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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 New to Netflix, Amazon and Stan in Australia in FebruaryOur streaming picks for February, including ‘Parks and Recreation,’ ‘News of the World’ and ‘Bliss.’‘Parks and Recreation’Credit…NetflixFeb. 1, 2021Every month, streaming services in Australia add a new batch of movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for February.New to NetflixFEBRUARY 1‘Parks and Recreation’ Seasons 1-7With all the social and political unrest around the world, now is as good time as any to revisit this refreshingly optimistic sitcom. Set in the dysfunctional Middle American city of Pawnee, the show stars the very funny Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a midlevel bureaucrat who motivates a community of skeptics and kooks into making their town more livable. Though “Parks and Recreation” mostly focuses on the relationships between its cast of lovable eccentrics, it’s also about how good-hearted and determined civil servants can make a difference.FEBRUARY 2‘Kid Cosmic’Although the animated science-fiction/superhero series “Kid Cosmic” sprang from the mind (and the pen) of “The Powerpuff Girls” creator Craig McKracken, it looks and feels different from the work he’s done before. This is a more serialized adventure, featuring a group of misfits from a New Mexico desert town who rely on superpowered alien jewels to fight off invaders from outer space. “Kid Cosmic” has a remarkable design, with its loosely sketched lines and pale colors resembling fading old fantasy magazines and comic books.FEBRUARY 3‘Firefly Lane’Based on Kristin Hannah’s popular tear-jerker novel, “Firefly Lane” stars Katherine Heigl as a glamorous but lonely TV personality. Sarah Chalke plays her longtime best friend, whose own life as a wife and mother has recently been disrupted by divorce. The series frames these two women’s diverging situations as a kind of existential mystery. Frequent flashbacks to the characters’ teenage and young adult years allows viewers to make key connections between the troubles of the past and the anxieties of the present.‘Malcolm & Marie’Credit…NetflixFEBRUARY 5‘Malcolm & Marie’The writer-director Sam Levinson — best-known for the social satire “Assassination Nation” and the provocative teen drama series “Euphoria” — shot his intimate, two-character “Malcolm & Marie” during the pandemic. John David Washington and Zendaya play a bickering couple, airing their grievances over the course of one tense night. Levinson cenhances the stripped-down story by shooting his two striking-looking actors in handsome black-and-white, making a movie that echoes the low-budget psychodramas of the indie film pioneer John Cassavetes.FEBRUARY 10‘News of the World’How did it take so long to get Tom Hanks into a western? In “News of the World,” Hanks plays Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a veteran of the U.S. Civil War, who in the 1870s ekes out a living riding from town to town, reading newspapers to the locals. Helena Zengel plays Johanna, a preteen kidnap victim whom Kidd tries to return to her family. Based on a Paulette Jiles novel, this film has an episodic structure, designed to lead viewers through a tour of a postwar America still deeply divided. Hanks is the sturdy anchor for a winding story.‘To All the Boys: Always and Forever’Credit…NetflixFEBRUARY 12‘To All the Boys: Always and Forever’In Netflix’s energetic and emotional movie adaptations of Jenny Han’s novel “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and its two sequels, Lara Condor plays a lovestruck teenager named Lara Jean Covey, while Noah Centineo plays her college-bound crush Peter. Last year’s “P.S. I Still Love You” introduced some complications to the first film’s happy ending; and now the third and final part in the trilogy, “Always and Forever” tells the story of how Lara Jean and Peter handle an unexpectedly complicated transition from high school to college.FEBRUARY 19‘I Care a Lot’Don’t look for any sympathetic characters in J Blakeson’s “I Care a Lot,” a blackly comic neo-noir film in which two oddly charismatic creeps try to outwit one another. Rosamund Pike plays a high-class grifter, who exploits the systemic flaws in the elder-care industry to make money off the helpless. Peter Dinklage plays a drug kingpin living under an assumed name, who risks revealing himself when his mother (Dianne Wiest) gets caught up in the scam. Like Blakeson’s entertainingly nasty 2009 debut film “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” this is a well-acted and twisty movie, made for audiences who enjoy watching clever folks be shamelessly awful.FEBRUARY 23‘Pelé’This documentary about the legendary Brazilian footballer Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, is focused primarily on his four World Cup appearances, from 1958 to 1970. Between those years, he went from being an unknown teen from a poor São Paulo neighborhood to becoming universally acknowledged as one of the best ever. The “Pelé” directors Ben Nicholas and David Tryhorn have a wealth of exciting footage of the man in action, but their film is just as much about how Brazil and the world changed during the 1960s.FEBRUARY 24‘Ginny & Georgia’Fans of “Gilmore Girls” should find a lot to like about “Ginny & Georgia,” a drama about a precociously mature teenage girl (Antonia Gentry) and her more free-spirited and libertine mother (Brianne Howey), who are both adjusting to a new life in a quaint New England town. In a reversal of the “Gilmore Girls” premise — where the mom was born of privilege and then fled to a more middle-class existence — in “Ginny & Georgia” the family has seen hard times and is now striving for something better. The core of the show remains the often shaky relationship between a strong-willed parent and her equally headstrong child.Also arriving: “Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready” Season 2 (February 2), “Black Beach” (February 3), “Hache” Season 2 (February 5), “Invisible City” (February 5), “The Last Paradiso” (February 5), “Little Big Women” (February 5), “Space Sweepers” (February 5), “Strip Down, Rise Up” (February 5), “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” (February 10), “The Misadventures of Heidi and Cokeman” (February 10), “Capitani” (February 11), “Red Dot” (February 11), “Squared Love” (February 11), “Buried by the Bernards” (February 12), “Nadiya Bakes” (February 12), “Xico’s Journey” (February 12), “Hello, Me!” (February 15), “Behind Her Eyes” (February 17), “Tribes of Europa” (February 19), “2067” (February 19), “Classmates Minus” (February 20), “High-Rise Invasion” (February 25), “Bigfoot Family” (February 26), “Caught by a Wave” (February 26), “Crazy About Her” (February 26).New to Stan‘Punky Brewster’Credit…StanFEBRUARY 3‘Race to Perfection’The archivists for Formula One auto racing have emptied out their vaults for this seven-part docu-series, which covers the past 70 years of the sport from multiple angles. Packed with original interviews and exciting vintage footage, “Race to Perfection” documents both the history and the evolution of various aspects of racing: from the advances in technology to the personalities of the drivers to some of F1’s most controversial incidents. It’s pitched at longtime fans and novices alike.FEBRUARY 5‘The Virtues’The writer-director Shane Meadows and the actor Stephen Graham are frequent collaborators, best known for their decade-spanning “This Is England” series. The pair reunites for the four-part mini-series “The Virtues,” a heavy drama about a man belatedly confronting childhood trauma. Graham plays an alcoholic whose life is in utter disarray when he returns home to reconnect with his estranged sister. The trip reminds him of incidents he’d long-suppressed, while also pushing him toward a woman (Niamh Algar) with issues of her own.FEBRUARY 12‘Clarice’This thriller series’s title character should be familiar to fans of either the novel or the movie “The Silence of the Lambs.” The show is set one year after the events of “Silence,” and follows the FBI agent Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds) as she tackles new cases. Expect a mix of short and longer narrative arcs, splitting the difference between a traditional TV procedural and the more novelistic serialized approach. But don’t expect any direct mention of the infamous serial killer Hannibal Lecter; the character’s rights are owned by a different production company.FEBRUARY 26‘Punky Brewster’In its original incarnation, the 1980s sitcom “Punky Brewster” starred Soleil Moon Frye as an abandoned child, taken in by a cranky old widower and raised with the help of some kindly neighbors and teachers. Frye returns for the revival, playing Punky now as a quirky divorced mother, who upends her family’s life when she considers become a foster parent to a kid a lot like herself. Some of the original cast members will appear, in a series that aims to charm and uplift.Also arriving: “Doll & Em” Seasons 1-2 (February 2), “The Pleasure Principle” (February 4), “The Green Mile” (February 9), “Hassel” (February 11), “Chasing Life” Seasons 1-2 (February 12), “Lucy” (February 12), “Ex Machina” (February 15), “United 93” (February 17), “Perfect Places” (February 18), “The First Team” (February 19), “Children of Men” (February 21), “Casino” (February 23), “Indian Summers” Seasons 1-3 (February 23), “Angel of Death” (February 25), “Scarface” (February 26), “American Gangster” (February 27).New to Amazon‘Bliss’Credit…AmazonFEBRUARY 5‘Bliss’Owen Wilson plays a lonely, hopeless man named Greg in the writer-director Mike Cahill’s haunting science-fiction drama “Bliss.” Greg is experiencing a run of bad luck when he meets Isabel (Salma Hayek), who persuades him that they’re both actually living in a computer simulation. Cahill makes both Greg’s dreary “real” world and Isabel’s more utopian version seem equally valid, leaving the audience wondering until the end whether she’s savvy or crazy. Along the way, he raises pointed questions about whether humans need some kind of misery in their lives to achieve happiness.‘Tell Me Your Secrets’The lives of three very different characters — a woman on the run (Lily Rabe), a desperate mother (Amy Brenneman), and a sexual predator (Hamish Linklater) — intersect in this mystery/suspense series. As a crime from the past draws this trio closer together, they each reveal secrets about themselves they would’ve rather kept hidden, while also learning more about their friends and neighbors than they may have wanted to know. “Tell Me Your Secrets” is about the lies and delusions that sustain some people; and about what happens when they’re finally told the truth.Also arriving: “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” (February 12).AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

