- Memories of Helen: The Heroic Despair of “John Wick” (August 11, 2026)
I can’t get enough of John Wick. As soon as one of the films in the series showed up on a streaming platform (typically HBO Max), it became a default choice for me and my partner Judith, who adores them as much as I do. But it wasn’t until we were both crushed by the flu and decided to go to bed early and stay there till the next day that I figured out why this particular set of movies was so enchanting. All four were available, so Judith suggested we watch them all in order—a nine-hour commitment, not including breaks.
Seeing all four back-to-back showed me that star Keanu Reeves, director Chad Stahelski and the writers (mainly Derek Kolstad, who named the character after his maternal grandfather) deftly avoided many of the traps that befall sequels to hit action movies. One thing that helped is the compact time frame. The entire story takes place in about two weeks. The films feel continuous and maintain their momentum.
Only one other element is more important.
It’s not the “gun fu” fight scenes, which had the shock of the new in the original movie, and grew so elaborate as the franchise progressed that it felt like a lethal cousin of modern dance. It’s not the chases, although there are plenty, and they’re superb (my favorite is the chase around the Arc de Triomphe in the fourth film). It isn’t the neo-noir samurai gunslinger aesthetic. It’s not the world-building, which vividly catalogs the society of criminals Wick inhabits while leaving crucial information to the imagination (such as the task that John performed to earn his freedom).
No, what makes the John Wick series special is its heart. The movies add up to an epic modern gothic love story in which one of the lovers is dead.
The main characters are the retired hitman John and his late wife Helen, the woman he retired for. Helen is past-tense to the rest of the world but eternally present-tense for John. He regularly reinforces his feelings for her—freshens them up, you could say—through video, memories, fantasies, and dreams.
Some would describe this behavior as compulsive, perhaps a manifestation of “complicated grief” or “persistent complex bereavement disorder.” But that’s only because nine years separate the first and final installments. Moviegoers who saw each film independent of the others might understandably think, upon cueing up the final chapter, “This guy sure is hung up on his wife—it’s been nine years!” But in actuality, as noted earlier, it’s a short window. Part 2 starts right after the conclusion of Part 1 and ends with Wick killing an adversary on the hallowed ground of The Continental, being declared “excommunicado,” and having a bounty placed on his head. Part 3 starts one hour later, after the end of the “grace period” John was given, and follows him around the world until he’s finally “killed off” in a staged event; and Part 4 is set roughly six months after that.
But no matter how you experience the movies, the energy released by John’s inconsolable suffering flows through them all. It even flows through scenes he isn’t in, because John’s thresher-like movement through the ranks of professional assassins is always a central topic of conversation, and everyone knows what drives it: loss, mourning, and chivalrous impulse once directed at his beloved wife that now has no object, and must instead be focused on needful souls he encounters as he travels.
Reeves’ beautiful, haunted face bypasses contemporary, therapy-based notions of grief management. It connects instead to traditions of certain 18th and 19th-century English and American poems which depict grief not as a force that one must overcome, move past, or accept and incorporate into daily life, but as a rock that true romantics dash themselves against, again and again, until the rock breaks or they do.
Call it heroic despair, after the phrase defined by the 17th-century philosopher Julius Bahnsen. You know heroic despair when you see it. It powers the feats of heroes whose own dreams have been crushed but risk their own lives for others or complete a mission out of a sense of duty, often perishing in the process. (This is exactly what John does, in hopes of putting the broken pieces of the underworld back together.) Edgar Allan Poe’s elegies to his wife Virginia, who died at 24, exhibit a type of heroic despair that’s at risk of mutating into self-annihilation. These include “The Raven,” which we all know well; and Annabel Lee, whose narrator concludes that no force is strong enough to separate their souls and lies down beside his beloved in her tomb by the sea. (John’s reward is burial beside his wife, though in a regular graveyard rather than a tomb by the sea.)
