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      ‘Chappelle’s Show’ Returns to Netflix After Dave Chappelle Gets Paid

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Chappelle’s Show’ Returns to Netflix After Dave Chappelle Gets PaidThe comedian had asked fans to boycott his sketch show from the mid-2000s because of what he described as a “raw deal” from Comedy Central.“When you stopped watching it, they called me,” Chappelle said to his fans in a clip posted on Instagram on Friday. “And I got my name back, and I got my license back, and I got my show back.”Credit…Charles Sykes/Invision, via Associated PressFeb. 12, 2021Updated 1:14 p.m. ETLast fall, Dave Chappelle asked his fans to boycott his old Comedy Central sketch show, “Chappelle’s Show,” in order to put pressure on ViacomCBS to rectify his grievances over a contract he signed as a young comedian, and prominent streaming services agreed to pull the show at his request. The tactic seems to have worked.As a result of that public pressure, Chappelle, in a video posted early Friday on his Instagram, said he was paid “millions of dollars.” And “Chappelle’s Show” is now returning to Netflix and HBO Max.“When you stopped watching it, they called me,” Chappelle, 47, said in the clip. “And I got my name back, and I got my license back, and I got my show back, and they paid me millions of dollars. Thank you very much.”The issue arose in November, when Chappelle posted a video of a stand-up set in which he voiced his complaints against ViacomCBS, which owns Comedy Central. He said that the company had licensed “Chappelle’s Show” to Netflix and HBO Max without providing him any additional compensation or even informing him about the deal, something he understood to be legal under his contract but which he saw as unethical. Netflix then pulled the show at Chappelle’s request, followed by HBO Max.In the new video posted Friday, Chappelle thanked Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive of Netflix, for having the “courage to take my show off its platform at financial detriment to his company, just because I asked him.” And he thanked Chris McCarthy, the president of ViacomCBS’s MTV Entertainment Group.In a statement, McCarthy said, “After speaking with Dave, I am happy we were able to make things right.”Officials at ViacomCBS did not disclose the details of the new arrangement. Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.“Chappelle’s Show,” which had been broadcast on Comedy Central from 2003 to 2006, lasted for two full seasons before Chappelle, the show’s star and creator, walked away from it, sparking questions about how he could have abandoned what could have amounted to a $50 million deal. In 2006, after his departure, Chappelle told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that he had left the show in part because of stress and in part because he felt conflicted about the material he was producing, saying, “I was doing sketches that were funny, but were socially irresponsible.”Chappelle said that he had been a broke, expectant father when he signed the contract with Comedy Central, describing it as a “raw deal.” He framed his experience as emblematic of an immoral corporate entertainment system that mistreats artists.Now, Chappelle seems to have forgiven the company.“Finally after all these years,” Chappelle said, “I can finally say to Comedy Central, ‘It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.’”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO Max, Hulu and More in February

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO Max, Hulu and More in FebruaryEvery month, streaming services add a new batch of titles to their libraries. Here are our picks for February.Jan. 31, 2021, 5:03 p.m. ETNote: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our twice-weekly Watching newsletter here.Waldorf, left, and Statler in a scene from “The Muppet Show.”Credit…DisneyNew to Disney+‘The Muppet Show’ Seasons 1-5Starts streaming: Feb. 19Fans of the puppeteer and filmmaker Jim Henson have been waiting a while for his TV series “The Muppet Show” — perhaps his most enduring masterpiece — to arrive on a subscription streaming service. For five seasons and 120 episodes between 1976 and 1981, Henson and his team of writers, craftspeople and performers brought joy and whimsy to the small screen, through the conceit of a low-rent variety show run by high-strung weirdos. From its catchy songs to its string of A-list guest hosts (including pretty much every big-name entertainer of the era), “The Muppet Show” helped define the popular culture of its time while always remaining family-friendly. The complete series has never been released on any home video format and isn’t currently running on any U.S. cable network, so this addition to Disney+ is a major event.Also arriving:Feb. 19“Flora & Ulysses”Feb. 26“Myth: A Frozen Tale”Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson in “Bliss.”Credit…Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Amazon StudiosNew to Amazon‘Bliss’Starts streaming: Feb. 5In his films “Another Earth” and “I Origins,” the writer-director Mike Cahill has pondered big ideas — alternate universes, the existence of God — via muted character studies which skirt the edges of science fiction. In his latest movie, “Bliss,” Owen Wilson plays Greg, a mopey divorcé who is in the middle of one of the worst days of his life when he meets Isabel (Salma Hayek), a homeless eccentric who convinces him they are living in a computer simulation, controlled with the help of special crystals. Is she right? Or are Greg and Isabel both mentally ill drug addicts? Cahill keeps this question unanswered for as long as possible, while making both scenarios seem plausible. What results is a strange trip through multiple realities, moving at a faster pace than Cahill’s earlier films but still ultimately concerned with the existential angst of ordinary people.