What to watch in theaters and at home this weekend, May 3-5, 2024
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Welcome to the first weekend of May. As a friendly reminder, Mother's Day is May 12 in the USA and is fast approaching. I'll try to put up some gift options this weekend (but a Star Wars guide for May the 4th will come first).
If you're thinking of heading out to theaters, your new option is "The Fall Guy," a fantastic action film with a bit of humor and romance from "Deadpool 2" director David Leitch. The film stars Ryan Gosling as a stuntman tangled up in an unfolding mystery. It's mostly just crazy stunts with bits of plot to connect them. It might be the most fun you have in a movie theater this year.
Seeing as it is the start of the month, there is a surplus of titles available to stream. If you are looking for a by-the-numbers romantic drama you'll probably enjoy Anne Hathaway in "The Idea of You." I found the film to be too conventional. The main hook of the film is that the story sees an older woman romanced by a young and massively famous pop star. Is this what Coachella has devolved into? Or is this a warning sent to us from the future? I love Hathaway. Were I to make a list of people I’d love to work with, she’d be in my top 10. I tried to like “The Idea of You,” and there are some interesting moments in the final act and a lot of good intentions, but it never worked for me. It checked off all the boxes and there was cheering from the audience at the end. Maybe you’ll like it?
Saturday is Star Wars Day and to celebrate Disney+ has released “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.” We’re given two three-part stories. Each chapter is around 15 minutes. Both narratives give back stories to secondary characters from the Star Wars Universe. In this case, those characters are Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee. You don’t need to be a Star Wars expert to follow the stories, but some of their significance may be lost if you aren’t familiar with the Disney+ series “Ahsoka” for Elsbeth and the fifth season of “The Clone Wars” for Offee. I hope Star Wars isn’t going too far into the weeds for the casual fan.
If you’re in the mood for music, “Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme’s acclaimed Talking Heads concert film is making its way to Max.
Here are the trailers and synopsizes for those four films and more than 20 additional titles making their streaming debuts this weekend.
The Fall Guy (Theaters)
Synopsis: He’s a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment. And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?
The Idea of You (Prime)
Synopsis: Based on the acclaimed, contemporary love story of the same name, The Idea of You centers on Solène (Anne Hathaway), a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet. When Solène must step in to chaperone her teenage daughter’s trip to the Coachella Music Festival after her ex bails at the last minute, she has a chance encounter with Hayes and there is an instant, undeniable spark. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn’t long before Hayes’ superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for..
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (Disney+)
Synopsis: “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire” is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.
Stop Making Sense (Max)
Synopsis: Newly restored in 4K to coincide with its 40th anniversary, the 1984 film was directed by renowned filmmaker Jonathan Demme and is considered by critics as the greatest concert film of all time. Stop Making Sense stars core band members David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison along with Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steve Scales, Lynn Mabry and Edna Holt. The live performance was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December of 1983 and features Talking Heads' most memorable songs.
The American Society of Magical Negroes (Peacock)
Synopsis: The American Society of Magical Negroes is a fresh, satirical comedy about a young man, Aren, who is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people's lives easier.
Beautiful Rebel (Netflix)
Synopsis: A fragment of the life of one of the most incisive and renowned voices of our music, a thirty years old story starting from childhood and the roots of her life and career, up to her consecration, passing through a turning point that cuts Gianna's life into two parts, so much so that it is considered her true birth: the year 1983.
“Beautiful Rebel” takes the audience on a journey into the life and creative mind of a woman capable of shaping emotions with poetry and music. A unique, revolutionary artist, outside of any scheme and definition, in constant search of inspiration, of transformation, who has made music and freedom her manifesto.
La Civil (Kino Film Collection)
Synopsis: La Civil unfolds with documentary-like precision as it details the human impact of drug cartels in Northern Mexico. Cielo (Arcelia Ramírez, in a galvanizing performance) learns her daughter Laura has been kidnapped when a baby-faced teenager orders her to pay 150,000 pesos if she wants to see Laura again. With no police support, Cielo embarks on her own investigation, peeling back layers of Mexico’s societal corruption in an increasingly desperate effort to save her child. Inspired by true events, Belgian-Romanian director Teodora Ana Mihai delivers a bold and suspenseful debut feature, collaborating with Mexican co-screenwriter Habacuc Antonio De Rosario and world-renowned co-producers Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Cristian Mungiu, and Michel Franco.