The series also bears imprints of death- and loss-focused poems by John Keats (whose narrator in “Ode to a Nightingale” admits that “for many a time / I have been half in love with easeful Death”); John Donne, who reminded us for whom the bell tolls; Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who wrote 44 sonnets to her poet husband Robert, and whose short poem “Grief” might as well have been directed at John, who speaks 380 words across four films:: “Deep-hearted man, express / Grief for thy dead in silence like to death.”
The series is filled with mythological allusions, some purposeful, others incidental. The main character is a human monster who once killed other human monsters, turns good for love’s sake, loses his mate, and keeps having to travel back into a figurative Hell (the small-u underworld of criminals, run by the High Table) that he fought so hard to escape.
One of the strongest affinities is with the myth of Orpheus. A musician who was once a crewman on Jason’s boat The Argonaut, Orpheus descends to hell to rescue his beloved wife Eurydice, who fell into a viper pit while trying to escape a satyr. John doesn’t go to those extremes—if he had, the result might have echoed 2005’s “Constantine,” in which Reeves’ title character goes to Hell to save a psychic (Rachel Weisz) whose death is initially described as a suicide, but is revealed to be a sacrifice she made to prevent Lucifer’s son Mammon from ruling the world. John is trying to rescue not Helen herself, but the memory of Helen, from the oblivion of a world that moves constantly forward, forgetting all that came before. He does this by acting as archivist, caretaker, and storage unit for the memory of Helen. This resonates with another Reeves film, the 1995 dystopian sci-fi thriller “Johnny Mnemonic,” in which he plays a courier who stores confidential data in the part of his brain that once held his childhood memories.
The quest to preserve the memory of Helen, even as a meager set of disconnected moments, is not selfless. John gets something important out of it: fleeting moments of bliss. The only thing keeping him from turning one of his many fearsome weapons on himself is the fact that his years with Helen were so nourishing that even fragmented memories of their relationship make a violent life on the run a more attractive prospect than death, by his own hands or those of his would-be killers.
The saga begins with a story about a former hitman who found a love so great that it inspired him to start a new life, only to lose his beloved to cancer, and then seeks revenge against gangsters who stole his car and killed the puppy that was his wife’s parting gift. It’s understandable that it sometimes is summed up as a revenge saga, like “Kill Bill” or Sergio Leone’s Westerns. But the series is ultimately not about revenge at all—at least, not after the first one. And even there, you could make a case that revenge is merely the springboard that jumps us into the heart of the matter.
The heart of the matter is love. Sad, beautiful, never-ending love. The kind you rarely see depicted in English-language cinema (though it’s alive throughout Asia) but that fueled old poets who, despite different styles and goals, shared the belief that the agony of lost love was not a state to go into gently, but to rage against.
- Season 4 of Prime Video’s “Reacher” Might Be the Best Yet (August 11, 2026)
Over the last year or more, it’s been hilarious seeing headlines pondering which new action thriller will be the “Reacher” replacement. I didn’t realize we needed one. After watching Season 4, apparently Jack Reacher doesn’t either. From “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” to “The Night Agent” to “The Day of the Jackal” to “Hijack,” these are all solid franchises, depending on your tastes. Still, a replacement seems premature. There’s nothing like “Reacher.” With Season 4 almost here and 5 on the way (along with a spin-off in next month’s “Neagley”), this big brawling, heroic-antihero detective thriller isn’t done yet.
The wandering Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) makes his latest stop this season in Philly. Without a doubt, he needs a 2 AM cheesesteak. That’s a mistake. There’s a nervous woman on the train. Reacher tries to help, things go terribly wrong, and he ends up in the custody of Philly PD.
It’s a mess, but unfortunately it seems like a too-common tragedy until a few government agencies and politicians get involved. Very quickly, Reacher meets three pivotal people: Detective Tamara Green (Sydelle Noel), Lila (AGNEZ MO), and Officer Jacob (Chris Rodriguez-Marquette). Each has a part to play in piecing together the deadly mystery behind the woman on the train. And because things might’ve gone differently if he hadn’t said too much, Reacher can’t let this one go.
