Three very different titles lead this week’s streaming release schedule as we see the return of LOTR: The Rings of Power (the most expensive TV series ever!), the streaming debut of the widely memed Madame Web, and VOD debut of Scarlett Johansson/Channing Tatum NASA comedy Fly Me to the Moon.
SERIES
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power S2
29 August 2024 – Prime Video
War has come to Middle-Earth! And probably to some internet forums as well. The most expensive TV series in history is back and is sure to generate a whole lot of online chatter once more as it continues telling its story of the early days of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved world of The Lord of the Rings. After the surprise reveal at the end of season one (ok, it wasn’t that surprising if you were paying attention) (and which I won’t spoil here and also suggest you don’t watch the trailer above if you don’t want it ruined), The Rings of Power’s sophomore season is going much darker and more intense than its earlier run. That appears to be the only thing that critics can agree upon as season two has divided them once more between those who are absolutely gushing over it and others who could not care less. Guess we’ll have to decide for ourselves.
Slow Horses S4
4 September 2024 – Apple TV+
The best spy show on TV that you’re not watching is back! I’ve said enough around these parts about how incredible Apple TV+’s Slow Horses is, led by a phenomenal Gary Oldman as disgraced MI6 spymaster Jackson Lamb. Rounded out by a stellar support cast, and gripping storytelling, it has been a highlight of the streamer’s library for years now as it adapted Mick Herron’s Slough House book series. The fourth season will be tackling 2017’s Spook Street, and this time around sees Lamb and his team of espionage rejects have to tackle a spate of suicide bombings throughout Britain orchestrated by a villainous Hugo Weaving.
The Girls on the Bus S1
4 September 2024 – Showmax
Created by Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries) and New York Times political reporter Amy Chozick, whose memoir ‘Chasing Hillary’ inspired the series, The Girls on the Bus stars Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Christina Elmore, and Natasha Behnam as four female journalists, assigned to follow every move of a parade of flawed presidential candidates during a campaign trail. Along the way, they find friendship, love, and a scandal that could take down not just the presidency, but the entire US government.
MOVIES
Madame Web
30 August 2024 – Netflix/Showmax
By this point, you probably fall into one of two categories: You’re one of the few people that actually watched Madame Web in cinema and probably thought it a dumpster fire, or you are part of the much larger group who spent months laughing at all the memes and unintentionally hilarious clips from this cinematic disaster. Sony’s latest in a string of terrible decisions regarding their ownership of the rights to Spider-Man and his related characters, Madame Web would probably go down as the consensus worst movie of 2024 if it wasn’t for the recent release of Borderlands. And that’s why it’s barely been any time at all before it’s hit streaming services (both Netflix and Showmax!) as Sony knows that a bunch of people are going to want to check out this car crash for themselves now that they don’t have to purchase a movie ticket to see it. I’m one of them.
The Deliverance
30 August 2024 – Netflix
No, this isn’t another of those silly rebooquels where they just add “The” to the front of the title. There are no banjo playing hillbillies here. The Deliverance is the latest from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lee Daniels who reunites with his Precious star Mo’Nique, alongside Andra Day, Glenn Close, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for a supernatural horror. Day plays Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, who then has to fight actual demons as her children purportedly become possessed after they move into a new home.
Bros
4 September 2024 – Showmax
And if you’re looking for something completely different to that horror, how about a critically acclaimed gay romcom. Nominated for Best Comedy Movie at the 2023 Critics Choice Awards, as well as winning the 2023 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Wide Release Film, among several other accolades, Bros stars and is co-written by Billy Eichner, directed/co-written by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and produced by Judd Apatow. Led by an entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast, the comedy follows Eichner’s Bobby Lieber, a podcast and radio show host who prides himself on his single independence. When he meets Luke Macfarlane’s buff jock Aaron though, sparks… well, actually, they don’t fly as the two are polar opposites and definitely not each other’s type. And yes, they find themselves somehow stumbling towards love. Maybe. They’re both very busy.
Apollo 13: Survival
5 September 2024 – Netflix
How’s this for timing? Just this week I discovered that a friend had somehow never seen Apollo 13, director Ron Howard’s 1995 cinematic masterpiece about the infamous 1970 failed moon mission which saw three astronauts stranded halfway to the moon on a spacecraft that had suffered a catastrophic explosion. In that multiple Oscar-winning film, Howard and co strived for as much authenticity as possible, but even they had to tweak things to better suit a feature film format. If you want the 100% real story of what happened on that fateful NASA mission – the worst crisis in the space agency’s history at the time – then maybe check out Apollo 13: Survival, a new feature-length documentary. Using original footage and interviews, it tells the nail-biting true story of the struggle to bring those astronauts home safely.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Fly Me to the Moon
Purchase: Apple TV – R200
Rental: Apple TV – R170
And if Apollo 13: Survival above doesn’t quite scratch your NASA itch, here’s something that could. But in a very, very different way. Directed by none other Greg Berlanti, co-creator of the CW Arrowverse, this stylish romantic comedy-drama stars fan-favourites Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in a story that is totally fake. Unlike the very real moon landing. Sorry, conspiracy theorists. Set against the backdrop of the historic Apollo 11 mission to put men on the moon for the first time, Johansson plays marketing specialist Kelly Jones, who is brought in to assist Tatum’s NASA launch director Cole Davis in creating a fictionalized version of the mission. This is just in case the actual mission falls apart and the USA have to somehow still save face in the Space Race with Russia. Fly Me to the Moon is an Apple original film, which means that following a theatrical release just over a month ago, it will be heading to Apple TV+ in the near future. If you don’t want to wait till that unspecified date though, you can now rent or buy it at home.