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Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

10. (tie) Tick, Tick… Boom (Netflix)

Andrew Garfield is giving theater-kids everywhere a musical-thirst-trap performance in this Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed biopic that pays tribute to Jonathan Larson, the artistic genius who changed Broadway with his seminal musical Rent. This film examines Larson’s life before fans were belting out Season of Love though, with Garfield giving an award-worthy turn as a restless visionary who feels the suffocating deadline of turning 30 without having produced a great show. The supporting cast is terrific, Garfield is doing his best work, and Miranda infuses everything with a genuine sense of love and admiration that makes it hard not to root for this one. Watch it on Netflix.

10. (tie) Bruised (Netflix)

Halle Berry’s MMA movie made a deal with Netflix and now Halle Berry’s MMA movie is on Netflix. Yes, that sentence said “Halle Berry’s MMA movie twice but, to be fair, it’s a phrase it takes a little bit of time to wrap your head around. Berry makes her directorial debut and stars as a disgraced fighter named Jackie Justice (Jackie Justice!) who is back in the cage to deal with various personal demons. It’s Halle Berry’s MMA movie! The reviews are pretty good! Watch it on Netflix.

10. (tie) King Richard (HBO Max)

As odd as it is to have a movie about two of the greatest athletes of all time told centered on, not the women winning Grand Slams and Olympic gold medals, but their determined, driven father – King Richard works. It works because Will Smith exudes charisma and charm but he also brings a believable grit and weary defiance to the role of Richard Williams, the man who gave tennis not one, but two female legends. This is Serena and Venus’ story, told from the perspective of the man who believed in them when no one else did so, yeah, grab a box of tissues before you sit down to watch. Watch it on HBO Max.

10. (tie) The Power of the Dog (Netflix)

Benedict Cumberbatch gives a villainous performance for the ages in The Power of the Dog, the first film in 12 years from director Jane Campion. The western is expected (and deserves) to be an Oscars frontrunner, so hop on the horse-drawn bandwagon now. Watch it on Netflix.

9. Don’t Look Up (Netflix)

Jennifer Lawrence is back in Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s apocalyptic satire about two low-level astronomers (J-Law and Leonardo DiCaprio) who try to warn everyone on Earth about an approaching comet — but no one seems to care. The ensemble cast also includes Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Timothée Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, and Tyler Perry. Maybe that’s why no one cares about the comet. They’re too busy looking at all those stars. Watch it on Netflix.

8. The Tender Bar (Amazon Prime)

What we have here: George Clooney directing Ben Affleck in a film adaptation of a best-selling memoir about a writer who learns a number of life lessons while working as a bartender. The star power here is undeniable and makes it worth at least a snoop at some point, but it does make us wish — at least a little bit — that Clooney and Affleck had teamed up to make a movie about two handsome guys in tuxedos who team up to steal… oh, let’s say the Liberty Bell. This is probably fine, too, though. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

7. The Matrix Resurrections (HBO Max)

The gang is all back. Mostly. They’re mostly all back. Keanu is there as Neo, with the John Wick beard. Carrie Ann Moss is back as Trinity even though Trinity kind of… died. It’s a whole thing. And it’s fun. This all could have gone a lot worse, really, which isn’t exactly the highest praise but is still important. Let’s do it all again in another 20 years. Let’s make it a thing. Watch it on HBO Max.

6. The Tragedy of Macbeth (Apple TV+)

The Tragedy of Macbeth is the first time Joel Coen has made a movie with no involvement from his brother, Ethan. But even without his sibling, this black-and-white adaptation of one of William Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays is typically excellent, with stellar performances from Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins, Stephen Root, and Kathryn Hunter. Something wicked good this way comes… to streaming. Watch it on Apple TV+.

5. The Tinder Swindler (Netflix)

A man poses as a diamond mogul to lure in women online and bamboozle them out of millions of dollars, and then women get wise to the scam and try to figure out how to exact revenge. This is somehow both the best-possible description for an episode of SVU or a movie starring Charlize Theron as a vengeance-seeking assassin and the actual plot of Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary. Which will probably become an episode of SVU soon enough. It’s a whole ecosystem, really. Watch it on Netflix.

4. Encanto (Disney Plus)

The standout cut from the Encanto soundtrack, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” is the latest addition to the Maddeningly Catchy Disney Song canon, along with recent inductees “Let It Go” and “You’re Welcome.” (Lin-Manuel Miranda apparently knows a thing or two about songwriting, who knew?) The rest of the movie is fun, colorful, and teaches an important lesson about family and community, and you get to hear Rosa from Brooklyn Nine-Nine belt it out. But the best reason to watch Encanto is to learn firsthand why “Bruno” is one of the most popular songs in the country right now. Should you skip Encanto? Bruno-no-no-no. Watch it on Disney Plus.

