Weekend Watchlist, 11/14: One
Two buzzy new TV shows, and more to watch this weekend
Happy Friday, PV Guide readers! I hope you have a great weekend ahead of you.
It’s a busy week for new releases to watch at home. Ari Aster’s Eddington lands on HBO Max, Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague premieres on Netflix, while Freakier Friday (Disney Plus), Nobody 2 (Peacock), and Osiris (Hulu) make their streaming debuts. I’m probably going to check out Nobody 2, as an avowed Timo Tjahjanto fan who wasn’t a big fan of the first movie. Osiris almost made the cut for this week’s recommendations, and might next week instead.
New on the VOD side of things: Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, the Channing Tatum/Kristen Dunst crime comedy Roofman, the film adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman, Tina Romero’s drag queen zombie movie Queens of the Dead, and the Deathstalker remake starring Daniel Bernhardt.
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Before we get to this week’s picks, time for a brief plug for my podcast, Sports Movies That Don’t Suck. We have four episodes out so far (on I Tonya, Sudden Death, Space Jam, and Eephus) with some great guests, and one special episode of Sports Movies That Do Suck (on Space Jam: A New Legacy). Check it out if you haven’t yet!
Pluribus
If you like: Sci-fi shows, eerie mysteries, shows about how unnerving empty happiness can be
Watch at: Apple TV Plus
Watch trailer here
Through one episode, the buzzy new show from Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) lives up to the hype, establishing a fantastic premise and an opportunity for another powerhouse Rhea Seehorn performance.
Pluribus sees the showrunner return to his sci-fi X-Files roots, following Carol, a miserable romance author (Seehorn) who is one of the only people in the world not affected by a mysterious virus that turns almost everyone into a peaceful, eerily happy hive mind. The first episode is a killer pilot, following Carol as the world falls apart and she’s left standing, even more alone than she already was.
For more, Brian Grubb has a fun, spoiler-free list of 10 reasons to watch over at type click type.
A Tatsuya Nakadai you haven't seen
Watch at: Criterion Channel + elsewhere
The legendary actor Tatsuya Nakadai died this week, leaving behind a decorated career where he worked with some of the biggest names in Japanese cinema. It’s a great time to catch up with one of his movies, whether it’s an old favorite or one you’ve been meaning to check out.
The Criterion Channel also has a fascinating interview with Tatsuya Nakadai, talking about his experiences working with some of the biggest names in Japanese cinema. Here’s a brief snippet from his experience working on Sanjuro with Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune.
Some specific recommendations from his long list of excellent credits: Harakiri, Yojimbo, Kwaidan, High and Low, Ran, Kagemusha, or The Human Condition trilogy. I watched Harakiri this week, which was fantastic. Truly when you list his credits, you’re essentially making a list of the greatest movies ever made.
Death by Lightning
If you like: Historical dramas, 19th century American history, following episodes of television with Wikipedia scrolling
Watch at: Netflix
Watch trailer here
I enjoyed Death by Lightning, Netflix's miniseries about James Garfield's assassination by an all-time American weirdo. Like a lot of modern television, it felt a little rushed because it's only four episodes, and occasionally it feels a bit too self-important, but it’s filled with strong performances and I appreciated learning more about an era of American history we mostly skipped over in school. It’s a good show for companion reading of the real history alongside it, for those that like that sort of thing (I do).