#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 New to Netflix, Amazon and Stan in Australia in JanuaryOur streaming picks for January, including ‘Cobra Kai,’ ‘Bump’ and ‘One Night in Miami …’‘Cobra Kai’ Season 3Credit…NetflixJan. 6, 2021Every month, streaming services in Australia add a new batch of movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for January.New to NetflixJANUARY 1‘Cobra Kai’ Season 3The second season of this fast-paced, nostalgia-spiked martial arts melodrama ended in a big brawl, leaving some of the show’s feuding characters nursing their wounds while others were left to deal with the consequences from the authorities. Season three picks up in the immediate aftermath of the melee, and continues to focus primarily on how all this trouble affects the lives of the series’ two main adults: Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka), from the 1984 movie “The Karate Kid.” As always, “Cobra Kai” balances action and angst with just a touch of tongue-in-cheek self-awareness.JANUARY 5‘History of Swear Words’Nicolas Cage brings his weirdo charisma to this fun docu-series, which delivers exactly what it promises: compact lessons in the history and etymology of our most popular profanities. Cage’s host segments and narration fill the gaps between the whimsical animated interludes and the interviews, which feature both insights from knowledgeable scholars and comments by foul-mouthed comedians. While the tone of “History of Swear Words” is goofy, the content is genuinely informative.JANUARY 7‘Pieces of a Woman’Reminiscent of other gripping “everything falls apart” dramas like “Uncut Gems” and “Marriage Story,” the at-times unbearably intense “Pieces of a Woman” stars Vanessa Kirby as an expectant mother who endures a nightmarish labor, followed by a long legal battle that tests her values and exposes the fragility of her personal relationships. An outstanding cast — which includes Molly Parker and Ellen Burstyn — brings some spark to a story that has very few moments of brightness or hope. The writer-director team of Kornél Mundruczó and Kata Wéber want audiences to live through something terrible, and to learn something from their characters’ worst experiences.‘Pretend It’s a City’Credit…NetflixJANUARY 8‘Pretend It’s a City’The director Martin Scorsese and his crew turn their cameras on the outspoken New York humorist Fran Lebowitz, and then just let her riff at length about the past, present and future of human existence. Scorsese and Lebowitz collaborated previously on the feature-length documentary “Public Speaking,” about her life and career as a writer and raconteur. But the docu-series “Pretend It’s a City” is much less formal. It’s more of an extended hangout session, edited together from different interviews and public appearances, shot all around the city — New York — that these two love the most.JANUARY 11‘Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy’In the 1980s, some enterprising drug traffickers figured out how to convert the high-end luxury narcotic cocaine into a form that was cheaper, more potent, and easier to mass produce. Almost overnight, crack began devastating Black communities across America, raising alarm in the media and giving a few Reagan-era politicians new ways to terrify their constituents. In Stanley Nelson’s fascinating documentary “Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy,” the filmmaker reflects on the origins of the epidemic, considering the many ways powerful people used it to exploit the vulnerable.JANUARY 13‘Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer’During a booming economic era for Los Angeles in the mid 1980s, the city was terrorized by a serial rapist and murderer dubbed “the Night Stalker.” In the chilling four-part docu-series “Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer,” some of the people involved in hunting down this criminal — eventually identified as Richard Ramirez — talk about the stress of the pursuit, and how difficult it was to catch a man whose pattern of behavior defied logic. What emerges from this story is a study of someone who seemed drawn to evil for its own sake, as the ultimate way of disturbing the peace.JANUARY 15‘Disenchantment’ Part 3The two-part, 20-episode first season of the animated fantasy spoof “Disenchantment” introduced the story of an unconventional princess nicknamed “Bean” (voiced by Abbi Jacobson), who’d rather have rowdy drunken adventures than marry some drippy prince. As the second two-part season begins, Bean’s wild wanderings around the kingdom have caused major problems for her family, provoking a crisis. The show’s creative team (led by “The Simpsons” and “Futurama” creator Matt Groening) clearly have fun riffing on the trappings of sword-and-sorcery sagas; but all the while they’ve been making a pretty good one of their own, with a story that gets more involving with each new batch of episodes.Also arriving: “Headspace Guide to Meditation” (January 1), “The Minimalists: Less Is Now” (January 1), “Nailed It! Mexico” Season 3 (January 5), “Surviving Death” (January 