Elle
Wednesday, streaming on Prime Video
TV is loving a prequel right now. And the latest to hit screens is this pink-hued teen series from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company.
It revolves around Elle Woods, the character Witherspoon first brought to life in 2001’s Legally Blonde movie.
In this incarnation, Elle, played by newcomer Lexi Minetree, is 16 and has recently moved to a high school in Seattle. Instead of the sunny skies Elle is used to back in LA, she’s been plonked in cold, rainy, 90s grunge-loving Seattle — and let’s just say, she has a rude awakening ahead of her.
It’s a great pick-up point for the series, which will explore Elle’s “origin story” and how she became the tenacious young woman we see in the film.
“My whole life, strangers on the street have come up to me and been like, ‘You know, you look a lot like Reese Witherspoon’,” Minetree recently told Cosmopolitan magazine.
And it’s true — she is a dead ringer for the star, which will no doubt make watching this series feel seamless for the viewer, especially those who might be old enough to remember watching the film the first time around.
“What’s cool about this show is that you get to see a side of Elle Woods that’s a little more insecure,” Minetree told the magazine.
“In Elle, you get to see where she learned to own who she is, even if she’s sticking out.”
In an Instagram post by Witherspoon earlier this month, the Hollywood star spoke of how proud she was “to pass the baton — or the pink torch” to Minetree as the new Elle.
“For 25 years, I’ve had the privilege of hearing from young women who saw themselves in Elle Woods,” she wrote.
“Watching that legacy continue into a new generation is something I’ll never take for granted.”
The Sheep Detectives
Streaming on Prime Video
This under-the-radar film is coming to streaming, which means a lot more people can experience its heartfelt loveliness. It’s all about a flock of sheep who work together to solve the murder of their beloved shepherd, played by Hugh Jackman. The sheep are CGI, but the humans are all real, and the cast, which includes Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun and The Bear’s Molly Gordon, are all sensational. I cried tears of joy during this film — you’ll love it, too.
Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness
Saturday, streaming on HBO Max
Larry David has teamed up with Barack Obama (I know, what?) for this unique historical comedy series. The former US president is behind this project, which sees Larry — plus an incredible line-up of guest stars — jumping in to re-enact historical moments from America’s 250-year history. As the logline reads, “Those who don’t know history . . . are doomed to watch Larry David repeat it.” Seinfeld and Curb fans won’t want to miss this.
Ms X
Tuesday, streaming on Binge
Melissa George stars in this darkly comedic crime drama, all about a suburban mum, Mia Bennett (George), who is accidentally drawn into the criminal underworld after she teams up with an old school friend, Oscar (Dean O’Gorman), a would-be PI, to investigate her supposedly cheating husband. This is set in contemporary Auckland, and it’s great to see new faces and new places on the screen — can’t wait to see where this goes.
Saint-Pierre
Friday, 8.30pm, ABC
Death In Paradise — but make it freezing cold! And set in a tiny archipelago community off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. OK, so that’s oversimplifying it, but this quirky detective series, which stars Allan Hawco as Donny “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, a detective who’s been ordered to the remote outpost after upsetting his superiors, has some similarities in form. This is a bilingual French/English series, and it got great reviews when it launched in Canada. One to watch.
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