Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
10. Your Honor (Showtime series streaming on Netflix)
If you caught this show years ago — and who doesn’t love a good Panic Cranston face? — you might be wondering why it appears on this list. Well, the Netflix audience has discovered this tension-fueled show in which Bryan Cranston simply cannot stop breaking bad, this time as a judge who spirals into corruption in an attempt to save his son. Fine performances exist across the board here even if the show is not exactly easy, breezy, or well-paced viewing material. Again here, Cranston is a sort-of everyman, who tangos with the criminal underworld after making an incredibly bad decision that quickly leads to an impressive series of even worse decisions.
9. Star Wars: The Acolyte (Disney+ series)
These stories of a galaxy far, far away never finish for good, and this series actually takes place a century before the Empire ascends to power when the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic are peacefully co-existing. Get ready for things to get police-procedural like, however, when a crime spree brings a dangerous warrior back from a Jedi Master’s past. The series stars Dafne Keen, Amanda Stenberg, Carrie-Anne Moss, Charlie Barnett, Manny Jacinto, Margarita Levieva, and Rebecca Henderson.
8. Bad Boys for Life (Sony Pictures movie streaming on Hulu)
With Bad Boys: Ride Or Die in theaters this weekend, it’s only natural that people are catching up with the third film before heading into the movie that, yes, does nod at the Oscars slap. The threquel, however, released in 2020 in the midst of another mess and follows Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s wisecracking buddy cops dealing with a vengeful Mexican drug cartel while also learning to coexist with their new colleagues on the scene.
7. Baby Reindeer (Netflix series)
Surely, creator, writer, and star Richard Gadd never expected to land on the all-time Top 10 list, which is due to happen pretty damn soon. In other words, watch out Bridgerton, Stranger Things, and Wednesday. Meanwhile, Gadd is moving past the trauma of his past to work on his next project, Lions, in which he will not star but will still no doubt compel viewers. If you haven’t caught Baby Reindeer yet, know that it’s an intense and stressful watch, and it’s not exactly a true-crime series, but the public’s fascination with the based-on-personal-experiences story could arguably qualify it as such.
6. Hacks (Max series)
After that cliffhanger finale, you might wonder if we will see a resolution in a fourth season? Fortunately, that answer is “yes.” Max knows what the people want after this series hit its highest viewership numbers over the past month, and Ava gave Deborah a taste of her own cutthroat medicine, and yes, it sure looks like the student has become the teacher. Did Deborah create a monster? No way, Ava was messy already, but she’s stepping up in a way that wasn’t expected, and their dynamic is truly upside down now. Delicious viewing material, indeed.
5. Civil War (A24 movie on VOD & Amazon)
Multiplex theaters are struggling right now, but home theaters have never been both hotter and cooler. This will be Alex Garland’s final stint in the directors seat for awhile while he heads back into screenwriting mode, and he went out with a doozy. This A24 movie will eventually stream on Max but is still in the VOD phase at present to large success. Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, Alien: Romulus) is popping through every genre these days, and the film also stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and a brief but unsettling Jesse Plemons.
4. Tires (Netflix series)
Netflix is also hitting every quadrant these days, and not everything is Bridgerton, Baby Reindeer, and years-old shows suddenly seeing a burst of renewed interest. Here, Shane Gillis stars in a very differently-located workplace comedy as a comedian and thorn in the side of Will (Steven Gerben), who has inherited his father’s auto-repair business and is struggling to make it work. A second season is already on the way.
3. Bridgerton (Netflix series)
The second half of this season will be coming next week, and the first half is still causing swooning attacks across the Internet. Thus far, the first half of the season has delivered on the Carriage Scene promise, but what will come in the next four episodes? Shondaland will not disappoint viewers who adore seeing Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton together, but the Lady Whistledown secret could ruin everything. [Cue dramatic whispers.]
2. Hit Man (Netflix movie)
Glen Powell — he is everywhere right now, and that’s more than alright. He portrays a dramatized version of real-life undercover officer Gary Johnson in this Richard Linklater film that takes inspiration from Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 Texas Monthly article that detailed Johnson’s life as an undercover/fake killer for hire. Disguises are embellished for the sake of cinema, but Powell’s charisma shines through during even the most darkly humorous moments. He’ll soon be seen in Twisters, where the Austinite actor hopefully does not actually attempt to ride a tornado like he’s on a bull.
1. Godzilla Minus One (Toho Studios movie streaming on Netflix)
The first Godzilla movie to win an Oscar received a semi-surprise streaming release so that those who didn’t make it into theaters can see what all the (justified) fuss is about. The low-budget movie turned into a blockbuster hit, and the nuclear lizard is having quite a few years with his Kong team-up and Apple TV+ show, too. It’s no wonder that he needed a Nap City trip after all that excitement. Seriously though, this film emotionally resonates while doling out the frightful angry-monster goods, too.
