On Netflix, Amazon and Disney+
The weekend is here. And 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 |
| Lucas Hedges and Saoirse Ronan in "Lady Bird."Merie Wallace/A24. |
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Greta Gerwig made her solo feature directorial debut with this funny and piercing coming-of-age story, set in her hometown, Sacramento, Calif. Saoirse Ronan dazzles in the title role as a quietly rebellious high-school senior whose quests for love and popularity bring her long-simmering resentments toward her mother (Laurie Metcalf, magnificent) to a boil. Parent-child conflicts are nothing new in teen stories, but Gerwig's perceptive screenplay slashes through the familiar types and tropes, daring to create characters that are complicated and flawed, yet deeply sympathetic. A.O. Scott praised the film's "freshness and surprise." |
Here is one of the best TV shows on Netflix |
| Jensen Ackles in a scene from the long-running series "Supernatural."Cristian Cretu/CW |
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This series, which was the longest-running fantasy show in the history of American TV by the end of its 15th and final season, stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as the brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, two demon-fighting paranormal investigators with a troubled family history. From the start, "Supernatural" is an entertaining mix of "case of the week" stories and longer arcs, in the spirit of "The X-Files" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." But the series becomes even more enjoyable a few seasons in, once it becomes more winking and self-referential — or, as The Times put it in 2011, "extremely loose and with an immeasurable dosage of snarky imperiousness." |
Have a Hulu subscription? It's a lot to wade through. We can help! |
| Bill Murray in "Caddyshack." Warner Bros. |
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One of the most quotable comedies of the modern era ("Be the ball," "So I got that goin' for me, which is nice," the "Cinderella story" monologue), this 1980 favorite from the director Harold Ramis ("Groundhog Day") often feels like channel surfing between several movies at once: a W.C. Fields-style personality comedy starring Rodney Dangerfield; a wiseguy, post-"Saturday Night Live" vehicle for Chevy Chase; a slapstick farce starring Bill Murray; and an earnest coming-of-age comedy-drama featuring Michael O'Keefe. But the inconsistency and incongruity somehow mesh, due in part to the picture's spirit of cheerful slobs-versus-snobs anarchy, resulting in something akin to a coked-up Marx Brothers movie. |
Amazon Prime Video doesn't make it easy to find stuff. Luckily, we have done the work for you. |
| Laurence Fishburne and Max Pomeranc in the 1993 film "Searching for Bobby Fischer."Paramount Pictures/Photofest |
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'Searching for Bobby Fischer' |
Years before Netflix's series adaptation of "The Queen's Gambit" prompted a nationwide chess craze, the writer and director Steven Zaillian proved that the game could indeed be a thrilling and emotional spectator sport. He also tells the "absorbing story" of a prodigy: Joshua Waitzkin, who moves with ease from matches in Washington Square Park to national tournaments as his parents (Joe Mantegna and Joan Allen) try to keep his little feet on the ground. Based on the memoir by Waitzkin's father, this powerful drama provides the surprises of an underdog sports movie, but it also tackles universal questions about parenting a talented child. |
Disney+ is full of animated classics. But there are a lot of live-action movies to watch as well. |
| Oona Laurence, left, and Oakes Fegley in "Pete's Dragon."Disney |
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The goofy 1977 musical comedy turns into a sincere drama about an orphaned wild child (Oakes Fegley) who befriends a big green dragon in the Pacific Northwest. By playing this story completely straight, the director David Lowery (his new movie, "The Green Knight," is out this weekend) links an earnest environmental message to a touching affirmation of family. Reviews were mostly kind, though our critic found it "sentimental." |
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