It’s the weekend at last—well, almost the weekend at last—and that means another friendly neighborhood streaming guide from yours truly, your humblest of narrators, me! I sift through everything new on all your favorite streaming services each week and put together this guide to help you know what’s out there and what I think is worth watching.
That’s the spin on this guide. I don’t just tell you everything new—there’s a lot of garbage out there—I only tell you what I think is worth checking out, whether I’ve seen it or whether it’s piqued my curiosity or sometimes just because it’s very popular or very weird and different. I try to give you a good selection, with something for everyone. I also include some theatrical releases, since I love going to the movies and want the movie theater industry to survive. We can’t stream everything!
Be sure to let me know what you’re watching and if there’s anything you’d like me to cover or anything you think I might just enjoy watching. You can shoot me a message on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
Check out last week’s streaming guide here:
Alright, let’s dive right in!
New Shows And Movies
Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 1 (Netflix)
The first part of Cobra Kai Season 6 is out on Netflix now, and I’ve actually already penned a review. I found it an enjoyable return to the show after quite a long break, though I have mixed feelings about some of the story choices. I suppose I won’t be able to really form a complete opinion until Parts 2 and 3 are out (see the release schedule here). If you haven’t watched the sequel series to The Karate Kid yet, I highly recommend it, even if it does get pretty cheesy and melodramatic at times. It’s also charming and funny and has some great karate fights
Those About To Die (Peacock)
I just watched Gladiator for the first time in many years and was once again blown away. What a fantastic piece of historical fiction! Somehow, I’m only just finding out about Those 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 on that show. Unfortunately, it’s getting pretty bad reviews from critics and audiences, who blame bad writing, bad acting and bad CGI along with bad direction and a flimsy story. Another option if you’re wanting some ancient Rome goodness: HBO’s Rome. What a gem!
Lady In The Lake (Apple TV+)
Alas, this is not the story of the mysterious “moistened bint” from Arthurian legend (that’s a Monty Python and the Holy Grail line, by the way). This Lady in the Lake stars Natalie Portman and is about a housewife that becomes a private investigator and begins looking into some murders. I suppose Apple needs something to fill the slot taken by Presumed Innocent as that show is almost at an end.
My Spy: The Eternal City (Prime Video)
I like spy movies and I like Dave Bautista and I like Chloe Coleman who I recognize from the excellent Dungeons & Dragons movie. But My Spy got absolutely awful reviews from both critics and audiences and I admit I just skipped it. I guess the movie did well enough to snag a sequel, however. Eternal City is actually doing even worse on Rotten Tomatoes (15% with critics, 38% with audiences) which is a shame because the trailer is fun. And maybe this is a fun movie that’s worth watching despite the reviews. Either way, it’s out now on Prime Video.
The Commandant’s Shadow (Max)
A documentary from Daniela Völker that follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the 87-year-old son of Rudolf Höss, the Camp Commandant of the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz. The life of Commandant Höss and his family was recently fictionalized in The Zone Of Interest, a film I keep meaning to watch but keep flinching away from, as the subject matter is so very, very dark. This documentary looks absolutely fascinating. It might actually be interesting to watch the fictional film first, then this one to gain a deeper perspective. I am also gearing up to rewatch Schindler’s List after close to two decades. It remains perhaps the greatest film of all time, but it’s just so unbearably heartbreaking.
Love Lies Bleeding (Max)
Kristen Stewart takes on a much more interesting role than many in her past in this crime drama that also stars Ed Harris with his best-ever hairdo. Set in the late 80s, the trailer actually looks pretty damn good. It’s scoring super high on RT with 93% from critics and 85% from audiences, with a marvelous sub-two-hour runtime. Now that it’s out on Max I can finally watch it and possibly write up a review.
Thelma (Video On Demand)
Out now to rent or buy, Thelma is the story of an elderly woman out to get what’s hers after being conned. It looks fantastic but I didn’t catch it in theaters.
Abigail (Video On Demand)
I won’t spoil the plot of this horror-comedy, and don’t watch the trailer if you don’t want the main premise of the film spoiled. I will say it’s fun to have both my VOD entries this week share one thing in common: They’re both named after their main characters, and both names are prety . Thelma and Abigail.
Twisters (In Theaters)
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.
A Quiet Place: Day One (In Theaters)
This one’s been out in theaters for awhile now, but I just went and saw it for myself earlier this week and thought it was terrific. Maybe not as good as the first two, but a great new story in the same universe. You can’t beat the first A Quiet Place, but this film doesn’t try to one-up it or anything. It just tells the story of the first day of the alien invasion and picks a new setting—New York City—and new characters. Read my review here.
Ongoing Shows
Here are some of the shows currently airing (or that have just ended) that I’m watching and/or writing about.
House of the Dragon Season 2 — Sundays on HBO/Max
I love House of the Dragon and I’m seriously impressed with how top-notch Season 2 has been. The big dragon battle a couple episodes ago was epic. But even the most recent episode, which was mostly just characters talking with one another, was pretty phenomenal (and I’m pretty happy with how my review turned out as well). Miraculously, the quality of this series has almost completely erased the bad taste left by the end of Game Of Thrones.
The Acolyte — Tuesdays on Disney+
I have the opposite opinion of Disney’s latest Star Wars series, The Acolyte. What a total and absolute disaster this show has been—and what potential it had to be something great. The series is over now, with no word yet on a potential second season (Disney would have announced this already if the company had faith in the show, but it still could get a renewal). Read my review of the season finale here.
The Boys Season 4 — Thursdays on Prime Video
The fourth season of The Boys also came to an end this week with a really strong finale that makes me very excited to see Season 5. But this was after a deeply mixed season that made all kinds of mistakes and really tread water for most of its 8 episodes. Hopefully the fifth and final season goes out with a bang and not a whimper. And hopefully we don’t have any more “hilarious” sexual assault episodes.
Presumed Innocent — Fridays on Apple TV+
I really need to write a review of Apple TV’s Presumed Innocent based on the book by Scott Turow. It’s so good! The acting, the writing, the direction, the mystery—it’s like a good page-turner. I can’t put it down. If Apple had released all 8 episodes at once I would have binged them in a heartbeat. As it stands, it’s fun to have to wait each week to see what happens. The second-to-last episode streams this weekend on Apple, with one more to come next Friday. Can’t wait!
The Responder — Thursdays on Britbox
I’m actually making my way through Season 1 of Britbox’s The Responder which stars Martin Freeman as a bent copper who finds himself mixed up in some shady business. It’s really good so far and Season 2 is now airing, so I’m planning on catching up and possibly doing some episodic reviews, or maybe just a review of each season. I definitely recommend this one if you haven’t seen it yet, especially if you’re like me and have a huge soft spot for all things British mystery and cop drama. Freeman is excellent as usual.
I have some other stuff I really need to get into like the new Apple series Sunny, as well as Exploding Kittens on Netflix and so many others it’s almost impossible to keep up!
Check out last week’s streaming guide below:
What are you watching? Anything I should add to the list? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