3. Marry Me (Peacock)

Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson star as a preposterously attractive couple who get together after her character — one half of a global sensation pop duo — discovers her lover and music partner has been stepping out. That’s right, it is rom-com time over here. Will they? Won’t they? Whose hair will look better in the pivotal scene that will probably take place in the driving rain? There’s one way to find out: Grab some popcorn and comfy pajamas and set up shop on the couch. Watch it on Peacock.

2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Netflix)

Instead of trying to make sense of where 2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which should not be confused with 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, falls into the horror franchise’s convoluted timeline, just enjoy watching Leatherface kill a new batch of no-good teens (including Elsie Fisher from Eighth Grade). It’s more fun that way. Watch it on Netflix.

1. Kimi (HBO Max)

Zoe Kravitz plays a stay-at-home digital detective in this latest thriller from Steven Soderbergh who — with the help of her friendly A.I. sidekick Kimi — uncovers a string of murders she traces back to the company she works for. She then must venture out into a pandemic-ridden Seattle in search of the reason why. Honestly, we can’t relate. But, Kravitz is quickly becoming a bonafide action star and a Soderbergh script rarely disappoints. Watch it on HBO Max.

“All Too Well” is Taylor Swift’s best song. But what does Jake Gyllenhaal think of it?

Swift has never specifically said that the track five from Red is about the actor, but come on; it couldn’t be more about him if it was called “Dear Jake.” It was easy enough for Gyllenhaal to ignore the song (with devastating lyrics like, “Well maybe we got lost in translation / Maybe I asked for too much / But maybe this thing was a masterpiece / ‘Til you tore it all up”) when it was a fan-favorite deep cut. But that became harder to do after Swift re-recorded it, along with every song from Red, and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He was every Taylor Swift fan’s public enemy number two (number one is Scooter Braun) all over again.

In an interview with Esquire, Gyllenhaal reacted to “All Too Well” for the first time:

Swift did not comment on her fans’ reactions; while she’s always been open about using her past relationships as lyrical fodder, she’s never named names. Until now, Gyllenhaal hasn’t commented, either; that he turned off his Instagram comments was the only sign this firestorm had affected him at all. “It has nothing to do with me. It’s about her relationship with her fans,” he says when I bring it up. “It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”

Gyllenhaal continued, “I think it’s important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow for cyberbullying in one’s name. That begs for a deeper philosophical question.” Has he listened to Red (Taylor’s Version)? “No.”

It’s a good read, although one question remains: where’s the “f*ck the patriarchy” keychain, Jake?

(Via Esquire)

Like the Dark Knight himself, The Batman promotional tour has become an unstoppable force. Case in point, on Wednesday night, Robert Pattinson stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to talk about all things Batman. While yukking with Kimmel and talking about his experience trying on all four of the old Bat-suits (he fit best in Val Kilmer’s suit, but needed George Clooney’s cowl.) Pattinson talked about the initial trouble he had with nailing his own Batman voice for the character.

“Everyone does this kind of gruff, gravelly thing, and I’m like, I’m going to do the opposite. I’m gonna go really whispery,” Pattinson told Kimmel. “And I tried to do it for the first two weeks, and it just looked absolutely atrocious, and they told me to stop doing it.”

While the whisper voice didn’t go over well, Pattinson learned his instincts weren’t far off and that another Batman actor tried the same thing, too. Via ET Canada:

Pattinson later learned that he wasn’t the only one to try such a technique, telling Kimmel: “I found out from Nick, who was putting me in the suit every day, that’s what Christian Bale did on ‘Batman Begins’ as well.

“And if you listen to the first ‘Batman Begins’ teaser trailer, you can hear the original voice. I only found this out a couple of weeks ago.”

Pattinson also revealed that he wanted Bruce Wayne to dress in grunge after learning that Matt Reeves based his version of Batman on Kurt Cobain. That suggestion was quickly shot down, too.

“So you had a lot of bad ideas to start with,” Kimmel quipped, to which Pattinson replied. “Tons.”

(Via ET Canada)

How soon they (don’t) forget. Marvel fans did what they did best following the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer. They speculated after taking a fine-toothed comb to the newly released poster and found a blur (inside one of the many mirror shards) and decided that it looked like Deadpool. While this was funny, you know, it didn’t not look like Deadpool, plus there’s the fact that Marvel once snuck a mysterious cat butt into a Captain Marvel poster, which ultimately told us something very important about Nick Fury’s background and the universe at large.