Created by Nick Santora and based on Gone Tomorrow, the 13th book in Lee Child’s best-selling series, Season 4 might be the best one yet. It has everything that launched “Reacher” into a monster hit: compelling cases, brutal high-octane action, three-dimensional characters with stakes, killer quips, and a lead who straddles the four quadrants like a deadpan yet sexy and highly skilled blend of Batman and the Punisher. (Someone call James Gunn and tell him his Bruce Wayne/Dark Knight is over on Prime Video.) Ritchson is not only an action hero, but he allows us to see past Reacher’s hardened shell to the traumas and compulsion to do good that rule him.
In season 4, “Reacher” enhances all the elements that action-thriller fans love about the series, using its tropes and style to peak effect. The tension keeps building, the character dynamics keep flipping, and the storyline will leave you holding your breath. It’s emotionally thrilling too, with personal and public tragedies that hit hard, brought to us by creatives and a cast with the chops to deliver on every shifting perspective and motivation.
Alan Ritchson (Jack Reacher)
While Prime Video has employed a weekly cadence with this show (after a three-episode premiere), this is the kind of season the binge model was made for. As the story gets deadlier, the past and present collide in both frustrating and heartbreaking ways. There’s even a touch of romance beyond the expected Bond Girl-styled entanglements. The heart on this show balances the crime and violence.
If your enthusiasm waned with S2 and S3, this might be the return to form you’re waiting for. If this show has held you rapt the entire time, you’re about to be bouncing on your seat cushions. There’s a rumor that I might’ve finished the 8-episode run in two sittings. Those rumors are true. I’m watching it again now.
It all comes down to whether you like twisty action-thrillers that are cold-blooded with warm hearts, and high on charm. If so, pop the corn, pour the beverages, and dodge the blood splatter; “Reacher” is back. No replacements necessary.
Whole season screened for review. Season 4 premieres on August 12.
- “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Finds More Comedic Highs in Confident 18th Season (August 10, 2026)
Almost exactly 13 years ago, when I was still a freelancer for this site, I wrote a piece about how FX’s hit “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” owed a great debt to “Seinfeld” in its comedic embrace of characters that could politely be called misanthropic. The quartet of characters at the center of one of the most beloved comedies of all time—Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer—fits snugly into the structure of “Sunny” and their leads: Dennis, Mac, Dee, and Charlie.
At the time, I marveled at “Sunny” having a legacy that lasted nine seasons. Next week, they launch their 18th season. At the time I wrote, “The most important element to both shows was merely to stay true to their characters, which “Sunny” has done consistently for almost a decade.” Now that it’s closer to a quarter-century, the legacy of “Sunny” feels even more impressive.
What’s most striking about “Sunny” in 2026 remains that confidence—for all eight episodes of their 18th outing, it feels like the writers and performers are prioritizing what makes them laugh over anything else, which they’ve really been doing for a generation now. The worst thing that can happen to a comedy is desperation, something that often seeps into the writing late in a run when a desire to please a fan base or focus groups overrides innate comedic sensibilities. The “Sunny” team long ago gave up on getting the right amount of critical acclaim for their efforts, and they know that their fan base remains constant because they share a sense of humor with Glenn Howerton, Rob Mac, Charlie Day, and Kaitlin Olson.
The 18th season of “Sunny” does much of the same thing as the last dozen or so seasons, intertwining commentary on the state of things with the idiocy of the show’s beloved characters. It’s almost hard to believe that the show took this long to get to how the Paddy’s Pub team would respond to the rise of non-alcoholic beers, but “The War on Alcohol” is arguably the season standout (an episode at a Renaissance Faire featuring Nick Kroll and the McPoyles is close). It’s a wonderful example of how these idiots literally fight to live in the past, not just in terms of wanting an ABV in their beer but in the way they look at the modern workplace. A bit between Charlie and Mac about how all factories are built around molten lava, and men who eat lunch out of paper bags on steel beams, is a reminder that so much of the stupidity in this world is based on outdated thinking that’s been warped by pop culture.
