The weekend is here! If you’re looking for something to watch, we can help. We’ve dug through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney+ to find some of the best titles on each service. STREAMING ON NETFLIX ‘The Bourne Identity’
Matt Damon found a franchise — and kicked off the most influential spy series this side of Bond — with this cracklingly smart and elegantly executed adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s novel. Damon stars as Jason Bourne, though as the film begins, he doesn’t even have that meager piece of self-knowledge; he’s lost all memory of his own identity, but the abilities of gunplay, hand-to-hand combat and high-speed pursuit seem to be built-in muscle memories. Franka Potente makes for a game traveling companion, while Chris Cooper, Brian Cox and Clive Owen are among the many memorable antagonists. These are the 50 best movies on Netflix.STREAMING ON NETFLIX ‘Little House on the Prairie’
Based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s semiautobiographical “Little House” novels, this series follows a pioneer family as they try to build a new life in Kansas in the 1870s, while coping with the many setbacks by relishing the moments of joy, beauty and companionship. Unlike past versions of “Little House on the Prairie,” this series also focuses on the land’s original Osage inhabitants. Our critic wrote, “It is a spirited, wholesome story of adventure and hardship, broadened to consider the people who lived on the prairie long before the Ingallses and company came to homestead it.” Here are 30 great TV shows on Netflix.STREAMING ON HULU ‘One of Them Days’
The comedy team has become one of cinema’s endangered species, but in a more enlightened time, this laugh-out-loud charmer would have been the first of many onscreen collaborations for Keke Palmer and SZA. They star as Dreux and Alyssa, longtime pals and roommates whose rent has been re-appropriated by Alyssa’s no-good boyfriend, leaving them only a few precious hours to raise enough cash to prevent eviction. It sounds like a gender-swapped “Friday,” but the director Lawrence Lamont and the screenwriter Syreeta Singleton find the beating heart behind the wild narrative, and Palmer and SZA are both screamingly funny and believably ride-or-die. Here are Hulu’s best movies and TV shows.STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’
All of Quentin Tarantino’s films are, in their own way, valentines to the movies — steeped in the tropes and traditions of the films of his youth and in the ways that they influenced his perceptions of human behavior and the world. But this hangout movie and western riff is his most direct love letter, specifically to the cinema of the late-1960s in which it’s set. It spends a few days in the life of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a TV cowboy whose career is on the skids; his stuntman and right-hand Cliff Booth (an Oscar-winning Brad Pitt); and his neighbor Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). A.O. Scott praised its “ambling, shaggy-dog structure and the easygoing rhythm of its scenes.” Here are a bunch of great movies on Amazon.STREAMING ON HBO MAX ‘Sing Street’
A valentine to the catchy singles and outré style of ’80s New Wave music, John Carney’s irresistible coming-of-age movie stars Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as a 15-year-old misfit from working-class Dublin who forms a band to impress the glamorous girl (Lucy Boynton) who lives across the street from his Catholic school. Despite the questionable musical talent of he and his bandmates, the plan works better than expected, with songs and D.I.Y. music videos inspired by emerging talents like the Cure and Duran Duran. “Sing Street” works fine enough as a teenage rom-com, but it’s set apart by exceptional original songs that sound like they could have been radio hits in 1985. A.O. Scott predicted it was “likely to beguile you with the sweet, universal energy of youth.” See more great movies streaming on HBO Max.STREAMING ON DISNEY+ ‘Toy Story 5’
Even as Pixar has occasionally struggled to recapture its old magic, the “Toy Story” franchise has proved remarkably durable, in large part because it’s so deftly incorporated the emotional effects of age and social change. To that end, “Toy Story 5” wisely acknowledges the impact that tablets have on modern kids like Bonnie, 8, who still loves to play with analog toys like Buzz Lightyear and Jessie but feels like she needs to embrace a frog-themed “Lilypad” tablet to fit in with her peers. Despite the natural tension between “Lilypad” and the more old-fashioned toys, they all come together on a quest to help Bonnie find a true friend. The film is also a showcase for Joan Cusack as Jessie, a cowgirl who feels especially close to Bonnie. The 50 best things to watch on Disney+ right now.
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