On Netflix, Amazon and Disney+
The weekend is here. It's here! Regardless of what streaming service you subscribe to, we want to help. We've gone through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ to find the best titles on each service. |
Here's one of the 50 best movies on Netflix |
 | | From left, Wunmi Mosaku as Rial Majur, and Sope Dirisu as Bol Majur, in "His House."Aidan Monaghan/Netflix |
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Genre filmmakers have spent the past three years trying (and mostly failing) to recreate the magic elixir of horror thrills and social commentary that made "Get Out" so special, but few have come as close as the British director Remi Weekes's terrifying and thought-provoking Netflix thriller. He tells the story of two South Sudanese refugees seeking asylum in London, who are placed in public housing — a residence they are forbidden from leaving, which becomes a problem when things start going bump in the night. In a masterly fashion Weekes expands this simple haunted-house premise into a devastating examination of grief and desperation, but sacrifices no scares along the way, making "His House" a rare movie that prompts both tears and goose bumps. |
Here is one of the best TV shows on Netflix |
 | | In "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix, Anya Taylor-Joy stars as a chess prodigy fueled by copious amounts of alcohol and downers.Phil Bray/Netflix |
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Based on a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis — an eclectic writer best-known for "The Hustler" and "The Man Who Fell to Earth" — the seven-part mini-series "The Queen's Gambit" is about a chess prodigy who struggles with addiction and self-doubt while rising through the international ranks in the 1960s. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the young master, who has a tough childhood she finds hard to shake, even as she's clobbering her competition. (Taylor-Joy was nominated for a Golden Globe award this week for her performance; the series itself also received a nomination.) The creators, including Scott Frank, bring just enough ornate visual style to frame Taylor-Joy's outstanding performance as a woman who gets lost whenever she looks beyond an 8x8 grid. Our critic wrote, "Frank wraps it all up in a package that's smart, smooth and snappy throughout, like finely tailored goods." |
Have a Hulu subscription? It's a lot to wade through. We can help! |
 | | Clockwise from top, Lynn Whitfield, Jurnee Smollett, Jake Smollett and Meagan Good in "Eve's Bayou."Chris Helcermanas-Benge/Trimark Pictures |
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The actor Kasi Lemmons made her feature directorial debut with this coming-of-age tale like no other — "a powerfully acted supernatural fever dream," per our critic. Jurnee Smollett stars as Eve, a little girl growing up in the South in the late 1960s, whose naïve worldview seems to shift overnight as she becomes aware of the sins of her charming father (Samuel L. Jackson), the pain of her mother (Lynn Whitfield), and the dark magic that seems to swirl around her family and friends. Every performance is sharp as a tack, starting with stock types and pushing past them, while Lemmons's direction is atmospheric, moody and marvelous. |
Amazon Prime Video doesn't make it easy to find stuff. Luckily, we have done the work for you. |
 | | Harrison Ford plays a Philadelphia police detective in "Witness," a drama set among the Amish.Paramount Pictures |
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Harrison Ford stars as John Book, a Philadelphia detective investigating a murder whose only witness is a young Amish boy, so he follows the boy and his mother (Kelly McGillis) back to their insular community to protect them. The director Peter Weir ("Picnic at Hanging Rock," "Dead Poets Society") deftly intermingles this suspenseful mystery story with an affecting human drama, in which Book finds himself drawn not only to the small Amish town but also to the young mother — which raises the stakes considerably. |
Disney+ is full of older classics. But there are a lot of newer things to watch as well. |
 | | This might be a good weekend to watch "The Sound of Music," starring the recently deceased Christopher Plummer, center.20th Century Fox Film Corporation |
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A year after "Mary Poppins," Julie Andrews's ebullience proved even more crucial in boosting the three-hour adaptation of this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which sets a bright songbook against the grim backdrop of Nazi-occupied Austria. Andrews plays another maternal-figure-for-hire, a struggling nun who leaves the convent when a widower (Christopher Plummer, who died Feb. 5) asks her to look after his seven children. Memorable songs like "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi" and the title number help her do it. Our critic didn't care for the Broadway hit, but admired Andrews's "air of radiant vigor." |
| CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Revisit some of his greatest roles. | | | |
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