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.
TIE: 10. Your Place Or Mine (Netflix film)
Sometimes, you wanna watch a stress-free romcom, you know? Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher star in this predictable but still charming little yarn that they sadly promoted by standing awkwardly on the red carpet and declining to touch each other because, as Ashton explained, that was better than the alternative of stoking the inevitable rumor mill. Don’t let that side stuff fool you. This is a pleasant enough way to spend an evening because Reese and Ashton can do these movies in their sleep.
TIE: 10. Plane (Lionsgate movie on Amazon Prime)
Speaking of romcoms, Gerard Butler sure did his fair share of them. He even stripteased in shamrock boxers while doing his Scottish brogue in place of a character’s Irish accent. Now, however, Butler is going what he wants to do. That includes this throwback actioner, which proves that Butler is one of the most consistently employable actors who can maintain this status without signing 7-picture franchise deals. He was doing Big, Beefy Romcom Dude for years, and it’s all paid off in spaces.
9. Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne (Hulu series)
Supermodel Cara Delevingne thought she was an open-minded individual, but even she felt slightly prudish about being told to take care of herself for a full ten minutes as part of this show. From there, expect even more boundary-breaking revelations as Cara dives into sexuality and relationships and everything in between. Dynamics are complicated! Yet Cara can make it all fun and worth a whirl.
8. Poker Face (Peacock series)
Natasha Lyonne remains the choice selection for sardonic, tough-talking characters who refuse to be told to sit down, be nice, and stop causing trouble. This series took a leap right off the side of a skyscraper to begin, and from there, Natasha’s character, Charlie, set off on a cross-country ride where she cannot help but solve homicides. Once again, she’s totally not-Columbo in this show, and she and Knives Out director Rian Johnson are having too much of a ball playing with that concept. Adrian Brody, Benjamin Bratt, Dascha Polanco, Lil Rel Howery, Chloe Sevigny, and more all pop into view, too.
7. The Walking Dead (AMC series on AMC+ and Netflix)
If you somehow have avoided hopping onto this post-apocalyptic juggernaut of a franchise, then you still have time to catch up on eleven seasons of the series proper and seven of Fear The Walking Dead before the eighth and final installment of that spinoff arrives. From there, we’re receiving the return of Rick Grimes in a spinoff that brings Michonne back, too. First, though, Negan and Maggie will take an ill-advised journey into Manhattan, and we’ll finally see Daryl in Paris. I hope that he cameos on Darren Star’s Netflix show starring Lily Collins, too.
6. Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special (HBO Max special)
Some of us are still enjoying Dry January a little too much to even want to mess with anything related to Valentine’s Day, but this free-standing special can be the exception. This show has done well not to rush the relationship of Kaley Cuoco’s Harley and Lake Bell’s Ivy, but they cannot deny the truth of the matter forever. This series also has Bane making violent love to skyscrapers, just so you don’t worry that the show (or Bane) might be going soft. If that doesn’t intrigue you, then I don’t know how to help you.
5. Star Trek: Picard (CBS Studios series streaming on Paramount+)
Sure, the man who portrayed Professor X has plenty of other Hollywood work under his belt, but nothing beats Sir Patrick Stewart on “the final frontier.” This season is a special boon for Star Trek: The Next Generation fans, given that many beloved characters are on this journey, too. Also, that means that Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager somehow materialized, and absolutely no one is complaining about that. Picard must deal with serious stuff, though, including the threat of Captain Vadic, and Stewart has been playing this role for 25+ years as of 2023. That’s nuts.
4. Ant-Man And The Wasp (Marvel studios film streaming on Disney+)
Silly old Ant-Man, the Avenger who mercifully injected the term “America’s Ass” into the MCU, ain’t so silly anymore. Scott Lang has perhaps too much on his plate with all the multiverse shenanigans afoot. As well, Jonathan Majors returns after Loki to play the next big Marvel bad, King the Conquerer. If you are prepping for the multiplex or simply want to relive the first few free-wheeling movies, then they’re there for the taking as part of your Disney+ subscription.
3. You (Netflix series)
Granted, I wasn’t a huge lover of this season, which I believe reinvented itself to its detriment by “turning the tables” in a predictable way. Stalker Joe is now being stalked, and he’s also surrounded by a bunch of wealthy British socialite types, and he’s so frustrated and dull despite kind-of having his dream job of professor. As always, though, Joe is haunted by ghosts of present and past, and as much as he hates to admit it, Love won’t let him go. That’s the case despite Penn Badgley requesting that he doesn’t have any more sexy time onscreen, which is also causing this fire to die.
2. Infinity Pool (Elevation Pictures film streaming on Amazon Prime)
In contrast, Alexander Skarsgard can’t help but make everything sexier, no matter how depraved the story onscreen might be. That includes this excessively hedonistic film where Mia Goth continues to be the current best in the business at embodying the most unhinged characters imaginable. This movie might actually make the otherwise misguided case that leaving an all-inclusive resort’s grounds might be the worst idea in the world. This movie’s central couple should have gone to Aruba instead.
1. The Last Of Us (HBO series streaming on HBO Max)
This show forbids anyone from using the Z-word onset, which is one of the only commonalities that it happens to share with fellow post-apocalyptic nightmare series The Walking Dead. So, Walkers are the Infected here, and one key difference with this HBO show is that making friends is a bad idea if one wants to survive. Man, Negan would never last long on this set, but seriously, Chernobyl chief Craig Mazin knows how to make an epic HBO TV show, and he’s pleasing viewers here with an ultra-rare phenomenon: a video-game adaptation that truly works.