‘Tell Me Your Secrets’Starts streaming: Feb. 19The secrets in the title of the mystery/suspense series “Tell Me Your Secrets” are buried deep, and unearthed slowly over the course of the show’s 10-episode first season. Across multiple interwoven plotlines, the creator Harriet Warner follows three main characters: a woman in hiding (Lily Rabe), a mother (Amy Brenneman) doggedly fighting to find out what happened to her long-missing daughter and a psychopath (Hamish Linklater) offering his help to law enforcement to atone for old crimes. The sometimes surprising and often grim details of the connections between these people and the mistakes they are trying to make up for drive the narrative of a crime show that’s about how hard it is for the victims of violence and trauma to move on with their lives.Also arriving:Feb. 12“The Hunter’s Anthology”“The Map of Tiny Perfect Things”Feb. 19“The Boarding School: Las Cumbres”Andra Day, center, as Billie Holiday in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”Credit…Takashi Seida/Paramount Pictures/HuluNew to Hulu‘Nomadland’Starts streaming: Feb. 19Likely to be a strong contender at the Academy Awards this year, the slice-of-life drama “Nomadland” is a vivid and emotionally affecting depiction of a growing American subculture: people who live in mobile homes and roam the country, working a succession of seasonal jobs. Frances McDormand plays a recent widow who had worked most of her life at a plant that closed and who now has to adjust to living on the road, with the help of some fellow travelers who’ve turned their paycheck-to-paycheck circumstances into a quasi-communal lifestyle. The writer-director Chloé Zhao — loosely adapting Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book — avoids big confrontations and heavy plotting, instead emphasizing the everyday stresses and unexpected wonders of a life on the edge.‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’Starts streaming: Feb. 26The source material for the historical drama “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” sets it apart from a typical biopic. Instead of covering one person’s entire life, the director Lee Daniels and the screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks have adapted passages from Johann Hari’s book-length exposé, “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs,” in which the author uses profiles of a few well-known addicts, including Billie Holiday, and dealers to critique the ways some governments have tackled the narcotics trade. The Grammy-nominated R&B singer Andra Day gives a bracing performance as the jazz legend Holiday, who so scandalized the establishment with the anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit” that — according to this raw and hard-hitting film — some reactionaries in the U.S. government conspired to use her drug habit to stifle her.Also arriving:Feb. 1“Possessor”Feb. 12“Into the Dark: Tentacles”Feb. 13“Hip Hop Uncovered”Feb. 25“Snowfall” Season 4A scene from “Earwig and the Witch” from Studio Ghibli.Credit…Studio Ghibli/HBO MaxNew to HBO Max‘The Investigation’Starts streaming: Feb. 1The accomplished Danish screenwriter and director Tobias Lindholm tackles a bizarre recent true-crime story in “The Investigation,” a six-part mini-series about what happened after the Swedish journalist Kim Wall’s dismembered corpse was found scattered around Koge Bay in Denmark in 2017. Lindholm doesn’t dramatize the incident itself, which eventually led to the arrest and conviction of the entrepreneur Peter Madsen, who had invited Wall to interview him on his submarine right before she went missing. Instead, he follows the two cops on the case (played by Soren Malling and Pilou Asbaek) as they doggedly pursue the gruesome clues, sacrificing their personal lives in the name of justice. “The Investigation” is a different kind of procedural, detailing how the time it takes to build a case weighs heavy on both the victim’s family and the detectives.‘Earwig and the Witch’Starts streaming: Feb. 5The animators at Japan’s venerable Studio Ghibli make their first foray into full computer animation with this adaptation of a novel by Diana Wynne Jones, whose book “Howl’s Moving Castle” was previously adapted by Ghibli’s co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. His son Goro directed “Earwig and the Witch,” the story of a plucky and bossy 10-year-old orphan adopted by a pair of curiously gruff adults who teach her more about her birth family’s history with rock ’n’ roll and the occult. Fans of the Miyazakis and Ghibli may balk initially at the look of this film, which is different from classics like “Spirited Away” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” But “Earwig” covers similar themes of spiritual wonder and youthful independence, and there’s something distinctive about Goro Miyazaki’s visual style, which is much simpler than Pixar’s fine detail.‘Judas and the Black Messiah’Starts streaming: Feb. 12In 1969, Fred Hampton — the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party — was killed during a police raid on his Chicago apartment following an extended federal law enforcement campaign to tag him as a dangerous radical. In the political drama “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Daniel Kaluuya gives a knockout performance as Hampton and is matched scene-for-scene by Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal, a small-time crook recruited by the FBI to inform on the Panthers. The writer-director Shaka King and the co-writer Will Berson capture the revolutionary fervor of the times, subtly noting the parallels to today in the raging arguments about overzealous cops and systemic racism. The film focuses on Hampton’s complex, passionate and surprisingly open-armed political philosophies, as well as on the circumstances that forced a man who might otherwise have been a devout disciple to betray him.Also arriving:Feb. 2“Fake Famous”Feb. 4“Esme & Roy”“The Head”Feb. 18“It’s a Sin”Feb. 22“Beartown”Feb. 26“Tom & Jerry”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘The Little Things’ Review: Good Old-Fashioned Police Work

