Welcome to the latest issue of Stream On, the weekly newsletter from Consequence that answers the eternally confounding question: What films and TV shows should you be watching? (Subscribe here!) We’re looking at all the new and recent releases from Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, HBO Max, and more for ideas — not to mention a Blast From the Past and streaming recommendations from this week’s special guests!
This Week’s Picks
Furious (TV)
Furious (Hulu)
Created by: Elizabeth Meriwether
Cast: Emmy Rossum, Lola Petticrew, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Scoot McNairy
Streaming on: Hulu
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I haven’t been able to watch as much of Furious yet as I would like, but I’m pretty damn hooked on this serial killer drama from the creator of New Girl. (Seriously!) The always incredible Emmy Rossum stars as an FBI agent who stumbles onto a string of deaths cunningly executed by a young woman (Lola Petticrew) — who has good reason to target the victims she does. It’s a show that doesn’t flinch to explore the depths of female rage, with a vibe that’s reminiscent of Killing Eve (when Killing Eve was good, to be clear).
President Curtis (TV)
President Curtis (Adult Swim)
Created by: James Siciliano, Dan Harmon
Cast: Keith David, Stephanie Beatriz, Jim Rash
Streaming on: HBO Max
Stream On is legally required to mention any time Keith David does something awesome, and thus here’s a hearty recommendation for President Curtis, a Rick and Morty spinoff focused on David’s titular Commander-in-Chief. There’s a lateral amount of weirdness here compared to its parent series, with inspired voice performances from both David as well as series regulars Jim Rash and Stephanie Beatriz, and the show functions perfectly well as a standalone series. So if you enjoy animated anarchy, it’s worth a peek. (Did I mention it stars Keith David?)
Sterling Point (TV)
Sterling Point (Prime Video)
Created by: Megan Park
Cast: Ella Rubin, Amélie Hoeferle, Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Bo Bragason, Keen Ruffalo, Mabel Strachan, Missi Pyle, Jay Duplass, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Streaming on: Prime Video
Sterling Point, on the surface, feels like a lot of recent Prime Video series, as it’s a coming-of-age story about a girl (Ella Rubin) who travels to a small Canadian island to better understand her family’s darkest secrets. However, the execution is fresh, heartfelt, and funny thanks to creator Megan Park, who translates the same nuanced qualities of her previous film My Old Ass to a whole new dynamic. Plus the young cast is fantastic, with one of the standouts easily being Bo Bragason as a semi-local who brings chaos wherever she goes.
You, Me & Tuscany (Film)
You, Me and Tuscany (Universal)
Directed by: Kat Coiro
Cast: Halle Bailey, Regé-Jean Page, Marco Calvani, Aziza Scott, Paolo Sassanelli, Stefania Casini, Lorenzo de Moor, Nia Vardalos, Isabella Ferrari
Streaming on: Peacock
The plot machinations that bring Anna (Halle Bailey) to a gorgeous Tuscan villa are a bit complicated — in part because the movie works very hard to make it clear that she’s not a bad person, she just made a few poor decisions. Look past that issue, and you’ve got a pretty classic rom-com in the vein of While You Were Sleeping (with less coma), as Anna falls in love with the Italian countryside as well as the extended family of Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), the quasi-stranger she’s “accidentally” lied about being engaged to. Good thing Matteo doesn’t have any hot relatives… oh wait, is that Regé-Jean Page? Is he taking his shirt off in the middle of a vineyard? Uh oh! This isn’t a perfect romantic comedy, but it’s got plenty of cute moments, and there’s an added bonus of food porn to boot.
Blast From the Past
The home screens of streaming services are always packed with the latest new releases, but we don’t spend enough time appreciating how much good library content is streaming across all of these platforms. Each week, Stream On will spotlight one less-than-new favorite (must pre-date the founding of Consequence, so 15 years or older) that deserves attention from modern-day eyes.
Go (1999, Film)
Go (Columbia Pictures)
Directed by: Doug Liman
Cast: William Fichtner, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr, Sarah Polley, Scott Wolf, J. E. Freeman, Breckin Meyer, Timothy Olyphant
Streaming on: Netflix
There’s so much to recommend Go, a 1999 favorite that moves at a breakneck pace between action, comedy, and crime, featuring a wild ensemble of actors, especially in smaller roles, like a pre-Gilmore Girls Melissa McCarthy and a pre-30 Rock Jane Krakowski. There’s also Timothy Olyphant making a huge impression as a drug dealer who loathes The Family Circus — a formative performance for many people of a certain generation. The witty script by John August features three interlocking segments that range in quality, but all have their high points, and the rush of figuring out how the stories connect gets amplified by the very of-its-era EDM-focused soundtrack. Go isn’t just the title — it’s the whole vibe.