Nostalgia works its way through a lot of the 18th season of “Sunny,” including an extended (and slightly unsuccessful compared to the rest of the season) spoof of “Gilligan’s Island,” along with a superior, hysterical riff on “Back to School,” with Danny DeVito in the Rodney Dangerfield part. There’s also an episode built around Jamiroquai, which I’m guessing no one under 30 has even heard of. The characters on “Sunny” were always a little bit stuck in the past, but it’s amplified in self-aware ways as the cast enters their fifties. They’re no longer the youthful idiots as much as they’re approaching grumpy old men territory, yelling at clouds as the world enters its virtual insanity era.
At this point, there’s a comforting consistency to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” In a time when so many shows slowly fade into the pop culture background, here’s one that’s been funny for two decades and counting. There was a natural concern when the show crested double digits that it would start to lose its edge, but there have been only a few episodes in the last few seasons that didn’t work. The 18th season has way more hits than misses, which isn’t true for most comedies that have run a third as long. While there may have been some natural worry about fading quality at one point, there’s no reason to believe this show doesn’t have a few more years in it. Let’s push last call on this one as long as possible.
Entire season screened for review. The 18th season premieres on FX on August 17.
- A Comedy Legacy: Broken Lizard on “Super Troopers 3” (August 10, 2026)
There’s a sequence in director Jay Chandrasekhar’s “Super Troopers 3” that acts as a synecdoche for the film’s charms as a whole. State trooper MacIntyre “Mac” Womack (Steve Lemme) discovers a conspiracy at a maple syrup factory, and his assailants, played by Jon Rudnitsky and Chace Crawford, encase him in a vat of maple syrup until it solidifies, like Han Solo in carbonite. It acts in many ways as an image for the type of humor that the members of Broken Lizard (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, and Lemme) have kept preserved throughout the years. For better or worse, “Super Troopers 3” is more of the same, and those who were already accustomed to the troupe’s sensibilities will find plenty to love.
That isn’t to say that this is a film that replays the hits, the way many sequels that come out many years later tend to do. This time, Farva (Kevin Heffernan) has fallen for Thorny’s (Chandrasekhar) sister Sarita (Hannah Simone), and to Thorny’s dismay, his sister reciprocates Farva’s feelings and the two plan an extravagant Indian wedding. While Thorny recruits his other super troopers to crash the wedding, they are also swept up into a new drug conspiracy that has unexpected ties to the nuptial plans.
For the members of Broken Lizard, who have been on the road sharing the film, they cherish how opportunities like this are a way for them to remain connected amidst the busyness of their lives. “We’re like a band in many ways; every time we have a new movie, we tour again, go out, and you get more fans. Someone’s dad comes, they’ve introduced their son to the films, and your audience keeps getting larger and expanding,” they shared. While they stopped by in Chicago as part of the film’s tour, RogerEbert.com spoke with the group about the gift of time when working on this project, their memories of working with the great Donald Sutherland, and how they modified the film’s approach to cop humor when considering this political moment.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
From L to R: Steve Lemme, Andrew Dismukes, Iqbal Theba, and Kevin Heffernan in SUPER TROOPERS 3. Photo by Patrick Harbron, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
There were seven years between “Super Troopers” and “Super Troopers 2,” and then six years before we got“Super Troopers 3.” I’m curious what the gift of time affords you when you were developing this story?
Broken Lizard: If we had our druthers, we’d make them more quickly, but we’re making other movies in between. I think if we only made “Super Troopers” movies, and didn’t show that we had more to offer, we could dry that creativity quite quickly. That’s how “Police Academy” had eleven movies. They just kept doing it, and then they were not allowed to do anything else. Time helped us write a lot of drafts and helped us learn to love it. If we were in post on another project, we’d say “let’s just work on another draft.” Those drafts are really what made those movies.
I think what drew us to the wedding angle was that we haven’t seen them in that world; this was our attempt to mature them a bit. You know the characters, and now we’re going to show you another side of them or get behind the curtain a little bit more with them, which I think is a fun thing for fans of the franchise. It’s not as though the first two were so beloved because of their revolutionary crime plots. The guys were beloved; it was fun to see them deck around, so why not go ahead and take them off the road a little bit more? And it’s still the same dynamic. It’s still humorous.
