Rueben's Ramblings

On February 2, the small screen adaptation of Mr. and Mrs. Smith will debut online on Amazon Prime as an 8-episode drama series.

In this reimagining of the 2005 film, the series stars Donald Glover as John Smith and Maya Erskine as Jane Smith. In this version, two lonely strangers land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travels, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan. The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith.

Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?

Episodes will feature Paul Dano, Michaela Coel, Eiza Gonzalez, Parker Posey, Sarah Paulson, Ron Perlman, Alexander Skarsgard, John Turturro, Billy Campbell and Sharon Horgan.

Here is a trailer for Mr. and Mrs. Smith:

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The anthology series Genius: MLK/X will debut its first two episodes on National Geographic starting at 9 PM on February 1 while the first episode only will air on ABC at 9 PM.

The series explores simultaneously the formative years, pioneering accomplishments, dueling philosophies and key personal relationships of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre). While King advanced racial equality through nonviolent activism, X advocated for Black empowerment, identity and self-determination.

The eight-part series also brings their wives, Coretta Scott King (Weruche Opia) and Betty Shabazz (Jayme Lawson), to the forefront and shows them as formidable equals of the Movement. While King and X met only once and often challenged each other’s views, the two visionaries, with their wives leading by their sides, ultimately rose to pioneer a movement that lives on today.

The late Ron Cephas Jones co-stars.

Here is a trailer for Genius: MLK/X:

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On February 1, the 6-part British series Three Little Birds will debut online on Britbox.

A life-affirming drama, written by Sir Lenny Henry (who also appears in several episodes) inspired by his mother’s stories about leaving Jamaica in the 1950s for Great Britain. Follows sisters Leah and Chantrelle (Rochelle Neil and Saffron Coomber respectively) and their friend Hosanna (Yazmin Belo) starting a new life in England.

The cast also includes Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who).

Here is a trailer for Three Little Birds:

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On January 31, the latest installment of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans will air its first two episodes tonight on FX at 10 PM.

Acclaimed writer Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) surrounded himself with a coterie of society’s most elite women – rich, glamorous socialites who defined a bygone era of high society New York – whom he nicknamed “the swans.” Beautiful and distinguished, the group included grande dame Barbara “Babe” Paley (Naomi Watts), Slim Keith (Diane Lane), C.Z. Guest (Chloë Sevigny) and Lee Radziwill (Calista Flockhart).

Enchanted and captivated by these doyennes, Capote ingratiated himself into their lives, befriending them and becoming their confidante, only to ultimately betray them by writing a thinly veiled fictionalization of their lives, exposing their most intimate secrets. When an excerpt from the book, Answered Prayers, Capote’s planned magnum opus, was published in Esquire, it effectively destroyed his relationship with his swans, banished him from the high society he so loved and sent him into a spiral of self-destruction from which he would ultimately never recover.

The cast includes Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, Russell Tovey, Joe Mantello and the late Treat Williams.

Here is a trailer for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans:

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