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘The Little Things’ Review: Good Old-Fashioned Police WorkDenzel Washington and Rami Malek play detectives on the trail of a serial killer in John Lee Hancock’s vintage thriller.Denzel Washington and Jared Leto in “The Little Things.”Credit…Nicola Goode/Warner BrosJan. 28, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETThe Little ThingsDirected by John Lee HancockCrime, Drama, ThrillerR2h 7mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.A note during the first scene in “The Little Things” — an effective cold opening, full of danger and suspense — indicates that it’s 1990. At first, I thought this meant that the action would quickly vault forward into the present day, but instead the movie, which takes place mainly in Los Angeles, settles into a fairly generic version of the semi-recent past, occasionally flashing back to a few years earlier.There aren’t many historical details or period flourishes that would justify this choice. It seems mostly like a pretext for removing cellphones, internet searches, GPS tracking and other modern conveniences that might ruin the analog ambience needed for an old-fashioned serial-killer thriller. Which is fair enough. When it comes to spooky neo-noir resonance, it’s hard to beat a ringing pay phone on an empty nighttime street or an envelope full of Polaroids.Written and directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Denzel Washington as a weary professional with keen instincts and a battered conscience, “The Little Things” is an unapologetic throwback. It broods over the psychologically and spiritually damaging effects of police work as its two main detectives (Rami Malek alongside Washington) pursue an elusive, malignant murderer of women. You might think of “Se7en” or “Zodiac” or a lost season of “True Detective,” though this movie is less self-consciously stylized than any of those.And that’s partly because “The Little Things” is both a latecomer and a forerunner. (Time is a flat circle, doncha know.) Hancock wrote the screenplay almost 30 years ago, and in the ’90s possible directors included Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood. Hancock wrote the scripts for two Eastwood films in that decade, “A Perfect World” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” More recently, he has directed “The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks” and “The Highwaymen.”At their best, those movies are competent rather than groundbreaking — admirable in their sturdy commitment to filmmaking craft even as their stories stubbornly cling to convention. This one rises to a slightly higher level, though it doesn’t entirely avoid the clichés of its genre: “You know, you and I have a lot in common,” a suspect says to one of the detectives. That the apparent bad guy is played by Jared Leto doesn’t necessarily help matters.But Leto, as a self-confessed “crime buff” with a creepily calm demeanor, isn’t bad. Malek as Jim Baxter, a zealous and ambitious Los Angeles detective flirting with career and personal catastrophe, is pretty good too. Who are we kidding, though? This movie is a coat that has been hanging in the closet for decades waiting for Washington to slip it on.Not that the man’s actual clothes fit. That’s part of the texture of the performance. Joe Deacon, usually addressed as Deke, starts the movie as a sheriff’s deputy in a dusty stretch of California’s Central Valley. The khaki uniform does him no favors, and Deke carries himself like a man buckling under a long-carried burden — round in the shoulders, thick in the middle, slow and heavy in his stride.You get the sense that it wasn’t always that way. You get that sense partly because you have seen Denzel Washington in this kind of role before, but the great ones can play endless variations on the same theme. When Deke drives down to Los Angeles on some irrelevant police business, we learn that he was once an L.A.P.D. homicide hotshot. He receives a mixed welcome. The captain (Terry Kinney) can barely stand to look at him. Deke’s former partner (Chris Bauer) and the medical examiner (Michael Hyatt) greet him warmly, but their kindness is edged with pity and disappointment.Deke partners up with Baxter to hunt down a killer preying on young women, who may have been active back when Deke was on the force. (The cop who seems to be Jim’s actual partner, played by Natalie Morales, doesn’t have much to do). The case takes some expected turns, and some that are less so, but as the clues and leads accumulate the film’s interest is less in who done it than in what it does to the detectives. There is something Eastwoodian not only in Hancock’s clean, unpretentious directing, but also in the ethical universe he sketches. The line between good and evil is clear, but that doesn’t banish moral ambiguity or save the righteous from guilt. Nor does it guarantee justice.That’s a heavy idea, and “The Little Things” doesn’t quite earn its weight. Thanks to Hancock’s craft and the discipline of the actors, it’s more than watchable, but you are unlikely to be haunted, disturbed or even surprised. You haven’t exactly seen this before. It just feels that way.The Little ThingsRated R. Tortured souls and tortured bodies. Running time: 2 hours 7 minutes. In theaters and on HBO Max. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Hunter Schafer’s Week: A New York Whirlwind

