The game is afoot! Twice! The star-studded Only Murders in the Building is back… and somehow, it’s not the only title on this week’s streaming releases to focus on amateurs making a podcast about solving a murder! Also debuting is comic-strip adaptation Strange Planet, J-Lo’s Shotgun Wedding, and more!
SERIES
Based on a True Story S1
Showmax – 7 August 2023
Hey, it’s the other comedy-drama-murder mystery podcast show we spoke about earlier! Kaley Cuoco (who was so damn good in The Flight Attendant) and Chris Messina star as a married couple who become amateur sleuths and decided to start a true crime podcast when they randomly meet a mysterious plumber whom they suspect is a local serial killer. This one was created by Craig Rosenberg, who co-wrote The Boys and Preacher, so you can probably expect it to get a little unhinged, but in a good way.
Only Murders in the Building S3
Disney+ – 8 August 2023
Easily the biggest release of the week, Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short are back for a third season of the acclaimed murder-mystery comedy show as a mismatched trio who initially only had their love of true crime podcasts in common when they inadvertently stumbled onto solving a murder on their own. After two homicides in their titular apartment building though, we’re changing locations as Oliver’s (Short) long-awaited return to theatre directing is rudely interrupted as his leading man mysteriously drops dead on stage in the opening act. Said stiff played by Paul Rudd who, along with Meryl Streep, adds some extra star power to this season. As if this brilliant show needed it!
Strange Planet S1
Apple TV+ – 9 August 2023
Nathan W. Pyle’s comic strip about extraterrestrials experiencing the absurdities of common human situations has been charming audiences on the internet for years. And now it’s doing it in animated form! Pyle himself helped co-create the show with Community and Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon, so this should be fun.
Painkiller S1
Netflix – 10 August 2023
Based on Barry Meier’s novel, Pain Killer, and New Yorker Magazine article ‘The Family That Built the Empire of Pain’ by Patrick Radden Keefe, this six-episode limited series directed by Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, Friday Night Lights) is a star-studded fictionalized retelling of America’s very real opioid crisis. Starring the likes of Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, and Taylor Kitsch, it focuses on Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, and the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers who are caught up in the origins and aftermath of this drug.
MOVIES
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Netflix – 3 August 2023
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, the popular anime adaptation of the manga of the same name debuted on screens just last month, but already we’re getting a live action adaptation of the same source material. Eiji Akaso stars as Akira Tendo, a 20-something overworked corporate employee who finds himself deeply despondent by his role as nothing more than a drone for his bullying boss. But everything changes when a zombie outbreak, caused by experimental bioweaponry, strikes Tokyo, giving Akira a new lease on life. Instead of cowering in fear like everybody else, he decides to experience life to the fullest, armed with a bucket list of things he wants to do before dying in an apocalypse!
Moonage Daydream
Showmax – 4 August 2023
David Bowie was an entertainer unlike any other. The British musician and actor, with his flamboyant stage presence and knack for innovative theatricality that blurred several societal norms of the time, is regarded as one of most influential entertainers of the 20th century. Telling his story and doing it justice would require quite the effort, but luckily that’s what we got with Moonage Daydream. At least that’s according to the critics who have seen the feature-length documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen (Cobain: Montage of Heck). With words like “glorious”, “spectacular”, and “hypnotic” used to describe the film, Moonage Daydream looks like unmissable viewing for any music fans out there.
Women Talking
Prime Video – 31 July 2023
Despite being named one of the top ten films of 2022 by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and winning Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars, Critics Choice Awards, and Writers Guild of America Awards, Women Talking barely registered a blip upon release in cinemas. In fact, I don’t think it actually got any local release at all. Well, now we can finally watch Oscar-nominated director Sarah Polley’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel of the same name, as the film showed up on Prime Video earlier this week. With a talent-stacked cast led by Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, and Frances McDormand, this is a harrowing tale focusing on a group of women in an American Mennonite religious colony who uncover a history of the men raping the colony’s women. This probably won’t be an easy watch, but it should be a powerful one.
Shotgun Wedding
Showmax – 7 August 2023
And if you’re looking for something a lot more perky after all that heavy drama, Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel’s Shotgun Wedding should be just the lighthearted popcorn remedy you need. The pair star as a couple about to have a picture-perfect wedding on a tropical island with their respective families, when the nuptials are overrun by a gang of pirates who take most of the guests hostage. Managing to evade capture, the out-of-their-depth couple now have to go all Die Hard and try to save their wedding.
After Ever Happy
Showmax – 10 August 2023
I admit that I know next to nothing about the hugely popular After series of romantic drama movies. What I do know is that the title of the fourth movie is making my eye twitch. After Ever Happy? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! I’m sure plenty of you will be watching this one, so please enlighten me.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Book Club: The Next Chapter
Rental: Apple TV – R45 / Google Play Movies – R35
Purchase: Apple TV – R150 / Google Play Movies – R160