A Special Guest Recommends!
Liz isn’t the only person in the world capable of suggesting stuff for people to watch… So each week, Stream On will now feature picks from a special guest! Said special guest could be literally anyone from the world of entertainment — actors, writers, directors, musicians, or anyone else Liz thinks might be watching something interesting.
This Week: Cookie Queens Director Alysa Nahmias and Nikki!
Cookie Queens (Roadside Attractions) and Enola Holmes (Netflix)
Who Are They? I really loved the documentary Cookie Queens, an in-depth look at selling Girl Scout cookies — a life-defining experience for so many young women and (as the movie explores) big business for the Girl Scouts of America. Director Alysa Nahmias focuses on four girls who are different ages and at different levels of selling: One wants to break her record from last year (which was in the thousands) while another just wants to sell enough boxes to win a free bandana.
During a press junket, I spoke with Alysa as well as one of the Scouts featured: Nikki (pictured above) was nine years old while filming, and wanted to win a trophy for her selling efforts the way her older sister once did. The movie received a standing ovation at Sundance as well as heaps of critical acclaim; Alysa credits the positive audience response in part to the fact that one in three American women were Girl Scouts at one point in their life, and they’re “feeling like they’re seeing that experience reflected. It’s been fun to feel that.”
Nikki herself felt that, remembering her reaction to seeing the movie for the first time. “I was like, okay, so they’ve been filming me for a while. I just can’t wait to see how it turns out. And when I first watched it, I was like, this is going to mean a lot to a lot of people.”
As Alysa says, “seeing girls like Nikki and her sisters, who are allowed to be ambitious, sometimes even cutthroat and competitive, but are also allowed to be vulnerable and tender… Those are the kinds of coming-of-age stories that really move people. Girl Scout or not Girl Scout.”
What Do They Recommend? Alysa mentioned that while she was working on Cookie Queens, she looked at a number of scripted movies for inspiration, including a few that are VOD-only like Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and the remarkable Iraqi film The President’s Cake. In the streaming realm, though, she recommended Sean Baker’s The Florida Project (HBO Max) as well as Celine Sciamma’s Petite Maman (Kanopy, Tubi), which “I really loved for its multi-generational dynamics, and the way it was shot.”
Nikki, meanwhile, recommended the Enola Holmes movies (Netflix). “They’re about this girl who’s really curious, which has a nice connection to Cookie Queens because all the girls, they’re not going to give up. That’s basically what the girl is doing in that movie. She was curious and looking out for people.”
Thank you so much to Alysa and Nikki for their picks! Cookie Queens is in theaters now, and believe me, I’ll be sure to mention it here when it starts streaming.
One Last One Before Bed
Finally, let’s spotlight a movie or TV show that’s not only great, but won’t take up too much of your time: Think of this section as the answer to the question “What’s something I can watch before hitting the hay, that won’t keep me up too late?” The only rule is that it has to be less than 95 minutes if it’s a movie, or less than 30 minutes an episode if it’s a TV show. Otherwise, sky’s the limit!
Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham (Short Film)
Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham, screenshot via YouTube
Directed by: Miguel Jiron
Cast: John Mulaney, Aaron LaPlante
Streaming on: YouTube
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now the highest-grossing movie of the year, and coming in a few weeks is Coyote vs. Acme, the long-awaited Looney Tunes live-action/animation event that I can’t wait to see in a sold-out movie theater. So let’s bring both things together with this incredibly fun animated short originally produced as backstory for John Mulaney’s character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Caught in a Ham quickly speeds through Peter Porker facing off against a not-so-intimidating nemesis, only to then shift to some Duck Amuck-inspired antics. The story then continues into Into the Spider-Verse — one of the best Spider-Man movies ever made (if you ask us here at Consequence, that is). You might have seen this one before, since it’s been out for a few years. But it holds up great.
We’ll be back next week with more picks — in the meantime, stay safe out there, or better yet stay inside, where it’s definitely safe, and there’s so much film and TV to watch. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter!
