“Lupin” is a French heist thriller that became an immediate hit on Netflix, both in France and in the US. It’s the story of Assane Diop, who bases his life on a “gentleman burglar” he read about in a book his father gave him when he was young. The series opens with him working as a janitor in The Louvre, where he’s drawn to an expensive piece of jewelry called The Queen’s Necklace. With help from a few local criminals, he endeavors to steal it. But there’s more to the theft — in execution and the reason he wants the item — than we’re first led to believe. Over the five episodes in season one, with a Sherlock Holmes-like flair, “Lupin” divulges more bits and pieces of the puzzle while showing us how Diop pulls off his schemes. The five episodes that make up season two have already been shot, and we can’t wait to see them later this year.
Martha and I finally got around to watching the filmed version of “Hamilton” that’s streaming on Disney+. We hadn’t gone to see it on stage because: a) the tickets were way too expensive; b) we don’t usually like dialogue-free musicals where every word is sung (I’m talking about you, Andrew Lloyd Webber); and c) we’re not fans of hip-hop. However, seeing it in the comfort of our living room at no extra charge — with the ability to turn on subtitles that allowed us old people to understand all the lyrics — made us more willing to give it a try. I’m glad we did, because it’s really good, and we now understand why it won 11 Tonys. I was quite impressed by the talents of every cast member, the innovative set design, the way director Thomas Kail captured the production (which he directed on Broadway), and especially the fact that Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the book and the lyrics and the music. That’s a rare feat pulled off by only a few others, including Lionel Bart (“Oliver”) and Meredith Wilson (“The Music Man”).
Two years ago, after seeing just a couple of episodes, I recommended a show called “Flack,” which was then airing on the Pop channel. Unfortunately, either it went away or I forgot about it before finishing the season. Fortunately, the whole thing is now streaming on Prime Video, so my wife and I binged all six episodes this weekend. We enjoyed it enough that we now anxiously await a second season, which Amazon has promised to pick up later this year. The show stars Anna Paquin as one of the top public relations pros in an agency that helps clients get past career crises. A famed celebrity chef and family man who womanizes. A pop star about to be dropped by her label. A client who announced she was pregnant, then hired a surrogate to have the baby, then was photographed in public without her fake baby bump. The head of an organic cosmetics company that promises to rejuvenate women is caught having a face lift. My only caveat is that it gets a bit raunchy at times, so if that bothers you, stay away. Otherwise, I recommend “Flack.”
We have also binge-watched “Hanna,” a Prime Video original about a teen girl brought up in the forest by her father, who is hiding her from some nefarious forces that want him dead and her captured. Slowly, as Hanna begins to explore the outside world, the show reveals who’s pulling those strings and why she’s been hunted since shortly after her birth. I won’t spoil any of that for you, but if you’re up for a high-concept coming-of-age adventure that’s a mix of “Captain Fantastic,” “La Femme Nikita,” and “The Bourne Identity,” you’ll probably like “Hanna.”