FILMS
Top Picks
Robot & Frank – Prime and Hulu 5/9
Those Who Wish Me Dead – HBO Max 5/14
The Woman in the Window – Netflix 5/14
Cruella – Disney+ 5/24
This month we’ve got a hidden gem and three originals that have an increasing level of risk of being awful.
Robot & Frank is a delightful soft sci-fi adventure about a retired jewel thief (Frank Langella) who uses his robot companion as his accomplice in a new series of crimes.
Those Who Wish Me Dead heralds the return of Angelina Jolie, action star. She plays a fire tower watchwoman who takes in a boy on the run from contract killers (Nicholas Hoult and Aiden Gillan) and a raging forest fire. Aside from a disastrous and unnecessary sequel to Sicario, I’m all in on Taylor Sheridan, but I know there are a lot of people who can’t stand anything he puts his name on.
The Woman in the Window has had a frankly concerning journey to its release. Filming wrapped on Joe Wright’s adaptation in 2018, then Tony Gilroy was brought in for rewrites and reshoots, then it was delayed after test audiences didn’t respond. Then COVID hit and Fox eventually sold the film to Netflix. It should be a slam dunk: a hit mystery novel with an incredible cast (including Amy Adams, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Julianne Moore, Brian Tyree Henry and Gary Oldman) and a script by Tracy Letts. But who knows? After waiting so long, it might be perfectly suited for the low stakes of firing up Netflix on a Friday night.
Finally we get to the movie that’s most likely to be terrible, but it was slim pickings on Disney+ this month. There’s absolutely no reason for a film like Cruella to exist. We didn’t need an origin story for the villain from 101 Dalmatians, and we already have an iconic live-action performance from Glenn Close. But the script is by Tony McNamara, who made The Favourite and The Great, two of my most enjoyed pieces of entertainment of the last few years. Between that and the outstanding costumes, that might be enough.
Recent Selections
The Legend of Baron To’a – Hulu 5/3
Love Sarah – Hulu 5/4
Shadow in the Cloud – Hulu 5/5
Little Fish – Hulu 5/7
Greenland – HBO Max 5/8
Wander Darkly – Hulu 5/10
Saint Maud – Prime and Hulu 5/13
Some Kind of Heaven – Hulu 5/13
Wonder Woman 1984 – HBO Max 5/13
MLK/FBI – Hulu 5/14
Cowboys – Hulu 5/15
Good Kisser – Hulu 5/15
The Personal History of David Copperfield – HBO Max 5/15
Breach – Prime 5/17
Supernova – Hulu 5/18
The Vigil – Hulu 5/21
Sam Smith: Love Goes Live at Abbey Road Studios – Netflix 5/22
The Donut King – Hulu 5/31
The World to Come – Hulu 5/31
Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir – Netflix TBD
Originals
Generation Por Que? – HBO Max 5/1
Para Rosa – HBO Max 5/1
The Boy from Medellín – Prime 5/7
La Boda de Rosa – HBO Max 5/7
Milestone – Netflix 5/7
Monster – Netflix 5/7
Mine – Netflix 5/8
Dance of the Forty One – Netflix 5/12
Oxygen – Netflix 5/12
Ferry – Netflix 5/14
I Am All Girls – Netflix 5/14
The Strange House – Netflix 5/14
Sardar Ka Grandson – Netflix 5/18
Territorio – HBO Max 5/20
Army of the Dead – Netflix 5/21
Pink: All I Know So Far – Prime 5/21
Baggio: The Divine Ponytail – Netflix 5/26
Plan B – Hulu 5/28
NEW SHOWS & SPECIALS
Top Picks
The Underground Railroad (Season 1) – Prime 5/14
Master of None (Season 3) – Netflix 5/23
The former has been anticipated for a long time, while the latter was an out-of-nowhere surprise.
Barry Jenkins directs this adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which imagines an actual rail line taking slaves to freedom. It will surely be tough to watch, but expertly crafted.
After four years off the air, I wasn’t expecting Master of None to return soon, if at all. But this shortened season, dubbed Moments in Love, mostly follows Lena Waithe’s Denise and her relationship with her wife (Naomi Ackie).
Originals
Uri and Ella (Season 1) – HBO Max 5/2
The Bad Batch (Season 1) – Disney+ 5/4
Selena: The Series (Part 2) – Netflix 5/4
Trash Truck (Season 2) – Netflix 5/4
The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness – Netflix 5/5
Legendary (Season 2) – HBO Max 5/6
That Damn Michael Che – HBO Max 5/6
Girl from Nowhere (Season 2) – Netflix 5/7
Jupiter’s Legacy – Netflix 5/7
Shrill (Season 3) – Hulu 5/7
Axios – HBO Max 5/9
The Crime of the Century – HBO Max 5/10
Money, Explained – Netflix 5/11
The Upshaws – Netflix 5/12
Castlevania (Season 4) – Netflix 5/13
Hacks – HBO Max 5/13
Halston – Netflix 5/14
Haunted (Season 3) – Netflix 5/14
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (Season 2) – Disney+ 5/14
Jungle Beat: The Movie – Netflix 5/14
Love, Death & Robots (Season 2) – Netflix 5/14
Move to Heaven – Netflix 5/14
Who Killed Sara? (Season 2) – Netflix 5/19
Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Together Again – HBO Max 5/20
Special (Season 2) – Netflix 5/20
Inside Pixar: Unpacked – Disney+ 5/21
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (Season 3) – Netflix 5/21
M.O.D.O.K. (Season 1) – Hulu 5/21
The Neighbor (Season 2) – Netflix 5/21
Solos – Prime 5/21
In Treatment (Season 4) – HBO Max 5/23
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO Max 5/25
High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America – Netflix 5/26
Mr. Inbetween (Season 3) – Hulu 5/26
Nail Bomber: Manhunt – Netflix 5/26
Black Space – Netflix 5/27
Eden – Netflix 5/27
Madagascar: A Little Wild (Season 3) – Hulu 5/27
Dog Gone Trouble – Netflix 5/28
Lucifer (Season 5, Part 2) – Netflix 5/28
The Kominsky Method (Season 3) – Netflix 5/28
Panic (Season 1) – Prime 5/28
The Parisian Agency: Exclusive Properties – Netflix 5/31
Al Rawabi School for Girls – Netflix TBD
Mad for Each Other – Netflix TBD
Racket Boys – Netflix TBD
Ragnarok (Season 2) – Netflix TBD
OLD SHOWS
Angelina Ballerina (Seasons 5-6) – Netflix 5/1
Barney and Friends (Seasons 13-14) – Netflix 5/1
Pikwik Pack (Season 1, Part 1) – Hulu 5/4
Wander over Yonder (Complete Series) – Disney+ 5/7
Re:ZERO: Starting Life in Another World (Season 2, Episodes 14-25) – HBO Max 5/8
Jujutsu Kaisen (Season 1, Episodes 13-24) – HBO Max 5/10
Special Agent Oso (Complete Series) – Disney+ 5/14
Special Agent Oso: Three Healthy Steps (Season 1) – Disney+ 5/14
Apple & Onion (Season 2, Part 1) – HBO Max 5/19
Big City Dreams (Season 2) – Disney+ 5/21
Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures (Season 1) – Disney+ 5/21
Bluey (Season 2) – Disney+ 5/24
Sydney to the Max (Season 3) – Disney+ 5/24
Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story – Netflix 5/31
COMEDY SPECIALS
Soy Rada: Serendipity – Netflix 5/27