TV this weekend serves up the weird and unexpected
If you’re going to navigate TV this weekend, there’s a few things you really should know:
Because the world serves up the weird and unexpected, Australian broadcaster SBS is somehow the first TV network in the world to debut the new European series adaptation of Smilla’s Sense of Snow. This was a 1992 thriller adapted into a fairly successful Julia Ormond film in 1997. This new take layers in an unexpected sci-fi conceit over the top of it. I hear it’s good.
Netflix’s Leanne is the latest Chuck Lorre sitcom. I wasn’t crazy about the first episode of the show, so didn’t continue on with it. You’re mileage will vary, but if you want a signpost, this show feels a lot like a 2025 version of Grace Under Fire.
Netflix erotic drama Unspeakable Sins isn’t all that erotic. Though, you will see a few bums.
The new Ice Cube Prime Video adaptation of War of The Worlds has been savagely attacked by critics and viewers alike.
The curiosity for me this weekend is new Netflix film My Oxford Year. It looks like a stock romantic, older-YA drama. What’s sparked my interest is that the film was directed by Iain Morris, best known for UK comedies like The Inbetweeners. This feels like a leap for him. Fun fact: I actually met Morris once, chatting to him for a good hour or so at a coffee shop in the outer suburb of Brisbane Mt Ommaney. He’s a really good dude.
Why and how did that happen? The world serves up the weird and unexpected.
Returning TV
Twisted Metal (s02), Stillwater (s04), The Sandman (s02-BONUS EPISODE)
New TV
Chief of War - Apple TV+
Stars: Jason Momoa
The story of the unification of the Hawaiian Islands from an indigenous perspective; a Hawaiian war chief joins a campaign to unite the warring islands in order to save them from the threat of colonization.
Smilla’s Sense For Snow - SBS On Demand
Stars: Filippa Coster-Waldau, Elyas M'Barek and Henry Lloyd-Hughes
Smilla Jaspersen lives in a surveillance state facing impending energy crisis, and leads a withdrawn life until she meets a young Inuit boy who finds a way to her heart. The boy's mysterious disappearance leads to a search for answers.
Marked - Netflix
Stars: Lerato Mvelase, Sphamandla Dhludhlu, S'dumo Mtshali
Desperate to pay for her daughter's life-saving surgery, devout ex-cop Babalwa turns to an unholy savior to help her stage a daring heist.
Eyes of Wakanda - Disney+
Stars: Winnie Harlow, Cress Williams, Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Danai Gurira
Warriors of Wakanda travel the world retrieving vibranium artifacts.
Leanne - Netflix
Stars: Leanne Morgan, Kristen Johnson, Ryan Stiles
When her husband leaves her for another woman, a resilient Southern mom starts over with the support of her loving, but unfiltered family.
Unspeakable Sins - Netflix
Stars: Zuria Vega
A woman in a controlling marriage finds solace — and revenge— in an affair with a younger man, until it spirals into a dangerous fight for survival.
Glass Heart - Netflix
Stars: Takeru Satoh
An aspiring drummer suddenly loses her spot in the band. But when a brilliant musician recruits her for his new band, her life takes a passionate turn.
New Movies
My Oxford Year - Netflix
Stars: Sofia Carson, Corey Mylchreest, Dougray Scott, Catherine McCormack
An ambitious American student travels to Oxford in England to fulfill her dream, but encounters a charming local who changes both their lives.
War of The Worlds - Prime Video
Stars: Ice Cube, Eva Longoria, Clark Gregg
A grounded sci-fi film in the vein of District 9, that touches on themes of privacy versus surveillance
An Honest Life - Netflix
Stars: Simon Loof, Nora Rios
Simon's law school dreams fade as he meets Max during a protest. Her anarchist lifestyle of excess and deception entraps him before he can recognize the destructive path he is on.
That’s the TV listings newsletter for this week.
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I’d ranked Prime’s War of the Worlds as entertaining even with its stylistic failures and poor acting. Maybe I just didn’t have great expectations for it, especially since I’m not a fan of screenlife.