Cameron Diaz is Back in Action!

Trailer: 00:00:00

Foreign.

Hannah: 00:00:05

Hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor of Woman and Woman and Home magazine.

Ian: 00:00:17

And I'm Ian McKeown, writer on TV and Satellite Week, TV Times and what's on TV magazines.

th January: 2025

Hannah: 00:00:49

And we'll also be finding out what a real bug's life is like on Disney plus and meeting World War II's lost women spies courtesy of Now TV. But but first, Ian, what is in the news?

Ian: 00:01:00

In man vs. Baby, a four part sequel to the Netflix comedy Man vs.

Bee, Rowan Atkinson will reprise his role as house sitter Trevor who encounters a troublesome infant. What else is in the news, Hannah?

Hannah: 00:01:15

Is there anything other than a troublesome infant? Would be my question.

And Disney's racy: 1980

Ian: 00:01:29

Well, it's a pod of two halves this week, Hannah. We've got two feature films, one an action comedy, the other a sports biopic and two documentary series.

One is a wildlife show and the other is all about World War II espionage. We're going to start on Disney plus with a new series that arrived on Wednesday the 15th of January. It's called a Real Bug's Life and here's a clip.

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Join me Awkwafina. As we magnify the microworlds all around us, our cameras are getting closer than ever before in a real bug's life too. Well, hello.

Anyone who's anyone in bug society is here single and looking for love. Oh. Oh dear.

Ian: 00:02:23

Well, it's the second run of this wildlife series which promises tiny heroes, huge drama.

I've said before, Hannah, that we're, we've been very spoiled ourselves and subsequent generations in having the wonderful David Attenborough wildlife shows on the Beeb to enjoy. This is narrated by Awkwafina, who I think you're probably more familiar with than I am, Hannah.

And well, it's supposed to be all about bugs, but episode one of season two slightly took issue with the fact that quite a lot of it is about crabs, which in my world are not bugs. Anyway, it's of Course, it's on Disney plus.

I suspect it's aimed at a younger audience, and as a result, it's quite a kind of jokey, chatty narration. So there's quite a long section about hermit crabs, which is very interesting.

However, there's a lot of jokes about hermit crab looking for a new beachfront property and there's a lot of competition from other prospective buyers. So, yeah, it's trying to find, as they grow, they need to find larger shells to live in. Yeah, so that's the gist.

And then there also humans feature as well, and the kind of jokes about them being annoying tourists. So I didn't particularly enjoy the tone of it, though. Obviously it's not, not really aimed at me.

But there's some great footage, I must say, and some good tech being used. Also in episode one, you see this, this tiger beetle, Hannah, which runs so fast that it temporarily loses its ability to see clearly.

Hannah: 00:04:14

Just like me, really.

Ian: 00:04:15

So, yeah, some great sequences. As you know, these days, you always get remarkable footage of wildlife in these shows.

Didn't quite like the jokey tone, but I think a younger audience will love it. What did you think?

Hannah: 00:04:32

Well, I do like things like this, as you know, and I think we are spoiled by Sedan David, but I think this, at some point, there has to be somebody or something, and there are a few people coming through. And I'm not sure that Awkwafina is, is, is the person, but this is.

I, I, I think, though, that she's there to attract a younger audience and I think that's probably the key. And if it does that, then, then thumbs up to it, really, because, you know, making, I mean, cute bugs, Cute animals.

Are there cute bugs, animals, I should say, cute animals.

It's quite easy to watch and you get very quickly upset by kind of, you know, animal instincts when one dies or one's left behind or, you know, all of that kind of stuff that we see. And I put my head in the cushion and can't watch. But it's quite hard, I think, to get excited. Maybe I'm wrong about a bug, but lots of, you know.

But actually this brings to life how important bugs are. And actually the journey, I mean, it's unbelievable that any of them live and yet they've all got their own jobs.

And I think about that with a, with ants. I mean, they've all got their own jobs. They all know where they're going, they all know what they need to be doing.

