The Best Movies to Stream This Week

Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That's why I've pored over the release schedules of major streaming services to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch right now.

This week's best new movie releases are heavy on documentaries. Jim Henson: Idea Man digs into the unique vision and legacy of the iconoclastic artist, MoviePass, MovieCrash explores the corporate skullduggery behind the once-popular MoviePass, and there's a new rock doc about The Beach Boys over on Disney+. On the non-doc side, there's a new special episode of South Park that takes on weight-loss drugs that's hilarious in that special South Park style.

Jim Henson: Idea Man

Ron Howard directed this Disney+ original documentary about Jim Henson, the creator of the muppets. Idea Man explores the work and legacy of this visionary artist, from his humble beginning in local kiddie TV to his complete re-imagining of the genre of children's television with Sesame Street, and on to mainstream success with The Muppet Show and the many movies his creations starred in. As of this posting, Jim Henson: Idea Man is sitting at a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, so you literally could not watch a better movie this week.

Where to stream: Disney+

South Park: the End of Obesity

South Park has been around for such a long time, I sometimes forget it exists, but then I catch an episode and remember that it's still hilarious, smart, and fearless, nearly 30 years into its journey. In this 50-minute episode, Cartman is prescribed Semaglutide for weight loss and hilarity/social satire ensue as the gang navigates the American healthcare system.

Where to stream: Paramount+

The Beach Boys

I love The Beach Boys. Their music is great, and the band's behind-the-scenes madness rivals the excesses of any rock band ever, despite their squeaky clean image. The Beach Boys documentary from Disney+ probably won't delve too deeply into their darker days—too many actual band members are in it—but the music is peerless, and the Boys' relationship with their nightmarish father/manager Murry Wilson is fair game for pop culture ghouls like me.

Where to stream: Disney+

MoviePass, Moviecrash

On paper, a documentary about a dead movie ticket subscription service might not sound interesting, but MoviePass's meteoric rise and plunge back to Earth is a fascinating study in bad business ideas, hubris, and corporate double-dealing, and the positive early reviews from Rotten Tomatoes are evidence that this documentary lays the facts out with style. MoviePass, Moviecrash is told by the men who started the company and later had to watch from the sidelines as new executives piloted the aircraft straight into the ground.

Where to stream: Max

Last week's picks

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Dune: Part Two is a massive, beautiful, triumph of world building, but director Denis Villeneuve doesn't ignore the details to focus on spectacle. The story picks up where Dune left off. Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), are the last survivors of the House Atreides and they find refuge with the Fremen, many of whom regard Paul as their prophesied messiah, destined to lead them to freedom. The evil Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), has more diabolical plans in mind. While Dune: Part Two is the kind of spectacle film best seen in theaters, watching it on streaming lets you pause and rewind to catch the details you might have missed on first viewing.

Where to stream: Max

Ferrari (2023)

In Ferrari, director Michael Mann tells the story of the man behind the iconic car. Enzo Ferrari, played by Adam Driver, is an former Formula 1 driver whose company, racing team, and marriage are all poised on the edge of financial disaster. In response, Ferrari puts everything he has behind the effort to win the Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile race across Italy. Ferrari also stars Penèlope Cruz as Laura Ferrari, and race-car driving actor Patrick Dempsey as Piero Taruffi.

Where to stream: Hulu

Atlas

In Atlas, Jennifer Lopez beats up AI. She plays agent Atlas Shepard, a wisecracking badass who has devoted her life to hunting down rogue artificial intelligence Harlan. Trapped on a distant planet with her life in danger, Agent J-Lo is forced to rely on a computer program named Smith to survive. But in classic Odd Couple style, agent Shepard hates all AI, so it's not going to be an easy friendship. I didn't have "Jennifer Lopez plays a science fiction action hero battling super computers" on my bingo card, but now that I've heard about it, it makes a weird kind of sense.

Where to stream: Netflix

Queen of the Deuce

This Apple original documentary tells the "wait, what?" story of Chelly Wilson, a holocaust survivor who became a porn magnate in 1960s, '70s, and '80s New York. From her apartment above the Adonis Theatre on 42nd street, Wilson built an adult entertainment empire, first by producing films like Come Ride the Wild Pink Horse, then by buying up the notorious Times Square movie houses that screened them, all while doting over her beloved grandchildren.

Where to stream: AppleTV

Rachel Feinstein: Big Guy

The comedy will just absolutely not stop this month on Netflix, no matter how you might beg. Rachel Feinstein is a comedians' comedian who has won fans for her whip-smart observational comedy. She's the kind of always-on-it pro who gets laughs whether she's playing some dinky club on a Wednesday night or co-hosting The View. Don't miss her Netflix special.

Where to stream: Netflix

The Straight Story (1999)

Director David Lynch is known for his surreal, often confrontational cinematic excess in films like Mulholland Drive, but in The Straight Story, Lynch plays it, well, straight. The story is so simple it's practically a non-plot—an old man drives a lawn mower from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his estranged brother who recently suffered a stroke—but it's told with such subtlety and gentleness that the end result is breathtaking. The Straight Story is part of a Criterion collection of films from 1999, and really all of them are brilliant: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Ratcatcher, Go, The Virgin Suicides, Summer of Sam—I mean, come on.

Where to stream: Criterion Channel

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