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Stream It Or Skip It
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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Me' On Apple TV+, Where A Kid Goes To A New School And Finds Out He's A Shapeshifter
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Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Serpent Queen' Season 2 On Starz, Where Catherine de’ Medici Schemes To Hold Onto Power As Her Son Matures As King
Can’t decide what to watch? We’ve been there. Heck, that’s the main reason that we created Decider in the first place. Each and every month, the experts here at Decider watch dozens upon dozens of movies and shows that appear on your favorite streaming services, and we compile our thoughts and recommendations into an easy-to-digest format: Stream It or Skip It.
Each Stream It or Skip It entry follows a simple formula. We give you: the gist, what movies or shows it will remind you of, the performance worth watching, the memorable dialogue, what it’s got as far as sex and skin is concerned, our take, and, finally, our call. (We even make Stream It or Skip It videos, too. Hosted by Decider’s own Lea Palmieri and Brett White, you can find them all on Decider’s YouTube channel.)
By popular demand, we’ve made this process even easier for you with this summary of our summaries. If you want to read our full reviews for any of the selections below, all you need to do is click on the title link and you’ll land on our full Stream It or Skip It review. However, if you’re pressed for time, we made these capsules that give you only the most essential details.
RELATED: New Movies + Shows to Watch this Weekend: ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ on Disney+ & More
'Godzilla vs. Kong'
TYPE: Monster movie (free for HBO Max subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF?I haven’t seen this many gigantically crushing body blows and redonkulous haymakers since Rocky IV.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. The stupidly enjoyable Godzilla vs. Kong will cave your head in if you let it. It delivers on its promise to smash everything in sight, and in another world, where we still tracked box office receipts, it’d likely be a big smash.
'Law & Order: Organized Crime'
TYPE: Procedural TV show
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? The entire Law & Order franchise, of course, but with more of a continuing storyline backbone, like the CBS procedural Clarice.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. Law & Order: Organized Crime isn’t “classic” L&O, but it’s got an intriguing continuing storyline and two fantastic leads. And who doesn’t want to see Meloni as the explosive Elliot Stabler for a few more years?
'Bad Trip'
TYPE: Rude comedy (free for Netflix subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? One of the credited producers here is a Jackass guy, so of course Bad Grandpa is a touchstone. And like that movie, Bad Trip is mostly a grossout exercise, and doesn’t boast the ambitious social commentary of the Borats.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. Bad Trip is stupid, moronic garbage, and if that sounds like your idea of a great time, now you know what you’re getting into.
'The Father'
TYPE: Drama movie (available to rent or buy on demand)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Add The Father to the list of profoundly moving films about dementia/Alzheimer’s: Away from Her, Amour and Still Alice. (It also indirectly recalls the way Christopher Nolan toys with time in a profound manner in his films, most notably Dunkirk.)
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. The Father isn’t an easy watch — it’s about as weighty as a movie gets. It may cast a depressive pall upon you, but as films that explore the bleaker elements of life tend to do, it may also prompt you to appreciate what you have while you have it.
'Sky High'
TYPE: Spanish crime thriller movie (free for Netflix subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Sky High was a huge hit in Spanish cinemas at the end of 2020, and Netflix quickly snapped up the international rights. But while the actual film appears there, the streamer also has plans to adapt Sky High into a television series that expands outward from the movie’s climactic finish. To that end, the similarities between Sky High and the Spanish-made Netflix hit Money Heist just keep falling into place, alongside Money Heist co-star Miguel Herran playing Angel in Sky High.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. Sky High hits all the right notes for a heist movie — the crew, the plan, the job, the getaway. Also: the double crosses. Add in solid writing and some great character development, and your movie night has its next watch booked.
'Unhinged'
TYPE: Action thriller movie (free for Amazon Prime subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Unhinged explores the same white man meltdown territory as 1993’s Falling Down without that film’s dark comedic soul. Instead, it recalls Eli Roth and Bruce Willis’s tone deaf 2018 retelling of Death Wish, where the social commentary is never fully realized, making its death scenes feel more like those of a rote slasher film. For road rage terror done better, see Steven Spielberg’s spine-tingling 1971 debut Duel.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT, since Hollywood is bereft of original content right now, and Unhinged gleans some jump scene shock value out of its death blows. But understand that in its more generic moments, this borders on Lifetime Original Movie territory.
