Friday, June 18, 2021

Watching: What to Watch This Weekend

Demons, domestic dramas.
Author Headshot

By Margaret Lyons

Television Critic

Dear Watchers,

Well, toss my greens and call me Caesar: There's a "Perfect Strangers" reboot in the works at HBO Max. This version would star Robin Thede and London Hughes.

Have a great weekend.

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This weekend I have … a half-hour, and I'm restless.

A scene from "Rick and Morty."Adult Swim

'Rick and Morty'

When to watch: Sunday at 11 p.m., on Adult Swim.

"Rick & Morty" returns for a fifth season this weekend, and the series is so funny and bizarre, so successfully itself, that it's almost surprising it's still on: Shows like this usually meet an early demise, either through network negligence or their own supernova star death. Somehow "Rick & Morty" has dodged this fate, and thank goodness — its feral brilliance and cynicism are the perfect antidote to tedious murder dramas and plastic reality shows. You can definitely just start watching now, but should you need a comedy jolt, Seasons 1-4 are on Hulu and HBO Max.

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… an hour, and I'm devilish.

Mike Colter in a scene from the new season of "Evil."Elizabeth Fisher/CBS

'Evil'

When to watch: Season 2 arrives Sunday, on Paramount+.

Season 1 of this snazzy Catholic horror procedural ended way back in January of 2020, and on CBS. After a long break and a move to the network's sister streaming platform, the show picks up where it left off, with goat-headed demons and vulnerable little girls, with churchy investigators and scheming villains, and with intriguing performances. Tragically, much of the show is lit so dimly that it's impossible to decipher. But figuratively, "Evil" is the fun kind of dark thanks to interesting side characters, a solid mythology and gnarly ideas about the world at large. If you think "The X-Files" deserved more spinoffs, watch this.

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… two hours, and I have wanderlust.

From left, Saskia Reeves, Tom Hollander and Tom Taylor in "Us."Drama Republic and Masterpiece

'Us'

When to watch: Sunday at 9 p.m., on PBS. (Check local listings.)

This fantastic four-part British mini-series (which airs in two two-hour blocs) is a travelogue, a domestic drama and a wistful romance, gorgeous and unfussy. Douglas (Tom Hollander) is astounded when his wife (Saskia Reeves) tells him that she might want a divorce and doubly astounded when she insists that the couple and their teen son (Tom Taylor) take their planned trip through Europe. Their strife is set against flashbacks of their courtship, but not in the pat, one-to-one ways that device is usually deployed; here it's more gentle and diffuse and bittersweet — more like "The Trip" movies than "This Is Us." Stories like this are only as good as their fights, and the arguments here are blistering.

Your newly available movies

Alberto (left, voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer) and Luca (Jacob Tremblay) are sea monsters who seek adventures on dry land in "Luca," the new Pixar movie.Disney/Pixar

For Father's Day weekend, Netflix hopes to extract tears and laughter from the drippy Kevin Hart comedy-drama "Fatherhood," about a widower dad who is trying to bring up a baby on his own. But parents are better off taking their kids on a holiday to the Italian coastline with "Luca," the colorful and breezily entertaining new Pixar animated movie premiering on Disney+.

Some independent films are available via "virtual cinemas," which share the rental fees between distributors and theaters. Unless otherwise noted, other titles can generally be rented on the usual platforms, including Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube. SCOTT TOBIAS

'Fatherhood' (Netflix only)

One of [Paul] Weitz's strengths as a director — evident in "About a Boy," "In Good Company" and "Grandma — is his knack for making kindness interesting. He's a dry-eyed sentimentalist, gentle in his mockery and disinclined to designate villains. Everyone in this movie is decent, which is beautiful in its way but also stultifying. — A.O. Scott (Read the full review here.)

'Les Nôtres'

Magalie is able to vent some rage at a certain point, but the film's drama wrestles itself to a standstill (along with leaving some characterization sketchy, like that of a concerned social worker). Yet [the director Jeanne Leblanc] might come closer to the sensation of concealed trauma than movies with more familiar storytelling beats. — Nicolas Rapold (Read the full review here.)

'Luca' (A Critic's Pick; Disney+ only)

Unlike some other recent Pixar features, this one aims to be charming rather than mind-blowing. Instead of philosophical and cinematic ambition, there is a diverting, somewhat familiar story about friendship, loyalty and competition set against a picturesque animated backdrop. — A.O. Scott (Read the full review here.)

What makes this simple story special is the style that the writer and director Alexandre Rockwell brings to the screen. Rockwell cast his wife and two children as Eve, Billie and Nico, and their ease and familiarity lends the film naturalistic warmth. — Teo Bugbee (Read the full review here.)

Also newly available:

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