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      Paula Pell Is a Comic Scene-Stealer in ‘Girls5eva’

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      Breastchester, the rustic upstate New York residence that is home to the “Girls5eva” star Paula Pell, is a two-hour drive from Manhattan, at the end of a long stretch of road where occasional yoga studios and art galleries eventually give way to a tranquil countryside. It is secluded, but its proprietor is hardly in need of companionship.Pell’s coterie here includes her wife, Janine Brito, the comedy writer and actor who gave their mini-estate its body-positive nickname. Then there is the congregation of rescue dogs that had overtaken the living room of the main house one recent Friday morning, all scratching and barking for attention. Eloise and Verbena, Pell’s horses, were in a stable on a hill above the house.“There’s two old mares up there and one old mare down here,” Pell said theatrically, running a hand through her long silver locks.Pell has been known to nurse stunned birds back to health. She volunteered at a nearby sanctuary, where she took care of neglected pets and farm animals. “I was called the pig whisperer,” she said. “I have pictures of me sleeping on the pigs. I’d lay there and sing to them.”Her love of animals is sincere and integral to her personality, as much a part of Pell as the brassy, oblivious characters she dreamed up on “Saturday Night Live,” where she spent 18 years as a writer, and which she continues to play in movies and on TV.“Humans, always, will be imperfect,” Pell said. “They will still say I love you when they don’t. Animals, to me, are the only ones that when they love you, you totally believe it.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Television

      What to Watch This Weekend: A Surreal Family Comedy

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      The Turkish series “A Round of Applause” offers a fresh and surprising vision of anxiety and alienation.Cihat Suvarioglu in a scene from “A Round of Applause.”NetflixThe Turkish series “A Round of Applause” (in Turkish, with subtitles, or dubbed) is a vivid, imaginative depiction of family neuroses. The concept of sublimated despair is a pillar of contemporary television, but the show’s surrealism is fresh and surprising — made even more so by the sense of creeping sameness of so many other shows right now.“Applause,” on Netflix, follows Zeynep (Aslihan Gurbuz), her husband, Mehmet (Fatih Artman), and her son, Metin (played at various ages by Rezdar Tastan, Eyup Mert Ilkis and Cihat Suvarioglu), though the show begins before his conception. First, Zeynep and Mehmet have some friends over for dinner, but the guests’ behavior becomes stranger and more childlike during the visit — they’re too scared to sleep in their own bed during a thunderstorm, they say. They behave petulantly at the breakfast table and eventually go so far as to call Zeynep and Mehmet “mom” and “dad.” The show’s surrealism gains momentum from there, and the warped perspective becomes more central — more grotesque, more exciting, funnier — as the show goes on.When we meet Metin, he’s in utero, portrayed as grown man, bearded and smoking and ranting like a political prisoner. He has already absorbed all of his mother’s unhappiness, he wails, yanking on a massive umbilical cord for emphasis. He lacks purpose; he feels oppressed; he doesn’t want to be born, not yet at least, not until he’s ready. Metin’s mournful skepticism of life itself plays out through his hyper-articulate childhood and adrift adulthood, first as a boy whose playground girlfriend dumps him for being “suffocating,” then as a 13-year-old who writes his mother a rap called “The Funeral of Meaning on Earth,” and later as a grandiose, depressed DJ. On the one hand, this despondence has been with Metin since before he even existed. On the other, it is nurtured throughout his life by his mother’s blind praise and his father’s emotional detachment.There are six half-hour episodes of “Applause,” and they left me in a glorious daze, both delighted by its absurdist humor and fascinated by its dreamlike vision of anxiety and alienation. The show is an unflattering portrait, but it’s not a caricature; its exaggerations become truer than true, more like a myth than a joke. More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in March

