Disney+) Of the many ageing intellectual property franchises being tended and exploited by Hollywood studios, Predator may well be having the most interesting second act. The 1987 original remains an action classic, but recently there's been some smart additions to the science-fiction series about the alien warrior race that periodically hunts humans. After directing the underrated 2022 live action feature Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg returns with this animated anthology about Predator encounters with different historic eras. It's all bloody ultra-violence and comic book excess which is a good change of pace. Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem ★★½ (Netflix) Trainwreck is Netflix's modern scandal documentary franchise: occasionally tragic, mostly tawdry, with a focus on jaw-dropping testimony over historic analysis. Alongside the newly released holiday nightmare Poop Cruise, the Mayor of Mayhem is indicative of the Trainwreck process. It recounts the fireball career of Toronto mayor Rob Ford, a populist who assumed the position in 2010 and within three years was the headline subject of a video that showed him smoking crack cocaine. Was Ford an addict? Yes. Does that hold as much weight here as his propensity for saying bonkers stuff in public? No.
Sydney Morning Herald
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘They've meant so much to me': His TV show is a hit but this filmmaker still cries in the shower
Eight years ago, aspiring filmmaker Cooper Raiff had an idea for a story about a pair of siblings bonded by their dysfunctional upbringing. Six years ago, the Texan native started writing about the characters, swiftly getting down an initial 100 pages. Three years ago, having sold his second feature, the romantic-comedy Cha Cha Real Smooth, to Apple TV+ for roughly $23 million, Raiff began turning the script into a television series. Two years ago, Raiff, who would play the younger sibling, Hal, cast Riverdale's Lili Reinhart as his character's elder sister, Harper, and Mark Ruffalo as the co-dependent pair's damaged father, Michael. Eighteen months ago, Raiff's production wrapped in Los Angeles, ending a hectic 50-day shoot. Five months ago, the show, Hal & Harper, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, successfully selling to streaming services. Three weeks ago, Raiff cried in the shower because he was saying goodbye to the fictional family that had become all too real to him. 'I was crying because I was going to really miss Hal and Harper, and dad, too,' Raiff says. 'I've been with them for so long and they've meant so much to me. I'm bad at maths but I'm 28 now and they've been in my head and body for eight years now. That's a lot of life. It was hard to let go.' Loading Zooming in from separate locations in New York, Raiff and Reinhart are a smiling mix of wonder and surprise. They know they're a part of something special with Hal & Harper but the experience of making the series was so demanding they're still getting used to the work leaving them and going out to the world. 'Cooper, to me, never ever lost sight of the vision he had,' Reinhart says. 'It changed along the way, because it had to, but the feeling of it and the intensity in Cooper's eyes every day never changed because he was trying to stay true to what was inside his heart. How do you paint the inside of your heart and stay true to it? 'Something, somehow was guiding him and he was very locked in. Trying to talk to Cooper about anything else was useless. There was no conversation outside the show,' she adds, then addresses Raiff directly. 'Your whole life was consumed by this show, which is why it is so effective. I've never seen firsthand a heart be embodied like this. That's why I had a lot of trust.' Comprising eight roughly half-hour episodes, each written and directed by Raiff, Hal & Harper is an idiosyncratic gem of a series. In an era of neatly segmented shows, it's messy and ambitious and counterintuitive. It's very funny and very sad, often in such close proximity that you're not aware of one becoming the other. The comedy and the drama are their own storytelling siblings. Twenty-two-year-old Hal and 24-year-old Harper Williams are still emotionally intertwined from the childhood loss that left them with a wounded father, Michael, who struggled to support them emotionally. As Hal floats through his university degree and Harper struggles with her first job, the pair lean on each other. It is, as Harper has realised, an unhealthy dynamic. And then their father delivers news that shakes all three of them: his girlfriend, Kate (Betty Gilpin), is pregnant. Loading 'There are so many people I love who have watched this show, and a lot stop at a certain place and say, 'I'm going to get there but I'm not there yet',' Raiff says. 'When they do – well, people can't talk to me about the finale, so they just send me a selfie of them crying. Even my own dad, I'm still trying to sit him down and talk to him.' In many ways Hal & Harper brings the tenets of independent filmmaking to television, whether it's Raiff's ready use of natural light or a hectic production schedule in which the stripped-down crew and cast had to 'steal locations' (shoot without the relevant permits) when required. The call sheet, a production's daily schedule, was mostly 'a suggestion', jokes Reinhart. 