TV & Movies

New and Notable

What: Mini-series, 3 episodes, 60 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Documentary
Why you should watch: Not quite the Fyre Festival of fashion, but this riveting doc tells the incredible story behind the meteoric rise and rapid collapse of the iconic Von Dutch street brand made famous in the ’90s and early aughts by celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Dennis Rodman. There’s murder, mayhem, drugs, deceit and some super-cool designs and entrepreneurial flare. Hard to find any good guys, but you’ll feel sorry for a lot of the fascinating characters in this true story of having it all and still wanting too much.

Recent and Recommended

Where: Amazon Prime
What: Limited series, 10 episodes, 60 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Historical drama
Why you should watch: Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) creates a riveting, sometimes gruesome, alternative history where an actual underground railroad — with an engine — provides a route to freedom for enslaved people. Based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, Jenkins delivers an essential look at African-American life in the 1800s.

Where: Amazon Prime
What: One-hour poetry performance
When: Now
Genre: Live poetry
Why you should watch: Love it or meme it, there’s no denying that Indian-born Canadian poet Rupi Kaur’s empowering brand of feminist poetry (does Milk and Honey ring a bell?) is a pop culture phenomenon. The charismatic Kaur performs her celebrated works live in this special full of humour, heartache and inspiration.

Where: Amazon Prime
What: Mini-series, 3 episodes, 60 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Dramedy
Why you should watch: Set in Europe between the World Wars, it may look like this is another addition to the Downton Abbey and Bridgerton-fuelled British aristocracy genre. Instead, this Wes Anderson-cadenced series pokes fun at the genre while taking viewers along on a playful and emotional ride with two best friends who have very different approaches to finding love.

Where: Amazon Prime
What: Series, 2 seasons, 16 episodes, 30 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Drama
Why you should watch: Based on true stories from the New York Times column of the same name, this heartstrings-tugging anthology depicts love stories about everything from romance during a pandemic to an insomniac’s romantic redemption. Season 2 features appearances by Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody), Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) and Marquis Rodriguez (When They See Us).

Where: Amazon Prime
What: Series, 8 episodes, 21 – 32 mins.
When: Now, originally 2017
Genre: drama
Why you should watch: Griffin Dunne and Kathryn Hahn are painfully superb as marriage-bored New York city-based couple who head to Marfa, Texas — the town that tries to be cooler than Austin — where the professor husband begins an academic residency and the filmmaker wife becomes obsessed with the retreat’s benefactor (played by Kevin Bacon). It’s a complex and compelling exploration of the unravelling of a marriage, compulsion and the emergence of the artist. A strong supporting cast makes this gem from 2017 rewarding, sometimes challenging, viewing.

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Where: Amazon Prime
What: Movie, 131 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Docu-drama
Why you should watch: Nicole Kidman will probably pick up an Oscar nomination for her convincing performance as comedy queen Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem is convincing as Desi Arnaz in this fast-paced and slick docu-drama featuring classic crispness of writer and director Aaron Sorkin. It’s an action-packed week in the life of one of Hollywood’s most successful power couples as Ball fights misogyny and Arnaz deals with racism — with some red baiting on th side. A strong cast that includes J. K. Simmons as William Frawley — Fred Mertz — helps create a film worthy of the buzz it will receive during Oscar season.

Where: Amazon Prime
What: Series, 40 episode
When: Now, originally 2015 – 2019
Genre: Sci-fi history
Why you should watch: Swastikas in Manhattan, Nazis in D.C. — no this isn’t America after another Donald Trump victory but a re-imagined world where the Germans won the Second World War and Japan was victorious in the Pacific. The two Fascist superpowers divide up the U.S., and the High Castle world depicts jarring images of Occupied America, American collaborators and heroic resistance efforts. There’s also some kind of weird space/time continuum thing better ignored because the cool part of this show is cheering for democratic freedom fighters.

Where: Amazon Prime
What: Series, 8 episodes, 46 mins.
When: Now, new season in 2022
Genre: Animation
Why you should watch: This troubled superhero story, more Marvel vibe than DC, features animation that mixes a low-tech, “flat” look of ’70s Spiderman or ’80s “battlin’ bots” shows with depth of field and dynamic backgrounds that are very much 21^st century. Blood, guts, foul language and name checking Naomi Klein, Margaret Atwood and Fourth Wave feminism all root Invincible in some kind of present day infested with reptilian aliens and legions of complicated superheroes. With A-list vocal talents including J. K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogan, Jon Hamm and Mahershala Ali there’s more to Invincible than is immediately apparent.

Where: Amazon Prime
What: Series, 9 episodes, 60 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Fantasy
Why you should watch: Jeff Bezos wanted Amazon to create a less dick-driven GoT and this Dames of Thrones, based on the Wheel of Time fantasy fiction series, is a fem-positive swashbuckler with estrogen-fuelled ass-kicking and no rape. There are creatures and quests, lots of heroic women and characters you care about by third episode. Amazons from Amazon has yet to achieve GoT status, but it’s a satisfying fantasy.