I think we’re lucky as well because we caught the culture the right way. If it came out on Netflix, it might not have had the same because there would be no advertising. You never know. It could have just disappeared on Hulu if it just came and probably would have found an audience, but it’s not quite the same. Everything has felt a bit like a summer camp with being able to tour this film. You spend a year shooting, six months in the edit room, and then you can go out to see fans. It’s nice to hear that the humor is landing. When you make a movie, you write a joke where you don’t get to hear the laugh one year later.
I know that “Super Troopers 2” was crowdfunded, so were you able to connect with those fans who helped with that campaign?
We have, and there’s been such genuine gratitude to meet the folks who made the movie. I’d say for all of us, we’re grateful we’ve been able to connect and spend such intentional time. When we were writing the other installments or other films, when we were young, we didn’t have families; we all lived together. We would spend all of our time together. So there was this kind of great organic blend of just what was goofing off and what was writing. Now our writing sessions are much more structured; it’s like “Okay, we can do two hours on this one day, and it’s a lot of pressure.” So the tour has been a gift because times on the road are probably the only times when we can just laugh with each other, have a good time, and be fully relaxed.
We’re like a band in many ways; every time we have a new movie, we tour again, go out, and you get more fans. Someone’s dad comes, they’ve introduced their son to the films, and your audience keeps getting larger and expanding.
From L to R: Erik Stolhanske, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme, Jay Chandrasekhar, Iqbal Theba, Nat Faxon, Andrew Dismukes, Kevin Heffernan (on the floor) in SUPER TROOPERS 3. Photo by Patrick Harbron, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
On the note of growing, I think your audience might say that what they’ve loved about your works is that you’ve found a way to make immaturity endearing. As artists and creatives, how do you feel you’ve grown with your audience? Do you feel pressure to change your humor as your audience ages or give them what they might have enjoyed when they were young?
The maturity over the years has in many ways manifested in the storytelling and craft. Whereas the sense of humor, in the best possible way, hasn’t really matured. We think that’s actually what people like about it.
This question is specifically for you, Jay, as the director: how has your approach to action shifted throughout your filmmaking career? It’s interesting to compare the stunt driving and fights in this film to the earlier installments.
Jay Chandrasekhar: Having worked on “The Dukes of Hazzard,” I got a real close knowledge of what real stunts look like. The great stunt coordinators are artists, and the okay ones are just crashing cars around. As a director, I’m thinking, “How much time can I give someone to do their job and be great at it?” We didn’t have a lot of time on this film, but Robert Alonzo, the supervising stunt coordinator, was such an artist that he was able to pull off a lot of these stunt elements in a way that was just perfect for our movie. Robert’s doing MCU movies … I was watching “Knight and Day” the other day, and he’s one of the stuntmen in the airplane fight, so him working on ours is a gift.
I thought Farva crashing out from his lobster allergy was also a great moment.
When we watch our stunts in the older films, we did a lot of our own stunts because we had limited knowledge and budget. If someone’s going to jump over the counter and tackle a guy, one of us is going to do it. So on one hand, you see us more, but on the other, the extent of the stunts is limited to what any one of us is able to do at a given moment. The lobster fight in particular was a blast to shoot because I think they tailored it to make it very effective for what we–as people who are not action stars–can do.
Kevin, in that fight though, you’re put through the wringer. Your stunt double, Heath Hensley, didn’t step in for you?
Kevin Heffernan: (Laughs) There were some. He’s been in a bunch of movies with me, and we did “Tacoma FD” together. He’s got a good look like mine, a good mustache. And he’s also super nice. Those guys, when they’re your stunt double, they’re super protective of you, and so he was very nice in that way.
Paul Soter: What’s interesting, though, was that even though we did our own stunts, it still felt like there were new things to learn. For driving scenes, I had never done “array” driving where the car is stationary, but it’s the background that’s changing. I showed up being like, “Oh man, we’ve come too far away from getting our hands dirty and the gritty.” But then you put us in that thing, and we’re passing around a cheese basket for our scene. I’m like, “This is pretty nice.” We had a grand old time. Sitting in that immobile vehicle eating cheese and crackers.
