Almost a year after launching in Aotearoa, AMC+ may be the best value streaming service you have never heard of, says Dan Slevin. He recommends three shows to get you started.
Photo: AMC+
AMC+ is the streaming arm of American media conglomerate AMC Networks which owns several brands including IFC, AMC (the cable channel once known as American Movie Channel), Sundance Channel, Acorn TV, Shudder and others.
Not everything that features on AMC+ in the US is available here as some of their titles have long-term licensing deals in place with TVNZ or Neon but what’s left is still pretty high quality.
Because of AMC’s background as a basic cable channel it has prioritised building long term assets and giving series time to tell their stories completely – unlike the situation with Netflix now where cliffhanger cancellations are the norm rather than the exception.
Mad Men may well be the most famous of their archive shows on AMC+ but they also have The Walking Dead and all the spinoffs, Halt and Catch Fire (four seasons) and all five seasons of the western epic Hell on Wheels. (Despite premiering on AMC in the US, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are not on AMC+.)
Photo: AMC+
Dark Winds
Based on a series of novels by Tony Hillerman (and continued after his death by daughter Anne), Dark Winds is a detective series with a twist, that being the crimes are committed on the Navajo reservation which is policed by their own department.
In series one, set in 1970, experienced Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) is paired up with rookie Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) to investigate the brutal murder of three Navajo in a motel room while the FBI are focused on the daring helicopter getaway from a bank robbery in Gallup, New Mexico, headed in the direction of the reservation.
Are the two cases connected? If they are, here we have the kind of jurisdictional tension that shows like this thrive on.
Add some old school racism on the part of the big city federales and you have a recipe for some great drama.
The writing staff on the show are all Native American and the show takes the beliefs of the Navajo (or Diné as they call themselves) seriously, including the shame of those Diné who were not brought up with access to their own traditions – a situation we are not unfamiliar with here in Aotearoa.
Dark Winds is built for weekly television so there are spaces for ad breaks as well as “Previously on…” and “Next week on…” features which might get a bit annoying if you are bingeing online. But, if you are pining for some New Mexico desert landscapes after the end of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, this will have a familiar look to it and there are so many books in the franchise that I can see Dark Winds going on for at least as long as those shows.
Photo: AMC+
Documentary Now!
I have wanted to see this series for a long time now – why wasn’t it programmed for the film buffs at the festival!? – and thanks to AMC+, now I can.
First aired in the US back in 2015, there are four seasons of pitch-perfect documentary parody, created by some of the funniest Saturday Night Live alumni.
The first episode purports to be the 50th anniversary of a television show dedicated to the art of documentary and regular host Helen Mirren introduces us to one of the most successful programmes ever, Sandy Passage, about two ageing socialites living in a broken down mansion on Long Island. If this seems familiar, you will be delighted by the recreation of the 1975 classic Maysles’ film Grey Gardens – a staple at film societies for decades.
Other highlights include John Mulaney and Seth Myers’ Original Cast Album: Co-op (featuring original songs) spoofing the wonderful D.A. Pennebaker film about the making of Stephen Sondheim’s Company in 1970, and Juan Likes Rice and Chicken which is, of course, inspired by Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
Documentary Now! doesn’t stand to be binged quite like other shows as the schtick can wear a bit thin after three episodes in a row, but as an end of the evening palate cleanser you can’t go wrong.
Photo: AMC+
Rectify
Rectify is a show I came across on DVD back in about 2015 but seasons 2-4 were never released on home video here, nor were they picked up by any of the streamers. This is a shame because it is one of the most captivating and thoughtful American shows of the last few years.
Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is released from prison after 19 years on death row when new DNA evidence casts doubt on his conviction for the rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend. Returning to the small southern town where the crime occurred, he and his community are forced to confront what has changed – and what hasn’t – in the intervening years.
Created by actor Ray McKinnon – who blew me away as the preacher Henry Smith, being driven slowly mad by a brain tumour in Deadwood – Rectify is a character study of a whole town and what happens when the unthinkable has to be re-thought.
AMC+ also has dedicated strands for AcornTV (British drama) and Shudder (horror), all included in the price. I’ll take a closer look at those offerings at a later date.
AMC+ is $9.99 a month in New Zealand and – like many streamers – they offer a seven-day free trial.
