Streaming entertainment is bigger than ever, and with so many streaming services adding new shows and movies every week, it can be nearly impossible to sort the good from the bad. If you need something to watch and don’t want to wade through the digital muck that washes up on the internet’s shores, follow our picks below for the best new shows and movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Amazon, and other services.
On the list this week: Amazon’s new fantasy series, The Dark Crystal prequel, and more.
Carnival Row season 1
With Game of Thrones having ended, every network wants to have the next big fantasy series, and Amazon’s entry in the race is Carnival Row, which is set in a fantastical version of Victorian England where creatures like fairies (called fae) and satyrs live alongside humans, albeit as second-class citizens. The series protagonists are human cop Rycroft Philostrate (Orlando Bloom), Philo for short, and activist fairy Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevigne), interspecies lovers whose romance is threatened by
war between their two peoples. The two reconnect when Philo is assigned to investigate a string of murders, with victims both human and fae. Murder, intrigue, British-sounding names that border on parody: Carnival Row has it all!
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
1982’s The Dark Crystal was one of Jim Henson’s most singular projects, an otherworldly adventure populated by strange characters,. Fans of the cult classic can now return to the world of Thra in the new prequel series, Age of Resistance, which follows a trio of tiny humanoids called Gelflings — Rian (Taron Egerton), Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy), and Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel) — who rise up against the wicked vulture-people known as the Skeksis. In an age of choppy animation, The Dark Crystal’s masterful
puppetry looks better than ever.
Mindhunter season 2
In its first season, Mindhunter explored the origins of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, following agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Goff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) and psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) as they interview serial killers and try to figure out what makes them tick. The second season builds on the story of the first, with Ford and Tench putting their techniques to the test as they investigate the Atlanta child murders. The new episodes take a greater focus on the protagonists’ inner
lives, as well as the difficulties they have working in a marginalized community that’s wary of the police.
Hail, Caesar
When you’ve made as many films as the Coen brothers have, you would expect there to be a few misfires, but even if Hail, Caesar! doesn’t stand among the directors’ top-tier films, it’s still a vibrant, energetic comedy. Set in Hollywood in the early ‘50s, the film follows Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a studio fixer whose job is to keep scandals among the stars from reaching the public eye. When a group of Communist screenwriters kidnap Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), star of an upcoming religious
epic, Mannix must track the missing actor down. Hail, Caesar! feels like a throwback to the screwball comedies of old, with snappy dialogue and lively performances from its all-star cast.
Dave Chappelle: Sticks and Stones
Dave Chappelle is back with another comedy special on Netflix, and the critical opinions have been … mixed, to say the least. Chappelle has never been one to hold back, and in Sticks and Stones, he comes out guns blazing, castigating the audience for what he perceives as America’s ruthless treatment of celebrities, segueing into a discussion of the sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson. It’s a bit that launched a thousand op-eds since the special’s release, and it’s only the start of the
hourlong jeremiad. However one might feel about Chappelle’s subject matter these days, there’s no denying he can command the stage better than just about any comedian working today.