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The upcoming third season of "Dickinson," the comedy about Emily Dickinson, will be the show's last, Apple TV+ announced yesterday. |
This weekend I have … 20 minutes and a new backpack. |
 | | Everybody jams out on a back-to-school episode of "Pete the Cat."Amazon Studios |
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'Pete the Cat: School Starts Tomorrow' |
When to watch: Now, on Amazon. |
The newest edition of the poppy, boppy children's show "Pete the Cat" is a back-to-school special. Pete and his friends are a little nervous about what their new class will entail, so they sing some catchy songs about it and learn how to support one another. Among its many other charms, "Pete" is the one show capable of addressing the profound spiritual dissonance of seeing your teacher at the store. Doesn't she sleep at school? If you want something snappier than "Dora" or "Blue's Clues" and don't mind ear worms, watch this. |
… a half-hour, and I need something happy. |
 | | Alysse Hallali stars as Alice in "Alice in Paris."Hulu |
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Don't confuse this with the god awful "Emily in Paris" — "Alice" is a 2016 whimsical French web series that feels like a cross between "Amélie" and a children's book about French food. Alice (Alysse Hallali) has "absolute taste," like perfect pitch but for a palate, and her quirky Parisian shenanigans always involve real restaurants and bakeries. The show initially aired in two-minute episodes, but those have been repackaged as eight half-hour installments; the first five of those are great, but the final three have a different vibe and style. If you're thinking about becoming a hat person, or if you want some travel tips, watch this. |
… two hours, and I like shows where middle-aged men make bad choices. |
 | | Jamie Sives, left, and Mark Bonnar in a scene from "Guilt."Expectation and Happy Tramp North |
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When to watch: Sunday at 9 p.m., on PBS. (Check local listings.) |
Two brothers, Jake and Max (Jamie Sives and Mark Bonnar), kill an old man in a hit-and-not-quite-run accident in the opening moments of this tense but textured drama set in Scotland. Their subsequent decisions and schemes are morally questionable at best, but the show isn't mercilessly depressing — it has a real bite, and the characters are funny and well drawn. It's nowhere near "Search Party"-level salty, but it's closer to that than to the traditional "wear a sweater and experience regret" British murder show. It's also only four episodes; two air this week, two next week. |
Your newly available movies |
 | | Billie Eilish in "Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles."Mason Poole/Disney+ |
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The pop star Billie Eilish gets the Taylor Swift treatment in an intimate Disney+ concert film, "Happier Than Ever," which features her and her guests performing to an empty Hollywood Bowl. Haunting in a different way is the Netflix drama "Worth," starring Michael Keaton, about the troubled creation of the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund. |
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 |
'Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles' (Disney+ only) |
If there is a surprise to be had in this concert footage, it is that modern pop retains a glimmer of classic Hollywood mystique — here, there's as much Judy Garland as there is Lana Del Rey. — Teo Bugbee (Read the full review here.) |
'We Need to Do Something' |
Sean King O'Grady, making his debut feature, stirs together parental menace, teenage malaise and creature effects (one tedious, one absolutely delicious). The power of suggestion is the chosen method for the chaos outside — offscreen voices and noises — but despite some nifty freak-outs, the movie's buildup can lack a certain snap. — Nicolas Rapold (Read the full review here.) |
'Wild Indian' (A Critic's Pick) |
It takes a nimble and deft compassion to capture the various wounds of individual, familial and generational trauma. What [the director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.] does with the cousins' inevitable reuniting teases his film's doleful prologue and the priest's Sunday sermon. The ensuing violence and its aftermath are chilling, woeful and utterly consistent with the tragedy that began long before a fateful afternoon in the woods. — Lisa Kennedy (Read the full review here.) |
For all the ways in which it might give short shrift to the politics or policy of the fund, "Worth" is uncommonly moving by the standards of biopics and certainly by the standards of movies that risk addressing 9/11 so overtly. — Ben Kenigsberg (Read the full review here.) |
The cynical pro forma luridness "Yakuza Princess" grinds out suggests that sensationalist cinema, or at least its most ostensibly mainstream iteration, is currently depleted of resources. — Glenn Kenny (Read the full review here.) |
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