23-05-2025
What to watch this week: ‘Pee-Wee as Himself', ‘Leila's Brothers' and more
This two-part documentary looks back at the life of comedian Paul Reubens, who died in 2023. Best known for playing the character Pee-wee Herman, Rubens was a popular performer in children's films and shows until his career was derailed by an arrest for what was many regarded a minor offence. Directed by Matt Wolf (The Stroll) and produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman). Wolf spent over 40 hours interviewing Reubens, and was given access to the actor's large collection of photographs and video footage. The film includes a final message from Reubens, recorded the day before his death. (JioHotstar) A still from 'Sirens'.
Actor Meghann Fahy plays Devonn DeWitt, a woman down on her luck who is concerned about her sister Simone's (Milly Alcock) creepy relationship with her new boss, billionaire Michaela (Julianne Moore). Set in a lavish beach estate, the black comedy series about class, family and power politics is created by Molly Smith Metzler and is based on her 2011 play, Elemeno Pea. The cast also includes Kevin Bacon. (Netflix) A still from 'Leila's Brothers'.
Leila has spent her life caring for her parents and four brothers. Now, as debt threatens to overwhelm them, she formulates a plan to save the family. This Iranian film by Saeed Roustayi competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Roustayi, who spent 6 months in prison for entering that film at the festival, is at Cannes again this year with Woman and Child. Leila's Brothers stars Taraneh Alidoosti (The Salesman, About Elly), whose arrest in 2022 after she spoke about the execution of Mohsen Shekari caused a global stir. (MUBI) A still from 'Lilo & Stitch'.
The 2002 animated Disney film about a lonely girl and the unruly alien creature that enters her life now has a 'live action' version. Maia Kealoha plays Lilo and Chris Sanders, who wrote, directed and performed in the original, is again the voice of Stitch. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, and also starring Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Zach Galifianakis, Hannah Waddingham and Courtney B. Vance. (In theatres) A still from 'Eephus'.
A baseball field in the small, sleepy town of Douglas in New England is being razed to make way for a high school. To mark its passing, two local teams, the Riverdogs and Adler's Paint baseball team, face off one last time. This game, in all its amiable mediocrity and occasional slapstick urgency, takes up the entirety of Carson Lund's delightful first feature. (BookMyShow Stream) The poster of 'Forget You Not'.
Cheng Le-le (Ying-Hsuan Hsieh) is a married woman who balances her job as a stand-up comedian and part-time convenience store employee. Despite her mundane life, Le-le is full of dreams. Directed by renowned actress-singer Rene Liu. (Netflix) Matthew Goode in 'Dept. Q'.
This was initially a series of Danish crime novels called Department Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen about a former detective who heads a department that tackles seemingly unsolvable cases. It has now been developed as a British crime thriller series for Netflix, with the setting changed to Edinburgh. Matthew Goode (Leap Year) stars, with a supporting cast of Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting), Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov and Leah Byrne. Created by Scott Frank, who's written films like Out of Sight and Minority Report and helmed the hit streaming show The Queen's Gambit. Produced by David Brown (Across the Universe) and written by Chandni Lakhani. (Netflix)