Behind the Music Season 2 (Paramount+)
Synopsis: Behind the Music returns with new, remastered episodes updated for today’s audiences featuring new artist interviews and a reimagined visual style.
The Breaking Ice (The Criterion Channel)
Synopsis: Three young lost souls find tentative connection in a frozen world in this delicate, lyrical tone poem of alienation and longing. In cold, wintry Yanji, a city on China’s northeastern border, young urbanite Haofeng (Liu Haoran), visiting from Shanghai, feels lost and adrift. By chance, he goes on a tour led by Nana (Zhou Dongyu), a charming guide who instantly fascinates him and who introduces him to Xiao (Qu Chuxiao), a personable but frustrated restaurant worker. Over the course of a drunken weekend, the three quickly bond as they confront their individual traumas and their desires slowly thaw.
Clarkson's Farm 3 (Prime)
Synopsis: The third series of Clarkson’s Farm finds Diddly Squat facing some seriously daunting challenges. The crops are failing in the severe hot weather, inflation has driven prices of supplies sky high, dreams for the beloved restaurant are dashed and now the farm shop also faces closure.
The Contestant (Hulu)
Synopsis: In 1998, Nasubi thought he was attending an audition when a successful Japanese TV producer, Toshio Tsuchiya, enlisted him to take part in a challenge. Tsuchiya led Nasubi into a room, ordered him to strip naked and left him with a stack of magazines. Nasubi’s task was to fill out contest coupons in order to win what he needed to survive — food, clothing, appliances, etc. — until he reached the prize goal of one million yen.
Hacks: Season 3 (Max)
Synopsis: A year after parting, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) is riding high off the success of her standup special while Ava (Hannah Einbinder) pursues new opportunities back in Los Angeles.
Two new episodes every Thursday, concluding with the season finale on May 30.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Kino Film Collection)
Synopsis: Winner of the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the prestigious André Bazin Prize from Cahiers du Cinema, both celebrating outstanding feature debuts, this enthralling work from Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Thien An is a reverie on faith, loss, and nature expressed with uncommon invention and depth. The sudden death of his sister-in-law brings unexpected responsibilities to Thien (Le Phong Vu), who is reluctantly tasked with bringing his five-year-old nephew Dao to their countryside hometown. On the road, Thien is drawn into a search for his long-missing older brother, haunted and spurred forward by a series of sublime dreams that reignite suppressed memories, forbidden desires, and specters of his own youth. What began as a journey home becomes a pilgrimage marked by visual splendor and mystical overtones, a quest for understanding and certainty in a Vietnam that seems unable to provide any clear answers. As Thien battles with the existential question of what is worth living for, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell interrogates the persistence and complexity of faith, not only in the spiritual but in the delicate beauty of earthly existence.
A Man in Full (Netflix)
Synopsis: When Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker faces sudden bankruptcy, political and business interests collide as Charlie defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace.
Monsters at Work: Season 2 (Disney+)
Synopsis: In Season 2 of “Monsters at Work,” Tylor Tuskmon’s journey as a Jokester and his friendship with Val face the ultimate test. When new doors of opportunity unexpectedly open at rival energy company FearCo, Tylor’s co-workers at Monsters Inc. begin to question where his loyalties truly lie. As his Laugh Floor partnership with Val is pushed to the brink, Tylor must discover where he really belongs.
Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Antiwar Trilogy (The Criterion Collection)
Synopsis: Confronting both the specter of World War II and the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, these stunning late-career triumphs from Japanese iconoclast Nobuhiko Obayashi offer a subversive, typically idiosyncratic reflection on national history and tragedy. Replete with the boldly stylized, avant-pop flourishes that define his work (most famously the delirious cult freak-out House), these narratively distinct but thematically connected films—which culminated in his deeply personal penultimate feature, the forty-years-in-the-making passion project Hanagatami—look to the past to issue an urgent warning about the perilous present.
