Welcome to Boston.com weekly streaming guide. Every week, we recommend five must-see movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms including: Netflix, Hulu, amazon prime, disney plus, HBO MaxPeacock, Paramount+, and more.
While many of our recommendations are for new shows, others are for lesser-known releases you may have missed or classics that are set to drop from the streaming service at the end of the month.
Think we should know about your new favorite movie or show? Let us know in the comments or email us at kevin.slane@boston.com.Looking for even better streaming options? Check out previous versions Click here for the must-see list.
movie
“Oppenheimer”
Yes, you must have already seen Oppenheimer in theaters. Every aspect of the movie is huge, from the cast to the actual non-CGI explosions Nolan created to mimic the Trinity Test. But “Oppenheimer” is also fun to watch at home, as it’s currently streaming exclusively on Peacock. After all, most of its three-hour running time is quiet and unassuming, functioning as a tense courtroom drama and his expansive game of 1940s backroom politics. Above all, “Oppenheimer” is a fascinating portrait of a man who lives in a world of absolutes that never seems to settle to his satisfaction. Cillian Murphy is great, but despite being the central character in almost every scene in the movie, he doesn’t give much room for others to shine, from the big roles (Robert Downey Jr.) to the small ones (Casey Affleck). I’m leaving it behind.
How to watch: “Oppenheimer” is now streaming on Peacock.
“The color purple”
Director Steven Spielberg, who directed the 1985 film adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will serve as a producer on the 2023 remake, with Ghanaian director Blitz Bazawulu directing the film. I entrusted it. A story of heartbreak, trauma, and triumph in the early 1900s, “The Color Purple” follows his friends Celie (singer Fantasia Barrino), Shag (Taraji P. Henson, “Hidden Figures”), and Sophia (Danielle Brooks). It tells the story of three women. , “Orange Is the New Black”) — they lift each other up even in the face of abuse from the men in their lives. It’s a story with very dark themes to be told in a musical, and the cacophony of sounds can be jarring. But the film’s central performances, especially that of Brooks, who received a well-deserved Oscar nomination last month, hold everything together.
How to watch: “The Color Purple” is now streaming on Max.
“This Is Me…Now: A Love Story”
The concept of a visual album has been around for decades, but it wasn’t until Beyoncé’s 2016 masterpiece Lemonade that the term really became popular. Since then, we’ve seen artists from Nick Cave to Travis Scott use film as a medium to further express themes in their music. Jennifer Lopez puts her own unique stamp on the genre with her “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story,” which features her 60 Minutes camp show of her own life and her story. I’m trying to explain.
J. Lo tells the story of a hopeless romantic who falls in and out of love and is accused of being a serial monogamist and sex addict. In scenes chock-full of gory CGI, Lopez exists in a surreal world, first as a factory worker who has to restart her metal heart, then as her big dancer in Bollywood. She appears as a woman who dedicates her number to her life. All the while, the “Zodiac Council” made up of celebrities including Sofia Vergara, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jane Fonda and Kiki Palmer will be watching from the sky, making sure Lopez “sees the signs” they’re sending. I was praying.
‘This Is Me… Now: A Love Story’ is a work of pure ego absurdity, yet painfully sincere and strangely compelling. Did Lopez cry herself to sleep while watching ‘The Way We Were’? check. Will J.Lo pay homage to Gene Kelly’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ with a rain dance number? check. A barely recognizable Ben Affleck playing a character that clearly doesn’t belong in this movie at all? Better believe it.
How to watch: “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story” is available now on Prime Video.
tv set
“The Dynasty: New England Patriots”
When Matthew Hamacek, director of Apple TV+’s new Patriots docuseries The Dynasty, set out to create a 10-part series, he was faced with the prospect of wrapping up a 20-year story. Time was still unfolding.
The series, whose first two episodes were released on Friday, filmed its final scenes in December 2023, making it a shame that Bill Belichick and the Patriots would finally part ways. But Hamacek and his ilk have enough material to sustain a 10-episode show. Interviews with more than 70 high-profile people, from Tom Brady’s rookie roommate with amazing home videos to the Foxboro triumvirate of Brady, Belichick, and Kraft. Patriots-obsessed people may feel like they know everything there is to know about the franchise, but Hamacek and co.’s method is a triumph of storytelling and archival research that ties together an entire story spanning two decades .
How to watch: “The Dynasty: New England Patriots” is streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes released on Fridays.
“Feud: Capote vs. Swans”
The hook of FX’s new series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” is irresistible. A retro “Real Housewives” story of New York City’s high society women. Their petty gossip, drunken feuds, and scandalous affairs were all exposed (and cataloged) by acclaimed author and notorious gadfly Truman Capote. “American Horror Story” showrunner Ryan Murphy cast Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Molly Ringwald, and Demi Moore as the so-called swans. We have assembled a perfect cast of actresses, all former It Girls. It has received some attention over the past 40 years.
When Capote (played with an incredible range of emotions by Tom Hollander) betrays the Swan family’s trust by telling it all in his famous line. esquire According to the story, the blowback was swift and relentless. So much so, in fact, that one of the downsides of this series might be how dark things get. Most of the “feuds” take place after the characters’ social apogee: after Capote publishes his novel, the swans are shunned (or worse), the novelist becomes drunk and destitute; I can’t get out of an abusive relationship. But if you look at Feud with the right mindset, Murphy and director Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting) have created a series that’s worth binge-watching.
How to watch: “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” is streaming on Hulu, and new episodes air Wednesdays on FX.
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