Hello friends,
Welcome to the new-ish Friday newsletter, where we recommend our top picks and let you know about great titles arriving and leaving major streamers.
Thank you for lettings us know your thoughts about the changes. We always appreciate the feedback, so keep them coming!
I hope you have a good weekend.
OUR TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
I Love That For You
On Amazon Prime 🍅 rating: 78%
Fans of workplace sitcoms and cringe comedy (an actual genre!) will enjoy I Love That For You starring SNL alum Vanessa Bayer. Bayer plays Joanna Gold, an awkward but well-meaning woman trying to break into the TV industry. When she struggles to “sell her brand” as a host, she draws from her troubled childhood and fabricates a half-true sob story that gets her back on track but also puts a target on her back.
Charming and lightweight, I Love That For You is a breeze to watch. Bayer is hilarious and (unfortunately) relatable as someone grappling with social anxiety.
OUR TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
Hustle
On Netflix 🍅 rating: 89%
Adam Sandler rarely plays a role straight, but when he does, you know it’s good. The Meyerowitz Stories, Uncut Gems, and now Hustle: a sports drama revealing the ins and outs of the NBA draft through the eyes of basketball scout Stanley Sugarman (Sandler).
On a recruitment trip to Spain, Stan discovers a talented but unknown player named Bo Cruz. They fly to the US, where Stan hopes to finally achieve his dream of being an NBA coach and Bo a pro able to support his family back home.
Inspiring without being too cheesy and informative without being bogged down by too many details, Hustle is a gritty crowd-pleaser that’s sure to draw anyone in.
Top picks outside of Netflix and Amazon Prime
In case you missed it, Everything Everywhere All At Once is now available on VOD (Vudu, DirecTV, Apple TV+, Amazon). It’s time to see for yourself whether the non-Marvel multiverse movie lives up to the incredible hype it has been garnering for the past months.
The Mexican miniseries Amsterdam is also worth checking out on HBO Max. It follows an artist couple trying their best to make it in one of Mexico’s trendiest and most creative neighborhoods.
New titles worth your time
First Kill is new today on Netflix. It’s a coming-of-age series involving queer love stories and vampire hunting. It’s still too early to rule a consensus, but early reviews show promising signs of a new cult favorite.
This is Going to Hurt, a medical black comedy we previously recommended from the BBC and AMC+, is now on Amazon Prime. Another series worth checking out is the deliciously gory survival drama Yellowjackets, also new on the streamer.
Notable films that have just arrived on Amazon Prime include Come as You Are, a small comedy following three persons with disabilities on their way to a brothel; Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World, a documentary deep-dive on tech directed by Werner Herzog; and Dallas Buyers Club, the Matthew McConaughey-starring drama about the AIDS epidemic in 1980s Texas.
Great titles that will soon expire
On June 17, Silver Linings Playbook leaves Netflix. The movie, which follows an emotionally unstable duo struggling to assimilate themselves into society, won a then-22-year-old Jennifer Lawrence the Best Actress Oscar.
Meanwhile, on Amazon Prime, Control Room, an enlightening documentary about the Al Jazeera network, leaves on June 13. The Korean action thriller I Saw the Devil expires two days later, June 15, on the same streamer.
That’s all for this week. What do you think of the new format? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
This edition of the newsletter will be back on Friday, June 17.
Until then,
Renee
