B.J. Novak’s ‘The Premise’ Anthology Series Often Can’t Deliver on Its Promise: TV Review

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentFilmax has swooped on international rights to “Irati,” an action adventure feature set in the eighth-century Pyrenees.Produced by Spain’s Bainet, Ikusgarri Films, Kilima Media with France’s La Fidèle Production, “Irati” weighs in as one of the most ambitious new Spanish movies being brought onto the market at Berlin. Filmax will present a promo at the EFM.Featuring battles, mythological creatures and fantasy elements in a mix of Basque legend and historical events, it also marks director Paul Urkijo’s follow-up to “Errementari: the Blacksmith and the Devil,” which Filmax sold to Netflix for the world.Now in post-production, “Irati” turns on a pagan girl who guides a young Christian lord called Enekoon a journey into an ancient, mythological world. Eneko hopes to recover lost treasure, key to his defending his valley from Charlemagne’s marauding army, which is devastating the Pyrenees.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian director Matteo Garrone, who was at the 2020 Berlinale with Roberto Benigni-starrer “Pinocchio,” is set to return to the director’s chair in March with coming-of-age adventure drama “Io Capitano,” on which France’s Pathé will be handling international distribution.Garrone’s new pic, whose title translates as “I, Captain,” will be shot in Italy, Morocco and Senegal, marking the first time, Garrone –– a two-time Cannes jury prize-winner, with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012 –– sets a feature film outside of Italy.As is customary with Garrone, story details of “Io Capitano” are being kept under wraps, besides the fact that he wrote the screenplay with regular collaborators Massimo Gaudioso and Andrea Tagliaferri and actor Massimo Ceccherini (“Pinocchio”), who also contributed to the “Pinocchio” screenplay.

Christopher Vourlias Rwandan director Kivu Ruhorahoza’s “Father’s Day,” which bows in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival, is a timely story of fatherhood in a country that saw a generation orphaned by one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.The film presents a trio of interwoven stories set in the East African nation. A mother tries to cope with the loss of her only son.

Christopher Vourlias Russian VOD platform KION has unveiled a slate of original content it will be presenting to buyers at the European Film Market.Launched less than one year ago by telecom giant MTS, the company has so far surpassed expectations, according to Igor Mishin, VP for media business development at MTS and CEO of MTS Media. “We have exceeded all business key performance indicators, in terms of the subscriber base and streaming views,” he said.The company is launching two new feature films and two original series at EFM.“Ophiuchus” is an erotic thriller about a bold and sexually liberated pathologist whose lovers begin to die under mysterious circumstances.

“Death on the Nile” was being released in the rest of the Middle East over the weekend, according to Deadline.Gadot, 36, served in the Israeli armed forces for two years, as is required of all young Israelis, before she entered show business.It’s not the first time the former Miss Israel’s nationality has caused controversy as tensions persist between the two warring nations.

Manchester United need a response as they prepare to face Southampton on Saturday.

Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from Tuesday evening's frustrating 1-1 draw with Burnley when they welcome Southampton to Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime.

thug from a deadly drug cartel can be heard trying to extort a man, with the threat of abducting his wife, in a chilling phone call shared online. The video comes from the Mexican state of Sonora, which borders Arizona, US, and captures the tense conversation between the drug cartel extortionist and the victim over some unexplained, previous misunderstanding. The criminal notes that the man's wife - who is in the room with him - is a "well known business woman", and insists: "I don’t want to tie your wife up and abduct her."He also reveals that members of the cartel have visited a house nearby to abduct another man, claiming that he now has orders from higher-ups to "go where you are and abduct you, to take your vehicle or car and keep everything that you have of value, fool."As the threats are being laid bare, the terrified victim can be heard agreeing with the "boss" before adding "we won't say anything".