I loved the reference to Donald Sutherland in “Animal House” here. I know you collaborated with him on “Beer Fest,” and in light of his passing, I’d love to hear of any special memories of collaborating with him or discuss his influence on you all as an artist.
He didn’t really know that we were a comedy group. He just inspired a movie. So he was very kind to Jay, but he thought Kevin was the sole writer, and so he would frequently ask Kevin, “What does this mean? Why would I say this?” He would push us to understand the interiority of the characters. But he was super method. Super method. He drank all those beers, and when somebody offered for him to go to the bathroom, he said, “I’m in a hospital bed. I wouldn’t get up and go to the bathroom. Bring me a catheter.”
Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme in SUPER TROOPERS 3. Photo by Patrick Harbron, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Especially in an age where police misconduct is more visible and a frequent topic of conversation, I’m curious how that impacted your approach to the humor, especially the image of cops being “crass and silly” when they’ve caused genuine harm and destruction to communities at large.
The question that guided us was “Who is the victim?” There’s a character in this movie who is nicknamed the “douche driver.” We make Andrew Dismukes, who plays Trooper Coy Burns, a real dick and make him the but of the joke, less so the civilian. I think it meant we had to work harder as well in a good way, to show fewer scenes of characters being pulled over and those types of shenanigans because that’s when the optics can be picked apart. I think that’s why the focus of this film shifted to wedding, love, and friendship.
When you’re shooting a movie, you can’t hit topical elements because you’re working a year out. We couldn’t have predicted the increase in self-driving cars, for example, but under the hood, we’re looking at timeless ideas: old versus now, how friendships evolve, etc. It is something we think about in terms of what might age well, though. The first movie is a thing that people watch and watch over years and years and years. So I think we’re always thinking, okay, let’s try to make sure that something we do doesn’t suddenly come across as dated in five years so that it will still have a timeless feel.
A line in the film that has stuck with me is “Is it possible that we’re no longer the cool guy in our own story?” How has making movies or filmmaking helped you all through these questions of legacy?
Making this third one is very humbling in that now we are kind of veterans. When we made that first one, we didn’t necessarily know what we were doing, and it was a bit more renegade. In those days we’d bring guys in like Brian Cox, and now we’re bringing in folks like Andrew Dismukes. Dismukes is an awesome guy that we’ve become friends with, and he grew up watching our movies and looks up to us in a little bit of a comic world. It really kind of flips the script a little bit now when you start doing these things, and you realize that there is a bit of a legacy, that you have a legacy in the comedy and filmmaking world, which is nice.
It’s good to put that reflection in the movie, because it humbles us. We can fall into the temptation of thinking “Nothing has changed, we’re all still young and cool.” Then someone recently told us, “You guys are the age that Brian Cox was in the first movie.” It gave us heart palpitations for a second, but then we thought, “This is an opportunity to bake this into the story. Let’s not run away from it.”
“Super Troopers 3” is in theaters now via Searchlight Pictures.
- Mediocre “Alley Cats” is for Hardcore Ricky Gervais Fans Only (August 7, 2026)
Rarely has an animated show felt more like an extension of its creator’s personality than Netflix’s “Alley Cats,” a Ricky Gervais production from top to fuzzy bottom. It’s a disheartening reminder of how far the once-creative star of “The Office” and “Extras” has fallen, becoming almost a parody of himself with his “edgy” humor and boasting about defeating a cancel culture that Netflix clearly never believed existed if one looks at its roster of stand-up specials.
All six of the short (15 minutes or so) episodes of “Alley Cats” follow a nearly identical format as Gervais’ Gus and his cat buddies sit on a couch, riff for a few minutes, wander around town for a loose plot, and end up with piano-accompanied thoughts about life and death in a way that’s aggressively manipulative. Gervais even has the nerve to use the opening piano riffs of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” more than once, leaning into a show that’s surprisingly sentimental.
