Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Walking through history: Exploring ‘Life on Our Planet’ with Morgan Freeman
WHAT’S NEW ON NETFLIX “Life on Our Planet” - Season 1
Explore the vast history of the planet we call home in the new docuseries “Life on Our Planet,” premiering Wednesday, Oct. 25, on Netflix. After four billion years and five mass extinction events, the approximately 20 million species currently living on Earth make up just one percent of the planet’s past inhabitants, with so many of them lost to time. Narrated by Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman (“The Shawshank Redemption,” 1994), the series, created in partnership with Industrial Light & Magic, uses the latest technology and science to bring long-extinct creatures back to life, chronicling the dramatic and storied history of rising and falling life on Earth and what it means for life today. Created by Silverback Films and Steven Spielberg’s (“Schindler’s List,” 1993) Amblin Television, “Life on Our Planet” is executive produced by Alastair Fothergill (“Planet Earth”), Keith Scholey (“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” 2020), Darryl Frank (“The Americans”) and Justin Falvey (“Resident Alien”).
“Get Gotti”
The riveting story of the FBI’s battle to bring down infamous mob boss John Gotti in the new, three-part docuseries “Get Gotti,” premiering Tuesday, Oct. 24, on Netflix. In 1985, John Gotti, part of the Gambino crime family, was both the most powerful and most surveilled man in New York. After his public execution of “Boss of Bosses” Paul Castellano, the young mobster catapulted to the head of America’s most powerful Mafia family, while law enforcement and state prosecutors scrambled for their chance to bring the charismatic Godfather down. Told from both sides of the law, “Get Gotti” follows Gotti’s “meteoric rise and crashing fall — all told from the very mouths of those who brought him down” (per Netflix).
WHAT’S NEW ON HULU “American Horror Stories” Huluween Event
Bringing out a new slate of spooky tales to celebrate the season, the four-part “American Horror Stories” Huluween special event streams Thursday, Oct. 26, on Hulu. A spinoff of the long-running horror anthology “American Horror Story,” which involves a terrifying new theme each season, this edition from original series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk features a stand-alone horror story in every episode. This special installment explores the unknown danger of online friendships, overly attached artificial intelligence devices, a hunger for success and the lengths one woman is willing to go to achieve it, and an online blind date gone wrong. Written by Falchuk, Murphy, Manny Coto (“American Horror Story”) and Joseph Baken (“Mailman,” 2021), directors include Max Winkler (“Flower,” 2017), Elegance Bratton (“The Inspection,” 2022), Petra Collins (“Olivia Rodrigo: vampire,” 2023) and Alexis Martin Woodall (“American Horror Story”). Falchuk, Murphy, Coto, Woodall and Jon Robin Baitz (“Brothers & Sisters”) are executive producers.
WHAT’S NEW ON PRIME VIDEO “Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles”
The incredible true story of one of the most popular children’s musical groups of all time unfolds on Prime Video when “Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles” premieres Tuesday, Oct. 24. After four friends and early childhood educators — Anthony Field, Greg Page, Murray Cook and Jeff Fatt — recorded a one-off album of children’s music in the early 1990s, they changed the global music industry forever. After numerous rejections from industry producers, The Wiggles take their career into their own hands and become the most successful children’s act of all time. Now, with the original Wiggles in semi-retirement, a new generation of bright-eyed performers — including Simon Pryce, Lachlan Gillespie, Tsehay Hawkins, Caterina Mete, Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Lucia Field, Emma Watkins, Sam Moran and Kelly Hamilton — have been taking the reins. “A backstage pass to one of the world’s greatest entertainment stories, [the documentary] features decades of personal archive footage and intimate access to their sold-out shows” (per Prime Video). Directed and written by Sally Aitken (“The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill”), “Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles” is produced by Aitken, Cass Avery (“Chasing Great,” 2016), Kate Chiodo (“Ready, Steady, Wiggle!”), Luke Field (“The Wiggles: Toot Toot!,” 1998), Fraser Grut (“Syrenia,” 2015), Aline Jacques (“Living Universe,” 2018) and Daniel Story (“Housebound,” 2014).
