Streaming Picks: January 2021

With so many new streaming services, I figured this year I’d expand the scope of this column again. I’m adding Disney+ and HBO MAX, so bear with me as a lot of new titles get added. I’ll still try to pick at least one thing on each service to highlight. 

FILMS
Top Picks
Save Yourselves! – Hulu 1/1
Pieces of a Woman – Netflix 1/7
The Intouchables – Netflix 1/11
One Night in Miami… – Prime 1/15
The Little Things – HBO MAX 1/29
The classic of the bunch is The Intouchables. The French drama is inspirational without being corny, and more authentic than the star-studded U.S. remake (The Upside).

Prime and Netflix are getting their Oscar plays out with One Night in Miami… and Pieces of a Woman. Both should be getting, at a minimum, some acting nods, though bigger categories will depend on their campaigns.

Save Yourselves! is the ludicrous but timely sci-fi comedy that I saw at the Atlanta Film Festival this year. A hipster couple decide to do an “unplugged weekend” at a remote cabin the day before an alien invasion overtakes the Earth.

Finally, The Little Things is the first of HBO MAX’s 2021 slate to hit theaters and the service on the same day. This is the perfect test case, since it’s unlikely I would have paid to see this garbage crime movie (starring three Oscar winners!) in theaters, but will absolutely be watching Denzel Washington and Rami Malek try to catch a serial killer the weekend it goes up.

Recent Selections
Like a Boss – Hulu 1/1
Ma – HBO MAX 1/1
Piter – HBO MAX 1/1
Ready Player One – HBO MAX 1/1
A Star Is Born – HBO MAX 1/1
The High Note – HBO MAX 1/2
Mighty Oak – Hulu and Prime 1/6
Gretel & Hansel – Hulu and Prime 1/7
The Silencing – Prime 1/8
The King of Staten Island – HBO MAX 1/10
The Rhythm Section – Hulu and Prime 1/11
Promare – HBO MAX 1/12
Turtle Tale – HBO MAX 1/12
Alone – Hulu and Prime 1/14
The Secrets We Keep – Hulu 1/14
Pinkfong & Baby Shark’s Space Adventure – Netflix 1/15
Si Yo Fuera Rico – HBO MAX 1/15
Radium Girls – Netflix 1/16
No Escape – Hulu 1/17
Sightless – Netflix 1/20
Terra Willy – Hulu 1/22
Don’t Let Go – HBO MAX 1/23
Chick Fight – Prime 1/29
Mortal – Prime 1/29
Fatima – Netflix 1/31

Originals
The Minimalists: Less Is Now – Netflix 1/1
What Happened to Mr. Cha? – Netflix 1/1
Asphalt Burning – Netflix 1/2
30 Coins – HBO MAX 1/4
Ratones Paranoicos: The Band That Rocked Argentina – Netflix 1/6
Tony Parker: The Final Shot – Netflix 1/6
Charming – Netflix 1/8
Herself – Prime 1/8
Lupin – Netflix 1/8
Stuck Apart – Netflix 1/8
Tiger – HBO MAX 1/10
Double Dad – Netflix 1/15
Outside the Wire – Netflix 1/15
The Ultimate Playlist of Noise – Hulu 1/15
In & Of Itself – Hulu 1/22
So My Grandma’s a Lesbian! – Netflix 1/22
The White Tiger – Netflix 1/22
Penguin Bloom – Netflix 1/27
¡Animo Juventud! – HBO MAX 1/29
Below Zero – Netflix 1/29
The Dig – Netflix 1/29
Finding Ohana – Netflix 1/29
June & Kopi – Netflix TBD
Locked Down – HBO MAX TBD

NEW SHOWS & SPECIALS
Top Picks
Batman: The Animated Series (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
History of Swear Words – Netflix 1/5
Search Party (Season 4) – HBO MAX 1/14
WandaVision (Season 1) – Disney+ 1/15
HBO MAX brings the greatest superhero cartoon of all time to the service (along with its follow-up Batman Beyond). Come for the art deco design, stay for the horrifying storylines they allowed on children’s TV in the ’90s! They’ve also got the newest season of Search Party, one of my top shows of 2020.

Disney+ delivers the first major MCU-related project since 2019’s Spider-Man: Far from Home. (Yes, I’m discounting the last season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which no one watched or cared about.) WandaVision is supposedly the key to lots of future films, including the Doctor Strange and Spider-Man sequels. If nothing else, it has Kathryn Hahn, and everything she does is worth watching.

And Netflix has what on paper should be a joke, but actually looks well-done. History of Swear Words is hosted by Nicolas Cage, but does include actual etymologists, writers and artists breaking down the origins of those four-letter words we’ve used so often this past year.

