STREAMING guide
STILL LAUGH-IN: THE STARS CELEBRATE (Netflix)
If for any reason you can’t get out of the house to a comedy fest show, then why not have a laugh-in? This Netflix special promises to be a lol-stravaganza and has drawn in big comedy names like Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Maria Bamford, Billy Crystal, Tony Hale, Jon Lovitz and, er, Snoop Dogg among many, many, many others. What has aligned all these funny stars? Well, the special is a 50th anniversary tribute to America’s classic sketch comedy show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, which — to be honest — we’ve never heard of. But as seemingly every American who’s ever told a joke is in this thing, we’re gonna watch it. Streaming now.
BLACKKKLANSMAN (Neon)
This Spike Lee joint was a total triumph for the film-maker. It won Cannes’ Grand Prix award, got six Oscar noms and earned a solid four stars from TimeOut’s reviewer. The movie tells the mind-boggling true story of an African-American detective who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. In our review we described it as, “a wild, angry, intense ride that’s funny until it really isn’t funny at all”. The movie proved itself to be especially timely coming just a year after white supremacists marched, and killed, in Charlottesville and will no doubt take on added urgency here, in the wake of Christchurch. Streaming now.
FIGHTING THE DEMON nzherald.co.nz
Streaming on the Herald’s website now is this hardhitting documentary series that takes you inside New Zealand’s meth crisis. Featuring interviews with users, dealers and survivors, the doco paints an alarming picture of what’s really happening around the country in regards to drug use, and the horrendous effects on our communities P has wrought. It also shows the pressures police and health workers deal with on a daily basis as they attempt to stem the tide. Made by the Herald’s crack investigative team, including multi-award winning journalists Kirsty Johnson and Jared Savage, this superb piece of journalism will open your eyes to the realities and dangers of the country’s methamphetamine habit. Available now.
JOANNA LUMLEY’S INDIA (Lightbox)
The absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumley invites us to join her as she returns to her birth country India. The award-winning actress and human and animal rights activist has a lineage in the country that stretches back several generations — on both sides of her family — and this show is about her learning more about them in the hopes of learning more about herself. Over three episodes Lumley will retrace their footsteps in a journey of more than 8000km from south to north. Along the way she’ll venture high into the Himalayas, hang with India’s transgender community, go tiger spotting (not hunting) and seek an audience with the Dalai Lama. Streaming now.