Weekend watchlist: 10 TV shows and movies to check out

‘Fire’ (UAE cinemas): This action-packed Russian movie (which is in English) tells the heroic tale of firefighters and rescuers of the Aerial Forest Protection Service and the Ministry of Emergency Situations who battle the elements. Aleksey Nuzhny, director and co-screenwriter, said in a statement that they tried to use as little CGI for the movie. “Our production designers and pyrotechnicians were a great help in that respect. I have to say, though, that we didn’t set fire to a single living tree! Instead, we bought trees that had already been chopped down and used them to create a forest set in a huge studio,” he said. “You’d step inside and find yourself in a real-life forest, with trees and mushrooms and berries. Then, for every take, we’d set fire to the set, put the fire out, then set fire to it again and extinguish it again. That went on for about 70 days. The effect was very realistic, but it was obviously dangerous. The actors had to run into the fire and act while surrounded by flames, inside this fire.”

‘Hospital Playlist’ (Netflix): This light-hearted Korean drama features lots of laughs but prepare to shed some tears too. It’s about five friends who’ve been together since undergrad school and now work as doctors in the same hospital. They share a love for music and have a similar drive to help others. Follow their stories over two seasons as they experience love, heartbreak and personal struggles.

‘Scandal’ (Starzplay): This series is a classic that will keep you hooked right from the start. Olivia Pope (played brilliantly by Kerry Washington) runs her own crisis management firm where she protects the public images of her elite clientele using unique tactics. However, things take a turn as her past comes back to haunt her, and her team have trouble dealing with their own sordid secrets. There are seven seasons to keep you entertained for days.

‘Constantine’ (Netflix): Keanu Reeves plays the brooding Constantine, a psychic suicide survivor battling cancer who is trying to find redemption (and a way out of going to hell). He’s approached by Angela (Rachel) who has just been told that her twin committed suicide — an accusation she cannot swallow. While investigating her murder they will come across dark forces that could bring forth the apocalypse.

‘The Family Man 2’ (Amazon Prime Video): This edition takes off where the previous season ended; Srikant Tiwari may have quit TASC and begun to live a life of a civilian but a terrorist plot against his country will not let him leave. As he gets deeper into the sandpit of strange, his marriage begins show fissures brought on by his wife Suchi’s brush with infidelity. There is danger afoot — and it’ll keep you stuck to your chair.

‘Ray’ (Netflix): A trio of talented Indian directors Vasan Balan, Srijit Mukherji and Abhishek Chaubey attempt to give a dark and wicked twist to celebrated Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s short stories. The star-studded ‘Ray’ has four anthologies that explore human frailties like ego, vanity, and narcissism with a deft hands. Actors including Ali Fazal, Kay Kay Menon, Shweta Basu Prasad, and Manjoj Bajpayee are in great form here. Be warned, ‘Ray’ is not the quintessential ray of sunshine, but there’s joy to be had in some of the bleak stories. Like most anthologies, this is a mixed bag.

‘C You Soon’ (Amazon Prime Video): This riveting Malayalam thriller, starring Roshan Matthews and Fahadh Faasil, subverts the usual tropes attached to a hero-centric film. There’s no big budget or larger than life heroes, but just good storytelling. The thriller opens with a UAE-based rakish bachelor Jimmy (an on-point Matthews) e-meeting a young woman Annu Sebastian (an impressive turn by actress Darshana Rajendran) on a dating app. They live in different emirates, but sparks fly virtually between the 20-somethings as they hurtle towards each other at a break-neck speed, missing several steps of courtship — such as meeting one another for coffee or spending time with one another. But the rapid pace in the first half is reflective of their adoration for each other. But things are not as blissful and idyllic and as it seems. Their relationships heads south when skeletons tumble out of the closet.

‘Modern Family’ (Netflix): If you are tired of watching the re-runs of ‘Friends’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’, then this series about a dysfunctional American family is a great replacement after a hard day’s work. The mockumentary style where the adorable members of a family are being interviewed on a couch is unbelievably effective. Both the kids and the adults are wonderfully flawed and fun. My favourite character is Phis (Ty Burell) who is this doting father and family man. Gloria, played by the bodacious and loud Sofia Vergara, is a hoot as a trophy wife. There’s zero judgement in this show and the jokes come quick.

‘The Town’ (Netflix): ‘The Town’ is a 2010 American crime thriller film directed by Ben Affleck. It is based on Chuck Hogan’s 2004 novel ‘Prince of Thieves’. Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Titus Welliver, Pete Postlethwaite and Chris Cooper also star in the film, which follows a crew of Boston bank thieves who set out to collect one more score by stealing Fenway Park. In the movie Doug MacRay, James Coughlin, Albert MacGloan, and Desmond Elden, four lifelong friends from Boston’s Charlestown neighbourhood, rob a bank. Claire Keesey, the assistant manager, is a captive who is released unhurt. When Doug discovers Claire lives in their area, he tracks her down to see how much she has told the cops and to make sure Jem doesn’t eliminate her as a witness. Soon, they develop a romantic relationship, which Doug keeps hidden from the rest of his friends.

‘The Interview’: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s second directorial effort, ‘The Interview’, is a 2014 American political action comedy film co-produced and directed by them, following ‘This Is the End’ (2013). Rogen and James Franco play journalists who arrange an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, only to be recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.