And I think this does sort of bring to life. I don't know, part of the animal kingdom, the bug kingdom that we don't know much about.

So I think it probably is aimed at younger people and if that gets them interested then great.

I'm interested to see where it kind of, you know, where it goes, if you like, from this in terms of whether they do more with other, other kinds of animals. But I think perhaps it's the, it's a play on the bug's life, isn't it really getting people interested?

Ian: 00:06:11

We move across to Netflix now for a new action comedy feature film which arrived on Friday 17th January is called back in Action. And here's a clip.

Hannah: 00:06:23

What is going on?

Ian: 00:06:24

We were operatives for the CIA like Jason Boyd. Yeah. But we remember stuff.

Hannah: 00:06:31

Yeah, I knew you guys were lying.

Trailer: 00:06:35

About something, but I never thought you were cool enough to be spied. I mean that's not why we're cool. Yeah, that's not why we're cool.

Hannah: 00:06:47

And it really is action packed for some of you. You'll know that. Jamie, well, Jamie Foxx is that one of the main characters in this alongside Cameron Diaz.

And it hit the news when of course he had, he had a stroke when he was filming the movie and it was just really awful. But he's well and he's better and it's all okay.

But this film is, I mean I, from, from, from everything I have seen on this, I've really enjoyed what I've seen so far because they work really, really well together. Now I know that Jamie Foxx played a big part in Cameron Diaz wanting to kind of make her foray back into the kind of the movie world if you like.

And I think that they're, when they've partnered before, they really enjoyed, she's really enjoyed spending time with him and they gel. And this has to work in this because these two are married in, in this.

So they play the parts of married couple Matt and Emily and they left this whole world of espionage about 12 years ago. They've got a family they don't do, they don't have this kind of crazy gun toting life anymore where they're out catching people.

You see, you see them fall back into the world they used to live in and they fall very neatly into it. I, from what I have seen, I haven't watched the whole lot.

But I think this is, I think this is really, I really enjoyed it and I think that it's kind of for everybody. It's not just an action packed one. We think, oh gosh, you know, this isn't for you. I think everybody that tunes into this will enjoy it.

What do you think, Ian?

Ian: 00:08:31

I really enjoyed it after initial reservations. So, yeah, at the start they are both spies and there's this big action set piece. I mean, a lot of the set pieces are like worthy of a Bond film.

They're amazing. Yes.

And at the beginning there's this big fight scene on an airplane and then the airplane starts to crash, but they carry on fighting each other, which I thought, well, this is a bit weird. Anyway, never mind. Then we fast forward. So they decide to give up the spy game and raise a family. And we fast forward. They got two teenage kids.

They're called Matt and Emily, by the way, the two characters played by Fox and Diaz. They've got these two teenage kids and it's all. It's classic stuff like the daughter is older and she's really sulky and, you know, argumentative.

They just. They can't manage their kids at all. But for reasons that I won't reveal, they kind of get drawn back into the spy game. Yes, it's that classic trope.

And there's a very funny sequence. The kids know nothing about their mum and dad's past at all. They think they used to be in the Peace Corps, but they kind of.

They slightly smell a rat.

Anyway, there's a great sequence where the teenage daughter said she's going off to do some homework with a friend, but because they've got a tracker on her phone, they discover she's gone into this. Gone to this nightclub that's supposed to be over 18s only. So they go to find her and there's a. There's a brilliant sequence. I won't spoil it.

But there's a very funny sequence that happens in the nightclub that kind of. Well, it sort of makes the kids think again. Anyway, so great star power in this. Fox and Diaz. And of course, this is.

for a while. Last One was the: 2014

But check out this support cast, if you will. You've got Glenn Close as Emily's mother, who is also a spy. She's called Ginny. You've got Jamie Demetriou from Steph Lets Flats.

He is very funny as Granny's young boyfriend who also wants to be a spy, but he's very inept. And Andrew Scott, wow, amazing as a British intelligence agent. So I, I loved it. I mean, it's got a.

