If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.
Bill And Ted Face The Music (VOD) — Decades in the making, the long-anticipated threequel of the greatest damn franchise ever is here. Yes, “greatest” is a subjective term (fight me, Vin Diesel), but is anyone going to argue that the reteaming of Alex Winter (as Bill S. Preston, Esq.) and Keanu Reeves (as Ted “Theodore” Logan) is an unwelcome sight in 2020? Nope. The good news (for them) is that they’re getting the hell out of 2020 to steal music from themselves in the future and save the world. And unlike The New Mutants, they’re on VOD in addition to theaters this weekend.
The Binge (Hulu film) — Vince Vaughn plays “the adult” in this movie that’s a boozy play on The Purge but without the murder. Basically, teens are allowed to get totally blitzed (alcohol, drugs, you name it) for one 24-hour stretch per year, and the endearing Skyler Gisondo (Santa Clarita Diet, Booksmart) looks like the rising star of this project.
Cobra Kai: Seasons 1 & 2 (Netflix) — Season 3 of this crowd-pleasing arrival will arrive in 2021, but you can catch up to your heart’s content on the series that started as a YouTube original. Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso faces off again with William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence and both of their respective dojo members, and the show’s still got the same energy as the original movies. Macchio promised us that “[t]he best is yet to come” for this series, and we believe him. May the franchise live on as long as possible.
Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness (HBO Max) — The star of 2014’s Meet the Patels is back to mull over deep conversations in a four-part season. Maybe some of life’s more fundamental questions shall be solved, but the journey to several different continents will fuel enough escapism that answers might not matter.
Unknown Origins (Netflix film) — This thriller follows a serial killer in Madrid, but the twist here is that people are being murdered while acting out their famous superheroes. Can a comic book store owner and a cosplay lover come together to help the city’s best detective solve the crimes? It sounds like there’s a lot of layers here.
Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:
Room 104 (Friday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The fourth season of the Duplass Brothers’ bizarre playground continues with two college students about to set off on a three-month hike while confronting friendship truths.
Lovecraft Country (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This 1950s-set dark fantasy series blew away expectations, and this week, Leti’s transforming a ramshackle Victorian home into a boarding house. Given that this happens on Chicago’s North Side, one can expect racist reactions, which will spark dormant spirits within the structure.
Love Fraud (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — This critically acclaimed Sundance Film Festival limited series feels like the lovechild of Dirty John and Tiger King, as one prolific con-man leaves a decades-long trail of destruction.
The Vow (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The NXIVM organization (known as the “sex cult” partially led by Allison Mack) gets a deep dive that’s now surveying the seeds of doubt among long-time members.
We Hunt Together (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — A deadly duo (a former child soldier named Baba and Freddie) finds themselves drawn together (to commit murder), and now, it looks like they’re getting away with it.
In case you missed these offerings:
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+ series) — Jason Sudeikis is reviving his small-time college football coach character (who hails back to a 2013 advertising campaign) for this show. Lasso is somehow coaching professional English soccer, and good luck to him. What’s even more important, though, is that our own Brian Grubb calls the series “almost unreasonably good,” despite the seeming odds against it.
An American Pickle (HBO Max) — Seth Rogen‘s dual roles have arrived, and the end product is both touching and hilarious to witness. Rogen plays a 1920s Jewish immigrant who falls into a vat of pickle juice and is perfectly “brined” for 100 years, so suspend your disbelief and enjoy the surprising amount of nuance here. It’s both an interesting match-up and a truly inspired Jewish version of Encino Man.
