Guide
April streaming highlights
by Luca Fontana
February streaming highlights: the movies and series you just can’t miss
1.2.2023
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
New month, new streaming highlights. Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Sky Show or Prime Video? Here’s what’s on streaming platforms this February.
I ordered a chicken and an egg. I’ll let you know which came first. Until then, here are the best series and films appearing on Netflix and other platforms this month.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Marvel Studios has been in a mini-crisis since «Avengers: Endgame». Gone are the days when movies like «Guardians of the Galaxy», «Captain America: The Winter Soldier», «Thor: Ragnarok» and «Black Panther» sparked appreciative nods even outside of the nerdy crowd. Marvel movies have come to feel rather arbitrary. Kevin Feige’s infamous multiphase master plan has long sunken into the depths of obscurity.
Here’s the bad news: «Black Panther: Wakanda Forever», released in theatres last November, does nothing to thrust the MCU in a coherent direction. The good news? Looked at on its own, «Wakanda Forever» is still a damn good movie, despite its difficult production history. When Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman died at 43 after a long battle with cancer, the franchise not only lost one of its most important characters, but the cast and crew also lost a beloved friend. You can feel that throughout each second of the movie. When the characters in the film cry bitter tears for their beloved King T’Challa, they’re not fake tears; they’re real ones. The people behind the camera were tight-knit. A sad situation – for all of us.
Start: 1 February
Where: Disney+
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
As you may have learned in my guide to Netflix filters, I’ve become more and more interested in anime movies and series. That’s exactly why «Bleach» caught my eye among Disney’s upcoming February releases.
When TV Tokyo first released «Bleach» in the early 2000s (the Japanese channel aired many iconic anime series, from «Naruto» to «Pokémon» to «Cowboy Bebop»), the anime quickly became a fan favourite. At the centre is teenager Ichigo Kurosaki, who can see ghosts and shinigami. In Japanese culture, the latter are beings that stand for death personified and lead the souls of deceased people still bound to the living world into the world of the dead. Ichigo joins the shinigami and starts fighting against the evil spirits of the world.
When what was believed to be the last episode of the anime aired in 2012, the disappointment was huge, especially given the manga – that is, the Japanese «comics» the anime was based on – continued to be released. But come 2020, fans got their happy ending: the streaming platform Crunchyroll confirmed it’d be reprising the anime and thus finishing the story – with «Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War». So, now’s the time to catch up on anything you’ve missed before watching the finale on Crunchyroll or Disney+.
Start: 15 February
Where: Disney+
Hello Tomorrow!, Season 1
Flying Chevrolets. And flying to work with a jetpack. Walking the dog? There are floating metal disks to take care of that. And the moon is dotted with chic suburban homes. I’m sure you’re no stranger to the visualisations and concepts of the future that people envisioned in the 1950s. What if this retro future were actually real?
«Hello Tomorrow!», the ten-part dramedy series available on Apple TV+, is set in just such a world. In it, Emmy winner and «The Morning Show» star Billy Crudup plays the charismatic tradesman Jack. Jack believes in an even brighter future ... and in temp apartments on the moon, which he hawks out. Until his unshakeable optimism is put to the test.
Start: 15 February
Where: Disney+
Django, Season 1
«Whaaat, there’s gonna be a «Django Unchained» series – with a white Django!?» was my first thought upon seeing the trailer. My research revealed that the series has nothing to do with Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 Western. Not directly, at least. The series is, in fact, said to be a much more faithful interpretation of «Django» – the 1966 original. Tarantino did also consult the original, but much more loosely. For instance, in the 1966 movie, Django wasn’t a black slave trying to free his wife from the clutches of a sadistic slave owner. Django was a taciturn, ragged gunslinger who constantly dragged a coffin behind him in which he hid his machine gun. He was played by Franco Nero – the very same Franco Nero who made a guest appearance in Tarantino’s 2012 movie – officially, as Amerigo Veseppi, unofficially as «his» Django. There’s that scene in the movie where Franco Nero knows very well how to spell Django.
The original Spaghetti Western was directed by Sergio Corbucci, with Sergio Leone, who’s famous for his Dollars Trilogy with Clint Eastwood, serving as producer. With «Django», the two created one of the most important and influential Western classics, thanks in part to the large dose of social criticism. So, I can already imagine the direction the «contemporary interpretation» (as the press call it) will go in. It’s a direction I’m quite excited about.
