Denzel Washington and Rami Malek consider The Little Things, and John Krasinski hosts SNL
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, January 29, and Saturday, January 30. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
The Little Things (HBO Max, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “The Little Things is pure boilerplate. There’s scarcely a moment in the movie that doesn’t recall a dozen predecessors, in form or content or both. That the supporting cast of second-string officers features two alums of The Wire provides a sense of the procedural vibe writer-director John Lee Hancock is slickly but imprecisely approximating. His script is a breathless, goofily enjoyable flurry of jargon and platitude and quip. When his characters aren’t endlessly pointing out the biblical dimension of their work—there’s lots of talk of God, church, angels, and reverends, augmented with a significant shot of a cross looming on a hill like the Hollywood sign—they’re arguing over who’s buying breakfast. To enjoy the film on its own cookie-cutter terms depends on finding pleasure, guilty or otherwise, in tropes recycled with total straight-faced conviction. Or maybe to crave comfort food of a variety Hollywood doesn’t churn out quite as frequently as it used to.” Read the rest of A.A. Dowd’s review here. The film stars Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Michael Hyatt.
WandaVision (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): It’s no surprise that not a lot is revealed yet about the details in the fourth episode of this new series, which focuses on Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlett Witch, and Paul Bettany’s Vision settling down to an apparent domestic life. Or do they? Look out for Stephen Robinson’s review of what is sure to be a doozy of an episode, based on this trailer alone.
Regular coverage
Search Party (HBO Max)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1, Friday, 8 p.m.)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:29 p.m.): Jim Halpert is ready for Studio 8H. SNL returns after over a month with host John Krasinski, who was originally supposed to do this gig last March to celebrate his movie A Quiet Place II. Machine Gun Kelly will be the musical guest. Dennis Perkins will recap.
Wild cards
The Dig (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “For all the film’s sweeping, romantic ideas, the actual experience of watching The Dig is a lot like sitting at a bus stop.” Read Katie Rife’s B- review of The Dig here; its star-studded cast includes Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Archie Barnes, Lily James, Ben Chaplin, and Johnny Flynn.
We Are: The Brooklyn Saints (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): This immersive four-part docuseries, directed and executive produced by Rudy Valdez, offers an inside look at an inner-city youth football league in Brooklyn. We Are: The Brooklyn Saints chronicles the personal lives of the young athletes as well as their support systems of coaches and parents.
Finding Ohana (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): In Jude Weng’s directorial debut—starring Kea Peahu, Alex Aiono, Marc Evan Jackson, and Kelly Hu—two Brooklyn teenagers take a trip to Oahu and discover their Hawaiian heritage.
Palmer (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Justin Timberlake leads the dramatic film described as “overlong and sentimental, but rarely annoying” in Ignatiy Vishnevetsky’s grade C review.