FEATURING: Casting Blossoms to the Sky (2012), Seven Weeks (2014), Hanagatami (2017)
Prom Dates (Hulu)
Synopsis: At 13 years old, best friends Jess and Hannah made a pact to have the perfect senior prom. Years later, the two are still committed to honoring their pact. But everything falls apart when they break up with their dates just 24 hours before the prom. Can they find new dates
The Roast of Tom Brady (Netflix)
Synopsis: Kevin Hart will host the Greatest Roast Of All Time. This is the first-ever roast that will be telecast live, unedited. Playing offense will be a surprise team of roasters from the comedy, sports and entertainment world. No interference.
Selling the OC (Netflix)
Synopsis: The Oppenheim Group’s OC agents are back for a fiery third season with big homes and even bigger drama. In an office where betrayal and rumors spread like wildfire, you can’t put a price on loyalty – or reputation.
Shardlake (Hulu)
Synopsis: Set in 16th-century England during the dissolution of the monasteries, Shardlake is a four-part drama based on the first novel in C.J. Sansom’s internationally popular Tudor murder mystery series. The eerie whodunnit adventure follows lawyer Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes) and Jack Barack (Anthony Boyle) as they work to uncover the truth behind a horrific murder. The two men are sent out on a mission by the dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII: Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) — and failure is not an option.
T・P BON! (Netflix)
Synopsis: Ordinary junior high school student Bon Namihira encounters Time Patrol member Ream Stream, a girl from the future, along with a strange creature called Buyoyon. The Time Patrol agents save those who died unfortunate deaths that don't significantly alter the course of history. During these missions, anyone who sees Ream and the other agents has their memories erased. However, Bon's memory remains mysteriously intact, so he is brought in as a Time Patrol agent-in-training. Teaming up with Ream to carry out missions, Bon is excited about using tools of the future, including the "time boat" that can sail through time and space. Bon gets carried away at times, but through the missions, he touches the lives of people who lived wisely in each era. Go on an epic journey throughout Earth and the history of humanity along with T・P BON!
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Peacock)
Synopsis: The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an event series inspired by the real-life story of Jewish Holocaust survivors Lali and Gita Sokolov. Lali (Jonah Hauer-King) arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, and shortly after arrival, he was made one of the tätowierer (tattooists), charged to ink identification numbers onto fellow prisoners’ arms. One day, he meets Gita (Anna Próchniak) when tattooing her prisoner number on her arm. They experience love at first sight, and so begins a courageous, unforgettable, and human story. Under constant guard from a volatile Nazi SS officer Baretzki (Jonas Nay), Lali and Gita became determined to keep each other alive.
Tótem (The Criterion Channel)
Synopsis: In a bustling Mexican household, seven-year-old Sol is swept up in a whirlwind of preparations for her terminally ill father’s birthday party, led by her mother, aunts, and other relatives. As the day goes on, building to an event both anticipated and dreaded, Sol and her family begin to understand the gravity of this year’s celebration. Director Lila Avilés (The Chambermaid) orchestrates a dynamic ensemble cast in this stunning sophomore effort—a warmly observed, poignantly funny, and emotionally expansive study of the ways we cope with grief.
Turtles All the Way Down (Max)
Synopsis: TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced). It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying... trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.
Unfrosted (Netflix)
Synopsis: Michigan, 1963. Kellogg's and Post, sworn cereal rivals, race to create a pastry that will change the face of breakfast forever. A tale of ambition, betrayal, sugar, and menacing milkmen, Unfrosted stars writer/director Jerry Seinfeld.
Welcome to Wrexham: Season 3 (Hulu)
Synopsis: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star, Rob McElhenney, and movie star/business mogul, Ryan Reynolds, bought a struggling football (aka soccer) team with one goal in mind: turn this underdog team into the team to beat.