More than ever, Gervais as a writer exists only in extremes: He’s either trying to offend with lame attempts at graphic humor or leaning into the kind of manipulative storytelling he honed on “After Life.” He’s made a show with an extended conversation about a cat being fingered by local kids and yet another reminder that Gervais can’t believe in a God that gives children (or kittens) fatal diseases. It’s the only show on TV that addresses both cats watching their owners erotically asphyxiate and what happens after we die.
Alley Cats. (L to R) David Earl as Puke, Diane Morgan as Olive, Jo Hartley as Kitten, Ricky Gervais as Gus, Tom Basden as Ponce, Andrew Brooke as Fang, in Alley Cats. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
That description probably makes “Alley Cats” sound more entertaining than it is, even with its undeniable points for originality. The short length of each episode (and the overall season, which can be watched in less time than it takes to see most feature films) allows for “Alley Cats” to be more forgettable than atrocious, and the writers do find a joke here or there that connects. The voice work is relatively strong (including former Gervais collaborators like David Earl, Kerry Godliman, and Tony Way), and the animation has charming simplicity that fits its subject matter: A show about homeless, raunchy cats shouldn’t look too pretty.
What’s ultimately disheartening about “Alley Cats” is how little impact it makes either on the legacy of Ricky Gervais or the current state of streaming animated comedy. Gervais used to be such an important voice in TV comedy (and, for a brief window, was also an interesting filmmaker), but like so many once-edgy artists, he seems content to repeat himself and fall into all the routines his detractors expect. And the saddest truth is that there’s nothing about “Alley Cats” that’s particularly interesting outside of how it reflects the current state of its creator’s career and sense of humor.
Alley Cats. (L to R) David Earl as Puke, Jo Hartley as Kitten, Diane Morgan as Olive, Ricky Gervais as Gus, Andrew Brooke as Fang, Tom Basden as Ponce, in Alley Cats. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Ricky Gervais thrives on attention, whether it’s in being a provocateur on an awards show stage or repeatedly espousing his atheism on podcasts. The problem is that comedy requires interest in something other than yourself, and Gervais has never met anyone funnier or smarter than himself. That ego seeps through so much of “Alley Cats,” a show that should be a casual, funny hang but can’t get out of the shadow of its own creator’s worst instincts.
The tagline for “Alley Cats” is “Nine Lives, Zero Fucks.” Ricky Gervais has certainly had the former as he’s maintained popularity for nearly three decades now. And he’s made the latter his entire personality. As a huge fan of his work with Stephen Merchant, I believe there’s always a chance that this undeniably smart TV creator could find that magic again, but it’s only going to happen if he’s able to leave the predictable comedic alleys that his fans know by heart.
Whole season screened for review. Now on Netflix.
- First Teaser for Unsettling Thriller 'Gentle Monster' with Léa Seydoux (August 11, 2026)
"What other secrets do you have?" Netflix has unveiled their teaser trailer for the film Gentle Monster, an unsettling thriller arriving to watch starting in November. From Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer, this disconcerting child abuse drama is about a pianist whose life unravels when the police come to arrest her husband. It first premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews and being released by Netflix briefly in US theaters before it hits streaming. When a police raid shatters her life, a concert pianist must protect her son and confront how little she knows her husband after he is accused of an unspeakable crime. She uncovers a life-shattering truth that forces her to confront the complexities of love, trust, and deception. Léa Seydoux stars as Lucy Weiss, along with Laurence Rupp, Jella Haase, and Catherine Deneuve. Featuring music by Camille. The film switches between German, French, and English conversations all the time, which doesn't really work well, but so be it. I'm not really a fan of this film – it fails at exploring any of the more prickly themes it's trying to address and leaves you feeling drained after watching it. Have a look. // Continue Reading ›
- Patrick Brammall in Australian Missing Child Thriller 'Last Seen' Trailer (August 11, 2026)
