What to Watch This Weekend: Best Movies & TV Shows on Netflix, HBO & More

Tenet Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros.

April showers bring May flowers and a surplus of new streaming options to binge across your favorite platforms including Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu and more. Revisit Christopher Nolan’s time traveling drama Tenet and Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts’ iconic partnership in August: Osage County. Or, catch the latest original content with performances from Michael B. Jordan, Elizabeth Moss and Tan Kheng Hua. Escapist opportunities abound in Observer Entertainment’s latest streaming guide.

Tenet

Christopher Nolan’s epic thriller Tenet hits HBO Max Sunday and features the star-studded cast of John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branaugh. The film depicts a secret agent forced to travel through time in an effort to prevent the impending destruction of World War III, armed with a single word for a weapon. Tenet won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects and has grossed more than $363 million since its release. Watch Tenet May 1 on HBO Max.

Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse

Michael B. Jordan plays a revenge-ridden NAVY seal attempting to avenge his wife’s murder in Without Remorse. He also finds himself the unfortunate middle man of imploding tensions between Russia and the United States. Directed by Stefano Sollima and co-starring Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Brett Gelman, Colman Domingo and Guy Pearce, the film pays homage to American novelist Tom Clancy’s iconic character John Clark. Observer critic Oliver Jones praised Jordan’s performance, stating, “With his outrageously articulated physique and an unsmiling visage featuring faraway eyes conveying both determination and recently experienced loss, Jordan is more than up to the task.”  Watch Without Remorse on Amazon Prime.

August: Osage County

August: Osage County arrives on Netflix this week, depicting the bond and strife of an Oklahoma family reunited in the wake of a family crisis. Directed by John Wells and starring Meryl Streep, Dermot Mulroney and Julia Roberts, the film centers its steely-nerved women at the heart of its plot. Watch August: Osage County on Netflix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2b7NiHJLtA

Kung Fu

Kung Fu, available on the CW’s streaming app, is the first network drama to feature a predominantly Asian cast. The action-adventure series follows a Chinese-American woman who defends her hometown using martial-arts training developed from a lengthy stay at a Chinese monastery. Starring Olivia Liang, Shannon Dang, Gavin Stenhouse and Tan Kheng Hua, the series represents a gender-flipped revival of the 1972 show. Speaking with Observer, Kheng said: “This re-imagining is beautiful, relevant and necessary. If you’re going to re-imagine something, re-imagine something relevant for this time and this Kung Fu is relevant for this time.” Watch Kung Fu on the CW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg_160Be71g

The Handmaid’s Tale

Hulu’s epic series The Handmaid’s Tale is returning for a fourth season, this time with Elizabeth Moss behind the camera in addition to her starring role in front. The series pulls inspiration from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel in which June Osbourne’s rare fertility forces her to act as a reproductive surrogate for the Commander. In season four, viewers can anticipate June’s struggle to attain liberation for herself and her daughter as she leads the Mayday movement. Watch The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.

 

The Big Shot With Bethenny

The Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel returns to television with her show The Big Shot With Bethenny, a collaboration with producer Mark Burnett. The reality series tracks contestants’ competition to become Frankel’s vice president of operations for her lifestyle brand Skinnygirl. Frankel spoke with Observer about the grueling job the show portrays. “It’s intense. There’s no way to describe,” she said. “It’s hard to keep up. There’s not a person who’s worked with me that has not said that I have learned more from this job than any job they’ve ever had.” Watch The Big Shot with Bethenny on HBO Max. 

The Story of Late Night

The six part docuseries The Story of Late Night takes viewers through a 60 year history of late night television’s most memorable epochs and discusses where the genre fits in today’s evolving television landscape. Produced by Bill Carter, David Brady, Kate Harrison Karman and John Ealer, the series also contains interviews with late night staples such as Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Chelsea Handler, Trevor Noah, Conan O’Brien and more. Watch The Story of Late Night on CNN May 2 at 9 pm ET. 

Keeping Watch is a regular endorsement of TV and movies worth your time.