Also, there’s the inevitability that the MCU will eventually introduce Deadpool (post-merger) into the MCU, and Deadpool 3 will happen, and all of that jazz. So naturally, Ryan Reynolds had to field the question and insisted to Variety, “I’m promising, I’m not in the movie.” In the process, Mark Malkin pointed out that Reynolds “could be lying,” given Marvel Studios/Disney’s commitment to secrecy, and Reynolds was like, oh sure, “I could be an unreliable narrator,” while maintaining that he’s not in Doctor Strange 2.

Hmm. On one hand, you gotta feel for Reynolds a little bit. He’s only trying to promote Netflix’s The Adam Project, and MCU fans are all excited about a poster, and of course there was some skepticism.

There’s an added layer on top of this for sure. Not too long ago, Andrew Garfield confronted rumors that he’d appear in Spider-Man: Far From Home with a simple “I did not get a call.” He clung tight to that claim and later admitted (after appearing in the movie) that he kinda enjoyed lying about it. And you know, he had to lie (the machine is all-powerful), but still. Marvel fans aren’t ready to get burned again, and a bunch of them are completely not buying Reynolds’ denial at this point.

And who knows, Reynolds could be telling the truth, and the MCU could still stick someone in a Deadpool suit into the background, or he could pop up in a post-credits scene. So yep, I’m thinking too much about this subject, too. Comic books!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters on May 6, 2022.

The new Foo Fighters movie Studio 666 premieres next week, so the whole band — Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, and Chris Shiflett — popped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night to talk about it. While there, they unveiled a Lionel Richie cameo in the movie and spoke about how he really punched up the scene with some improvisation.

In the clip, Grohl, suffering from writer’s block, plays Richie’s “Hello” on piano when a hand suddenly grabs his shoulder. That hand belongs to Richie, who says, “Hello, Dave. We all have writer’s block, you know? But that’s my f*ckin’ song. That’s my f*ckin’ song! You understand what I’m saying?!”

Grohl (who guest-hosted Kimmel back in 2017, by the way) then explained the cameo, saying:

“First of all, the screenwriters wrote him into the script without knowing I actually know him. So I read the script and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, they put Lionel…’ And I texted him and I’m like, ‘Dude, we’re making a horror film. You want to be in it?’ He’s like, ‘Absolutely, my brother.’ That was it. No agents. […] His line in the film… in the script, he’s supposed to say, ‘We all get writer’s block, but that’s my song.’ We did one take and he goes, ‘You want me to ramp it up a little bit?’ We go, ‘Yeah.’ And he goes, ‘We all get writer’s block, but that’s my f*cking song!’”

Elsewhere during the conversation, Kimmel asked who the worst actor in the band is. While he didn’t explicitly make a pick, Grohl did share that Hawkins refused to learn his lines. Kimmel then asked who the band’s best actor is, and multiple members were quick to point to Jaffee.

The band was then asked about the possibility of a Studio 666 sequel and Grohl said the band has discussed which other bands they’d like to see make their own movies. Ideas included Weezer doing a romantic comedy, Wu-Tang Clan making a sci-fi movie, and Pearl Jam filming a World War 2 movie.

Check out the interview above.

Hope you enjoyed that Avocados From Mexico Super Bowl commercial with Andy Richter, because it’s the last avocado you might see for awhile. The New York Times reports that the “United States decided late last week to temporarily block all imports of avocados from Mexico after a verbal threat was made to U.S. safety inspectors working in the country.” 80 percent of avocados consumed in the U.S. come from Mexico, so expect reduced availability and increased prices — unless you’re at Taco Bell.

Taco Bell said it would be able to avoid impacts from the suspension due to how it gets its guacamole.

The real reason the fast food restaurant won’t be affected is because “we import guacamole and not whole avocados, which is not impacted by the current ban,” but Stephen Colbert has another theory.

“Yes, Taco Bell does not get it from Mexico, they get it from the planet Ahch-To,” The Late Show host cracked, while the audience was treated to footage of Luke Skywalker draining a Thala-siren for green milk in The Last Jedi. After the joke was met with disgusted groans, Colbert added, “I knew that would be the reaction and I didn’t care.”

Wait until the audience learns where the crunch in the Cheesy Gordita Crunch comes from (grounded-up Ewok bones).

You can watch Colbert’s monologue above (the Star Wars joke is around 7:30).

The Denver Nuggets found themselves in a position few teams have overcome this season, trailing by 10 to the Warriors in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center. Few teams have been better at putting opponents away once they take a late lead than Golden State, but on Wednesday night in San Francisco, the Nuggets were able to pull off a rather incredible comeback.

As often happens for Denver, their comeback was propelled by Nikola Jokic, who had nine points and five assists in the final seven minutes of the game to help the Nuggets find their way to a 117-116 win, stealing one on the road.