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyHunter Schafer’s Week: A New York WhirlwindVisiting town for an awards ceremony, the model and star of HBO’s “Euphoria” unwinds with “Ghost in the Shell” and screamo music.Hunter Schafer arrived in New York to attend the Gotham Independent Film Awards earlier this month.Credit…Sabrina Santiago for The New York TimesJan. 19, 2021, 4:25 p.m. ETHunter Schafer’s eyes were boring a hole through her gray hotel room wall, left hand cupping her cheek as though, by wishing hard enough, she could convince the events of the day she was trying to recall to surface.“Let’s see, I know I did the Gotham Awards … yesterday?” the 21-year-old transgender model and breakout star of HBO’s “Euphoria” said in a video call earlier this month.Not quite — the ceremony had been the day before.“My bad,” she said, grinning in a light blue hoodie and black Carhartt-style jacket after just returning from an outdoor photo shoot on a chilly New York afternoon. “Time is confusing right now.”The past year and a half has been a whirlwind for Schafer since she made her acting debut as Jules opposite Zendaya’s addiction-tormented Rue on “Euphoria,” the Emmy-winning drama series about teenagers navigating the temptations of drug use at a Southern California high school. Schafer turns in a sensitive, gut-wrenching performance as a 17-year-old transgender girl who struggles with depression, bullying and gender dysphoria and has a love interest who can’t seem to stay clean.And now she’s taking another leap — into writing. Schafer co-wrote the show’s second special episode, which premieres Sunday on HBO Max, with the “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson. “The writing process took months,” she said. “There was a week where we spent hours on the phone every day to get the episode fleshed out.”Schafer tracked her cultural diary while in New York for the 30th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards earlier this month, from her red-eye arrival on Jan. 10 to falling asleep to screamo music two days later. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.“I walked around Downtown while listening to this Aaron Cartier album that one of my L.A. friends put me onto, ‘Aaron Cartier Best Dog.’ It’s energetic and gets my New York endorphins going.”Credit…Sabrina Santiago for The New York TimesSunday MorningI got some sleep on my red-eye flight to New York, where I’d be presenting at the Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday night. I listened to the “Kajillionaire” soundtrack in the car on my way to my hotel in SoHo. I’m in awe of how beautiful Emile Mosseri’s songs are — I’ve been listening to them constantly.Sunday AfternoonI walked around Downtown while listening to this Aaron Cartier album that one of my L.A. friends put me onto, “Aaron Cartier Best Dog.” It’s energetic and gets my New York endorphins going. Then I sat in bed and watched the series finale of “Veneno,” which is my favorite show that I’ve been watching recently. It made me super emo, but it has some of the best portrayals of trans femmes I’ve seen on TV in a very long time — maybe ever.Sunday EveningI went to dinner with some friends in my pod at KazuNori, which is this sushi place with amazing hand rolls. They wrap them right there and bring them out fresh, so the seaweed is still crunchy and the rice is so soft. Definite upgrade from the packaged microwave meals I was living off of before. Then my friend and I popped into this lingerie store across the street, WANT Apothecary, and got these little stripper dresses — just for fun, because it’s important to dress up and put on a show for yourself in quarantine.Back at my hotel, I watched the anime movie “Ghost in the Shell” to go to sleep, which was spooky and gave me simulation vibes. Being in that existential head space influenced my dreams in a weird way.Credit…Sabrina Santiago for The New York TimesMonday MorningI’m really bad about hitting the snooze button in the morning, so I need something pretty jarring to wake me up — I just use the regular annoying iPhone alarm. But I’ve also been sleeping to the Kajillionaire soundtrack, so I get nice little bits of that in my five minutes before my alarm goes off again.One thing that’s changed since the start of the pandemic is my shower routine. When I’m filming, I’ve been obsessed with this thing my friend told me you can do where, at the end of your shower, you turn the nozzle all the way cold and let yourself sit in the freezing water for 30 seconds. Its brings you to life.I used to pick out my outfits the night before in high school, but, now that I’m living out of a suitcase, I’ve edited my wardrobe so everything kind of goes with each other, so I’m never too stressed out about whether my outfit makes sense. One of my favorite T-shirts is from the L.A. brand Come Tees, which has beautiful prints of animated characters hat are super bright and colorful.Monday AfternoonHair and makeup came in to get me ready for the Gotham Awards. I wore a bondage-y dress from Matthew Williams’s Givenchy collection with a belt full of gold padlocks and a necklace from my friend Darius Khonsary’s new jewelry collection, Darius Jewels. She’s made this incredible collection of gold, antique-looking pieces that are also modern and mythical.Monday EveningI sat at my own table, socially distanced from the other presenters, at the Gotham Awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street. I gave out the short form Breakthrough Series award, which I was so happy to see “I May Destroy You” win. That show took me out when it came out last year — it was [expletive] incredible. I’m a huge Michaela Coel fan.I got back to my hotel around 10 p.m., where I ordered some vegetable fried rice and stripped down to my underwear. Then I scrolled through my friends’ Instagram stories. Gogo Graham, who’s a fashion designer, has an amazing feed — I’m floored every time she releases new garments. And Dara Allen, a stylist and model I used to work with, is a dream — I’m entranced by the amazing looks she creates out of her wild collection of clothes.