The weekend is here! If you’re looking for something to watch, we can help. We’ve dug through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney+ to find some of the best titles on each service. STREAMING ON NETFLIX ‘Desperado’
Robert Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi” was one of the indie sensations of the early 1990s, a film that attracted as much attention for being filmed on a bare-bones budget than for what was onscreen. So for his follow-up, Rodriguez focused on style, continuing the narrative of his debut film but with the extra bells and whistles provided by movie stars and professional effects. Antonio Banderas smolders as a drifter with a deadly shot, Salma Hayek scorches as the woman who helps him (and, of course, falls for him), and Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo make brief but memorable appearances. These are the 50 best movies on Netflix.STREAMING ON NETFLIX ‘How to Get to Heaven From Belfast’
The “Derry Girls” creator Lisa McGee blends tricky mysteries with fast-talking comedy in this charming series. The story follows three middle-aged women (played by Roisin Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan and Caoilfhionn Dunne), who grew up together in a small Northern Ireland town. When they reunite for the wake of a former classmate, they suspect they are not being told the whole truth about their old friend; and investigating her death leads them to examine how much their own lives have changed. In an article about the show for The Times, Ali Watkins described its very modern take on Ireland: “Its characters are diverse in race and sexual orientation, and there are few flat caps, little tweed and hardly any Guinness.” Here are 30 great TV shows on Netflix.STREAMING ON HULU ‘My Cousin Vinny’
Joe Pesci landed one of his first starring roles — and Marisa Tomei nabbed a surprise Oscar win — in this “inventive and enjoyable” fish-out-of-water comedy from the director Jonathan Lynn. Pesci is Vincent LaGuardia Gambini, a novice lawyer (he just passed the bar after six attempts) who roars into a rural Alabama town in his Cadillac convertible to defend his cousin (Ralph Macchio) and a friend, wrongfully accused of murder. Tomei is his gum-smacking girlfriend Mona Lisa Vito, who alternates cynical commentary with delighted support (up to and including her film-stealing appearance on the witness stand.) Dale Launer’s smart screenplay resists the urge to play up Southern stereotypes (or to leave Vinny and Mona Lisa as Brooklyn caricatures), instead finding honest laughs by both clashing these cultures and subverting expectations of them. Here are Hulu’s best movies and TV shows.STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’
The director Susan Seidelman was just trying to make a small New York movie — a slightly more mainstream portrait of the downtown art scene than her breakthrough picture “Smithereens” — when she cast a somewhat popular club performer in the title role of this hit comedy. By the time the film came out, that actress, Madonna, had become one of the biggest stars on the planet. Yet her persona doesn’t eclipse Seidelman’s screwball-tinged presentation; the character of the free-spirited Susan is something of a celebrity to Roberta (Rosanna Arquette), the suburban housewife who ends up taking on her identity. “Susan” is energetic and engaging, while simultaneously capturing a distinct moment in the city’s subculture. Here are a bunch of great movies on Amazon.STREAMING ON HBO MAX ‘Happy Together’
It’s a trick of fiction, and certainly film, that doomed relationships tend to be far more romantic than happily-ever-after scenarios, but Wong Kar-wai’s “Happy Together” is the rare film where the sparks that fly between a fractious couple are swooned upon like fireworks. Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung play queer lovers who arrive in Buenos Aires from Hong Kong in search of a more fulfilling life, but the city, gorgeously rendered by the cinematographer Christopher Doyle, catalyzes the tension in their on-again/off-again relationship, which answers moments of transcendence with a suffocating pattern of codependency and betrayal. There are times when the walls of their tiny apartment seem to close in, yet Wong has a flair for capturing the elegance of Buenos Aires and the seductive music tells a different story. See more great movies streaming on HBO Max.STREAMING ON DISNEY+ ‘The Muppet Show’
Four decades after it went off the air, Jim Henson’s “The Muppet Show” might seem alienating to younger generations, who will not only scratch their heads over the dated pop culture references but might also be unfamiliar with the variety-show format. Yet Henson’s beloved creatures have stood the test of time, and there’s no better showcase for them than this delightful patchwork of sketches, musical numbers and silly interstitials. “The Muppet Show” has been difficult to access over the years — this collection offers all but two of the original 120 episodes, many of which were unavailable on DVD — so this is a great chance to sample classic moments or skip ahead to favorite characters. The 50 best things to watch on Disney+ right now.
|
