Weekend Watchlist, 9/12: We’ll get there together

Happy Friday, PV Guide readers! I hope you have a great weekend ahead of you.

Every Friday, I’m recommending a few great things to watch that the algorithm might not be pushing at you right now, with a focus on variety, so every reader can find something they’re interested in. The Weekend Watchlist will always be 100% free. (But I have opened up PV Guide’s Premium Tier, for those interested in supporting this work!)

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Lots of new titles on streaming this week: Zach Cregger’s Weapons Joel Coen and Tricia Cooke’s Honey Don’t! arrive on VOD, the Wedding Banquet remake lands on Paramount Plus, and Alex Garland’s Warfare premieres on Max. The movie I’m most excited for is the Tamil blockbuster Coolie, which is now on Prime Video. Led by superstar Rajinikanth, it’s the newest movie from action maestro Lokesh Kanagaraj (Kaithi, Master, Vikram, Leo).

Izzy Roland’s new movie D(e)ad also starts its theatrical rollout this week. I spoke with Roland, her real mom, and her fake dad about the supernatural comedy.

Onto this week's picks!

Doctor Sleep (Director’s Cut)

If you like: Stephen King, Ewan McGregor, horror movies with emotional weight
Watch at: For digital purchase on Amazon and YouTube
Watch trailer here

The big new theatrical release this week is The Long Walk, an adaptation of the Stephen King story. I thought it was a good opportunity to recommend one of my favorite King adaptations, Mike Flanagan’s director’s cut of Doctor Sleep, King’s sequel to The Shining. A more faithful adaptation of King’s work than Kubrick’s The Shining (for those concerned with that), Doctor Sleep is a deeply felt (and often terrifying) story about addiction, recovery, and cruelty. It’s one of Ewan McGregor’s best performances, and my favorite of Flanagan’s work. You need to watch the director’s cut, though – the theatrical cut got rid of some of the movie’s best and most important scenes, and the movie is far worse off without it.

For an alternative recommendation tied to The Long Walk, consider checking out the romantic comedy Rye Lane, streaming on Hulu. It stars The Long Walk star David Jonsson, who is one of the most exciting up-and-coming actors today, and I’ve heard great things (although I haven’t seen it myself yet).

The Wedding Banquet

If you like: Fire Island, queer rom-coms, hijinks
Watch at: Paramount Plus
Watch trailer here

Fire Island director Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 rom-com landed on Paramount Plus this week. It’s about two couples – Chris (Bowen Yang) and his boyfriend Min (Han Gi-Chan), and Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and her girlfriend Lee (Lily Gladstone) – who hatch a mutually beneficial scheme that involves one of the boys marrying one of the girls. It’s a funny, heartfelt time, and almost all of the performances are great – Gladstone and Tran in particular stand out.

A caveat: I haven’t seen the original Wedding Banquet, because it’s not available to watch legally online in the United States, and I’ve heard from people who have seen both that it is the superior version. (This makes sense to me, considering Lee’s skill as af filmmaker). It is out there if you know where to look for it!

This cute video that hit me way harder than I expected

It’s been a rough week/month/year/decade out there. Sometimes, that catches up with you in unexpected ways. For me, it was this video by songwriter Doctor Waffle, a catchy kids song that is creative, sweet, and surprisingly poignant in our times. Be good out there.