'There is some sort of lightning-in-a-bottle magic to doing so much in a day. You're tired, your guard is down,' Raiff says. 'If there was a crying scene, it was very easy to cry. We had a scene that was meant to be funny but I started crying and someone said, 'I'm not sure that's the vibe.' And I said, 'That's my vibe right now!'' Lengthy sequences are told in montage form, set to Raiff's distinctive music choices, and there's also a bittersweet twist: in the extensive flashbacks to when Hal is aged seven and Harper nine, Raiff and Rinehart still play the characters. It is absurd but touching. The pair are oversized yet still too small for the circumstances they're struggling with. The influence the pair's uncertain childhood has on them as adults is made wrenchingly clear. 'My favourite day on set was the first time we played kids. I knew it was going to be emotional and funny but I didn't realise how much soul it would have. That's what Lili's eyes bring. Whatever she was doing as nine-year-old Harper is the most beautiful thing that's ever been put on camera.' Loading Raiff isn't afraid to dig into the emotional muck of his characters. Ruffalo's Michael is still roiled and uncommunicative and, like his children, he wants to say the right things but he doubts they'll actually apply. When push comes to emotional shove, father, son and daughter all painfully struggle to make sense of what they're grappling with. 'We're really good at talk therapy and I have friends who are very emotionally intelligent but that's very different, that processing trauma through your body,' Raiff says. 'Talking about your feelings is easier than actually feeling them.'
The Age
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘They've meant so much to me': His TV show is a hit but this filmmaker still cries in the shower
Eight years ago, aspiring filmmaker Cooper Raiff had an idea for a story about a pair of siblings bonded by their dysfunctional upbringing. Six years ago, the Texan native started writing about the characters, swiftly getting down an initial 100 pages. Three years ago, having sold his second feature, the romantic-comedy Cha Cha Real Smooth, to Apple TV+ for roughly $23 million, Raiff began turning the script into a television series. Two years ago, Raiff, who would play the younger sibling, Hal, cast Riverdale's Lili Reinhart as his character's elder sister, Harper, and Mark Ruffalo as the co-dependent pair's damaged father, Michael. Eighteen months ago, Raiff's production wrapped in Los Angeles, ending a hectic 50-day shoot. Five months ago, the show, Hal & Harper, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, successfully selling to streaming services. Three weeks ago, Raiff cried in the shower because he was saying goodbye to the fictional family that had become all too real to him. 'I was crying because I was going to really miss Hal and Harper, and dad, too,' Raiff says. 'I've been with them for so long and they've meant so much to me. I'm bad at maths but I'm 28 now and they've been in my head and body for eight years now. That's a lot of life. It was hard to let go.' Loading Zooming in from separate locations in New York, Raiff and Reinhart are a smiling mix of wonder and surprise. They know they're a part of something special with Hal & Harper but the experience of making the series was so demanding they're still getting used to the work leaving them and going out to the world. 'Cooper, to me, never ever lost sight of the vision he had,' Reinhart says. 'It changed along the way, because it had to, but the feeling of it and the intensity in Cooper's eyes every day never changed because he was trying to stay true to what was inside his heart. How do you paint the inside of your heart and stay true to it? 'Something, somehow was guiding him and he was very locked in. Trying to talk to Cooper about anything else was useless. There was no conversation outside the show,' she adds, then addresses Raiff directly. 'Your whole life was consumed by this show, which is why it is so effective. I've never seen firsthand a heart be embodied like this. That's why I had a lot of trust.' Comprising eight roughly half-hour episodes, each written and directed by Raiff, Hal & Harper is an idiosyncratic gem of a series. In an era of neatly segmented shows, it's messy and ambitious and counterintuitive. It's very funny and very sad, often in such close proximity that you're not aware of one becoming the other. The comedy and the drama are their own storytelling siblings. Twenty-two-year-old Hal and 24-year-old Harper Williams are still emotionally intertwined from the childhood loss that left them with a wounded father, Michael, who struggled to support them emotionally. As Hal floats through his university degree and Harper struggles with her first job, the pair lean on each other. It is, as Harper has realised, an unhealthy dynamic. And then their father delivers news that shakes all three of them: his girlfriend, Kate (Betty Gilpin), is pregnant. Loading 'There are so many people I love who have watched this show, and a lot stop at a certain place and say, 'I'm going to get there but I'm not there yet',' Raiff says. 