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      An Adam Sandler drama and a new series from the creators of “Game of Thrones” highlight the new offerings this month.Every month, Netflix adds movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of March’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)‘Spaceman’Starts streaming: March 1The comedian Adam Sandler tends to pick good material whenever plays dramatic roles; and that is certainly the case with this cerebral science-fiction film. Sandler plays a Czech astronaut named Jakub, whose vital deep-space exploratory mission is suffering because of his crushing loneliness and the possible disintegration of his marriage to his pregnant wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan). Paul Dano provides the voice of a kindly spider-like alien creature named Hanuš, who provides Jakub with some much-needed company and advice. “Spaceman” was adapted from a Jaroslav Kalfař novel by the screenwriter Colby Day; and it wad directed by Johan Renck, an Emmy-winner for the mini-series “Chernobyl.” The film is cosmically trippy yet also sensitive to the human need for connection.‘The Gentlemen’ Season 1Starts streaming: March 7Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film “The Gentlemen” was a rollicking throwback to the kind of violent, foul-mouthed, blackly comic crime stories that established the British writer-director’s bona fides in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ritchie’s TV series “The Gentleman” re-enters the world of the movie from a different angle. Theo James plays Eddie, a fading aristocrat’s estranged son, who unexpectedly inherits his dad’s estate along with its crushing debts and obligations. When he discovers that some of his land has been secretly leased to a marijuana kingpin, Eddie decides to lean into criminality to save the family fortune. As with the original, this new version approaches the outlaw life from the perspective of the filthy rich bosses, trying to manage a business staffed by unreliable hoodlums.‘Damsel’Starts streaming: March 8Millie Bobby Brown stars in this fantasy adventure film, playing Princess Elodie, a smart and independent young woman, representing a kingdom that has fallen on hard times. Persuaded by her father (Ray Winstone) and stepmother (Angela Bassett) to marry a wealthy prince (Nick Robinson), Elodie arrives at her new home only to discover that her in-laws aren’t very nice and that their land has been plagued for generations by a ravenous dragon (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo). The director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and the screenwriter Dan Mazeau aim to subvert fairy-tale stereotypes with “Damsel,” making a movie that eschews the romantic swoon of “once upon a time” in favor of the raw action of royalty versus beast.‘Girls5eva’ Seasons 1-3Starts streaming: March 14After failing to find the audience it deserved on Peacock, the funny and tuneful sitcom “Girls5eva” brings its first two seasons and an all-new third to Netflix. A sharp-eyed satire of the modern music business, the series follows four middle-aged singers — formerly a chart-topping girl-group — as they attempt a comeback in an era where almost nobody remembers their five minutes of MTV fame. In Season 3, the ladies embark on a low-budget concert tour and learn more about what it takes to make a living in 2020s pop. The creator Meredith Scardino and her writing staff fill each episode with rapid-fire jokes, catchy songs and savvy pop culture references, while always honoring the dignity and the dreams of these four friends, played by the talented and funny Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Paula Pell and Renée Elise Goldsberry.‘3 Body Problem’ Season 1Starts streaming: March 21The “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss return to television with an adaptation of Liu Cixin’s award-winning science-fiction novel “The Three-Body Problem,” created with Alexander Woo. An ensemble piece set across multiple eras, the show is partly about a woman (Zine Tseng) making some difficult choices to survive China’s Cultural Revolution, partly about an eclectic group of young scientists in England dubbed “the Oxford Five,” and partly about a government agent (Benedict Wong) investigating a string of mysterious deaths in the academic community. The story touches on global politics, virtual reality and extraterrestrial contact, while exploring those moments in time when one phase of human existence seems poised to give way to another.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Television

      What to Watch This Weekend: TV’s Juiciest, Glitziest Sports Show

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      The new season of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” which has spawned a legion of imitators, is available now on Netflix.Lewis Hamilton, as seen in “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.”Dan Vojtech/NetflixSeason 6 of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” is now on Netflix, and in many ways it remains as fun and juicy as ever — full of petty immaturity, glamorous lifestyles and alluring European impishness. In the show’s hands, a race for 10th place is as compelling and high-stakes as the one for first — partly because that’s how the sport can work but also because Max Verstappen, the driver who came in first in 19 of the 22 races, didn’t participate in the show this season.The enormous success of “Drive to Survive” spawned, and continues to spawn, an entire league of imitators. “Tour de France: Unchained” and “Make or Break,” about surfing, come the closest to “Drive” in capturing athletic intensity, general charisma and dazzling locations. The raw brutality of cycling and the sanguine individuality of surfing are fascinating in their own rights, but the glitz factor, a pillar of “Drive,” is largely absent.“Break Point,” about tennis, is plenty exciting but more diffuse; because it includes both male and female pros and because of the nature of tennis tournaments, its athletes are not all in competition with one another. “Full Swing,” about golf, is an unlovable spectacle of cowardice and greed. “Six Nations: Full Contact,” about rugby, has plenty of scrappy charm, moment to moment, but doesn’t gel overall. The drivers on “NASCAR: Full Speed” all blend together.Series that follow a sport for a whole season are the clearest descendants of “Drive.” But other access shows like “Quarterback,” “Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team,” “Angel City” and “Race: Bubba Wallace” are adjacent, too. All claim to offer an insider perspective but are too superficial and uncritical to have any real purchase — and they don’t compensate for that superficiality with sheer volume of story lines the way “Drive” does.“Drive” will not reign forever, particularly because it continues to list toward reality show. And not a nutritious reality show; a Bravo one. A big episode this season centers on Lewis Hamilton re-signing a contract with Mercedes, and it plays out as a tale of commitment and integrity for all parties. He would never race for Ferrari, we’re told. But the first few seasons of “Drive” got me motor-pilled enough that now I follow the sport’s comings and goings, and I know that Hamilton has indeed signed with Ferrari for the 2025 season, much in the way “Vanderpump Rules” fans all knew the ins and outs of Scandoval eons before it made its way into the show.“Drive” already has to contend with the fact that, like all sports shows, it is straightforwardly spoilable, so additional contrivances just add more drag. Luckily there’s still plenty of easy pleasure within the series, at least another few seasons of gas in its tank. More

