‘Slow Horses’ Review: Gary Oldman Leads A Crackling Old School John Le Carre-Esque Spy Thriller About Losers

Apple TV’s six-part mini-series Slow Horses, adapted from the novels of the same name by Mick Herron, landed on 1 April with a one-two punch and promptly kept viewers waiting, having decided to parse out the remaining four episodes out on a weekly basis. “It was Apple’s decision,” says director James Hawes. “But if the response I’ve had is anything to go by, the anticipation it has created is fantastic. I’ve got people ringing me up to say, ‘Why are you doing this? I wanted to finish it over the weekend!’ The greatest compliment you could have is that people are demanding more—and now.”

Mama June Shannon and her daughter, Lauryn «Pumpkin» Shannon. In this all-new exclusive super tease for the upcoming season of , the pair butt heads over custody of June's daughter, Alana Thompson.June is cleaning up her act and working hard to make amends with her family, but her daughters aren't as willing to forgive and forget.«A full house is very stressful,» Pumpkin, who is seen welcoming her son, Bentley, now 8 months, in the trailer says. «Especially with Alana getting older.»«And she's back piling on more drama,» Pumpkin adds of June's return to her family's lives.While June is rallying to have Alana stay with her in her new home, Pumpkin isn't letting go that easily.«Alana can stay here,» June tells Pumpkin.«I'm her mama now,» Pumpkin maintains.And it appears that the stress is pulling the family in all different directions, as the trailer sees Pumpkin break down and Alana fight to stay with her sister.«Alana is mine,» June tells the cameras.

Emily Longeretta SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the first three episodes of “Long Slow Exhale,” streaming now on Spectrum.“Long Slow Exhale” is not a laid-back watch. The Spectrum Originals series, which dropped its first three episodes this week, tells a heavy, at times dark, story about a college women’s basketball team in the middle of a sexual assault scandal — and a shocking murder.Over the course of the first episodes, head coach J.C. Abernathy (Rose Rollins) is blindsided when she learns that her assistant coach, Eddie Hagan (Ian Harding), is accused of sexual assault by her star player.

The true-crime genre, either podcasts or documentaries or documentary series, is proving to be quite the boon for streamers and anyone who places a premium on churn and time spent. Adjacent to that genre is the true-crime serial killer genre, and Netflix and filmmaker Joe Berlinger are going all-in on it.

The unmitigated boredom and lackluster unoriginality “All the Old Knives” prides itself on shouldn’t shock anyone. After a long line of dreary espionage flicks — “The 355,” “Red Sparrow,” “Wasp Network,” “Beirut” and so forth — Hollywood, outside of the dependable action franchises like “James Bond” and “Mission Impossible,” has been inconsistent at best, producing spy thrillers that possess an enthralling mix of explosions and romance.

Damon Wayans (Fox’s Lethal Weapon) and Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) have signed on to star alongside Hailey Kilgore, David Iacono and Jeremie Harris in the noir thriller Cinnamon, which will debut exclusively on Fox’s free streaming service, Tubi, later this year.

Paramount+ has acquired the rights to “Finestkind,” a crime thriller that stars Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Foster. Brian Helgeland, an Oscar-winner for “L.A. Confidential,” will both write and direct the film that will begin production later this month in Massachusetts.

Paramount+ has acquired Finestkind, the crime thriller from Oscar winner Brian Helgeland which stars Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace and Jenna Ortega. A drop date later this year on the streamer is scheduled.

EXCLUSIVE: The Jono McLeod directed documentary My Old School, which made its world premiere at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival, has landed with Magnolia Pictures. The specialty cinema label has taken North American rights to the docu which features Alan Cumming. A July 22 theatrical release has been set.

Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (Don’t Look Up) is the last addition to the cast of the action-thriller Silent Night, from iconic action director John Woo (Face/Off), John Wick producers Thunder Road Films and Capstone Studios. He’s set to star alongside Joel Kinnaman, Harold Torres and Catalina Sandino Moreno.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our revitalized TV and streaming podcast, co-hosts Mike DeAngelo and Rodrigo Perez dig into Apple TV+’s latest London-based spy series, “Slow Horses.” Based on the Mick Herron novel of the same name, the show follows Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), the slovenly, irascible, insubordinate leader of Slough House —a destination for all of British Intelligence’s misfits and career f*ck-ups.

We continue to repeat ourselves, but it’s because it’s true —there’s a terrific amount of television coming out on a month-to-month basis currently, and so much of it looks so good it arguably borders on eating cinema’s lunch. While based on the prestige that follows it, we’re able to tell the absolute must-watches such as the return of fan and critic favorite series “Russian Doll,” “Barry,” and “Better Call Saul,” there are plenty more that are premiering in April that will also require time and energy.

After a falling out with that studio over WarnerMedia‘s day-and-date release model in 2021 director Christopher Nolan left his longtime studio home at Warner Bros. and set up shop at Universal.

Gary Oldman, who collaborated with Christopher Nolan on his trilogy of Batman movies, says he is set to feature in one scene of the director’s next picture.

Caroline Framke Chief TV CriticAs anyone who’s even fleetingly dipped into the vast, storied genre of the British spy thriller can attest, there are a few different games afoot in “Slow Horses.” What looks at first like a story of restless, demoted spies finding their purpose gets quickly twisted up in MI5 politics. Then, a couple of hours into the six-episode season, the show tries to turn everything we thought we knew inside out.

Jon Burlingame editorMick Jagger has written his first TV theme, for the Apple TV Plus spy series “Slow Horses,” debuting April 1. And it might never have happened if he hadn’t already read and liked the Mick Herron book on which it’s based.“It’s a quite popular series of books, so I knew what it was about,” the iconic Rolling Stones singer tells Variety.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian producer Roberto Sessa (“The Sea Outside”) has snapped up rights to bestselling spy thriller “Supernotes” about a CIA-trained Italian intelligence officer who winds up in a Cambodian prison after investigating a sensitive scheme to print counterfeit $100 bills in North Korea.Picomedia chief Roberto Sessa plans to turn the book – which had previously been optioned by Alexandra Milchan’s Los Angeles-based Emjag Productions — into a high-end TV series that he is pitching to prospective partners during France’s Series Mania festival.“Supernotes,” which has been published in more than 30 countries, including the U.S., U.K. and France, is the purportedly true story of an Italian secret agent known as Agent Kasper who while on a mission during the mid-90s to investigate perfectly counterfeited $100 bills that were flooding Southeast Asia stumbles into an explosive secret behind them involving the CIA.