Start: 17 February
Where: Sky Show with Entertainment Pass
Shaq, docuseries
Right off the bat: I don’t know much about basketball. Still, the big, iconic figures fascinate me. Especially Michael Jordan. No surprise there; after all, he was the prototype of the modern sports megastar who achieves fame far beyond the boundaries of his own sport. He was the first to turn himself into a brand – to commercialise his name. He even founded his own fashion labels and could be seen literally everywhere: on TV, in cinemas, on talk shows, in commercials, on posters and, of course, on the court, where he won title after title. Streaming tip side note: «The Last Dance» on Netflix.
There was only one guy who managed to, at least temporarily, shake Jordan’s throne: Shaquille O’Neal. At 2.16 metres, 150 kilos and yet agile as a gazelle, he’s a force of nature. As early as in 1995, he was in the finals of the NBA as part of the young Orlando Magic. Along the way, he faced off against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and won, which many interpreted as a power shift. Jordan struck back a year later – but Shaq was only just getting started in his career. He’d go on to win the league four times and be selected to the All-Star team 15 times in a row. Like Jordan, he’d establish himself as an actor and rap star. Later, he’d even wind up in court, defending himself against murder charges – successfully. Shaq O’Neal is definitely one of those dazzling legends of the sport who deserves a documentary. This is a must-see for me.
Start: 17 February
Where: Sky Show with Entertainment Pass
The Black Phone
Are you looking for something exciting to pass the time? «The Black Phone» could be just the thing for you. Last year, the mystery psychological thriller was released in theatres. I went to see it with low expectations, and ended up pleasantly surprised.
It’s 1978. In Denver, five children have disappeared without a trace. Thirteen-year-old Finney (Mason Thames) is the sixth victim to be kidnapped and locked in a soundproof basement. His captor? An unnamed man who always wears a mask matching his mood (Ethan Hawke). Finney’s situation is hopeless. It’s just a matter of time until he’s gone for good. There’s no way out of the basement. Nothing that could be used to orchestrate an escape. Not even the black phone whose connection has been cut. But then ... the phone starts ringing. How’s that even possible? Not believing his own ears, Finney picks up the phone. What he hears hits him like thunder. On the other end of the line are the other children who’ve been kidnapped and murdered by the killer. From beyond the grave, they give him instructions on how he might learn from their failed escape attempts to ultimately free himself. But time isn’t on his side; it won’t be long before the killer carries out his plan to murder Finney.
Start: 17 February
Where: Sky Show with Cinema Pass
Drive to Survive, Season 5
«Drive to Survive» is not only the most famous, but also the most controversial Formula 1 miniseries in the form of a documentary. Here’s the «formula»: shortly before the beginning of each new F1 season, a new season of the miniseries is released. It retells the story of the previous F1 season from the point of view of the drivers and team leaders. Mind you, not in some half-assed way; the miniseries is often so overdramatised that it borders on fiction. That’s exactly why Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen, for example, didn’t participate in Season 4. He accused the makers of portraying him as the butt of the paddock in true reality TV style.
All this to say, «Drive to Survive» should be taken with a grain of salt. It features radio messages that are taken out of context and rivalries that are amped up far beyond reality. Not to mention overtaking manoeuvres between the two last-place finishers in a race that are cut so dramatically as to resemble a spectacular duel for the title. And so on, and so on. Regardless, I like the miniseries. It’s precisely this over-the-top drama that makes it perfect to set the mood for the upcoming F1 season. After all, Formula 1 thrives on drama on and off the track. It always has.
Start: 24 February
Where: Netflix
The Consultant, Season 1
Christoph Waltz as a sleazy yet somehow downright polite sociopath whose mere presence makes your skin crawl? No, I’m not talking about «Inglourious Basterds». I’m talking about «The Consultant», a new eight-part Amazon Prime series.
In it, Waltz plays Regus Patoff, a management consultant who bullies and harasses employees. His mission: to help the app-based gaming company CompWare out of a crisis. But something’s off about the whimsically dressed man whose smile never quite reaches his eyes. First, the consultant is plainly annoying. Then he becomes intrusive. And then he gets downright evil – until he gains so much power that he himself ultimately seems to run the company.
Start: 24 February
Where: Amazon Prime Video
Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.chI'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»
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