Ozark Season 4: Part 2 - Netflix
Picked by Producer Lawrence Banton
It's the end of an amazing era as Netflix's Ozark prepares to come to a close. This isn't a spoiler but with significant deaths at the end of Season 4: Part 1, I cannot wait to see how the drama unfolds. And for Marty and Wendy Byrde, played by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney, what will happen to the empire they've built? Do they eventually escape the grip of the Mexican Cartel? What about their family? So many questions to be answered in this final act — I am fully confident that the writers will nail the ending.
David Spade: Nothing Personal - Netflix
Picked by Producer Jack Gallop
It’s back-to-back weeks of stand-up for me. David Spade’s new stand-up special Nothing Personal is a vibe switch from my recommendation last week, Bill Maher: Adulting. Rather than focusing on closing the gap between political spectrums, Spade’s special chooses to zero in on the uncomplicated things in life. Nothing Personal probably won’t win an Emmy, but it’s perfect for a casual, late-night watch. Spade utilizes familiarity and of course, self-deprecation, to hit his marks. If you’ve ever seen interviews with Spade — one of the best talk show guests in the game – you know he’s a comedy purist, and it shows in Nothing Personal: an hour of goofy jokes with a light dash of social commentary.
We Own This City - HBO Max
Picked by Digital Editor Mike Nam
It's been two decades since David Simon brought us the groundbreaking series The Wire on HBO, and now he's returning to the streets of Charm City, adapting the book of the same name by former Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton. The story follows the downfall of the notorious Gun Trace Task Force of the Baltimore Police Department, an elite unit tasked with tackling the surge in gun crimes that followed the unrest stemming from the death of Freddie Gray while he was in police custody back in 2015. The unit ended up becoming a wildly corrupt criminal organization unto itself. Jon Bernthal and Wunmi Mosaku star in this gritty six-part miniseries that premiered on Monday.
Old Enough - Netflix
Picked by Sr. News Editor Dina Ross
If you haven't watched sugar-sweet Old Enough yet, now is the time. Episodes from the long-running Japanese series are now available on Netflix. Each show features a very young child going off to complete their first errand. They dutifully (and sometimes not so dutifully) grab their bags and head to the grocery store, farm, or even home to help out their families. Much like those old Family Circus cartoons, it's not always a straight line from start to finish, but it's endearingly entertaining every time. And I feel fine giving you this spoiler — each episode always ends with sweet hugs and kisses.
The Rock - Hulu
Picked by Reporter Alex Vuocolo
After a decade of mostly making giant robot movies, director Michael Bay has returned to more meat-and-potatoes action fare with Ambulance. The Los Angeles-set film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, is about a bank robbery gone wrong that turns into a citywide manhunt. Bay takes this simple backdrop and uses every tool in the toolbox, from wildly innovative drone shots to the kind of chaotic but deftly orchestrated car chases that give meaning to the word "Bayhem." Ambulance is still in theaters, but if you want a taste of Bay working in this mode, check out the 1996 action classic The Rock on Hulu before it leaves the platform at the end of this month. The Rock is the kind of unselfconscious action bonanza that is all too rare in the Disney-fied multiplexes of the 2020s. It also stars Nicolas Cage, who is having a moment with the meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent now in theaters.