“I used to pick out my outfits the night before in high school, but, now that I’m living out of a suitcase, I’ve edited my wardrobe so everything kind of goes with each other.”Credit…Sabrina Santiago for The New York TimesI’ve been listening to pretty varied music lately: “Dawning,” Davia Spain’s jazzy debut album, and the rapper Quay Dash’s EP “Transphobic.” And my friend Tweaks just came out with a new EP, “Older Now,” which is this futuristic, experimental thing.Tuesday AfternoonI came across this album, “Hunter Schafer’s Boyfriend,” by an artist named CHASE after someone tagged me in it on Twitter. I was like, “What is this?” Then I listened to it, and it’s actually sick. I genuinely enjoyed it — there’s something electronic and poppy about it, but also elements of rap and maybe a little screamo, too.Tuesday EveningI walked to a Japanese restaurant, AOI Kitchen, with three themed mini houses — there were flowers on the wall, and it felt like a little fairy house. It didn’t feel like I was in New York at all. They had really good tofu, mushrooms and sake. Then I walked back to my hotel and listened to some screamo music before relaxing into something a bit more restful — some songs by Colleen, which sound like something plants would dance to.On Her Wish ListI love drawing by the window in my hotel in New York, coffee in hand — that’s my dream of a day. I love Basquiat, Egon Schiele and Sage Adams. I go through waves where I get really into drawing for a couple of weeks, then I set it aside for a bit because I don’t feel that creative. Hopefully I’m going to go through another one soon.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Six Great Movies About Presidents

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySix Great Movies About PresidentsIf you’re looking for some escapism, these films are a good reminder that democracy works.Daniel Day-Lewis took an Oscar-winning turn as President Abraham Lincoln in the 2012 film “Lincoln.”Credit…DreamWorks Pictures and 20th Century FoxJan. 16, 2021When a new president is inaugurated, it’s traditionally an occasion for pageantry and pomp, showcasing the splendor of Washington and reminding the country and the world of the United States’ democratic promise: that power ultimately rests in the will of the people. As we head into these ceremonies next week, it’s a good time to let these movies remind us that the mechanisms of American politics and the institution of the presidency — at their best and worst — have endured for centuries.These six entertaining films are about real and fictional presidents, and are set against the backdrop and complicated culture of our nation’s capital.‘Lincoln’The director Steven Spielberg and the screenwriter Tony Kushner take an unusual approach to telling the story of one of America’s most beloved presidents, focusing mostly on the first months of Abraham Lincoln’s second term, when he cajoled a reluctant Congress into passing a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery. Daniel Day-Lewis gives an Oscar-winning performance as Lincoln, capturing the man’s gentle good humor and shrewd — sometimes ruthless — political instincts. The “Lincoln” creative team make the figures from history books look and feel like real people, with complex personalities and motives.Watch it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube[Read The New York Times review.]‘Thirteen Days’The title of this film refers to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet deployment of nuclear weapons not far from the Florida coast pitted John F. Kennedy and his inner circle against both the Russians and their own Joint Chiefs of Staff. The outcome of this story is well-known. (Spoiler alert: The missiles were removed and a potential catastrophe was averted.) But the director Roger Donaldson and the screenwriter David Self still successfully dramatize the tension and paranoia brewing when Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood), his brother Robert (Steven Culp) and his adviser Kenneth O’Donnell (Kevin Costner) scrambled to out-negotiate their rivals.Watch it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube[Read The New York Times review.]‘Seven Days in May’The characters in this jittery 1964 thriller are fictional, but the situation — particularly of late — feels all too real. Kirk Douglas plays a Marine colonel who suspects that a hawkish Air Force general (Burt Lancaster) is organizing a coup against a pacifist president (Frederic March). The director John Frankenheimer (who two years earlier made the similarly pulse-pounding “The Manchurian Candidate”) and the screenwriter Rod Serling adapt a novel by Charles W. Bailey II and Fletcher Knebel into an offbeat war movie, where the soldiers fight in boardrooms instead of battlefields, attacking using clandestine meetings and phone calls.Watch it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube[Read The New York Times review.]‘All the President’s Men’Richard Nixon is at the center of this newspaper drama, even though he mostly stays offscreen. Based on Carl Bernstein’s and Bob Woodward’s account of how they investigated the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post, this film conveys the day-to-day business of gossip, leaks and social networking in the nation’s capital. But it’s also a rousing story about how citizens and journalists can serve as a check on the executive branch, whenever presidents and their staff start imperiously ignoring or bulldozing over federal laws.Watch it on HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube[Read The New York Times review.]‘Dave’One big appeal of movies about presidents is the chance to see how the leader of the free world lives. In this 1993 comedy “Dave,” Kevin Kline plays an ordinary guy who looks just like the president. When the White House staff asks him to pose as POTUS while the real one recovers from a stroke, Dave soon finds himself embroiled in a plot involving scandal, chicanery and romance. What makes this picture so delightful is Kline’s endearingly upbeat performance as someone who genuinely enjoys the privileges of the presidency — from the perks of the White House to the power to improve people’s lives.Watch it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube[Read The New York Times review.]‘The American President’The screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has a knack for creating charismatic and inspiring politicians, as seen in his hit TV series, “The West Wing.” In this 1995 romantic drama, Michael Douglas plays the title character, a Bill Clinton-like centrist Democrat prone to push for popular legislation rather than taking controversial stands. Sorkin’s story (directed by Rob Reiner) is mostly about the widowed president’s love affair with an environmental lobbyist played by Annette Bening. But the movie also imagines an idealized Washington, where the right speech at the right time can change minds and perhaps save a nation.Watch it on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube[Read The New York Times review.]AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO Max, Hulu and More in January

