Saturday Night at Market Chess Cinemas

With the long, holiday weekend upon us, a double-feature makes sense tonight.

Two years ago, I recommended the Netflix original series, "Narcos," after its first season. Upon viewing the second season, I am going to keep recommending the series as an exciting and gripping show. 

Specifically, the performance by Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar is the best acting I have seen outside of Cillian Murphy in "Peaky Blinders." In my view, Moura (a wildly popular Brazilian actor) and Cillian Murphy are currently the two top actors in the world, both in their respective primes. 

So beyond the action and suspense, the way in which Moura immerses himself in this role puts the show into the recommendation category. "Narcos" is not quite an all-time series in the way "Peaky Blinders," "The Sopranos," and "Breaking Bad" are. But it deserves to be in the next tier below. 

With seasons three and four coming up, however, the tide may turn without Moura. So, I am limiting the recommendation to just the first two seasons precisely based on Moura's performance. Also impressive is Pedro Pascal as real-life DEA Agent, Javier Peña. 

In addition, I am going to recommend the first full season of "Sneaky Pete," a crime drama series by Amazon Studios. The show featured a pilot in the summer 2015, and after some hiccups is finally available for full viewing on Amazon Prime now. Giovanni Ribisi stars as a con man weaving his way into a family as their long-lost grandson. This show also makes for good fun with Bryan Cranston and plenty of other great character actors turning in strong performances.