"How can you be sure that it's her?" Always the most challenging question in this situation. Apple TV has revealed an official trailer for a thriller mini-series titled Last Seen, made in Australia and ready to view starting in September. A missing daughter. An alarming distress call. A father who refuses to give up. Aussie TV actor Patrick Brammall stars in this Melbourne thriller following a police dispatcher who receives a call which indicates that his missing daughter may still be alive, risking everything to save her. 11 years ago his daughter, Maggie, disappeared without a trace. When he receives a distress call from a teenage girl he is certain is Maggie, he will stop at nothing to find her and reunite his broken family, whatever the cost. The series features Brammall as Ian Ridley, along with Brendan Cowell, Maxine Peake, Daniel Henshall, Zahra Newman, Tobias Muhafidin, Jessica Wren, and newcomer Chloe Jean Lourdes. This also reminds me of the other recent missing child found again years later series I Will Find You also starring an Aussie actor (Sam Worthington) on Netflix. Of course there's two similar series from streaming competitors. // Continue Reading ›
- Full Trailer for Hitchcockian Thriller 'Verity' with Hathaway & Johnson (August 11, 2026)
"This place is insane... I feel like I'm losing my mind." Amazon MGM Studios has debuted the main offiical trailer for a peculiar psychological thriller mystery film titled Verity, arriving in theaters everywhere this October coming up this fall (opening the same day as Digger). Verity is a sexy psychological thriller adapted from Colleen Hoover's novel "Verity" and features a stunning cast to get your attention. Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett star as the trio at the center of this twisted story. Lowen Ashleigh gets hired by Jeremy Crawford to ghostwrite novels for his bestselling author wife Verity, who's unable to finish them after a accident has left her paralyzed. However, Lowen uncovers Verity's disturbing truths in a manuscript while residing at the Crawfords' home. "This is your final warning. Only darkness ahead." What happens next once she finds out the truth? Will she be safe or not? Starring Johnson as Lowen, Hathaway as the titular Verity, Hartnett as Jeremy, with Ismael Cruz Córdova, Brady Wagner, Irina Dvorovenko, K.K. Moggie, and Michael Abbott Jr. This looks extra spicy with vivid, dark & shadowy cinematography. Hopefully it's actually any good! I'm most impressed by this big, beautiful house that they're living in now. // Continue Reading ›
- Jon Hamm & Giovanni Ribisi in 'American Hostage' 70s Series Trailer (August 10, 2026)
"This is more than just a hostage situation..." Amazon MGM Studios has revealed the full official trailer for a new series called American Hostage, ready for streaming on MGM+ starting this September. This is the exact same story told in the movie Dead Man's Wire, which played in theaters earlier this year (and it's very good). The series instead focuses the camera on radio host Fred Heckman, who was portrayed in Gus Van Sant's film by Colman Domingo (as "Fred Temple" instead in that version). It's a true story! This really did happen. Based on the podcast, American Hostage is a psychological thriller set in the 1970s that tells the fascinating story of Fred Heckman, a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who's thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when the bitter hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program. Starring Jon Hamm as Fred & Giovanni Ribisi as Tony Kiritsis, Mireille Enos, William Jackson Harper, Kristoffer Polaha, & more. This looks much more for-everyone entertaining and "neutral" than the film, which is a real provocative look at Kiritsis & what really went down. View below. // Continue Reading ›
- Animated Doc Film 'Paper Cuts' Trailer About the Life of an Animator (August 10, 2026)
"This a story of friendships and love, of hopes and dreams." Cineverse has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film known as Paper Cuts, described as an "animated memoir" about the life and times and struggles and successes of indie animator Eric Power. The film screened at numerous festivals in 2024 & 2025 - it won Honorable Mention at the Niigata Animation Festival in 2025 and won Best Documentary at Indy Film Fest as well. Paper Cuts is an animated story following indie animator Eric Power (Path of Blood, Attack of the Demons), whose work in cut-paper stop-motion animation spans more than two decades. The doc film chronicles his experiences building a career independently, shaped by limited resources, evolving techniques, and a deep commitment to handmade animation. Join him on a journey through all the highs and lows of a life dedicated to the wonderful world of animation. This is wonderful! Especially because it celebrates the real magic if hand-making movies using stop-motion animation & creativity. This looks great. // Continue Reading ›