'When they do – well, people can't talk to me about the finale, so they just send me a selfie of them crying. Even my own dad, I'm still trying to sit him down and talk to him.' In many ways Hal & Harper brings the tenets of independent filmmaking to television, whether it's Raiff's ready use of natural light or a hectic production schedule in which the stripped-down crew and cast had to 'steal locations' (shoot without the relevant permits) when required. The call sheet, a production's daily schedule, was mostly 'a suggestion', jokes Reinhart. 'There is some sort of lightning-in-a-bottle magic to doing so much in a day. You're tired, your guard is down,' Raiff says. 'If there was a crying scene, it was very easy to cry. We had a scene that was meant to be funny but I started crying and someone said, 'I'm not sure that's the vibe.' And I said, 'That's my vibe right now!'' Lengthy sequences are told in montage form, set to Raiff's distinctive music choices, and there's also a bittersweet twist: in the extensive flashbacks to when Hal is aged seven and Harper nine, Raiff and Rinehart still play the characters. It is absurd but touching. The pair are oversized yet still too small for the circumstances they're struggling with. The influence the pair's uncertain childhood has on them as adults is made wrenchingly clear. 'My favourite day on set was the first time we played kids. I knew it was going to be emotional and funny but I didn't realise how much soul it would have. That's what Lili's eyes bring. Whatever she was doing as nine-year-old Harper is the most beautiful thing that's ever been put on camera.' Loading Raiff isn't afraid to dig into the emotional muck of his characters. Ruffalo's Michael is still roiled and uncommunicative and, like his children, he wants to say the right things but he doubts they'll actually apply. When push comes to emotional shove, father, son and daughter all painfully struggle to make sense of what they're grappling with. 'We're really good at talk therapy and I have friends who are very emotionally intelligent but that's very different, that processing trauma through your body,' Raiff says. 'Talking about your feelings is easier than actually feeling them.'
Tom's Guide
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
If ‘Materialists' left you wanting more Dakota Johnson, this rom-com on HBO Max is for you
You'd have to be living under a rock if you haven't yet encountered any publicity for "Materialists", the new Celine Song-directed romantic movie featuring an A-list triangle between Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. (The trio has been busy on the promo circuit these past few weeks.) That film, which sees Johnson play a modern-day matchmaker in New York City, had us reminiscing about another one of the actress's recent romantic titles — no, none of that "Fifty Shades" mess, but rather "Am I OK?" a queer 2022 dramedy co-directed by married couple Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne. Coming out during a summer saturated with Dakota Johnson performances (including "Cha Cha Real Smooth" and "Persuasion"), "Am I OK?" is a standout for the performer, playing a woman navigating coming out in her thirties. And the sweet flick is currently available to watch on HBO Max — here's why you should add the rom-com to your next watch list. Johnson stars as Lucy, a 32-year-old woman living in Los Angeles with her lifelong best friend Jane (Sonoya Mizuno). Lucy has been unsatisfied in her romantic relationships with men, and, after a little soul-searching, she realizes that the problem might not be guys at all — it might be girls. However, Lucy's late-in-life self-discovery about her sexuality comes at a complicated time, with Jane receiving a work promotion that requires her to relocate to London. Ahead of the impending move, Jane encourages her bestie to explore her burgeoning feelings, including pursuing a flirtation with her massage therapist co-worker, Brittany (Kiersey Clemons). Soon, Lucy and Jane are traversing a tricky landscape of friendship, acceptance and growth as Lucy comes to terms with who she really is and what she really wants. (Writer-producer Lauren Pomerantz reportedly penned the script based on her own experience of coming out in her 30s.) Most coming-out comedies tend to skew younger, in the high school and college age ranges, so it's refreshing to have some late-bloomer screen representation in an LGBTQ+ movie. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. "Am I OK?" has a solid 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critical consensus notes, "Anchored in an authentically relatable approach to its story of self-discovery, 'Am I OK?' is further elevated by strong work from Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno." Along with critical love for the film's " touchingly personal script by Lauren Pomerantz" (per Peter Travers for ABC News), Johnson and Mizuno's onscreen chemistry was widely praised, with John Anderson of the Wall Street Journal commending the co-stars for spinning "a convincing friendship out of a gossamer narrative, and an engaging relationship out of pure charm." Calling "Am I OK?" one of the most exciting indie movies out of 2022's Sundance Film Festival, The Atlantic's Shirley Li dubbed the flick "part romantic comedy, part coming-out story, part much-delayed coming-of-age tale — and all breezily charming." Sounds more than OK to us! Watch "Am I OK?" on HBO Max now