Originals
Dream Home Makeover (Season 2) – Netflix 1/1
Earth to Ned (Season 2) – Disney+ 1/1
Headspace Guide to Meditation – Netflix 1/1
Monarca (Season 2) – Netflix 1/1
Gabby’s Dollhouse (Season 1) – Netflix 1/5
Nailed It! Mexico (Season 3) – Netflix 1/5
Surviving Death – Netflix 1/6
Disney Fam Jam (Season 1) – Disney+ 1/8
The Idhun Chronicles (Part 2) – Netflix 1/8
Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons (Season 5) – Netflix 1/8
Marvel Studios: Legends – Disney+ 1/8
Mighty Little Bheem: Kite Festival – Netflix 1/8
Pretend It’s a City – Netflix 1/8
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy – Netflix 1/11
Everyone Is Doing Great (Season 1) – Hulu 1/13
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer – Netflix 1/13
Bling Empire – Netflix 1/15
Carmen Sandiego (Season 4) – Netflix 1/15
Disenchantment (Part 3) – Netflix 1/15
Endlings (Season 2) – Hulu 1/15
Real Time with Bill Maher (Season 19) – HBO MAX 1/15
Hello Ninja (Season 4) – Netflix 1/19
C.B. Strike: Lethal White – HBO MAX 1/20
Daughter from Another Mother – Netflix 1/20
Spycraft – Netflix 1/20
Call My Agent! (Season 4) – Netflix 1/21
Gomorrah (Season 3) – HBO MAX 1/21
Blown Away (Season 2) – Netflix 1/22
Busted! (Season 3) – Netflix 1/22
Fate: The Winx Saga – Netflix 1/22
Flack (Season 1) – Prime 1/22
Jessy and Nessy (Season 1, Part 2) – Prime 1/22
Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous (Season 2) – Netflix 1/22
Painting with John – HBO MAX 1/22
Pixar Popcorn – Disney+ 1/22
The Sister (Season 1) – Hulu 1/22
Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) – Netflix 1/23
Euphoria: Jules – HBO MAX 1/24
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO MAX 1/26
Axios (Season 4) – HBO MAX 1/31
50M2 – Netflix TBD
Arthur’s Law – HBO MAX TBD
Bonding (Season 2) – Netflix TBD
Cobra Kai (Season 3) – Netflix TBD
The Event – HBO MAX TBD
The Netflix Afterparty – Netflix TBD
Perfect Life (Season 1) – HBO MAX TBD
Possessions (Season 1) – HBO MAX TBD
Selena + Chef (Season 2) – HBO MAX TBD

OLD SHOWS
12oz. Mouse (Seasons 1-2) – HBO MAX 1/1
Abby Hatcher (Season 1) – Netflix 1/1
Apple & Onion (Season 1, Part 2) – HBO MAX 1/1
Baby Looney Tunes (Season 1) – Prime 1/1
Batman Beyond (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Beecham House (Season 1) – Prime 1/1
Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Codename: Kids Next Door (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Commandments (Season 1) – Prime 1/1
Courage the Cowardly Dog (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Craig of the Creek (Season 2) – HBO MAX 1/1
Dexter (Complete Series) – Prime 1/1
Ed, Edd n Eddy (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Fire Force (Season 2, Part 1) – Hulu 1/1
Gossip Girl (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Green Lantern: The Animated Series (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
The Haunted Hathaways (Seasons 1-2) – Hulu 1/1
The Jellies (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Ken Burns’ Jazz – Prime 1/1
Loiter Squad (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders (Season 1) – Prime 1/1
Snowpiercer (Season 1) – HBO MAX 1/1
Tom Goes to the Mayor (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/1
Warrior (Seasons 1-2) – HBO MAX 1/1
Boruto (Season 1) – Hulu 1/5
L.A.’s Finest (Season 1) – Netflix 1/5
A Certain Scientific Railgun, Part 2 (Season 3) – Hulu 1/8
Squish (Season 1) – HBO MAX 1/8
Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (Complete Series) – Disney+ 1/8
The Alienist: Angel of Darkness – HBO MAX 1/9
Ben 10 (Season 4, Part 1) – HBO MAX 1/9
Miracle Workers (Season 2) – HBO MAX 1/10
One-Punch Man (Season 2) – Hulu 1/10
Last Tango in Halifax (Season 4) – Netflix 1/12
Ollie & Moon (Seasons 1-2) – HBO MAX 1/12
Other Parents (Seasons 1-2) – HBO MAX 1/12
Elena of Avalor (Season 3) – Disney+ 1/15
Henry Danger (Seasons 1-3) – Netflix 1/15
Kuroko’s Basketball (Season 1) – Netflix 1/15
The Magicians (Season 5) – Netflix 1/15
Re:ZERO/Starting Life in Another World: Director’s Cut (Season 1) – HBO MAX 1/15
Roots – HBO MAX 1/15
Tandav (Season 1) – Prime 1/15
The Wayans Bros. (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/15
Eve (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/16
Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (Season 3) – Hulu 1/17
Pandora (Season 2) – Prime 1/18
Everwood (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/19
Grantchester (Season 5) – Prime 1/19
At Home with Amy Sedaris (Season 3) – HBO MAX 1/20
C.B. Strike (Season 1) – HBO MAX 1/21
Looney Tunes Cartoons (Season 1, Part 3) – HBO MAX 1/21
The New Adventures of Old Christine (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/22
Babylon 5 (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/26
Go Dog Go – Netflix 1/26
We Are: The Brooklyn Saints – Netflix 1/29
The Haves and Have Nots (Season 7, Part 2) – Hulu 1/27
Dinosaurs (Complete Series) – Disney+ 1/29
Jann (Seasons 1-2) – Hulu 1/29
What I Like About You (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/29
Pushing Daisies (Complete Series) – HBO MAX 1/30

COMEDY SPECIALS
For once, there don’t appear to be any new comedy specials on any of the services. This isn’t that surprising, since comedy venues have been closed since March.

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