TV TIP

Sneaky Pete

Amazon Prime Video

Some actors are born to play a role, and Giovanni Ribisi was born to play Sneaky Pete. He’s perfect as a con artist named Marius Josopovic who weasels his way into a family, posing as a long-lost cousin nobody has seen for 20 years. Some of the show can be hard to believe, with one con being overtaken by a larger con and so forth. Marius had no idea just what kind of a family he was getting into, but if you can suspend your disbelief somewhat, it’s a fun ride. It’s set largely in Connecticut, so there’s a lot of references viewers can pick up on. The second season revolves around a heist that takes place at Mohegan Sun, and several episodes were filmed there. Additionally, Marin Ireland plays one of Pete’s cousins, and she is a revelation in everything I’ve seen her in (including a movie called “Birth-Rebirth,” which my cousin co-wrote and is also available to stream on Amazon). The third season, which kind of goes off the rails a bit, features the final on-screen performance of actor and magician Ricky Jay before he died in 2018. Oh, and Bryan Cranston is a co-creator of the show. First two seasons: A; Third season: C-minus.

— Owen Poole

Documentary tip

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

Hulu

I caught this 2023 documentary when it recently aired on ABC (you can stream it on Hulu), and I was struck by what an anomaly Brooke Shields is. She starred in very sexualized roles as a preteen and teen. She was repeatedly asked leering questions by male interviewers. Her alcoholic mother served as her manager. She took four years off from her career to attend college (Princeton, for heaven’s sake) and returned to find that Hollywood was no longer interested in her. Shields had every reason to be a trainwreck. And yet here she is, in this documentary, at age 58, smart and engaging and self-aware and, dare I say it, normal. She discusses her life with honesty and clarity. If the movie uses a few too many modern-social-history talking heads, it’s not a fatal flaw. “Pretty Baby” is a fascinating look at surviving and thriving. Note that the film is directed by Lana Wilson, who also directed the Taylor Swift documentary “Miss Americana.”

– Kristina Dorsey

Poetry tip

Federico Garcia Lorca, Coney Island, 1929

Paul Muldoon

The New Yorker, Dec. 25, 2023

I enjoy poetry — but in the “enthusiastic dullard” context meaning I can’t speak with any particular eloquence or knowledge about it, but I do have a good time poking about. I met Muldoon a few years back when he gave a reading at the La Grua Center, and we chatted just long enough to establish we’re both big fans of the Irish guitar genius Rory Gallagher. With that to recommend him, I’ve regularly sought Muldoon’s work, enjoy it and occasionally understand it. I came across “Federico Garcia Lorca, Coney Island, 1929” in a recently discarded copy of the New Yorker and was thoroughly enchanted. After reacquainting myself with the poet Lorca and how he came to be at Coney Island that day, I was thus able to appreciate Muldoon’s striking imagery, shrewd observations and historical admiration — all delivered with a gleefully childlike ”splash/brash/clash“ rhyme scheme.

— Rick Koster