Dear friends,
Here’s a brief streaming guide to the 2023 Oscars, airing on Sunday, if you plan on watching. Online, you can catch it on Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, FuboTV, and DirecTV Stream, 8 p.m. EST.
And here’s a list of the Best Picture nominees and where they’re streaming if you want to catch up on the weekend:
All Quiet on the Western Front - Netflix
Women Talking - Amazon Prime (until March 12 only!)
Elvis - HBO Max
The Banshees of Inisherin - HBO Max
Triangle of Sadness - Hulu
The Fabelmans - VOD streaming services including Vudu, Prime Video, etc.
Tár - Peacock Premium
Top Gun: Maverick - Paramount+, MGM+, DirecTV Stream
Everything Everywhere All at Once - Showtime, Fubo, DirecTV Stream
For the record - I’m rooting for Everything Everywhere All at Once to win. What a picture!
I hope you have a nice weekend.
OUR TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
Riches
On Amazon Prime 🍅 rating: 100%
Riches follows the spoiled children of an industry tycoon who battle among themselves to secure their share of the family empire. In some ways, it’s Britain’s answer to Succession, but in many other ways, Riches is its own thing: riveting, penetrating, and authentic to the Black experience.
After the sudden death of beauty mogul Stephen Richards (Hugh Quarshie), estranged first-born Nina (Deborah Ayorinde) takes over the reins much to the dismay of her half-siblings, who have been in the company for much longer. Drama ensues, from the corporate level down to the nuclear family level. It’s bold, theatrical, luscious, and hilarious; an easy and entertaining watch at just six episodes.
OUR TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
After Love
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video starting at $3.99 🍅 rating: 93%
A beautiful movie I can’t recommend enough is After Love by emerging British filmmaker Aleem Khan. It follows Mary (Joanna Scanlan), a white Muslim convert who discovers a life-changing secret her husband has managed to keep from her all these years.
Without spoiling anything, I will say that After Love is devastatingly charged with the sort of emotion we don’t know how to express at times. It’s a powerful reminder that there’s no one way to love or grieve or celebrate the people around us; sometimes, there’s just feeling. And Scanlan does a wonderful job of restraining then conveying all of that in quiet but commanding moments throughout the film. Unsurprisingly, she won best actress at the 2021 BAFTAs.
Top picks outside of Netflix and Amazon Prime
Another film that comes highly recommended is The Automat, a charming documentary about the historic place it names—a spacious self-service cafeteria that fed thousands of people during a good part of the 20th century. Through nostalgic footage and delightful interviews with the likes of Mel Brooks, Howard Schultz, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, The Automat successfully convinces you that more than just some gimmick, it was a cultural landmark, a piece of Americana whose existence alone taught an entire generation integral values like democracy, diversity, and hard work. It’s also straight-up hilarious, with Mel Brooks often attempting to direct the film himself, or other subjects salivating as they recall the Automat’s unbeatable menu. It’s more anecdotal than academic, so if you’re looking for a sweet, sentimental, and simple watch, this is it. Streaming on HBO Max.
Our last pick is a new show called School Spirits, a teen series about a young girl who finds herself stuck in the afterlife solving her mysterious death. According to a review by the Wall Street Journal, School Spirits recalls the supernatural film The Lovely Bones, “albeit with a far less dreadful tone.” A strong leading performance by Peyton List and a compassionate understanding of its young subject matter really elevate this whodunnit into something more than just the average high school drama. Streaming on Paramount+.
New titles worth your time
The second half of You’s final season drops today on Netflix. The first half didn’t make much of a buzz, but this latest installment is expected to pull out all the stops as it finally concludes Joe’s obsessive and bloody journey to find love.
Meanwhile, on Amazon Prime, noteworthy new arrivals include the show Hap and Leonard and the classic heist film A Fish Called Wanda.
Great titles that will soon expire
March 14 is your last chance to binge-watch all five seasons of the comedic gem that is Arrested Development on Netflix. The Forest Whitaker-starring biopic The Butler leaves the same platform on March 16.
For a limited time only, the stunning Oscar contender Women Talking is free to stream on Amazon Prime. Catch it before it goes back to being on VOD on March 12.
That’s all for this week. This edition of the newsletter will be back on Friday, March 17.
Till then,
Renee