WHAT’S NEW ON APPLE TV+ “The Enfield Poltergeist”
The chilling new four-part docuseries “The Enfield Poltergeist,” premiering on
Apple TV+ Friday, Oct. 27, tells the story of the most famous poltergeist haunting in history through original audio recordings made inside the house as the events unfolded. In 1977, the terrifying haunting of an everyday family in Enfield, London, dominated headlines across the United Kingdom. While castles, stately old homes and historic buildings were the ones most closely associated with hauntings in the U.K., the case of the Enfield poltergeist impacted an entire generation as they began to realize that supernatural experiences can be anywhere and can happen to anyone. Using the real recordings captured by Maurice Grosse — a paranormal investigator who archived all of his interviews with those affected by the phenomenon — the series uses actors and a replica of the house where it all took place to reconstruct the events. Directed by Jerry Rothwell (“1968mm”), the series features actors Olivia Booth-Ford (“The School for Good and Evil,” 2022), Paula Benson (“Moody,” 2020), Christos Lawton (“The Terror”), Grace Evans (“Bad Education”), Charlotte Miller and newcomer Daniel Lee.
WHAT’S NEW ON AMC+ “The Vanishing Triangle” - Season 1
Inspired by true events that shook Ireland in the 1990s, the Sundance Now original mystery drama series, “The Vanishing Triangle,” premieres Thursday, Oct. 26, on Sundance Now and AMC+. When investigative journalist Lisa Wallace (India Mullen, “Red Rock”) publishes an article about her mother’s murder, it leads to the disappearance of a woman named Amy Reynolds. Hoping to find some answers, Lisa works alongside Det. David Burkeley (Allen Leech, “Downton Abbey”) to find Amy. As their investigation leads them around Ireland, the pair find that every lead they follow ends in another missing girl. Being toyed with by a murderer and uncovering high-ranking, deep-rooted corruption in the Gardaí, Lisa works tirelessly to save the missing girls and take those responsible down. Created by Ivan Kavanagh (“Son,” 2021) and directed by Imogen Murphy (“Dead Still”) and Laura Way (“Blood”), “The Vanishing Triangle” also stars Adam John Richardson (“Vikings: Valhalla”), Laoise Sweeney (“Dead Canny”), Sarah Carroll (“Love/Hate”), Fionnuala Murphy (“Mrs. Brown’s Boys: The Original Series”), Philip O’Sullivan (“Vikings”), Jana Mohieden (“Dark Lies the Island,” 2019), Stephen Hogan (“Redwater”), Grace Daly (“Fruity,” 2021) and Carolyn Donnelly (“As Luck Would Have It,” 2021).
New Releases for the week of October 22-28
Meg 2: The Trench
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water — a megalodon makes an appearance. Five years removed from defeating a massive, maneating shark, deep-sea diving expert Jonas Taylor (Statham) is contacted by his former peers at the Zhang Institute to help map unexplored sections of the Mariana Trench. Believed to be the breeding site of megalodons and other oceanic giants, Taylor, accompanied by his brother-in-law Jiuming (Jing), discovers the intended sanctuary to be host to a disruptive mining operation, led by the mercenary Montes (PerisMencheta). Caught between the protective plunderers and the territorial led by the best man (Gigandet), seek their revenge. Revealing themselves to be associated through an international fraternity of assassins, the wedding party teams up to track down the bride, who must fight for survival.
Director: Timothy Woodward Jr. Stars: Cam Gigandet, Jason Patric, Natalie Burn, Orlando Jones, Ser’Darius Blain, and their pals match wits with the powerful Lex Luthor (Halford) as they seek to rescue Earth’s protectors.
Director: Cecilia Aranovich. Stars: Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, Kate Micucci, P.J. Byrne, Charles Halford, Nolan North, Tara Strong, Victoria Grace, James Arnold Taylor. 2023. 78 mins. Animation.