Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bad at last: Season 2 of ‘The Bad Batch’ premieres on Disney+
WHAT’S NEW ON DISNEY+ “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” - Season 2
The fate of the galaxy is back on track once more: “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” premieres the first two episodes of its second season Wednesday, Jan. 4, after being rescheduled from the fall. The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in “The Clone Wars,” 2008) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. A unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army, members of the Bad Batch each possess a singular exceptional skill that makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. Season 2 picks back up with the clones months after the events on Kamino as the group continue their journey through the Empire after the fall of the Republic. Crossing paths with friends and foes (both old and new), they take on a variety of thrilling mercenary missions and soon find themselves in a host of unexpected and dangerous new places. Created by Jennifer Corbett (“Star Wars Resistance”) and Dave Filoni (“The Mandalorian”), “The Bad Batch” stars Dee Bradley Baker (“Peacemaker”), Michelle Ang (“Vegas”), Noshir Dalal (“It’s Pony”) and Rhea Perlman (“Cheers”).
WHAT’S NEW ON NETFLIX “Kaleidoscope”
Payback is the name of the game in the new anthology miniseries “Kaleidoscope” (previously titled “Jigsaw”), when it premieres on Netflix Sunday, Jan. 1. Spanning 25 years, the story follows a crew of masterful thieves and their attempt to crack a seemingly unbreakable vault for the biggest payday in history. Using a non-linear storytelling approach, “Kaleidoscope” slowly unravels another piece of the corruption, greed, scheming, loyalties and betrayal that lead to the story’s explosive conclusion across its eight-episode run. Loosely inspired by the real-life story of how $70 billion in bonds went missing from downtown Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy, the series allows viewers to choose in which order they watch the episodes, allowing them to build different narratives that all build up to the “White: The Heist” finale. All the while, they ask the question: “How will you experience the Kaleidoscope?” Created and written by Eric Garcia (“Cassandra French’s Finishing School”), the series is directed by Mairzee Almas (“Shadow and Bone”), Everardo Gout (“The Forever Purge,” 2021) and José Padilha (“Elite Squad,” 2007). Paz Vega (“Rambo: Last Blood,” 2019), Rosaline Elbay (“Ramy”), Niousha Noor (“Here and Now”), Sammy Peralta (“Christmas With You,” 2022), John Hans Tester (“Royal Pains”), Hemky Madera (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” 2017), Stacey Oristano (“Friday Night Lights”), Soojeong Son (“Servant”) and Jordan Mendoza (“Maurice on Mars”) star.
“Copenhagen Cowboy”
Head out on a neon-noir adventure through the criminal netherworld of Copenhagen, Denmark, when the new thriller series “Copenhagen Cowboy” premieres on Netflix Thursday, Jan. 5. This six-episode series follows the story of enigmatic young heroine Miu (Angela Bundalovic, “Limboland”), who is on the verge of a new beginning after a lifetime of servitude. Traveling through Copenhagen’s ominous criminal underworld, searching for justice and exacting vengeance, Miu encounters her nemesis, Rakel (new talent Lola Güldenløve Corfixen). Their past defines and transforms their future as their journey through the natural and supernatural worlds brings them to life-changing discoveries. Created, written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (“Too Old to Die Young”), “Copenhagen Cowboy” also features writing from Kristina Elsborg Holck (“Minder,” 2015), Johanne Algren (“Kamikaze”), Mona Masri (“Snabba Cash”) and Sara Isabella Jønsson Vedde (“Unruly,” 2022). Zlatko Buric (“Triangle of Sadness,” 2022) and new talents Andreas Lykke Jørgensen, Li Li Zhang, Hok Kit Cheng, Emilie Xin Tong Han and Shang Preben Madsen also star.
“The Pale Blue Eye” (2022)
Premiering on Netflix Friday, Jan. 6, the new horror mystery film “The Pale Blue Eye” follows Augustus Landor, played by Christian Bale (“The Dark Knight,” 2008), a local detective living in West Point, New York, in 1830. Hired to investigate the murder of a cadet at the United States Military Academy, the world-weary detective teams up with one of the cadets to unravel the mystery. It just so happens that the boy he is working with is a young man the world would come to know as famous poet Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” 2001). Based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard, “The Pale Blue Eye” is directed and written for the screen by Scott Cooper (“Antlers,” 2021). The film’s all-star cast is rounded out by Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”), Lucy Boynton (“The Politician”), Robert Duvall (“Apocalypse Now,” 1979), Toby Jones (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” 2011), Fred Hechinger (“The White Lotus”), Timothy Spall (“Mr. Turner,” 2014), Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Sundown,” 2021), Simon McBurney (“The Manchurian Candidate,” 2004) and Hadley Robinson (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”).
WHAT’S NEW ON STARZ “BMF” - Season 2
The biographical crime drama “BMF” premieres on Starz Friday, Jan. 6. A story about the rise of the Black Mafia Family, a drug-trafficking/money-laundering organization, the series is set in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and it tells the true story of founders Demetrius ‘Big Meech’ Flenory (played by his son, Demetrius ‘Lil Meech’ Flenory, “Euphoria”) and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory (Da’Vinchi, “All American”). Using the hip-hop label BMF Entertainment as a front for their illegal operations, the brothers developed a cocaine distribution network across America and made nearly $300 million before being sentenced to 30 years in prison. Season 2 catches up with the brothers as they build their operations, enter the hip-hop business and grow the Black Mafia Family into a multi-state empire. Created by Randy Huggins (“Criminal Minds”), the series also stars Tyshon Freeman (“The Gifted”), Christian Robinson (“Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire”), Markice Moore (“Snowfall”), Rafael Castillo (“Black Lightening”), Myles Truitt (“Queen Sugar”) and Rayan Lawrence (“Dark City of Villains,” 2021).