Two big sci-fi series that could not be more different headline streaming releases, as hotly anticipated Star Wars series Ahsoka debuts on Disney+, while Apple TV+’s Invasion returns to continue the alien drama. Also, the finale of Ragnarok, streaming debut of M3GAN, and more!
SERIES
The Best Man: The Final Chapters S1
Showmax – 20 August 2023
1999 Comedy drama The Best Man and its 2013 sequel, The Best Man Holiday, have been fan-favourite comfort watches for a long time, providing breakout roles for the likes of Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Terence Howard, and more. And now, a decade after we last visited with this crazy group of African American, it’s time for all new drama. This time in episodic format! Originally released on Peacock in the US, The Best Man: The Final Chapters is a TV series revival of the critically acclaimed film franchise which “catches up with Harper, Robyn, Jordan, Lance, Quentin, Shelby, Candace, and Murch as relationships evolve and past grievances resurface in the unpredictable stages of midlife crisis meets midlife renaissance.” The 10-episode limited series has been nominated for several awards, and currently enjoys quite the positive critical rating, so this is definitely something fans do not want to miss.
Ahsoka S1
Disney+ – 23 August 2023
No disrespect to the rest of its peers, but Ahsoka easily has to be the most anticipated live-action Star Wars series ever. With Rosario Dawson bringing to life the adult version of one of the most beloved character in the franchise’s history, continuing the epic story Dave Filoni has been telling in Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, finally giving us live-action versions of fan-favourites Grand Admiral Thrawn, Sabine Wren, and Hera Syndulla, and still, on top of that, seemingly bridging the gap to Filoni’s upcoming live-action Star Wars feature fil, the upcoming show has an insane amount of hype to live up to. Luckily, it’s looking absolutely incredible. Alas, this will also be a tad bittersweet, as the show is the final performance of Ray Stevenson, the popular actor who passed away earlier this year.
Invasion S2
Apple TV+ – 23 August 2023
I was only two years late, but I finally watched and finished the first season of Invasion just a few days ago. Just in time though, with the second season of Apple TV+’s alien invasion drama debuting next week, picking where we left off with humanity thinking they’ve beaten back their mysterious interstellar aggressors only to discover that there’s a lot more danger up in the skies. I know the first season got some mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it. It had a bit of a midseason slump in pacing, but when it ramped up its tension and action again, it was damn good viewing. And based on the trailer, the scope and action will just get ramped up exponentially in this sophomore effort.
Who is Erin Carter? S1
Netflix – 24 August 2023
If you prefer to keep your action and drama a lot more terrestrial, Netflix’s Who is Erin Carter? is here to scratch that itch. Evin Ahmad stars as the titular lead, a mom, a wife, and an expat British teacher living and teaching in idyllic Spain. However, when caught up in a supermarket robbery, and one of the robbers seemingly recognizes her, Erin Carter’s mysterious past starts to catch up with her in explosive ways!
Ragnarok S3
Netflix – 24 August 2023
I really need to start listening to my friends. They’ve been telling me for years how good Ragnarok is, and the critical consensus on the internet agrees with them wholeheartedly, and yet I still haven’t seen it. I’m fixing that soon though, because this Norwegian-language production set in modern-day Norway following a group of characters who discover they are the reincarnation of Norse mythological gods, looks every bit as epic as promised. And now the third and final season is here to close off this tale of gods and mortals.
MOVIES
Hypnotic
Prime Video – 11 August 2023
No, that’s not a typo above. Hypnotic actually got added on Prime Video last week Friday already, but much like when it hit cinemas earlier this year, nobody seemed to even notice. Thanks to some weird rights issue dispute, the film received almost no promo and just showed up out of nowhere, resulting in a horrendous $8.7 million global take off a $65 million production budget. Outside of its box office bomb status, by all accounts this action thriller about a police detective investigating a case tied to his missing daughter and a group of bank robbers without almost supernatural powers of persuasion is also an absolute turkey of a movie despite it being written and directed by Robert Rodriguez and boasting the talents of Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, and William Fichtner on screen. But that’s kind of why I’m mentioning it here. I need to see for myself if it’s as bad as people make it out to be, but without spending any money on it. And now I can.
M3GAN
Showmax – 21 August 2023
I’ll be honest, when it released last year, I initially dismissed M3GAN as nothing more than a modern, AI-driven rehash of classic horror franchise Child’s Play. After all, both are about a life-like children’s doll coming to life and leaving a trail of dead bodies behind it. However, the James Wan-produced horror ended up being one of the biggest surprises of the year, nailing down its balance of over-the-top fun and bloody chills to transfix audiences. The film would go onto earn $181 million worldwide against a budget of just $12 million, prompting an almost instant greenlight for a 2025 sequel. If you missed it though, you’ll be able to check out the first film on Showmax soon.
West Side Story
Disney+ – 23 August 2023
When it released in the Dark Ages of pandemic-gripped 2021, West Side Story bombed badly at the box office but became a critical darling. The Steven Spielberg directed adaptation of the classic 1957 stage musical of the same name ended up earning seven Oscar nominations with Ariana DeBose winning Best Supporting Actress. It also cleaned up at other awards shows and launched newcomer Rachel Zegler to superstardom. And I tell you all of this second-hand because I’ve somehow never seen it. Well, that’s all getting fixed next week when the musical romantic drama finally makes its way to Disney+.
Vengeance
Showmax – 24 August 2023
If you’re a fan of The Office (US), you will instantly recognize BJ Novak as the hilariously scummy Ryan Howard. But did you know that the actor also wrote and directed several episodes of the masterpiece comedy series? And somehow, it’s taken damn long, but now Novak has now finally made the transition to feature film writer/director with his debut effort, Vengeance. The dark comedy mystery co-stars the likes of Boyd Holbrook, Ashton Kutcher, Dove Cameron, Issa Rae and more and follows Novak as Ben, a New York writer who travels to the rural South to attend the funeral of a girl he hooked up with, whose family mistakenly think they had a serious relationship. While there though, he gets caught up in making a true crime podcast about the mysterious circumstances of her death and vengeance her family is demanding. The film got pretty great critical buzz, but never released in SA cinemas. You can fix that now.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Rental: TBC
Purchase: Apple TV – R150 / Google Play Movies – R216
While definitely not quite as good as Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts still continues the trend of righting the ship for the Transformers film franchise in a post-Michael Bay era. Although, to be fair, there’s quite a bit of Bayhem that slips into this film’s third act that slightly undercuts some of the charming character work and exciting robot action beats that precede it. Also, if you’re a Beast Wars fan who was salivating at spending a lot of time with your childhood faves in a live-action blockbuster movie, you will need to severely temper your expectations now. Overall, though, most assuredly still a fun watch.
Elemental
Rental: TBC
Purchase: Apple TV – R150 / Google Play Movies – R169
Disney/Pixar’s latest animated feature film didn’t have a great opening at the box office in May, but then quietly went on to become a sleeper hit, earning $444 million worldwide, as people just kept turning up week after week to see it. This goes against the theory that the studio’s recent films have failed to earn big as audiences were content to just wait for them to inevitably debut on Disney+. Elemental will definitely also be showing up on Disney’s streaming service before the end of the year, but if you don’t want to wait until then, you can add a little bit to that big number up top. The film is currently only listed for sale on Apple TV for R150, but additional rental/purchase options will almost certainly show up in the next few weeks.