'Tina'
TYPE: Music documentary (free for HBO and HBO Max subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Like Tina, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (2020) mined a rich vein of archival footage and aligned that haul with revealing contemporary interviews to tell an essential rock ‘n’ roll story. B.B. King – Life of Riley, John Brewer’s fawning 2014 portrait of the legendary bluesman, posts its subject at each turning point between the blues, rock music, and the power of live performance. And the 2017 Netflix doc Gaga: Five Foot Two delved deep into the life and pathos of a pop star whose work, like Turner’s, has put her personal life on display.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. Stream it if only for the scintillating live footage. But that combines with remarkable biographical notes to present an iconic rock ‘n’ roll story touched with trauma, redemption, and real heart.
'Made For Love'
TYPE: Sci-fi drama series (free for HBO Max subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Not sure why, but Made For Love almost feels like a dark companion piece to HBO Max’s first original series, Love Life. In the first series, Anna Kendrick’s character is constantly making love mistakes but she keeps trying. Here, Milioti’s character succeeds in finding love, but at the cost of something a lot bigger. It’s also got some Briarpatch vibes mixed in, where the lead character goes back to the bleak hometown she vowed to escape, and some creepy futurism stuff that reminds us of Devs.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. After looking at the first two episodes, we’re not 100% on board with Made For Love. But Milioti and Romano put in really great work in the series, and have good chemistry with each other. It’s the other elements of the show that we’re not sure about yet.
'The Serpent'
TYPE: TV series based on a true story (free for Netflix subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? The ’70s setting of The Serpent evokes shows like The Deuce or Hunters, but the character of Charles Sobhraj gives us some heavy Dexter vibes.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. The Serpent is certainly a slow burn, and its jumpy timeline will take some getting used to. But the lead performance by Rahim, and fine supporting performances by Coleman, Howle and Bamber help us stay engaged with the story.
'Zack Snyder's Justice League'
TYPE: Superhero movie (free for HBO Max subscribers)
OUR CALL:STREAM IT. Do the math: Zack Snyder’s Justice League ain’t half bad, which means you have at least two good solid hours of entertainingly excessive extravaganza-ism. And truth be told, it endears us to these heroes enough to make me a little sad that this is the likely conclusion to Snyder’s DC Universe plans. Wonders never cease.
'The Falcon And The Winter Soldier'
TYPE: Superhero show (free for Disney+ subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is pretty tightly integrated with the MCU, so it’s reminiscent of the entire franchise.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is going to move at its own pace, even if each episode promises to have well-directed and pulse-pounding action sequences. How it handles its storytelling pace will ultimately determine whether the series works or not.
'Slaxx'
TYPE: Horror movie (free for Shudder subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? DOddly enough, the envelope-pushing British auteur Peter Strickland just released a wild and hallucinatory film called In Fabric about a killer red dress. This is nowhere near that good, nor is it as good as Quentin Dupieux’s killer tire movie, Rubber. More than anything else Slaxx will remind you of inexpensive VHS-era exploitation pictures.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. It’s 76 minutes and 30 seconds with credits. This brevity is very much to the film’s benefit. It’s a fun, dumb movie around which you do not need to build your entire evening. Having it on while you do something else — maybe fold laundry? — is totally appropriate.
'Sky Rojo'
TYPE: Drama series (free for Netflix subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Thelma & Louise but with three hookers.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. The producers of Sky Rojo have a good track record of creating fast-paced, intense drama for an international audience. We appreciate Sky Rojo’s “less is more” approach, which is not common these days. We just hope the storytelling catches up with the pace the show is setting.
'Genera+ion'
TYPE: Drama series
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Euphoria with less drugs and more sex. Or Grand Army with less cityscapes.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. Overall, Genera+ion isn’t trying to make its teens into horny people who scarf MDMA like they’re M&Ms. They’re just horny, which in a way is a refreshing look at Gen Z.
'Minari'
TYPE: Movie (for rent/buy)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? Premise-wise, Minari is kind of The Farewell in reverse. Both offer extraordinary, and often extraordinarily funny, stories of Asian immigrants finding a way to marry their native cultures with American sensibilities.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. Minari is thoughtful, insightful and moving. It’s a must-see.
'Calls'
TYPE: Horror thriller series (free for Apple TV+ subscribers)
WHAT WILL IT REMIND YOU OF? There’s the obvious comparison to the French series it’s based on, but overall, Calls feels incredibly unique. It’s difficult to put it in the same category as anything else in recent memory.
OUR CALL: STREAM IT. Calls is wholly immersive and totally chilling, a unique storytelling experience able to send shivers down your spine without the help of on-camera actors.
Everything Else New to Streaming This March 2021
Didn’t find what you were looking for above? Well, here are Decider’s lists of all the new movies and shows across all of the most popular streaming platforms:
The Best Movies on Netflix, HBO Max, and More
In the mood for a flick? You’re in luck.