After a Monte Morris fastbreak layup gave Denver a 114-113 lead, Stephen Curry seemed to rip the Nuggets hearts out with an and-one bucket with just under six seconds to go, giving the Warriors a two-point lead as Denver advanced the ball up the floor on a timeout.

Naturally, the Nuggets turned to Jokic to make the right play and he took every possible second working his way across the lane and once the Warriors collapsed onto him he found Morris for the game-winning three just before the buzzer.

Jokic finished the game with 35 points, 17 rebounds, and eight assists as he continues to pile up outrageous stat lines on a near nightly basis. He got help from Bryn Forbes, who had 22 points off the bench, as well as the big late buckets from Morris, who had five of his 13 on the final two shots for Denver to lift them to the win.

Quinton Brock ended his 2020 year by rocking out with his single, “To The Moon,” and he ended 2021 by showing off his softer side with “Touch.” While it remains to be seen how the Brooklyn-via-Buffalo singer will end 2022, he’s kicking off the year by continuing his pursuit to “change rock music forever.” His latest step in doing so comes with his brand new single, “There For You.” The new track sees Brock glide with ease to new love over the song’s surfy and R&B-laced production.

Brock’s journey as a singer began with his come-up in the surf/blues rock duo The Get Money Squad. His step into rock and roll was inspired by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the lost godmother of rock and roll, who helped inspire and remind Brock that rock and roll was a genre pioneered by Black artists overcoming adversity. Prior to “Touch” and “To The Moon,” Brock released “All Falls On Me” in 2020 and shared his debut project Scooter. in 2019. That presented eight tracks and a lone guest appearance from Pink Siifu.

During an interview with Uproxx in 2020, Brock shared how determined he was to succeed by revealing he “got a literal chip tattooed on my shoulder” as motivation. He also said that he wants his next tattoo to be “a heart on my sleeve.”

You can listen to “There For You” in the video above.

The last week has been quite tumultuous for Kanye West and Kid Cudi. They’ve been close collaborators for 15 years now and, despite their differences, Kanye has always lent a hand to Cudi in times of need. Recently Cudi, who’s been very vocal about his struggles with mental health, sent out a concerning message on Instagram. “God…please watch over me and keep my mind sane,” Cudi wrote. “I could use it right now. To anyone who feels alone, I’m with you and I love you.” Kanye caught wind of the message and re-shared it to his Instagram page with the caption, “Love you family.”

Cudi did not directly respond to Kanye’s message, but he did share a message of appreciation to fans who showed him support. “I really wanna say thank u for all the love yall been givin me the past few days,” Cudi wrote. “U have no idea how much u all mean to me. I am forever grateful to have so much love and support from all over the world and I wont let yall down. I love you all. [prayer hands and heart emoji].”

The rapper’s exchange comes after some bad blood emerged between them. Kanye recently said he won’t put Cudi on his upcoming album, Donda 2, due to Cudi’s friendship with Pete Davidson who is currently dating his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Cudi responded to Kanye’s message about Donda 2 and wrote in part, “Too bad I dont wanna be on ur album u f*ckin dinosaur hahaha.”

The Sex and the City follow-up And Just Like That… wrapped up its 10-episode run earlier this month, after two months of sometimes startling developments. There was the Peloton business. There was the lack of Samantha Jones. There was the uproar over Che Diaz. What there wasn’t was Candace Bushnell, the former New York Observer journalist whose ‘90s column “Sex and the City” birthed the show of the same name. She wasn’t involved in the revival (nor was really involved in the most of the show or the movies). But in a predictably juicy interview with The New Yorker, she strongly intimated that she wasn’t feeling it.

Bushnell, whose life partially loosely Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, was asked by the reporter whether she felt similar to the characters in the new show, who feel like they “have suddenly awoken into a sense of being out of step with culture.”

Her response was simply, “No.” She added that she was “really startled by a lot of the decisions made in the reboot,” distancing herself from it by saying, “it’s a television product, done with Michael Patrick King and Sarah Jessica Parker, who have both worked with HBO a lot in the past. HBO decided to put this franchise back into their hands for a variety of reasons, and this is what they came up with.”

When asked if she “sees” herself in the characters anymore, she replied, “Not at all.” But her fictional analog and her parted ways a while ago. “Carrie Bradshaw ended up being a quirky woman who married a really rich guy. And that’s not my story, or any of my friends’ stories.”

But Carrie and her were simpatico for a while, particularly how much both were making in media during a happier time. When she worked for Vogue, in the ‘90s, she says she was paid $5,000 a month — nearly $10,000 a month now, adjusted for inflation.

“I mean, this was a time that writers were getting a Vanity Fair contract for six pieces and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year,” she said. “People valued writing; it wasn’t considered something everyone can do. Now, because of the computer, everyone has to do it, so we think everyone can do it.”

(Via New Yorker)