After a three year wait, award-winning video game adaptation Arcane is finally back! Other highlights for this week’s streaming releases include the new Alex Cross TV series adaption, and the VOD debut of Blake Lively’s box office hit It Ends with Us.
SERIES
Bank Under Siege S1
9 November 2024 – Netflix
Masked robbers. The Central Bank of Spain. A simple but daring crime becoming a rallying cry against the powers-that-be. Given that setup, nobody would blame you for thinking the thrilling Money Heist is back. But unlike that record-breaking global smash, this new Netflix Spanish-language drama series has something special going for it: the truth. Based on the true events that transpired in Barcelona in 1981, Bank Under Siege takes place just three months after a failed attempted coup at the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Eleven hooded men armed with rifles entered the headquarters of the Central Bank and held 200 people hostage, threatening their lives. But instead of wanting money, these assailants demanded the release of Colonel Antonio Tejero and two others arrested during the failed coup.
Arcane S2
9 November 2024 – Netflix
The wait is finally over! Arcane is back! Netflix’s League of Legends adaptation was a blockbuster smash hit when it launched in 2021, earning rave reviews for its storytelling and animation, even winning four Emmy Awards and nine Annie Awards, among many other accolades. But producing a show of that quality takes time, hence us waiting three years to see how the story of sisters Vi and Jinx would play out following the devastating events of the first season. When we last saw them, Vi and Jinx had been put through the emotional wringer and found each other on opposite sides of a conflict as the utopian cityscape of Pittover and seedy underbelly of Zaun faced off over a new emerging power. And I cannot wait to see how this one resolves. And yes, it does resolve as Netflix and League of Legends creators Riot Games have already confirmed that this season is its last.
Action S1
11 November 2024 – Showmax
You may not recognize the name 87North, but I guarantee that you’ve seen and loved the work of this group. Founded by stuntman David Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick, this production company cannonballed its way into the big time with Leitch and co-director Chad Stahelski’s explosive feature film debut John Wick. Since then, the 87North stunt team have become synonymous with the very best action filmmaking in Hollywood right now, as they worked on projects like the John Wick franchise, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train, Nobody, Violent Night, Hobbs & Shaw, and, most recently, The Fall Guy (which will also be debuting on Showmax later this month!). Action is a six-episode docuseries that follows 87North as they work on these epic productions, giving us a personal insight into the daredevils and seemingly ordinary individuals who have made a career out of putting their bodies on the line for our ultimate action entertainment.
Say Nothing S1
14 November 2024 – Disney+
Billed as “a gripping story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland during The Troubles”, Say Nothing is a nine-episode drama-thriller series based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s bestselling, critically acclaimed 2018 novel of the same name. Inspired by true events and spanning four decades, the series opens with the shocking disappearance of Jean McConville, a single mother of ten who was abducted from her home in 1972 and never seen alive again. This inciting incident leads to the stories of various Irish Republican Army members, delving into “the extremes some people will go to in the name of their beliefs, the way a deeply divided society can suddenly tip over into armed conflict, the long shadow of radical violence for all affected, and the emotional and psychological costs of a code of silence.”
Cross S1
14 November 2024 – Prime Video
James Patterson’s literary hero Alex Cross has been thrilling readers for three decades across nearly forty books, not to mention having been brough to screen thrice. Morgan Freeman portrayed the forensic psychologist/Washington D.C. police detective twice in the great Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, in 1997 and 2001, respectively, while Tyler Perry took up the reins in the not-great-at-all Alex Cross in 2012. And now it’s time for Aldis Hodge to step into the role and hopefully get some character redemption, but this time on the small screen thanks to a new Prime Video drama series from Burn Notice writer and exec Producer Ben Watkins. Cross sees Hodge play the title character much younger than we’ve seen him on screen before, described as “a detective, forensic psychologist, doting father and family man, who is obsessive in digging into the minds of killers and victims in order to identify the victims and catch the killers.”
MOVIE
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
11 November 2024 – Showmax
We’re currently waiting on James Gunn and Peter Safran to deliver their brand-new version of the DC Comics Universe onscreen, kicking off with the new Superman movie. However, if you feel like reminiscing about what came before, or maybe you just didn’t watch it the first time when it was in theatres, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be swimming its way onto Showmax next week. The penultimate release before the former DCEU got scrapped, this James Wan-directed sequel sees Jason Momoa’s superhero King of Atlantis forced to team up with his brother and former enemy Orm (Patrick Wilson), after the vengeance-driven Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) unleashes an ancient evil in his quest for revenge.
Hot Frosty
13 November 2024 – Netflix
We’re a little over a month away from Christmas, that magical time of year for family, gifts, and, unfortunately, terrible movies. Thanks to the likes of Hallmark, cheesy Christmas movies have become a genre unto itself, and Netflix is also getting in on the act this year and doing it early! Not to mention, kind of unhinged! Hot Frosty is a new seasonal romcom starring Lacy Chabert and Dusti Milligan, and I’m just going to let the official synopsis describe how wild this thing is: Two years after losing her husband, Kathy magically brings a handsome snowman to life! Through his naïveté, the snowman helps Kathy to laugh, feel and love again, as the two fall for each other just in time for the holidays… and before he melts.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One
14 November 2024 – Showmax
The aforementioned erstwhile DCEU and the new DCU aren’t the only on-screen DC Comics universes in town, as for a while now the DC Animated Movie Universe has also been a firm fan-favourite. But the DCAMU has now also come to an end and it did it in the biggest way possible thanks to a three-part movie adaptation of Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s iconic comic book mega-crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. Released in January this year, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One was the first chapter of this story, and it’s now finally making its way to local streaming thanks to Showmax. The film sees the mysterious Monitor gather the greatest team of superheroes ever assembled to face off against the Anti-Monitor and its plan to end all life across the entire multiverse. Parts Two and Three were released in theatres a few months apart, so you can probably expect them to follow suit on Showmax soon.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
It Ends with Us
Purchase: Apple TV – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45
If Hot Frosty above is not your romantic cup of tea, then maybe give It Ends with Us a try. Then again, given that the Blake Lively-led romantic drama was one of the biggest box office success stories of the year, earning just shy of $350 million globally off a budget of only $25 million, chances are a bunch of you have already seen it. For the rest of the uninitiated, It Ends with Us is directed by Justin Baldoni (who also co-stars) and is an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 bestselling novel of the same name. It tells the story of Lily Bloom (Lively), “a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.” Pro-tip: Keep the tissues handy.