Also among the streaming deals that are worth it, selected by the Associated Press' entertainment journalists There are a few new game shows on Fox and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” coming to Amazon Prime.
NEW MOVIES TO SHOW
— Director JA Bayona is no stranger to a harrowing survival story. In 2012, he gave audiences a poignant look at one family's experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and now he's back with “The Snow Society” about the Uruguayan Air Force plane that crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972. The disaster has been recounted and studied in numerous books and films over the years, including the film Frank Marshall's “Alive” from 1993. But Bayona was inspired to take another look after reading “The Society of Snow” by Pablo Vierci. Bayona said he wanted to tell the stories of not only the survivors but also those who didn't survive, in a “documentary style.” The Spanish-language film was selected to represent Spain at the Oscars and was shortlisted for Best International Film. “The Snow Society” is now streaming on Netflix.
Netflix also offers Dan Levy's first film, “Good grief” coming Friday. Levy, who also wrote, stars alongside Luke Evans, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel as a widower who recently lost her husband and takes his friends to Paris for some soul searching.
— Criterion Channel has several treats for January, including a series on cat movies (from “That Darn Cat” to “Inside Llewyn Davis”), an ode to Ava Gardner (whose “The Barefoot Countess” and “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”), but perhaps the most January collection of all is that of James Gray in New York. Films include his debut in 1994 “Little Odessa” in which Tim Roth plays a hitman returned to Brighton Beach and the intoxicating romance "Two lovers," starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow as the seductive Michelle. And if that wasn't enough for you, Joaquin, they'll also have “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and “The Immigrant.”
—And on Prime Video, there are two movies that haven't gotten the best reviews, but if you're intrigued and have an Amazon Prime account, they're there for sampling. First there is the action photo of the globetrotter “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” which focuses on charismatic stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback who travel from Brooklyn to Peru. Directed by Steven Caple Jr., it is technically a sequel to “Bumblebee.” There is also “The Enemy” by Garth Davis a psychological sci-fi thriller starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. Both begin streaming Friday.
NEW SHOWS TO BROADCAST
Fox is adding new game shows to its slate in the new year. Rob Lowe's director produces and hosts a new quiz show called “Floor” while Anthony Anderson and his mother Doris Bowman co-host the musical “We are a family.”. The latter was initially intended to play Jamie Foxx and daughter Corinne, but the Oscar winner, who suffered an undisclosed health issue in 2023, will now serve as executive producer. Both shows will also stream on Hulu.
— The famous Hulu Series “Only Murders in the Building” will air on television in early 2024. The comedy thriller stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as neighbors in a posh New York apartment building who start their own true crime podcast after the murder of another resident. The first three episodes of the first season began airing on ABC on Tuesday.
– The first season of NBC's rebooted “Night Court” ended on a cliffhanger, with the return of original series regular Marsha Warfield in an unexpected place. The second season, launched Tuesday and arrives the next day on Peacock, picks up where last season left off. The rebooted show stars series original John Larroquette and Melissa Rauch as a new night court judge.
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