What’s Streaming
SUPER 8 (2011) Stream on Amazon and Hulu. Rent on Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube. Directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, “Super 8” has all the makings of a classic monster movie. It takes place in 1979, in a small Ohio town largely populated by steel workers and their children, including Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), the story’s protagonist. Joe — who lives with his father, the local sheriff (Kyle Chandler) — is filming a zombie movie with his 11-year-old friends when they witness a train crash, and they investigate. “You know that, in the homestretch, big battles will be fought, lessons will be learned, the elusive monster will be revealed and other loose ends will be tied up,” A.O. Scott wrote in his review for The New York Times. He adds, “You may wish it did not all happen in such a perfunctory, predictable way.”
DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989) Stream on Netflix. Rent on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube. Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy star in this film adaptation of Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Miss Daisy (Tandy), an affluent Jewish woman in Atlanta, has been deemed no longer fit to operate a vehicle by her son, Boolie (Dan Aykroyd), who instead hires her a driver. He chooses Hoke Calhoun (Freeman) for the job. The 60-year-old widower has an incredible tolerance for Miss Daisy’s stubbornness and the film chronicles a friendship that lasts 25 years. “Miss Daisy and Hoke are as much outsiders for their age and sensibility as for anything else,” Vincent Canby wrote in his review for The Times, adding, “Theirs is the friendship of equals.”
What’s on TV
#TEAMPLUTO 11:01 p.m. on Discovery. On Feb. 18, 1930, Pluto was discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. But in 2006, it was reclassified as a dwarf planet. In this Discovery Channel special on Pluto’s 90th anniversary, scientists return to the Lowell Observatory to discuss the reasoning behind the change and the possibility of its gaining status as a planet once again.
AMAZON EMPIRE: THE RISE AND REIGN OF JEFF BEZOS 9 p.m. on PBS. This two-hour special explores Jeff Bezos’s multi-billion-dollar company. In Amazon’s 26-year life span, the company and its founder have faced scrutiny over their wide reach and influence. “Amazon Empire” interviews critics who claim the company is nearing a monopoly status, as well as former executives, government officials and Amazon employees.
HOT ONES: THE GAME SHOW 10 p.m. on TruTV. This new half-hour game show combines trivia and hot wings for the chance to win $25,000. In each episode, two teams compete in three rounds of trivia accompanied by chicken wings with increasingly spicy sauces. If the contestants can maintain their cool enough to advance through the rounds, they may earn a soothing milkshake and a cash prize. Sean Evans, an executive producer, also hosts.
Source: Television - nytimes.com