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO Max, Hulu and More in JanuaryEvery month, subscription streaming services add a new batch of titles to their libraries. Here are our picks for January.Dec. 31, 2020, 6:21 p.m. ETNote: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our twice-weekly Watching newsletter here.Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in “WandaVision.”Credit…Marvel Studios/DisneyNew to Disney+‘WandaVision’Starts streaming: Jan. 15Possibly the most anticipated Disney+ show since “The Mandalorian,” the superhero sitcom “WandaVision” represents the start of a new wave of Marvel Comics TV series and promises to be more eclectic and creative than the grim and gritty action dramas on other networks. In “WandaVision,” two of the odder members of the Avengers — the mutant matter-manipulating Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and the superpowered android Vision (Paul Bettany) — go undercover in suburbia, where they try to fit in by making their lives more like what they’ve seen on television. Disney has mostly been keeping the details of this long-in-production show a secret, but the advertising so far has made it look downright surreal — and absolutely unmissable.Also arriving:Jan. 8“Marvel Studios: Legends”Jan. 22“Pixar Popcorn”Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke in “One Night in Miami.”Credit…Patti Perret/Amazon StudiosNew to Amazon‘One Night in Miami’Starts streaming: Jan. 15Based on a Kemp Powers play, the historical drama “One Night in Miami” imagines what might have happened during a 1964 meeting at a Miami hotel between Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). Not long after these four gathered, Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay and declared himself to be a Muslim, Malcolm left the Nation of Islam, Cooke recorded music informed by the civil rights movement, and Brown started winding down his N.F.L. career to devote himself more to activism and acting. Directed by Regina King, the movie frames an evening of celebration and reflection as one long, energizing bull session between four very different men, arguing and joking, away from the scrutiny of a public judging their choices.‘Flack’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 22Anna Paquin gets her juiciest role since “True Blood” in “Flack,” a sort of lower-stakes version of “Scandal,” following public relations “fixers” who do all they can to keep their desperate celebrity clients out of the tabloids. In nearly every episode, someone needs the help of Paquin’s character, Robyn, or her co-workers after being caught in the wrong bed or found at the scene of a crime. A lot of the entertainment value comes from how these shrewd and nurturing professionals — mostly women — work miracles to save some entitled folks who barely deserve their help. There’s some pathos, too, as Robyn manages her messy personal life, but “Flack” is generally more enjoyably soapy than profound.Also arriving:Jan. 8“Herself”Jan. 15“Tandav”Jan. 18“Alone”Jan. 22“Jessy and Nessy”Hailee Steinfeld, center, as the lead in “Dickinson.”Credit…Apple TV+New to Apple TV+‘Dickinson’ Season 2Starts streaming: Jan. 8The loopy historical dramedy “Dickinson” was part of Apple TV+’s first wave of television shows; and it remains one of the service’s most acclaimed. The second season has all the charms of the first, beginning with Hailee Steinfeld’s winning performance as the poet Emily Dickinson, portrayed as a headstrong young woman who bucks her family’s ideas of respectable femininity. The clever hook of “Dickinson” is that while it is set in the distant American past, the characters behave like they are in a modern suburban TV household — bickering wryly when they’re all together and then later brooding quietly while melancholy pop music plays. Season 2 opens with an admission that the historical record is vague on this phase of the writer’s life (a period not long after her brother married the woman Dickinson loved), but that doesn’t stop the show’s creators from using her poems as a window into her daily romantic despair.‘Palmer’Starts streaming: Jan. 29Justin Timberlake mutes his big pop star personality considerably for the small-scaled drama “Palmer,” a movie about a chastened ex-con trying to get his life back on track in his small Southern hometown. Alisha Wainwright plays a local teacher who feels drawn to Palmer after she sees how he takes care of a neglected neighbor boy who is teased at school because he loves toys and clothes designed for girls. The “misfits are people, too” message is uplifting, though the film’s real selling point is its cast, which also includes the phenomenal Juno Temple as a well-meaning mother who struggles with impulse control.Also arriving:Jan. 15“Servant” Season 2Jan. 22“Losing Alice”John Lurie in “Painting With John.”Credit…HBO MaxNew to HBO Max‘Tiger’Starts streaming: Jan. 10The 2020 docu-series “The Last Dance” set a high bar for in-depth, behind-the-scenes sports stories, filled with glory and scandal. HBO’s two-part “Tiger” isn’t as dazzling, but it’s at least playing in the same league. Though it is missing a central interview with the golfer Tiger Woods himself, this mini-series does include input from many of his friends and colleagues, who speak about the private Woods — good and bad — that few golf fans have ever gotten to see. “Tiger” features remarkable footage from throughout Woods’s career (including his amateur years, which were unusually well-documented thanks to his prescient parents). But in between the scenes of a once-in-a-generation athlete dominating his sport, this documentary also covers the immense pressure that was placed on him. And it is frank about what happened when the man began to crack.