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      in Movies

      Stream These 8 Titles Before They Leave Netflix in March

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      Star-led titles including Jerry Seinfeld’s animated feature, a James Brown biopic and a Steve Martin-Meryl Streep rom-com are leaving the streaming service. Watch them while you can.There’s a fascinatingly wide array of big titles leaving Netflix in the United States in March — everything from kiddie cartoons to star-heavy dramas to action extravaganzas. (Dates indicate the final day a title is available.)‘Bee Movie’ (March 1)Stream it here.You can’t accuse Jerry Seinfeld of embarking on a traditional career in the years since his eponymous sitcom concluded in 1998. He remains one of the most reliably excellent stand-up comedians in the game, but he has resisted the surely tempting follow-ups: doing another conventional television series (he created and hosts the laid-back shoptalk talk show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”) or making a “Seinfeld”-style movie.Instead, he co-wrote, produced and voiced the lead role in this animated family comedy, starring as Barry B. Benson, a honeybee who mounts a lawsuit against the entire human race. Little kids will love it, adults will get a kick out of the celebrity voice actors (including Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Rip Torn, Patrick Warburton, Oprah Winfrey and Renée Zellweger) and everyone in between will enjoy it ironically.‘This Is Where I Leave You’ (March 1)Stream it here.This adaptation of Jonathan Tropper’s best seller boasts one of the most impressive ensemble casts of the mid-aughts: Jason Bateman stars as a beleaguered yuppie whose father has just died; Adam Driver, Tina Fey and Corey Stoll are his siblings; Jane Fonda is their mother; and Connie Britton, Rose Byrne, Kathryn Hahn and Timothy Olyphant turn up as romantic interests past and present. All are brought together, at the deceased patriarch’s request, to sit shiva for a backbreaking seven days. Hilarity and high tension ensue. The director Shawn Levy has some trouble keeping a consistent pace and tone, but the skill of the cast pulls the film through the rougher spots, and the familial dynamics are relatable to the point of occasional discomfort.‘Get On Up’ (March 16)Stream it here.The current vogue of jukebox biopics shows no sign of slowing, thanks to the impressive grosses of films like “Bob Marley: One Love,” even though most of these dramas are still trafficking in tropes that should have been decimated by the pitch-perfect satire of “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” a decade and a half ago. But credit where due: Tate Taylor’s biopic about the “Godfather of Soul,” the hardest-working man in show business, the one and only James Brown, zigs where most of these movies would zag. The inventive screenplay by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth hopscotches through his life, eschewing the cradle-to-grave march of so many biopics for a more stream-of-consciousness approach, with Brown frequently breaking the fourth wall to address his audience (and comment on the action) directly. There are some telling erasures, personally and politically, but the picture moves fast, and is loaded with great songs (Mick Jagger is a producer of both the film and its music). Also top-notch is its ensemble cast, including Dan Aykroyd, Nelsan Ellis, Craig Robinson, Jill Scott and Tate’s “The Help” stars Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, and Chadwick Boseman convincingly fills Brown’s (big, tall) shoes.‘Savages’ (March 16)Stream it here.After a rough run in the early 2000s, the director Oliver Stone took a shot at recapturing some of his “Natural Born Killers” juju with this 2012 adaptation of Don Winslow’s crime novel. It’s not altogether successful — mostly because of the severe lack of charisma and danger from its stars, Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson — but Stone keeps things moving at a brisk pace, and gets excellent late-period performances out of three key supporting players: John Travolta, as a cheerfully corrupt D.E.A. agent; Benicio Del Toro, as an utterly amoral enforcer for a Mexican drug cartel; and best of all, Salma Hayek as the head of the cartel, turning her customary purring sexiness into eye-opening menace.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Movies

      Dan Lin Is Named Netflix’s Top Movie Executive

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      The producer behind the streaming company’s new live-actor remake of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” will replace Scott Stuber.Netflix said on Wednesday that the producer Dan Lin would replace Scott Stuber as the streaming company’s top film executive.Mr. Stuber was the head of Netflix Film for seven years before announcing last month that he would be leaving. During his tenure, he brought a bevy of Oscar-winning filmmakers to Netflix and helped the company push the rest of the entertainment industry into the streaming era.Mr. Lin, 50, who was once the senior vice president of production at Warner Bros., is the founder of Rideback Productions, which was behind Netflix’s recent live-action remake of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” He was also a producer of the Oscar-nominated film “The Two Popes” for the streaming service, and has produced the “It” and “Lego” movie franchises. He will report to Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer.“While I’ve been approached many times during my past 15 years at Rideback, I could truly never imagine leaving until Bela reached out with this incredible opportunity,” Mr. Lin said in a statement.The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Mr. Lin is part of the new guard of producers who have built companies that tap into the times, notably inclusion. He is known in Hollywood as a strong executive with great relationships. And his ability to toggle between all-audience blockbusters like “Aladdin” and prestige pictures like “The Two Popes” suggests he has the skills to oversee Netflix’s varied film slate. He’s currently producing the live-action version of “Lilo & Stitch” for Walt Disney.Most recently, Mr. Lin’s name had been bandied for the job running DC Studios for Warner Bros. (That role was eventually split between the filmmaker James Gunn and the producer Peter Safran.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Theater

