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There are roughly 47,000—oh, wait, a new Netflix Original just dropped; make that 47,001—TV shows and movies coming out each week. At Obsessed, we consider it our social duty to help you see the best and skip the rest.
We’ve already got a variety of in-depth, exclusive coverage on all of your streaming favorites and new releases, but sometimes what you’re looking for is a simple Do or Don’t. That’s why we created See/Skip, to tell you exactly what our writers think you should See and what you can Skip from the past week’s crowded entertainment landscape.
See: The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher is creator Mike Flanagan’s strongest work for Netflix yet: a sprawling, inviting series filled with macabre chills and nasty kills, courtesy of the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe and a searing performance from Carla Gugino.
Here’s Coleman Spilde’s take:
“If there’s anyone whose dialogue-driven horror can go toe to toe with Edgar Allan Poe, it’s Mike Flanagan. The savant of fear was already a big name in the genre with films like Absentia, Oculus, and Gerald's Game when Netflix scooped him in 2018. With hit series such as The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, Flanagan expanded his succinct screenplays into protracted theatrical musings on trauma as terror. While some were more successful than others in freshening up that familiar theme, Flanagan’s keen eye for detail and frequent ability to shock has always kept his work watchable.
But with his latest Netflix limited series, The Fall of the House of Usher (streaming Oct. 13), Flanagan has outdone himself at almost every turn. The teleplays are tighter, his directorial eye is sharper, and the entire eight-episode affair is more expansive and exciting than anything Flanagan has taken on in years.”
Brie Larson in Lessons in Chemistry.
Apple TV+See: Lessons in Chemistry
Lessons in Chemistry isn’t quite as delectable as its best-selling source novel, but a committed Brie Larson turns this slightly underbaked series around, cooking up a perfectly palatable adaptation that can be binged without a stomach ache or bad TV nausea.
Here’s Fletcher Peters’ take:
“In Lessons in Chemistry, a small pan of lasagna sparks a revolution. Baked with love and an astute detail to the tiny chemical explosions that melt the cheese, soften the long noodles, and combine the ingredients, that lasagna gives Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) a full-time gig at her local news network as their resident Ina Garten.
Or rather, their Julia Child—because we’re in the 1960s, when a woman’s job is to raise her children, clean the house, and stay stationed in the kitchen while her husband is away. Lessons in Chemistry, a new Apple TV+ series based on Bonnie Garmus’ NYT bestseller of the same name follows a fierce woman chemist who dares to challenge those norms while also, oddly enough, embracing them. Elizabeth Zott’s place is in the kitchen—not because she’s a woman but, rather, because she simply loves to cook.”
Jamie Foxx, Pamela Reed, Tommy Lee Jones, and Mamoudou Athie.
Skip Bolen/Amazon StudiosSee: The Burial
The Burial may be a completely formulaic courtroom drama, but Jamie Foxx is so ultra-magnetic as a slick personal injury lawyer that the movie’s conventional nature doesn’t matter. Foxx and costar Tommy Lee Jones are the perfect pairing for an easy watch.
Here’s Nick Schager’s take:
“You’d be hard pressed to find better evidence of movie-star charisma than The Burial, an uneven courtroom drama that’s energized by the standout performance of Jamie Foxx. As a brash personal injury lawyer tasked with leading a contract-law case on behalf of a working-class funeral home director, Foxx shines blindingly bright, his swagger and sense of humor overwhelming everyone and everything in his vicinity. It’s as appealing a turn as the Oscar-winning actor has given, and it does much to elevate this inspired-by-real events tale of unlikely alliances and an even more improbable victory.
Currently in limited theatrical release (following its premiere at September’s Toronto International Film Festival) and debuting on Prime Video on Oct. 13, director Maggie Betts’ The Burial is headlined by Foxx as Willie E. Gary, a Florida attorney who wears big gold watches and talks an even bigger game. When we’re introduced to Gary in 1995, he’s on a 12-year winning streak due to a simple and effective strategy: pick winnable cases. For Gary, that means staying in his preferred “ambulance chaser” lane and, in particular, representing Black clients
with whom he believes he and his associates have a special rapport. Thus, he’s far from enthusiastic when approached by Jeremiah O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones)—a white Biloxi, Mississippi, owner of eight funeral homes and one funeral insurance company—to represent him in a civil lawsuit.”
(l-r) Anfisa Arkhipchenko, Jax Taylor, Omarosa, Corinne Olympios, Bobby Lytes, Tiffany “New York” Pollard, and Jonny Fairplay.
Casey Durkin/E! EntertainmentSee: House of Villains
House of Villains struggles to live up to the promise of its genius concept: Get a bunch of famous reality TV villains in one house and see what happens. While some moments are hilarious and shocking, the series peters out before these wolves can blow the house down.
Here’s Kyndall Cunningham’s take:
“Back in the ’90s and early 2000s, reality television, if you were lucky, could be a fateful entry point into Hollywood, the music industry and even corporate America. Now, the once-ridiculed genre has expanded so much— with shows like Love Is Blind and Real Housewives occupying their own universes—that many reality stars are maximizing their celebrity within that space. It certainly helps that a number of reality series and competitions nowadays cast old/current TV personalities, putting them in a house together and hoping for a big, fat drama-fest. Examples this year alone include MTV’s latest season of The Challenge, Peacock’s The Traitors, Bravo’s Winter House, MTV’s Jersey Shore All Stars, and, on Oct. 12, House of Villains on E!.
Despite its placement on a less buzzy network, House of Villains is the ultimate meeting of chaotic reality forces. The small but star-studded cast of produced and self-delegated antagonists include Jonny Fairplay from Survivor, Tanisha Thomas from Bad Girls Club, The Real World/The Challenge’s Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzino, Love and Hip Hop: Miami’s Bobby Lytes, Love Is Blind’s Shake Chatterjee, The Apprentice’s Omarosa Manigault-Newman, The Bachelor’s Corinne Olympios, Vanderpump Rules’ Jax Taylor, 90 Day Fiance’s Anfisa Arkhipchenko and, last but not least, Flava of Love’s Tiffany ‘New York’ Pollard.”
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