New streaming TV shows and movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV and more

What to see this weekend.

Photo credit: Netflix / Apple / Peacock

The weekend is upon us and that means only one thing: Soon you will be able to sit back and relax with a good TV show or movie and hopefully take a well-deserved break. And maybe some good food or popcorn on the stove, drizzled with delicious butter. Maybe you'll be watching alone or with your family or a hot date. Whatever the case may be, I have some ideas. I'm here to help. I'm like the ghost in Aladdin, I just don't grant wishes or sing catchy songs. And I'm not sad. But I'm still in the mood to help you, old man, you've never had a friend like me.

PS: I was in NYC last weekend and saw Broadway shows for the first time and it was a really eye-opening experience. So much of the content that is being shoveled out these days is so mediocre and when you watch shows like Hamilton or Evil or The Book of Mormon up close, live, with all this incredible talent and such great songs and stories, you realise that there really is a reason to fight for quality. If you get the chance to see this, Hamilton on Broadway, I highly recommend it. It was truly a life-changing experience.

You can check out last weekend’s streaming guide here:

ForbesWhat to stream this weekend on Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV and moreFrom Eric Kain

Alright, let’s get started right away!

Slow Horses Season 4 (Apple TV+)

The best – and often funniest – spy series on TV returns this week, with season four premiering last Wednesday (here’s my review). Gary Oldman returns as the mephitic Jackson Lamb, one of the greatest British spies of all time – albeit a little less elegant than James Bond and a little less decorous than George Smiley. He is in charge of Slough House, a purgatory for MI5 “outcasts”, which includes the rest of our heroes, including the bright, young River Cartwright (Jack Lowden). His boss Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) remains second in command at MI5, and the first desk is now occupied by the bumbling Claude Whelan – played by Battlestar Galactica Alumnus James Callis. The first episode is fantastic. If you haven't seen this show yet, please do!

Rebel Ridge (Netflix)

Aaron Pierre plays Terry Richmond, a former U.S. Marine who travels to the town of Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin. When his life savings are wrongfully seized by the police, Terry comes into confrontation with the local police chief and teams up with court clerk Summer McBride to uncover a conspiracy and get justice for himself and his family.

If you replaced Terry Richmond with Jack Reacher, this plot would work just as well. I remember thinking when I first saw the trailer, “Yeah, that's the black Reacher and he looks amazing.” Critics seem to agree, with a surprisingly excellent 97% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist (Peacock)

Kevin Hart plays a crook named Chicken Man in this star-studded miniseries based on the podcast of the same name. When Muhammad Ali's return to boxing is robbed, Chicken Man turns to his old nemesis JD Hudson (Don Cheadle), one of the first black detectives on the newly desegregated Atlanta Police Department, to clear his name. Terrance Howard – who also played War Machine in the series – Iron-Man Movies before he was replaced by Cheadle – also with Samuel L. Jackson. Sounds pretty good! All 8 episodes were released this Thursday.

The American Society of Magical Negroes (Prime Video)

It didn't go down well with critics, but audiences like it a little better. It's an interesting premise, but it sounds like the satire – a society of black magicians whose goal is to give white people a better life – is being pushed aside in favor of a romantic comedy that doesn't really work. But now it's on Prime Video and you can easily watch it and judge for yourself!

Outlast Season 2 (Netflix)

Netflix's survival reality series Survive was heavily panned by audiences when it first aired. The series has a unique premise: instead of survivors trying to make it on their own, it's a team-based effort. But the teams quickly devolved into vicious malevolence in Season 1, making the series an unpleasant experience where the lack of clear rules really made it less entertaining and more than a little uncomfortable. It sounds like Season 2 is a huge improvement over the first, so if you liked the premise – but not the execution – of Season 1, you might want to give Season 2 a chance.

“New” older films on Netflix

There are a lot of good older movies on Netflix this month, and I thought I'd just list a handful so you have a few more options this weekend:

The Great White Shark — The classic thriller and its two less surprising sequels
Legends of Passion — One of my favorite period films, with a truly dreamy Brad Pitt, but also great performances from Aiden Quinn, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond, Gordon Tootoosis, and Henry Thomas. It's a little disappointing, but a really beautiful film set in Montana.
Stand by Me – The classic Stephen King story, adapted into one of the best coming-of-age films of the 80s. River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Kiefer Sutherland complete a great cast. Also kind of a flop.
Midnight Run — Speaking of classic 80s movies, I haven't seen this movie with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in ages, but I remember loving it as a kid. Just a great “catch me if you can” style flick with lots of laughs and great characters.
300 — I am anything but a Zack Snyder fan, but the one time I 300 When the film was in theaters, I loved all the bombast and the big, silly fight scenes. If you like burly men with six-packs and big, muscular arms, you should definitely watch it. (It's basically a chick flick.)
The consumables — I've never seen it, but I think I'll watch it tonight because I'm in the mood for over-the-top action movies and this one features all the biggest action movie stars.
Sonic The Hedgehog — A really good video game adaptation with a lot of heart. Jim Carrey is a great villain and James Marsden is just so damn likeable.
Edge of tomorrow (Saturday) — Tom Cruise is going all-in on science fiction with a film that follows the plot of And every day the groundhog greets you and applies it to a battle for humanity's survival against a powerful alien threat. It's awesome!

Current TV shows

I am currently watching several shows that are currently airing weekly (some I have written about, others I have yet to write about!), including Slow horses that I have listed above. This will be expanded soon when Agatha All Along, AB and several other shows coming later this month. Anyway, here are the four I'm watching that are currently airing.

Only Murders in the Building, Season 4 (Hulu)

The gang is back to tackle one of the most gruesome – but still hilarious – mysteries Arconia has ever faced. Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) are back as our podcast detectives, only this time the murder hits much closer to Charles. Season four features even more celebrity cameos than ever before – I'm excited to see how that pans out – as Hollywood is planning to make a movie based on the podcast. So far, I've really enjoyed the first two episodes of the season. You can read my review here.

Bad Monkey (Apple TV)

I love this show. Vince Vaughn is at his best. Natalie Martinez makes me melt. Tom Nowicki should be the narrator. everything. And the rest of the cast – Zach Braff, Rob Delaney, Meredith Hagner, Michelle Monaghan, John Ortiz, Ronald Peet – is absolutely amazing. This is one of the best-cast shows I've seen in a while. It's also hilarious, has a great twisted mystery, and every time an episode ends I groan because I know I have to wait another week. Apple probably has half or more of the best shows currently streaming. Speaking of which…

Sunny (Apple TV)

I started to observe Sunny late, which was kind of good since I was able to binge seven episodes in one sitting. Rashida Jones stars in this quirky, often funny, sometimes moving A24 series about an American expat in Japan trying to solve the mystery of the mysterious deaths (or disappearances?) of her husband and son in a near-future world where cute robot companions harbor deep, dark secrets. This show is so damn good, I can't recommend it enough.

The Rings of Power (Prime Video)

Personally, I think this is a very bad fantasy series that does a very poor job of adapting Tolkien's Second Age of Middle Earth. But there aren't many fantasy series these days and maybe this series will cure your cravings. I have a review of the first three episodes, but don't take my word for it. There's no accounting for taste!