‘Painting With John’Starts streaming: Jan. 22In the early 1990s, the avant-garde musician John Lurie created and hosted the lovably bizarre series “Fishing With John,” a low-key nature and interview show that frequently took surreal turns. Lurie’s new project, “Painting With John,” plays things just a little bit straighter. Like an oddball version of Bob Ross, Lurie starts each episode teaching viewers about art but ends up talking more about life, spinning personal anecdotes and sharing his insights and beliefs. He does paint, too; and the colorful close-ups of Lurie’s canvasses combined with the hushed growl of his voice makes this an unusually relaxing show.Also arriving:Jan. 14“Search Party” Season 4Jan. 21“Gomorrah” Season 3Jan. 24“Euphoria” Special, Part 2Jan. 29“The Little Things”New to Hulu‘Jann’ Seasons 1 & 2Starts streaming: Jan. 29Fans of lighthearted and character-driven Canadian sitcoms like “Schitt’s Creek” should enjoy “Jann,” a similarly sweet and dryly satirical comedy about a former jet-setter adjusting to a career downturn. The singer-songwriter Jann Arden plays a cartoony version of herself: a musician who had a few chart hits in the 1990s but has since dealt with health problems, relationship woes, family crises and a changing pop music market. In the show’s two seasons so far — both already hugely popular in Canada — the amiable Arden has been willing to look silly as she spoofs the foibles of a showbiz exile. But she and her fellow “Jann” creators Leah Gauthier and Jennica Harper have also balanced the character’s persistent state of embarrassment with strong and stirring elements of underdog melodrama.Also arriving:Jan. 1“Like a Boss”“Save Yourselves!”Jan. 13“Everyone Is Doing Great” Season 1Jan. 15“Endlings” Season 2“The Ultimate Playlist of Noise”Jan. 22“Derek DelGaudio’s In & of Itself”“The Sister”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Zosia Mamet’s Week: Log Cabin Living

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyRecently ViewedZosia Mamet’s Week: Log Cabin LivingThe former “Girls” star, who played a mordantly comic lawyer in “The Flight Attendant,” spends her days at the barn and her nights with David Sedaris and Meryl Streep.Zosia Mamet, who stars in “The Flight Attendant,” with her horse, Ten: “She’s the love of my life (don’t tell my husband) so just being with her makes me happy.”Credit…Heather Sten for The New York TimesDec. 22, 2020, 10:40 a.m. ETWhen Zosia Mamet auditioned for “The Flight Attendant,” Kaley Cuoco unexpectedly booped her on the nose. Mamet reacted by swatting her hand away, and a relationship was born.“We had this immediate chemistry,” said Mamet, who is best known as the “Girls” naïf, Shoshanna Shapiro, “and the scene, just like lava, flowed out of us.”In “The Flight Attendant,” the zingy thriller on HBO Max that just finished its first season, Cuoco plays the booze-swilling Cassie Bowden, who picks up a passenger on a flight then wakes up in Bangkok with his dead body in bed beside her — and no memory of the night before. Mamet is her best friend, Annie Mouradian, a stony-faced lawyer who keeps the F.B.I. at bay using skills she cultivated while representing mob wives.At the moment, Mamet is nesting in New York’s Hudson Valley, with her husband, the actor Evan Jonigkeit, and their dog, Moose. But she more or less lives at the horse stables down the road, doling out snuggles and peppermints to her thoroughbred, Ten. In a Zoom interview from her 1920s Sears catalog cabin, with a log wall behind her, Mamet talked about life in and out of the riding ring, and her seasonal affliction. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.Thursday MorningWoke up at 8. I’m a big-time sleeper. My husband says I could sleep through anything. But I wanted to get up early to give Moose a good long walk. First things, first: coffee, made in a French press with a big chunk of oat milk. I used to be quite picky about the brand of coffee, and I’m not anymore. I know this is a controversial point for snobby coffee drinkers, but we love a flavored coffee in our house, like a hazelnut or a vanilla.Mamet is nesting with her husband, the actor Evan Jonigkeit, in the Hudson Valley. Credit…Heather Sten for The New York TimesThursday AfternoonThe barn is about a 25-minute drive from our house so I normally either do NPR, Howard Stern, music or a podcast. I love a good podcast. Today was the new Whitney Cummings with Alison Brie. I didn’t get past the opening but that alone was killing me. They were talking about the frustration with stores putting stickers on things that you can’t get off, and it leaves this horrible residue. The struggle is real.My horse, Ten, sadly has a boo-boo in her front right foot, so she’s currently on what’s called stall rest, which is basically the equivalent of bed rest for a human. I’ve been gone for almost a month, and she’s developed this very sweet silly habit of trying to nibble on every part of me. Yesterday it was my beanie. Today it was the arms of my jacket. But she’s the love of my life (don’t tell my husband) so just being with her makes me happy.Evan is still in Pittsburgh shooting a new Netflix show called “Archive 81,” so we chatted on my drive home. We like to stay as much a unit as possible. I went out there for three weeks, and then I came home a little bit earlier than him because I wanted to be with Ten. The minute I found out she got hurt, he was like, “If you need to go home, I’ll understand.”Thursday EveningMy best friend, Emma, claims