After all, it’s the weekend, well, almost the weekend, and that means some other friendly community streaming advisor on my part, the humblest of storytellers, me!Every week, I check all the new releases on all your favorite streaming services. And I’ve combined this advisor to help you know what’s available and what I think is worth watching.
This is the meaning of this guide. I’m not just telling you everything new – there’s a lot out there – I’m just telling you what’s worth checking out, if I’ve noticed it or if it’s piqued my interest or just because it’s so popular or very strange and different. I try to offer them an intelligent selection, with anything for everyone. I also come with some theatrical releases, because I love watching videos and I need industrial film to survive. You can’t stream everything!
Make sure you let me know what you’re seeing and if there’s anything you’d like me to cover or anything you think I’d like to see. You can message me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Also make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Subscribe to my newsletter for more reviews and observations on entertainment and culture.
Watch last week’s broadcast here:
Okay, let’s go!
The first component of Cobra Kai season 6 is now available on Netflix and I already wrote a review. I found it was fun to get back into the series after a fairly long hiatus, I’ve mixed feelings about some of the story choices. I suppose I may not be able to form a full opinion until parts 2 and 3 are released (check the release schedule here). If you haven’t seen the sequel to The Karate Kid yet, I highly recommend it, even if it gets pretty vulgar and melodramatic at times. It’s also captivating and funny and features wonderful karate fights.
I just watched Gladiator for the first time in many years and I was once impressed. What ancient fiction! Somehow I just found out about These About To Die, a new gladiator TV show streaming on Peacock. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Jojo Macari and Game Of Thrones alum Iwan Rheon, who played the execrable Ramsay Bolton in that show. Unfortunately, it got very poor reviews from critics and audiences, who blamed poor writing, poor acting, and poor CGI, as well as poor direction and a weak story. Another option if you need some ancient Roman goodness: HBO’s Rome. What a gem!
Alas, this is the story of the mysterious “wet bint” of Arthurian legend (it’s also a replay of Monty Python and the Holy Grail). This Lady in the Lake stars Natalie Portman and tells the story of a housewife who becomes a personal detective and begins to investigate some murders. I guess Apple wants anything to fill the space occupied by Presumed Innocent, since that show is almost over.
I like spy movies and I love Dave Bautista and I like Chloe Coleman who I recognize from the movie Dungeons.
A documentary through Daniela Völker that follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the 87-year-old son of Rudolf Höss, commandant of the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. The life of Commander Höss and his circle of relatives was recently fictionalized in The Zone of Interest. A film that I need to see but run away from, because the subject matter is very, very dark. This documentary surely looks fascinating. It could be really appealing to watch the fiction film first and then this one to get a deeper perspective. I’m also preparing to revisit Schindler’s List after nearly two decades. It would possibly remain the most important film of all time, so far. It’s so unbearably heartbreaking.
Kristen Stewart plays a much sexier role than many others in her past in this crime drama that also stars Ed Harris with his most productive hairstyle ever. Set in the ’80s, the trailer looks pretty good. It gets a very high score on RT with 93% reviews and 85% viewership, with an excellent running time of less than two hours. Now that it’s available on Max, I can finally watch it and probably write a review.
Available now to rent or buy, Thelma is the story of an old woman looking to get back what belongs to her after being scammed. It seems I haven’t noticed it in the cinema yet.
I’m not going to spoil the plot of this horror comedy, and don’t watch the trailer if you don’t want the main premise of the film to be spoiled. I will say that it’s curious that both of my VOD entries this week have one thing in common: they are either named after their main characters and both names are cute. Thelma and Abigail.
Glen Powell is a hot commodity right now after the success of Top Gun: Maverick and Hit Man (though I cannot for the life of me understand why people liked that one—I did not). I was a little skeptical of a rebooted Twister. I thoroughly enjoyed the 1996 film, but this one is actually doing better with critics and significantly better with audiences than the original, so that’s good. Looks like it should be fun on the big screen.
This one’s been in theaters for a while, but I went to see it with my own eyes last week and thought it was great. It may not be as clever as the first two, but it’s a great new story in the same universe. It doesn’t surpass the first A Quiet Place, but this film rarely seeks to surpass it or anything like that. It simply tells the story of the first day of the alien invasion and chooses a new setting, New York, and new characters. Read my review here.
Here are some of the ones that have been issued lately (or that have just ended) and that I watch and/or write.
House of the Dragon Season 2 – Sundays on HBO/Max
I love House of the Dragon and I’m very inspired with the quality of Season 2. The Great Dragon War makes for epic episodes. But even the most recent episode, in which the characters talked to each other more frequently, was pretty phenomenal (and I’m also pretty pleased with the results of my review). Miraculously, the quality of this series has completely erased the bad taste left by the end of Game of Thrones.
The Acolyte – Tuesday at Disney
I have the opposite opinion of Disney’s new Star Wars series, The Acolyte. What a general and absolute crisis this exhibition was, and what prospects it had for something great. The series has already ended, with no news yet about a possible second season (Disney would have already announced it if the company had confidence in the screen, but it may still be renewed). Read my review of the season finale here.
Boys Season – Thursdays on Prime Video
The fourth season of The Boys also ended this week with a very strong finale that makes me very excited to see season 5. But that was after a deeply combined season that made all sorts of mistakes and stayed afloat for most of its season. 8 episodes. Let’s hope that the fifth and final season runs successfully and without complaints. And I hope we don’t have any more episodes of “hilarious” sexual assaults.
Presumed Innocent – Friday on Apple TV+
I want to write a review of Presumed Innocent for Apple TV based on the book by Scott Turow. It’s so smart! The acting, the script, the staging, the mystery, it’s like an intelligent page reader. I can’t let it go. If Apple had released all 8 episodes at the same time, I would have watched them in a heartbeat. As it is, it’s fun having to wait each week to see what happens. The penultimate episode airs this weekend on Apple, and another one will air next Friday. I can not wait!
The Responder – Thursdays at Britbox
Lately I’m predging on season 1 of Britbox’s The Responder, starring Martin Freeman as a corrupt cop who gets involved in some shady dealings. It’s smart so far and season 2 is already airing, so I plan to catch up and in all likelihood do some episodic reviews, or maybe just a review of each season. I definitely propose this one if you haven’t noticed yet, especially if you’re like me and have a huge soft spot for all things related to British crime and mystery dramas. Freeman is right, as always.
I have other things I want to get into, like the new Apple Sunny series, as well as Exploding Kittens on Netflix and so many others that it’s almost very unlikely that I’ll stay awake.
Watch last week’s broadcast below:
What are you hunting? Is there anything worth putting on the list?Let me know what you think on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Also make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Subscribe to my newsletter for more reviews and observations on entertainment and culture.
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