We recommend: The best new movies and TV series

Challengers: Director Luca Guadagnino—of the ‘Bones And All’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’ fame is back! This time with an unsettling love triangle between tennis stars—coach Tashi Duncan (played by Zendaya), her husband Art (Mike Faist) and her ex-boyfriend Patrick (Josh O’Connor). Fair warning, the trailer reveals much of the plot but the story goes back and forth into themes of love, marriage and individual ambition.

Reviews are good, as expected. The Guardian is in awe and writes: “Moment by moment, line by line and scene by scene, Challengers delivers sexiness and laughs, intrigue and resentment, and Guadagnino’s signature is there in the intensity, the closeups and the music stabs.” Vanity Fair calls the movie “a fascinating art-house tweak on a conventional sports movie.” Our take: We are huge fans of the cast and Luca and are excited to watch how this match plays out. ‘Challengers’ is now showing in cinemas. 

Late Night with the Devil: This is a found-footage horror movie set in the 1970s and follows Jack Delroy and his late night talk show Night Owls. The show is struggling and the ratings are down. Jack Delroy and his team plan a Halloween night special that features a psychic and a demonically possessed 13-year-old girl for an interview on the show. All things break once the show starts, and Delroy learns the consequences of trying to wake the devil up. 

The reviewers loved this movie. The New York Times writes that this movie is “diabolically good fun” and The Guardian liked the satire around network talk shows and found the film to be “Smart, cynical and at times devilishly funny”. Our take: We really like the premise and it has been a while since we watched a horror film on the big screen. The movie is out in theatres now. 

Abigail: Here’s another film for the fans of the horror genre. ‘Abigail’ is a movie that features a group of kidnappers who have a highly profitable task at their hands: kidnap a young ballerina Abigail, and demand a hefty ransom from her uber-rich father. The group is successful in kidnapping Abigail, and are in a hideway mansion waiting for the ransom. But, there’s a problem: they soon discover that Abigail is a powerful vampire who is now out to hunt the gang while they’re trapped. What follows is a chaotic and hilarious attempt at survival. 

The reviews are mixed. IGN is impressed with the performances of the cast and finds the film to be “a lethally funny tale”. Variety doesn’t think the film is compelling and is a “monotonous genre mashup”. Our take: We enjoy vampire tales and quite like the storyline of a young girl out to get her kidnappers. The film is out in the theatres. 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: The newest instalment of the iconic Ghostbusters movies is finally here. After 40 long years, the original crew reunite—comprising Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), Dr. Venkman (Murray) and the sassy secretary, Janine (Annie Potts). They join the ‘Afterlife’ team—which has the physics teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Callie (Carrie Coon), Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard). Together, they are to save the world from a second Ice Age.

Reviews are meh. Empire calls it an “overpopulated mish-mash, with too many heroes to wrangle.” Similarly, New York Times finds it to be “overstuffed” and “erratically funny”. Our take: We think this is for the hardcore ‘Ghostbusters’ fans and also for those who are looking for a light horror-comedy this weekend. You can watch it in the theatres. 

Dil Dosti Dilemma: This coming of age series follows Asmara, a spoilt rich brat from Bangalore who plans to spend her summer holidays in Canada. But her plans are crushed when she makes fun of her grandmother’s less than posh circumstances. Instead of Canada, Asmara is sent to live with her grandparents in a middle-class neighbourhood in Bangalore (a fact she hides from her friends). We see Asmara trying to find her place in Tibri Road, face her struggles and build bonds with new people in her life. 

The reviews find the series to be mediocre but passable. Scroll has praise for the show and calls it a “low-cal, feel-good entertainer that gradually draws you in”. Film Companion isn’t so kind about the plot, and notes that it is a “fluffy, frothy teenage drama”. Our take: We are in the mood of a low stakes, light-hearted series and this fits the bill. The show is streaming now on Prime Video. 

Dead Boy Detectives: This week has been stuffed with ghost stories! Here is a series based on the beloved comic series from Neil Gaiman—who created ‘The Sandman’—which makes it a spinoff series. Two ghosts—Edwin who died over a century ago and Charles in the 1980s—are best friends. They find there have been increased cases of death by suicides and possession and start to investigate. The best part: It is only 6-episodes long.

Reviews are quite lukewarm for this. Variety is disappointed with the show’s aesthetic but says “‘Dead Boy Detectives’ fares better in juxtaposing quotidian teen concerns.” Hollywood Reporter concludes that it is a “zippy, satisfying binge.” Our take: Only six episodes? Yup, definitely an easy commitment. You can stream it on Netflix.

Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story: Adding to the list of music documentaries on iconic bands, this one—as you guessed it—looks at the pop-rock band Bon Jovi and the history of its making to its success and how it packs all that nostalgia into its present-day performances. The series is a four-part exclusive—each about an hour and more—with archival clips and interviews with band members—leading man Bongiovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, bassist Hugh McDonald and former guitarist Richie Sambora.

Reviews are good. The Guardians says that the docu-series is a “surprisingly devastating rumination on lost youth” and the opener is its “strongest instalment”. Hollywood Reporter is of the view that it is a “perfectly nice retrospective, approachable and amiable and affectionate” but not a particularly “insightful” one. Our take: Bon Jovi and rock history fans will take delight in the watch. You can watch it on Dinsey+ Hotstar.

Goodbye Earth: Here’s one recommendation for sci-fi fans. This Korean drama is premised on the 200-day countdown to doomsday—and chronicles the various reactions and plans hatched by the characters in such a situation. The story closely follows three characters: school teacher Se-kyung (played by ’Ahn Eun-jin from ‘Hospital Playlist’ fame), priest Sung-jae and army battalion commander In-a (Kim Yoon-hye). 

There are no reviews for the show. Our take: We think it might be the perfect replacement for ‘3 Body Problem’. The first episode dropped on Netflix yesterday.

City Hunter: This is a live adaptation based on a very popular manga and anime series from the 1980s. The Japanese show follows an eccentric, flirtatious and sometimes cold protagonist Ryo Saeba who is a “sweeper” i.e. who cleans up trouble in the gritty underworld of Tokyo. This is the origin story of what the underworld calls a ‘City Hunter’.

We found only one review for the show. South China Morning Post writes: “Accessible and endlessly energetic, City Hunter should hit the target for fans and first-timers alike.”. Our take: We have been getting some good live-action adaptations of iconic anime in the last few years. Fans may want to check it out. You can stream it on Netflix.

Here’s a new chapter…

The Big Door Prize Season 2: This feel-good sci-fi series is based on MO Walsh’s novel of the same name in which a mysterious machine appears in the grocery store of a small town Deerfield. This machine predicts the “life potential” of those who consult it. The second season follows the residents as the machine prepares them for the “next step”—whatever that may be. The series is written by the writers of ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and stars Emmy Award winner Chris O’Dowd. The show is streaming on Apple TV+.