that I was an elf in a previous life. I do all the Christmas shopping for both of our families and all of our friends, so I’m currently set up in our living room surrounded by presents, my Christmas 2020 Excel spreadsheet, wrapping paper, scissors, ribbon, tape. All the essentials. I listened to Alabama Shakes. Evan proposed to “I Found You,” and sometimes when I miss him, I put them on.I’m in bed with a hot water bottle because I’m 90 and watching “The Queen’s Gambit.” I’m trying to savor it because I just think it’s so good. No, I have not learned chess. A card game like rummy, that’s my jam. Chess is too much for my brain to handle.I have a book problem, and there is a stack on my bedside probably 10 books high. I’m currently halfway deep into the latest David Sedaris, “The Best of Me,” and loving every second. I adore him. I’ve read almost all of his books and also listened to a lot of them on tape. His writing is so wonderful to begin with, but then when you hear him reading his writing, it just elevates it to the next level.Friday MorningEvan is the one that got me into the routine of putting music on first thing in the morning. It sets the tone for the day. Whitney Cummings mentioned the Lone Bellow the other day on her podcast, and I hadn’t listened to them in forever, so that’s what was on this morning.Spotify very kindly made me a 2020 playlist of the things I’d listened to most, so I put that on my drive to the barn. It was cold but sunny, so it was more of a sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-with-the-window-slightly-down than listen-to-a-podcast kind of day. A few faves on the playlist: Red Hearse, Lucy Dacus, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Phoebe Bridgers. Portugal. The Man is also on there; Nathaniel Rateliff, who came out with a solo album this year that’s super beautiful and lovely. Oh, there’s this great album that I love called “Trio.” It’s Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Sometimes when I’m cleaning the house, I’ll listen to it on repeat because their harmonies sound like angels.“My husband is like, ‘How do you spend six hours at the barn?’”Credit…Heather Sten for The New York TimesFriday AfternoonI got to the barn and first had to say hi to Tenny because she’s my princess unicorn, so she needs treats and kisses. Then I got to ride a Polly Pocket-size pony named Snickers. I had my lesson with my amazing trainer Vanessa. I got to ride one of our barn’s trusty steeds named Junior, who gave me a run for my money.My husband is like, “How do you spend six hours at the barn?” Well, we have to untack the horse. When we jump them, we wash their legs and spray them with liniment that keeps their legs healthy. Then we clean all of our tack. It’s part of the process that I love just as much as the riding — the care of the horse, the care of my tack.I stopped at Michaels because I needed a wreath hanger for our door. In middle and high school, there are horseback riding teams called [Interscholastic Equestrian Association], and there’s a whole show circuit. Our barn has one, and each year they take old horse shoes and paint them red, blue, green, silver or gold, and they make wreaths and sell them to raise money for the I.E.A. team. So I got one.Friday EveningI spent a little time decorating. I love Christmas more than anything. My maternal grandmother had this way of making Christmas exceptionally magical. There were all of these traditions, and the house was full of smells and sounds and lights. We always decorated the tree together. I’ve been enamored with magic since I was little, and what is more magical than Christmas? I’m the person who will sit on the stairs with all the other lights off at night and just watch the tree.I finally realized I was starving so I went with tacos. I listened to Phoebe Bridgers’s new holiday album, which is heartbreaking and gorgeous and sadly only four songs, so I had it on repeat for a bit. Then I put on “The Prom,” which was delightful, while wrapping presents. Elf duties.Saturday AfternoonI love Marc Maron’s podcast, and a friend recommended his episode with Glenn Close, so I finished that up on the way to the barn. What an epic human. What a crazy life. I had no idea she was in a cult!There are a few podcasts I’m obsessed with. I love “You Must Remember This,” which is all about old Hollywood. On the drive to Pittsburgh, I listened to “Dr. Death.” Oh my God, it’s crazy and fascinating. It’s about this surgeon who keeps botching all of these spine surgeries, but everyone’s too afraid to report him to the medical board. So he just keeps moving from hospital to hospital and paralyzing people. It’s very dark, but it was a six-hour drive, so it kept me entertained.Saturday EveningI’m about to start wrapping more presents while watching “Let Them All Talk.” Then it’s a pit stop for some of my banana bread that is my favorite thing ever. It’s gluten- and dairy-free with like five ingredients and yes, I know — Covid/lockdown/banana bread — but I’ve been making this literally for years. So please, no judgment.Sunday MorningWe were having a barn-decorating contest at the farm today so I decorated Ten’s stall with a unicorn theme. I didn’t win, but it’s just an honor to be nominated or whatever.Sunday AfternoonAfter the judging for the stall-decorating contest, we all gave our secret Santa gifts. Then I took down Ten’s decorations because she almost ingested a 10-foot-long piece of tinsel.Sunday EveningI headed home to wrap more gifts and hang with Moose. I really want to watch “PEN15,” but Evan and I watch that together so I can’t. So perhaps an old movie, possibly “Death Becomes Her.” I just realized that there seems to be a Meryl Streep theme going on here. Listen, I love me some Meryl — I mean, who doesn’t — but I definitely didn’t do that on purpose. Although what says, “It’s the holidays!” more than Meryl Streep? So I guess that’s it: I’m just in a very Meryl Christmas mood.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More