A trio of VOD debuts headline this week with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Gran Turismo, and The Nun 2, while Netflix also gets hugely anticipated anime Pluto.
SERIES
Pluto S1
Netflix – 20 October 2023
There have been a number of big anime releases this year, but few have the pedigree of Pluto. The upcoming series is an adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s manga of the same name, itself a multiple award-winning reimagining of Osamu Tezuka’s classic Astro Boy manga/anime. Pluto specifically adapts the Astro Boy’s “The Greatest Robot on Earth” story arc, but reinvents the story as a tense murder mystery following Gesicht, a robot detective trying to solve a string of robot and human deaths, which could potentially be perpetrated by the world’s first robot murderer. The list of awards Pluto has won is too long to recap here, but if this new anime lives up to even half of the acclaim of the manga, this is going to be a must-watch.
The Rookie: Feds S1
Showmax – 22 October 2023
As much as they get made fun of by their detractors, there’s a reason why police procedural dramas are so popular: They’re TV comfort food. And one of my own personal favourites (don’t judge) of recent times, Nathan Fillion’s The Rookie, is getting a spinoff. Starring Niecy Nash, The Rookie: Feds follows the five-time Emmy nominee’s Special Agent Simone Clarke, the oldest rookie in the FBI Academy, who is assigned to support the Los Angeles field office as part of a special unit. Don’t expect anything too crazy here – being formulaic is part of the charm of procedurals – but Feds has received pretty great reviews thus far.
Six Four S1
Showmax – 23 October 2023
Looking for something a bit more dramatic? Four-part crime mystery series Six Four has you covered. Based on the best-selling novel by award-winning Japanese mystery writer Hideo Yokoyama, Six Four stars Kevin McKidd stars as a Glasglow police detective, who – along with his former undercover officer wife – discovers that the disappearance of their teenage daughter is somehow linked to a cold case involving another missing girl and a much larger conspiracy.
MOVIES
Old Dads
Netflix – 20 October 2023
Popular comedian/actor Bill Burr pulls double duty as he stars in and makes his feature film directing debut with Old Dads. The comedy sees him, Bokeem Woodbine, and Bobby Cannavale as three fourty-something best friends who became fathers late in life and now have to struggle with parenthood on top of already being out of touch with the modern world. If you’re into Burr’s style of comedy on how “old school” he is, then this one might be for you.
The Pigeon Tunnel
Apple TV+ – 20 October 2023
John le Carré. Chances are you know the name, whether it be from reading one of the author’s many popular spy novels such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Night Manager, and The Constant Gardener, or watching the many movies and TV series adapted from his works. But do you know who John le Carré really was? For starters, his name was actually David Cornwell, and he was a real British spy. Feature film documentary The Pigeon Tunnel tells Cornwell’s amazing story of how he turned a real life of espionage into one of the most prolific careers of espionage fiction.
Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose
Prime Video – 20 October 2023
Keeping things real but also far more farcical comes Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose. Based on (possibly) true events, Simon Pegg stars as the titular Nandor Fodor, a Hungarian-American psychoanalyst known as the father of parapsychology, who is called out to the Isle of Man along with his assistant (Minnie) for a most peculiar case. A family living on the small British Dependency claims to have a talking mongoose named “Gef” living in their barn, who may or may not be voiced by none other than Neil Gaiman!
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Purchase: Google Play Movies – R234
Cowabunga, dudes! Do ninja turtles still say “Cowabunga”? I’m actually not sure because I’m an idiot who hasn’t yet watched the new animated movie yet, despite all the praise it got (including our very glowing review over) for its gorgeous visuals, fantastic characterizations, and meticulous action sequences. I’ve now got the chance to rectify my mistake though – and you should too – as this latest reboot is now making it’s VOD debut. At the time of writing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is only available for purchase, but rental options should pop up soon.
Gran Turismo
Purchase: Google Play Movies – R135
Another new VOD debut that is unfortunately only available for purchase at the time of writing is Gran Turismo. A video game movie with a difference, this Neil Blomkamp-directed drama is actually not trying to shoehorn a narrative into a Playstation racing simulator which had none to begin with. Instead, this movie is based on real events as it follows a young gamer and superfan of the Gran Turismo video game franchise (Archie Madekwe) who dreams of turning his digital skills into a real career as a professional racer. That becomes a possibility when Nissan starts the GT Academy to recruit gamers in the hopes of turning them into real drivers. The movie costars David Harbour and Orlando Bloom and got lots of praise for its racing sequences, so petrolheads should get a kick out of this one.
The Nun 2
Rental: Google Play Movies – R170
Purchase: Google Play Movies – R212
Here’s a mouthful: The Nun 2 is a sequel to 2018’s The Nun, which was a spinoff/prequel to The Conjuring movie franchise and also the fifth entry in said series, with The Nun 2 now being the eighth. Got that? Good. This one sees the return of Taissa Farmigia’s Sister Irene as she once again has to face off against the iconic Demon Nun aka the incarnation of Valak. The Nun was not received very well upon its release, but according to critics, while The Nun 2 doesn’t reach the highs of some of its peers in the Conjuring series, it is a noticeable improvement over its predecessor.