Damian Lewis attends Showtime's "Billions" Season 2 premiere at Cipriani on Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Here comes the weekend again, so it's time to relax and peruse our what-to-watch list. From the long-awaiting return of Billions to a show about a murder mystery podcast and everything we love (and hate) about New York, Cheddar's digital team might have a few suggestions.
Billions: Season 5 - Showtime
Picked by Producer Lawrence Banton
After more than a year-long mid-season hiatus when the pandemic shut down production, Bobby Axelrod, played by actor Damian Lewis, is back to managing his hedge fund. Showtime’s Billions explores the sometimes erratic behavior of the billionaire and his pursuit to manipulate markets in his favor. The entire series is a tug-of-war between good and bad. And for the not-so-business savvy, you can even use it as an introduction into the world of institutional investing! Of course, the show isn’t strictly business: there’s drama and lots of it! Sex, lies, videotape, and billion-dollar investments is what keeps fans running back to this series.
New York Stories - The Criterion Channel
Picked by Reporter Alex Vuocolo
Excuse my local bias here, but The Criterion Channel this month started streaming dozens of classic films based in New York City. The collection, titled "New York Stories," is broken up into multiple categories, from "Downtown" to "New York Romance'' to "New York in the 1970s." Some are likely familiar to film buffs, such as The Naked City, West Side Story, and Do the Right Thing, but there are dozens of fascinating deep-cuts also based in the Big Apple. If you're looking for a seedy crime drama, I recommend Abel Ferrara's King of New York, starring Christopher Walken. If you like documentaries, you can't go wrong with Paris Is Burning, which chronicles drag culture in Harlem. For a thriller, go with the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, which no doubt has some of the best native New York character actors in the history of cinema. And for my personal favorite, check out Martin Scorsese's underrated After Hours. It's the story of a guy who sets off into the night and finds himself in a whirlwind of bizarre characters and absurd situations that might just be familiar to long-time residents and visitors alike.
Only Murders in the Building - Hulu
Picked by Sr. News Editor Dina Ross
While searching for The D'Amelio Show last week, I saw Only Murders in the Building promoted on Hulu. It's been a while since I enjoyed some of the absurd comedy that Steve Martin and Martin Short are so well known for, but I'm here for it now. Selena Gomez is certainly a surprising addition to the new Three Amigos and I'm excited to see how she mixes with a couple of comedic greats.
Looking for more to watch? Check out our recommendations from last week and the week before.
The gaming industry has seen multiple large scales deals this month alone, including Microsoft's megadeal for Activision Blizzard. And, seemingly in response, rival Sony, picked up Bungie for $3.6 billion, a studio once owned by both Microsoft and Activision. The sector is reportedly on track to spend $150 billion on mergers and acquisitions just this year alone, a record-breaking total, according to investment firm Drake Star Partners. Michael Metzger, a partner at the firm specializing in technology, media, and communications, joined Cheddar to discuss the flurry of deals in the gaming space and what might be behind the hot M&A activity.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs and TRM Labs, joins Cheddar News to discuss why Facebook is ditching its crypto project and what that means for the space.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
A virtual gathering in the online space, Decentraland, of Elvis Presley impersonators is looking to grab the Guinness World Record for most Elvis impersonators in one place after the record-keeping org recently approved the use of avatars as stand-ins for people.
A powerful winter storm hit the Northeast over the weekend leaving 100,000 New Yorkers in the dark as well as snowfall up to 30.9 inches in parts of Massachusetts. The nor'easter hit with blizzard conditions of wind speed and poor visibility.
After classic rocker Neil Young demanded removal of his music from Spotify over vaccine misinformation coming from The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the platform made the decision to take down Young's songs and continue supporting Rogan with whom they have an exclusive contract. The move touched off a firestorm of controversy, leading to responses from both the streaming service and the podcasting host. Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR, joined Cheddar to break down the latest on the fracas. "I think when [Spotify] initially said, we're not going to be commenting on that, that was a silly move because guess what? They did end up commenting about it, and nine times out of 10, when an organization says they're not going to be issuing a comment, they ultimately do," Nierman noted.
The 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" has been given a very different ending in China — and this time, the authorities win. Cheddar News speaks with Joan Solsman, senior media reporter at CNET who breaks down how China is using films for political messaging.
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