It's got an amazing chase down the River Thames, a stunt sequence. I mean, it's, it's funny, it's action packed, it's got superstar power and, yeah, a really entertaining watch, I would say, for the whole family.

Next up on Sky History, sky box sets and now TV. And arriving on Tuesday 14th January, we have a new documentary series called the Lost Women Spies. And here's a clip.

Hannah: 00:11:32

Churchill recruits agents who are banned by.

Ian: 00:11:35

Law from the front line.

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Women. They are led by spy master Vera Atkins. Are you prepared to take the fight to the Nazis as a spy? If you're caught, the chances of survival are slim.

Ian: 00:12:01

Well, we're not short of documentaries about World War II, are we, Hannah? But I have to say this one covered a subject that I really knew very little about.

So it starts in: 1942

So the brilliantly named Brigadier Gubbins, who's head of the Special Operations Executive, with Churchill's approval, green lights are planned to deploy women behind enemy lines.

However, because they're not going to be covered by the Geneva Convention, kind of the gloves are off, really, if they get taken prisoner, you know, there's no rules. So the woman who was overseeing this was called Vera Atkins.

So she's, she's recruiting them, she's getting them trained and then she's sending them on missions. I've only seen episode one, and that is includes the story of Noor Khan, a fluent French speaker who also was already a wireless operator.

And that's what they desperately needed. They needed wireless operators to send to France. So, I mean, the stories don't end well.

It has to be said, and it teases in episode one, that after the war, Vera was determined to go back to France and to find out, well, what did become of these young women who were sent on these incredibly dangerous missions. So it's a drama, documentary and the period detail is terrific. The costumes, the hair and makeup, the set.

You kind of think, well, you could have just made a drama and it would make a great drama, I think. But yeah, I enjoyed it and I learned a lot about something I was previously didn't know much about at all. What did you think, Hannah?

Hannah: 00:14:11

It's really interesting. The power of women. Women power. A. I mean, it was absolutely, it's absolutely great.

And you say you, you learn so, so much about these British female agents. And the life expectancy of a wireless operator in Occupy France was just six weeks.

So you can see why the spy network was in crisis and so what they had to do. So they, you know, they came up with this very controversial idea of deploying women agents behind enemy lines.

And it's just, I mean, I suppose what we see in our learnings of history of World War II is quite sort of basic to a degree. All the nuances and all the things that are going on behind the scenes you don't see. So I think this is really quite different.

So there's no shortage of kind of historical documentaries and dramas. But this, I think this strikes a slightly different note and you learn an awful lot.

Ian: 00:15:11

We're going to finish on Prime Video with a feature length sports biopic which arrived on Thursday 16th January is called Unstoppable. And here's a clip.

Trailer: 00:15:25

So why do you do this? Why do you wrestle? When people look at me, the first thing they see is what's missing if I win. Having one leg won't be the most.

Ian: 00:15:40

Important thing about me.

Hannah: 00:15:42

Yes, now I'm a fan of Prime Video. I hang out a lot on Prime Video and this is really interesting and we talk about star wattage.

This has also got star wattage because Jennifer Lopez JLO Plan plays the mother, Judy of Anthony Robles. And it's, it is based on this incredibly true story and it's really moving as well.

So it's a, it's, it's all based around Anthony Gerald Jerome takes that part and he was born with one leg and he pursues his dream of becoming a national champion and kind of against all of the odds. And it opens with him at high school.

So his coach plays a really important part in his life because he's there, he's so supportive, Mother is there all of the time. But you also see his really difficult life because his father isn't particularly pleasant.

Although at the beginning of this it's quite hard to see there's an edge to him.

It's almost like a kind of coercive type of relationship rather than him just being brutal at first and he doesn't want him, he wants him to do something more academic. Why is he doing this? The mother's caught him with that relationship. If he leaves home, what does that look like?

So there's kind of all sorts against all of the odds. He went on to be an incredible champion. And as I say you, it opens with him at high school wrestling and, and winning that match.