Arsenal are set to complete the signing of goalkeeper Matt Turner, but are reluctant to announce his arrival until the summer transfer window opens.According to football.london, a deal has been reached between the Gunners and MLS outfit New England Revolution for the shot-stopper, with a fee being agreed of £4.5m leading to £7.5m plus further bonuses.However, Arsenal will not announce the signing until Turner has completed his medical.Personal terms have already been agreed with the player and the Revs have even announced that the 27-year-old will be making the move to the Emirates Stadium in the summer, but the Gunners are refusing to jump the gun on the transfer.A statement on the Revolutions' website stated: “The New England Revolution have agreed to terms for goalkeeper Matt Turner to join Arsenal of the English Premier League in a summer transfer for an undisclosed fee pending completion of a medical.“Turner, the 2021 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, is expected to join Arsenal in late June 2022, allowing the United States international to remain with New England through the entirety of the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League campaign and nearly half of the 2022 MLS regular season.“Further information will be shared when the transfer is completed.”The arrival of Turner will open the door for Bernd Leno to leave the club in the summer too, who has been replaced by Englishman Aaron Ramsdale this season.HAVE YOUR SAY! Who else should Arsenal sign in the summer? Comment below.Leno was the first-choice keeper in North London for the three seasons prior to Ramsdale’s arrival, however, he has started just three Premier League fixtures this campaign and the writing is on the wall for the Germany international.Leno

The first footage of the upcoming Aquaman sequel has been released.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates made headlines over the past week with their exciting and dramatic performance during the Team Figure Skating Event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and they’re about to take the ice again for the Rhythm Ice Dance competition today (February 12).

Sunderland have announced former Hamilton manager Alex Neil as their new head coach - and his successor comes in as assistant.

Kevin Thomson’s approach doesn’t change – whether he is facing Lionel Messi, Cowdenbeath or St Mirren.

Things must be good at Celtic Park if Brendan Rodgers is able to show his face again.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticJames Wolk is a naturally appealing TV lead. So much so that viewers may even forgive the early scenes of his new drama “Ordinary Joe” for casting him as a college senior.Wolk, at 36 a veteran of projects including “Mad Men” and “Watchmen,” first came to audiences’ attention on network TV, and it’s to network TV he returns this month.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticFox has lately made its name, and its success, on televised music competitions — everything from “The Masked Singer” and “Dancer” franchises to a revived “Name That Tune” to the amiably strange “I Can See Your Voice.” And so it makes a certain kind of sense that this fall, it launches a new scripted series about … the inner workings of a reality-TV contest.On “The Big Leap,” various Detroit residents are wooed by a series of the same name, one that aims to find the cast for a televised reimagining of “Swan Lake.” These folks are not necessarily trained ballerinas, just people who have something inside to get out.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThe first season of “The Morning Show” ended in an explosion; the new one begins, as the experienced TV viewer might expect, with characters picking up the pieces. But that’s about the only thing that’s predictable this time around.In its second outing, Apple TV Plus’ drama has placed a premium on the twist — stomping through 10 new episodes with forced complication and out-of-character behavior.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThe first iteration of ABC’s “The Wonder Years,” which kicked off in 1988, featured a young Fred Savage as a kid growing up about twenty years in the past.If the revival of the format, now executive-produced by Savage along with Lee Daniels, Saladin Patterson, and Marc Velez, kept that gap, we’d be following a story that took place at the turn of the century, roughly the same territory occupied by Hulu’s “Pen15.” Instead, though, the show keeps its gaze fixed on 1968, meaning that the adult protagonist telling us the story of his childhood is doing so at a distance of more than fifty years.The remove of distance dulls some sentimentality: This “Wonder Years” seems less interested in nostalgia than in

The title of writer B.J. Novak’s new FX anthology series is essential to understanding its approach, and also its failure.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThe forensic breakdown of corporate greed may be the defining artwork of this historical moment.From the dueling Fyre Festival documentaries of 2019 to the multiple filmed and written explorations of overweening founders like Adam Neumann (WeWork) and Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos), there’s a sort of giddy weightlessness in watching the mighty brought low, and seeing the plebes who worked for them elevated, for a moment, to star-witness status. At a moment in which inequality seems more pronounced, and more top-of-mind, than ever in Americans’ lifetimes, there’s potential for real analysis of the chaos of the global economy in each of these stories — but what people are tuning in for is the carnage.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticEach episode of “Scenes From a Marriage” opens with a bit of frank reality. The five installments of HBO’s new limited series begin showing one of the show’s stars, Jessica Chastain or Oscar Isaac, getting prepared for shooting — walking to set, receiving makeup last-looks.