I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE WITH TIM ROBINSON

“I’m not mad, I’m actually laughing” is such a painfully funny doubling down that it’s become a part of the cultural lexicon. It’s also both painful and funny watching someone so frantically refuse to acknowledge their flub that they become all the more obviously in the wrong. As it happens, Tim Robinson (Saturday Night Live, Detroiters) specialises in that exact kind of manic energy, and it’s what makes his new Netflix sketch comedy series, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, so sublime.

Robinson isn’t trafficking in cringe comedy – as cringe worthy as most of his characters might be – so much as in making an art out of prolonging a joke. The world he sketches takes place in is heightened to an extreme, taking tiny, relatable moments such as worrying whether someone actually likes the gift you got them or feeling left out of a joke and, bit by bit, escalating them into the most absurd scenarios possible. For instance, in the very first sketch in the series, he pulls the handle of a door that’s meant to be pushed. Rather than admit to his mistake, he states that the door can be pulled open as well, and wrenches it back until it breaks out of its frame.

At just six episodes that each run between 15-20 minutes, the series is perhaps the best investment of time currently available on Netflix, as well as a miraculous blip in a media landscape that’s run dry in terms of sketch shows as a vehicle for comedians. The format is a perfect fit for Robinson’s comic sensibilities, which are on full display here, both in his performances and his writing. Despite the series’ relative brevity, there are so many good sketches in such rapid succession that it’s impossible not to feel the same way about it that most people feel about anticipated blockbusters like.

If you have 15 minutes to spare, stream it!!
Rating: 3.5Stars

WHEN THEY SEE US

A dramatised account of how five young boys came to be arrested, convicted and sentenced for raping and beating almost to death Trisha Meili – “the Central Park jogger” – a young white woman whose poor, battered body was found that same night. All the initial signs point to a single attacker having dragged her off the path into undergrowth. But when the head of the DA’s sex crimes unit, Linda Fairstein, hears that “a bunch of boys” have been arrested elsewhere in the park, a new narrative begins to form. Their night out is re-characterised as “a rampage”, the boys as “animals” moving in “a pack”, hellbent on destruction. As with the early establishment of the boys’ normality, Fairstein and her team are never explicitly labelled as racist. Their prejudice is simply embedded in every assumption, a tacit agreement among all the white adults that the boys are the obvious suspects, that they “must” have done it.

The performances, from the young actors and the veterans alike, are uniformly astonishing – especially from the central five, Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Marquis Rodriguez and Jharrel Jerome, most of whom are just a few years older than the teens they are playing. They capture the innocence, in all senses, of children, and the permanence of its loss. It feels like a great privilege to see them.

When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s sensitively wrought Netflix miniseries about what happened to those boys, strips away the dehumanising tendency to bunch them together and instead shows what each of them dealt with individually when they were coerced into giving false confessions, forced to do time for a crime they did not commit, and, eventually, exonerated when their convictions were vacated in 2002. But this scripted miniseries feels more personal due to DuVernay’s intimate approach – she directed and co-wrote all four episodes – and thoughtful performances across the board, especially from the actors who portray the wrongly accused as boys and men.

Almost thrilling. Stream.
Rating: 3Stars

THE CHEF SHOW

Favreau, the actor/writer turned visionary director, partners with Chef Choi – owner of the Kogi food truck – and the two set out on an exploration of different food dishes and the cultures that influence them. Special guests are featured in each episode, including MCU alumni (Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Holland, producer Kevin Feige, and directors Joe and Anthony Russo), comedian Bill Burr, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, and chefs David Chang and Jazz Singsanong who come along for the ride.

What makes this series so appealing is how honest and straight forward it is in its delivery. While Favreau became a foodie during the filming of Chef, he is not immune to errors in the kitchen. There are plenty of moments of him needing assistance from Choi, which leads to some comical banter between the two. Additionally, the food they create together and with their guests look amazing.

Most appealing are the moments Favreau and Choi have with the Avengers crew in Atlanta and Rodriguez in Texas. With the Avengers group, topics include the big gamble it was making Iron Man and how soon Holland was in the Spider-Man suit after landing the role. Meanwhile, in Austin, Rodriguez discusses with Favreau and Choi his early love for film and how his $7,000 college project El Mariachi became his calling card, opening the door to his successful career.

Fan of cooking shows, or intriguing discussions between celebrity friends, artists, and an eclectic mix of chefs? Stream.

Rating: 3Stars

– Compilation