      Netflix Becomes a Broadway Producer With Peter Morgan’s ‘Patriots’

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      The streamer is co-producing a play about Putin’s Russia from the creator of “The Crown” while also developing a screen adaptation.Netflix, the streaming behemoth that has evolved from mailing out DVDs in red envelopes to becoming a hugely important player in the entertainment industry, is embarking on a new adventure: producing on Broadway.The company will pick up its first Broadway credit this spring as a producer of “Patriots,” by Peter Morgan, the creator of the hit Netflix series “The Crown.” The new play is about an oligarch who was an early supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia but then fell out with him and wound up dead.Even before “Patriots” begins its Broadway previews on April 1, Netflix is already in the early stages of developing a screen adaptation of the story, according to Emily Feingold, a Netflix spokeswoman.“Patriots” will be Netflix’s first Broadway credit, but not its first stage venture. The company is actively involved as a producer of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a play now running in London that is a prequel of sorts to the popular Netflix streaming series. The “Stranger Things” production is expected to come to Broadway, but the timing and other specifics are unknown.Netflix’s foray into Broadway producing comes at a time when the entertainment industry has been aggressively working to monetize intellectual property — adapting popular titles and franchises on many different platforms, including not only film, television and stage but also books, video games and immersive experiences.Broadway has long had the attention of Hollywood studios — Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal have been particularly active in pursuing stage adaptations of their films. And for some time now, the recording industry has been actively involved on Broadway, seeing the stage as another way to repurpose pop song catalogs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      2024 SAG Awards Red Carpet: See the Best Fashion Looks

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      Celebrities from the worlds of film and television arrive for the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, streaming for the first time on Netflix.A few short months ago, members of the Screen Actors Guild wore jeans, shorts and T-shirts while carrying picket signs in the last days of a lengthy strike. On Saturday, they were at their red-carpet best as they arrived at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles for the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.Before the ceremony, which is streaming on Netflix for the first time, the “Queer Eye” cast member Tan France and the fashion editor Elaine Welteroth hosted a red-carpet preshow. The evening will also honor the actress and filmmaker, Barbra Streisand, with the life achievement award.Here are some of the looks from the red carpet.Elaine Welteroth, a host of Netflix’s red-carpet preshow.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressTan France, a host of the red-carpet preshow, and his outrageous bow tie.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressAriana Greenblatt of “Barbie,” a nominee for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesColman Domingo, nominated for outstanding performance by an actor in a leading role for “Rustin.”Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesSheryl Lee Ralph of “Abbott Elementary,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesSelena Gomez of “Only Murders in the Building,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesGreta Lee of “The Morning Show,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressTracee Ellis Ross of “American Fiction,” a nominee for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesLaverne Cox wore a vintage Alexander McQueen piece as part of her ensemble.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressElizabeth Debicki, nominated for outstanding performance by an actress in a drama series for “The Crown,” in Giorgio Armani.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressTyler James Williams of “Abbott Elementary,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesChris Perfetti of “Abbott Elementary,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesUzo Aduba, nominated for outstanding performance by an actress in a TV movie or limited series for “Painkiller.”Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesKelley Curran of “The Gilded Age,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesBen Ahlers, a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series, wore an outfit beyond the wildest sartorial dreams of the character he plays on “The Gilded Age.”Mike Blake/ReutersKaren Pittman of “The Morning Show,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDominic Sessa of “The Holdovers.”Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMatty Matheson of “The Bear,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Mike Blake/ReutersHannah Leder of “The Morning Show,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressEdwin Lee Gibson of “The Bear,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesAlan Ruck of “Succession,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesAuliʻi Cravalho of “Mean Girls.”Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesLinda Emond of “Only Murders in the Building,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Mike Blake/ReutersMichael Cyril Creighton of “Only Murders in the Building,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesCorey Hawkins of “The Color Purple,” a nominee for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesWilliam Belleau of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesCara Jade Myers of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesNestor Carbonell of “The Morning Show,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesTaissa Farmiga of “The Gilded Age,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesZachary Golinger of “Barry,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressJuno Temple of “Ted Lasso,” a nominee for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images More