Top streams for the week
Christoph Waltz stars as "The Consultant: Season 1" (2023, TV-MA), brought in to help an app-based gaming company after the mysterious death of their CEO. Waltz is a master at playing charmingly sinister characters whose motives are hidden behind polite, insincere smiles, and his increasingly extreme demands prompts company employees to question what he's really up to. The darkly comic thriller about workplace relationships and power dynamics costars Nat Wolff and Brittany O'Grady. All episodes streaming. (Prime Video)
African history and action spectacle center "The Woman King" (2022, PG-13), Gina Prince-Bythewood's historical drama inspired by a real-life all-female warrior regiment that battled rival kingdoms and European slavers in early 1800s Africa. Viola Davis stars as the veteran military leader whose scars testify to her commitment and her ferocity, and Thuso Mbedu plays a young recruit. It's a mix of old-school historical epic and modern social commentary with impressive battle scenes. Lashana Lynch and John Boyega costar. (Netflix)
Filmmaker Damien Chazelle freely mixes myth with history in "Babylon" (2022, R), his portrait of wild days of Hollywood in its transition from silent movies to the 1930s as a bacchanal spectacle. Brad Pitt stars as a superstar whose luster fades in the changing times and Margot Robbie is an uninhibited wild child starlet with a self-destructive streak. Chazelle pushes every scene to maximum decadence, portraying old Hollywood as a nonstop orgy of drink, drugs, and sex. Nominated for three Oscars. (Paramount+)
International pick: Jerzy Skolimowski's "EO" (Poland, 2022, not rated, with subtitles) follows the odyssey of a circus donkey after being "rescued" from its human, viewing the world through its eyes as it passes through a series of owners and labors. It's a beautifully photographed journey through the human condition and a sometimes harrowing portrait of life as a beast of burden. Oscar nominee for best international feature. (Criterion Channel, also on VOD)
News: Viaplay, the leading original streaming platform in the Nordic region, launches in the U.S. with a slate of Scandinavian TV programs and movies. Among the original programs are the Nordic noir crime drama "Trom" (Denmark) and the terrorism thriller "Furia" (Norway). More at viaplay.com.
Netflix
"We Have a Ghost" (2023, PG-13) stars David Harbour as a spirit who helps a pair of kids to solve a murder. Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Coolidge costar in the supernatural family comedy from horror veteran Christopher Landon.
A light-skinned black woman in a white neighborhood of a British town feels threatened when a young African-British couple moves nearby in the psychological thriller "The Strays" (2023, TV-MA).
Oscar Isaac stars as a Mossad agent assigned to bring Adolph Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) to trial for war crimes in "Operation Finale" (2018, PG-13), based on a true story.
True stories: the limited series "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal" (TV-MA) looks at the deaths that unraveled the secrets of one of South Carolina's most prominent families.
International passport: a woman working at a bento stand brings comfort to the people of a small seaside town in "Call Me Chihiro" (2023, Japan, TV-14, with subtitles).
International TV: a detective goes on a personal odyssey in "Triptych: Season 1" (Mexico, TV-MA, with subtitles) after she discovers that she is one of three identical triplets who were separated at birth.
Hulu
A Black teenager is torn between two role models of manhood, his strict father and a charismatic drifter, in "Bruiser" (2023, TV-MA).
Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza star in the romantic comedy "Spin Me Round" (2022, not rated), costarring Alessandro Nivola, Molly Shannon, and Lil Rel Howery.
Streaming TV: Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim star as lovers on the opposite sides of the law in the new ABC series "The Company You Keep: Season 1" (TV-14). Also new:
- the sixth and final season of "Snowfall" (TV-MA), about the origins of the crack epidemic;
- "American Idol: Season 21" (TV-PG).
True stories: "Hold Your Fire" (2021, not rated) explores a 1973 hostage siege in New York City and how NYPD was convinced to change its century-old policy and prevent a violent bloodbath.
HBO Max
Concert special: "The Weeknd: Live at Sofi Stadium" (TV-14) was filmed last year at the start of the singer's worldwide tour.
Sandra Bullock plays an astronaut stranded in space in Alfonso Cauron's "Gravity" (2013, PG-13), which won seven Oscars, including best director and cinematography.
The animated comedy "Poor Devil: Season 1" (TV-MA) follows the 18-year-old anti-Christ trying to chart his own path on Earth. More streaming TV:
- the foodie series "Family Restaurant: Season 1" (TV-PG);
- satirical current events show "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver: Season 10" (TV-MA).
Amazon Prime Video
A therapist (Sosie Bacon) has to confront her traumatic past after seeing terrifying visions in the eerie horror film "Smile" (2022, R).
Anna Kendrick stars as an overachieving single mom turned detective when her chic new best friend (Blake Lively) disappears in "A Simple Favor" (2018, R), a witty murder mystery with a light touch. Also streams on MGM+.
Paramount +
Peter Dinklage takes the lead in "Cyrano" (2021, PG-13), a musical adaptation of the classic play about a soldier who helps a young man woo the woman he loves.
True crime: the limited series "The 12th Victim" (TV-MA) looks at the role of Caril Ann Fugate in the 1958 murder spree by Charles Starkweather. Also on Showtime Anytime.
Peacock
True stories: "When Truth Isn't Truth: The Rudy Giuliani Story" (TV-MA) follows the rise and fall of the former New York Mayor.
Streaming TV: "Bel-Air" (TV-MA), the dramatic reinvention the 1990s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, returns for its second season.
Apple TV+
Eva Green and Vincent Cassel costar as former lovers and current adversaries who team up to battle a cyberattack in the bilingual limited series "Liaison" (TV-MA, with subtitles). Action thriller veteran Stephen Hopkins directs all six episodes.
Eugene Levy hosts the globe-trotting travel series "The Reluctant Traveler: Season 1" (TV-PG).
Other streams
The third season of "Party Down" (TV-MA) reunites original cast members Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Ken Marino, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen, and Megan Mullally after 12 years. (Starz)
The opening of a time capsule reopens an unsolved murder case in the Australian mystery "Black Snow: Season 1" (not rated) starring Travis Fimmel. (AMC+ and Sundance Now)
Eva Green stars as a fashion designer suffering from a mysterious illness in "Nocebo" (2022, not rated), a mix of supernatural thriller and socio-political commentary featuring Mark Strong and Chai Fonacier. (AMC+ and Shudder)
The underground sci-fi queer classic "Flaming Ears" (Austria, 1992, not rated, with subtitles), an anarchic tale of obsession and revenge set in the burned-out future, is newly restored to its original 8mm film glory. (Criterion Channel)
A family in a small Catalonian village faces the loss of their ancestral orchard due to development in "Alcarràs" (Spain, 2022, not rated, with subtitles), the award-winning second feature from Carla Simón. (MUBI)
"Neighbours: 2012" (TV-G) presents the entire 2012 season of the long-running Australian daily drama series, along with a selection of iconic episodes featuring appearances by Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce, Natalie Imbruglia, and Liam Hemsworth. Each month, a new season debuts. Free with ads. (Amazon Freevee)
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at https://streamondemandathome.com.
Copyright © 2023 by Sean Axmaker