And it's just, it's incredibly inspiring because you think of how much we've all got and, and what's going for us. And actually lots was going against him, but he absolutely, absolutely his want, his dream, his passion, his ability has allowed him to succeed.

And Jennifer Lopez, I think she does a really good job of being mum. She's just so proud of her son. She hears whispers in the audience. She stands up for him, you know, the crowds watching, she's just so, so proud.

But yet, she was a young mum. She had him when she was 16. She struggled through this marriage. And yet, and she's actually an incredibly inspiring character too, in this.

So it's not just him. And I thought, I thought, I thought it was really great. I have to say, I thought it was very moving.

And within the first 10 minutes of watching this, I had several tears rolling down my eye. I am really wet when it comes to things like this. But I did cry. Ian, what did you think?

Ian: 00:18:26

I did enjoy this. It's a really inspiring true story.

And you remember in Forest Gump, they used this technology to make it look as though Lieutenant Dan convincingly had had both his legs amputated. You've got a similar thing here.

And what's remarkable is how Jarell Jerome, who plays Anthony, makes it look as if he's doing everything with one leg. It's incredibly convincing. So it's, it's, it's a great story, but it follows that traditional kind of sports drama arc.

I found the family background stuff very interesting. So of course you've got JLo as his mother, Judy, and Bobby Cannavale is really good as the horrible stepdad that he has to deal with.

You've also got Don Cheadle playing the coach and there's that classic coach, athlete relationship. And it's actually from the production company of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, longtime collaborators. Wrestling.

This kind of wrestling, you know, like Olympic style wrestling. It's much more popular in the U.S.

and of course, we had that brilliant film Foxcatcher, again based on a true and very bizarre story about us wrestlers.

I don't think it's had that much in terms of, well, you had Glow, which of course was a different style of wrestling, Glamorous Ladies of Wrestling, but hasn't had that much coverage on film and tv. So this was a story and an athlete. Again, I didn't know anything about him. And yeah, it was an inspiring and well made film.

Now, there's lots more interesting stuff that landed this week on streaming platforms, so we're going to give you a quick roundup of the things we didn't have time to preview on MGM there is a post apocalyptic drama called Earth Abides about a geologist who wakes from a coma to discover most of humanity has been wiped out by a pandemic. On ITVX it's the return of the very good comedy drama the Dry, about a woman who's given up the booze.

On via play we have documentary the Bunker which is a true crime series about a Swedish woman who was drugged, kidnapped and held prisoner in a bunker.

On BBC iPlayer we have a Gaelic language drama called the island which follows a family liaison officer as she goes to the the Western Isles following a murder. Paramount plus have a thriller called the Crow Girl.

It features Eve Miles as a detective who calls on a psychiatrist played by Catherine Kelly to help with a murder case. And finally on Apple TV plus a second run of the bizarre workplace thriller Severance which is directed by Ben Stiller.

It stars Adam Scott and it is well worth a look. Now we've got to that time Hannah, where we find out what the hell you've been binge watching this week.

Hannah: 00:22:00

Well, as I said to you, I do like to hang out in prime video and I've been watching Summer I Turned Pretty which I have watched before but the girls listen to on their audiobooks, they absolutely love that. And also on there is becoming the Beckhams which you know, don't not go out for is what I would say.

But if you've got some spare time, it's an easy view.

Ian: 00:22:26

Well I found on BBC iPlayer where I think it's available for about another week, Ghostbusters Afterlife, which I have to say I really enjoyed. It features one of the young actors from Stranger Things and the return of the stars from the original film.

Now we've just got time to look ahead to next week's offerings. So what is on the binge watch menu Hannah?

Hannah: 00:22:53

Well, Leo Woodle plays a maths genius whose theories spark a global conspiracy in Apple tv. Plus thriller Prime Target and agent Peter.

Ian: 00:23:03

Sutherland goes AWOL as action packed Netflix spy thriller the Night Agent returns. So we look forward to those and much, much more. But in the meantime, listeners.

Hannah: 00:23:20

Watch.