6), “Tony Parker: The Final Shot” (January 6), “Charming” (January 8), “The Idhun Chronicles” Part 2 (January 8), “Lupin” (January 8), “Stuck Apart” (January 8), “Bling Empire” (January 15), “Double Dad” (January 15), “Outside the Wire” (January 15), “Daughter from Another Mother” (January 20), “Spycraft” (January 20), “Call My Agent!” Season 4 (January 21), “Blown Away” Season 2 (January 22), “Busted!” Season 3 (January 22), “Fate: The Winx Saga” (January 22), “The White Tiger” (January 22), “The Dig” (January 29), “Finding ‘Ohana” (January 29), “We Are: The Brooklyn Saints” (January 29).New to Stan‘Bump’Credit…StanJANUARY 1‘Bump’In the high school dramedy “Bump,” Nathalie Morris plays Oly, a gifted Sydney teenager whose plans for her future are upended when one day she goes into labor and has a baby before any of her family members or classmates even realized she was pregnant. This situation is ripe for farce or for social satire, but here it’s played more for poignancy, as the grown-ups in Oly’s life realize they don’t know much about her — or her fellow teens, for that matter.‘Gossip Girl’ Seasons 1-6When “Gossip Girl” debuted in 2007, its twisty story of romance and betrayal among wealthy young New Yorkers became a sensation. When the co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage wrapped the show after six seasons, it had become hugely influential on the tone and style of high school melodramas that followed. These 121 episodes are filled with enough intrigue and emotion to overshadow a dozen imitators.‘The Watch’ Season 1Based on the beloved Terry Pratchett fantasy fiction series “Discworld,” this off-kilter police procedural is set in a futuristic city on another planet, where — in Pratchett’s books at least — multiple varieties of genre fiction and classical literature converge. The TV version strips away some of the elements of parody and homage, aiming for something more like a familiar serialized cop show, liberally spiked with anarchic zaniness. Pratchett fans may be disappointed that “The Watch” isn’t a more straightforward adaptation of the books, but newcomers might appreciate the show on its own kooky terms.‘Search Party’ Season 4Credit…StanJANUARY 14‘Search Party’ Season 4It’s hard to believe that this increasingly unclassifiable series started out as a darkly comic mystery, about a group of self-absorbed young New York pals who make a succession of terrible choices while acting as amateur detectives, investigating an acquaintance’s disappearance. As “Search Party” begins its fourth season, it’s become much deeper and heavier than it once was, with story lines that involve murder, kidnapping and courtroom drama. The one constant throughout has been the remarkable lead performance of Alia Shawkat, playing a woman whose simple boredom and disaffection have led her to serious trouble.JANUARY 15‘Survivor’s Remorse’ Seasons 1-4One of the best sitcoms of the 2010s — although it failed to draw much support from viewers or critics during its four years on the air — “Survivor’s Remorse” is about the pressures facing a young basketball star after signing his first big professional contract. The show’s creator Mike O’Malley finds plenty of humor in the culture clash that ensues when a family that used to eke out a living suddenly has millions of dollars to throw around. But this series is also impressively cleareyed about how hard it is for a promising Black athlete to find his voice when his fans would rather he shut up and play ball.JANUARY 23‘Britannia’ Season 1A sense of ancient history as an inherently alien landscape charges up “Britannia,” an action-packed drama set in the first century A.D., during the time when the Romans tried to extend their empire to the British Isles. The show contains all the sex and violence common to similar adventure series, combined with some historical inquiry into the moment when two very old civilizations pitted their strengths — and their belief systems — against one another.Also arriving: “Arrival” (January 1), “Gossip Girl” Seasons 1-6 (January 1), “8 Mile” (January 2), “Babe” (January 3), “Babe: Pig in the City” (January 3), “The Hateful Eight” (January 6), “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” Season 2 (January 6), “Inglourious Basterds” (January 9).New to Amazon‘One Night in Miami…’Credit…Amazon StudiosJANUARY 15‘One Night in Miami …’The premise of Kemp Powers’ play “One Night in Miami …” goes like this: In 1964, not long after the boxer Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion, he met with his spiritual adviser Malcolm X and two of their equally famous friends — the singer Sam Cooke and the NFL star Jim Brown — in a motel room, where they talked about what they’d already accomplished and what they could do going forward to inspire Black Americans. Or at least that’s which extrapolates from these four men’s real history and friendship to imagine what their conversations must’ve been like. The director Regina King’s film version of the play is as fascinating as the idea behind it, and is brought to life by a stellar cast: Leslie Odom Jr. (Cooke), Aldis Hodge (Brown), Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm) and Eli Goree (Ali).Also arriving: “Tandav” (January 15), “Jessy and Nessy” (January 22).AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More