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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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      in Movies

      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

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      in Movies

      How to Watch the 2024 SAG Awards: Date, Time and Streaming

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      The awards, which are streaming live on Netflix for the first time, will offer a preview of some key Oscars races. Barbra Streisand will be on hand, too.Cord-cutters rejoice: Normally, watching an awards show involves subscribing to a live TV service (or remembering which of your email addresses you haven’t already used for a free trial).But on Saturday, for the first time, Netflix will be streaming the annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, potentially bringing them to a much wider audience.The 15 awards, which are voted on by actors and other performers who belong to the SAG-AFTRA union, honor the best film and television performances from the past year. They can be a bellwether for the Oscars, happening this year on March 10. (Since 1996, 83 of the 112 stars and films that won Oscars for best picture or acting first won a SAG Award.)This year’s ceremony is shaping up to be a “Barbenheimer” rematch: The two summer blockbusters — “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s biopic about the physicist known as the father of the atomic bomb, and “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig’s unique spin on the Mattel doll — each picked up a pack-leading four nominations and will be competing for the guild’s top prize, best ensemble.There’s also intrigue in the best film actress race: Lily Gladstone, who plays an Osage woman married to a white man involved in a murderous conspiracy in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” has blazed a trail through awards season, taking home honors from the Golden Globes, the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. But Emma Stone, who plays a grown woman with the mind of a child in the “Frankenstein”-inspired black comedy “Poor Things,” came out on top at the BAFTAs and the Critics Choice Awards (and won her own Globe in the musical or comedy category).Now, on Saturday night, we’ll get our strongest indication yet as to which way academy voters are leaning. We’ll also get an appearance from Barbra Streisand. Here’s how to watch.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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      ‘Mea Culpa’ Review: Who’s Really to Blame, and for What?

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      The tagline of Tyler Perry’s new movie is “everyone’s guilty of something,” but the responsibility for this willfully steamy, decidedly silly thriller is all his.Is creating a guilty pleasure something a director can — or even should — aim for? That’s one of the questions wafting over the writer-director Tyler Perry’s willfully steamy thriller “Mea Culpa.”Cast for sizzle, the movie stars the singer-actor Kelly Rowland as Mea Harper, a Chicago defense attorney, and Trevante Rhodes (“Moonlight”) as a successful painter accused of killing his girlfriend. Her body has yet to been found, but there were skull fragments in one of his paintings.The assistant district attorney Ray Hawthorne (Nick Sagar) hopes to leverage the case for a mayoral run. He’s also Mea’s brother-in-law. In the firm clutches of the matriarch Azalia (Kerry O’Malley), the Hawthornes are an ambitious clan who appear to have borrowed much of their dialogue from the daytime soaps of yore. Among Mea’s reasons for taking this case is the Hawthorne family’s condescension and the excessive deference her husband, Kal, (Sean Sagar) shows his mother. (In case the family isn’t close enough, the actors Sean and Nick Sagar are brothers).Rowland commits to the thankless task of playing a smart woman gone stupid. Rhodes can’t do much with Zyair, whose affect is more flat than seductive. Or, as Mea’s private investigator and friend Jimmy (RonReaco Lee, a bright spot) quips: Zyair’s either a great liar or a psychopath.While the movie teases with its “is he or isn’t he a murderer?” quandary, the soundtrack boasts killer tunes, including Isaac Hayes’s cover of “Walk on By,” playing like a caution the first time Mea visits Zyair’s loft. The warning goes unheeded, and the two embark on a possibly dangerous and decidedly silly liaison, one that taps into spousal angst and features plenty of soft-core intrigue.Mea CulpaRated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language, some violence and drug use. Running time: 2 hours. Watch on Netflix. More

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      in Television

      Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Can’t Match the Original

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      Netflix’s latest attempt to capture the magic of a beloved animated series has some strong performances but falls well short of the original.Nickelodeon’s 2005 series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was a sprawling odyssey that combined intricate world-building, meticulous references to Asian and Native cultures, lively humor and sharply plotted drama, all animated in a charming, anime-inspired style. It was an unqualified success, attracting millions of viewers and heaps of critical praise. The series introduced a world so rich, complete and full of its own histories and myths and traditions that it never needed a follow-up.But we know that’s not how things work.In 2010 there was the famously whitewashed live-action film “The Last Airbender,” which was, deservedly, met with a ferocious torrent of fan-fury. The sequel series, “Avatar: The Legend of Korra,” was more in touch with the original, but still unnecessary. And the same can be said for Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” the streamer’s latest big money, live-action adaptation that proves just how difficult it is to capture the magic of a beloved original.Like the original series, Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” also takes place in a fictional Eastern world of four nations: Air Nomads, Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. In this world a select group of people from each nation are “benders,” able to manipulate their element. For a century the Fire Nation has waged a winning war against the others — during which time the only hope for peace, the avatar, the sole master of all four elements, disappeared. When two Water Tribe siblings, Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka (Ian Ousley), discover the prodigal avatar, a 12-year-old Air Nomad named Aang (Gordon Cormier), the three embark on a journey to complete Aang’s training so they can save the world from the threat of the Fire Nation.This “Avatar” attempts to condense several story lines, many of which are spread out across dozens of episodes in the robust sprawl of the original, into a tight eight episodes. Some of the economies the adaptation uses in fusing certain narratives — making new connections and throughlines among stories that were originally set in different locales, for example — are neatly done. And thanks to the involvement of the creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, each subplot, even when moved or modified, remains faithful, if not exactly in detail then absolutely in spirit, to that of its animated counterpart. The show is also full of carefully placed Easter eggs from the original. Something as minor as a background character’s passing mention of the Avatar encountering some “canyon crawlers” in an episode will immediately clue fans in to the dangerous beasts Team Avatar faced in Episode 11 of the Nickelodeon version.But “Avatar” also tries so desperately to rework its stories that the pacing often suffers; adventures become a bit too convoluted, and there’s so much stacked action that it’s easy to lose track of the stakes and sense of urgency in any one plotline.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