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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 imperative 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.
Nick’s Pick: The Rings of Power is a sweeping LOTR fantasy that puts House of the Dragon to shame. It’s astonishing, then, that it only cost $465 million to make, which coincidentally is half the rent of my NYC apartment!
“In the aftermath of Jackson’s The Hobbit, it appeared that Tolkien’s Middle Earth franchise had—in terms of screen adaptations—run its course. The Rings of Power puts the lie to such notions, returning to the author’s universe with a flair and ferocity that proves instantly enchanting. It crafts its characters and kingdoms—including the subterranean realm of the dwarves—with assured grace, cleanly and engagingly delineating their personalities and dynamics while indulging in majestic panoramas and aerial zooms across hillsides and mountaintops.”
Coleman’s pass: Real Girlfriends in Paris is all about real girlfriends. And they are definitely in Paris. And that’s about where the excitement ends. Americans bringing ranch dressing to Paris is why French people hate us.
“It has all the same ingredients as Emily, but lacks the same je ne sais quoi, if you’ll indulge me in my high school French. Where Emily is a spunky Carrie Bradshaw wannabe in the City of Light, the Real Girlfriends are just trying to get by on a metro pass and a prayer.”
Kevin’s pick: The Patient is both TV’s best thriller this year and a career-best from Steve Carell. It’s also a great warning to any of us who have debated throwing our lives away to become a therapist just because we love gossip
“The Patient is, in an almost unfathomable description, as if Misery met In Treatment. The series, refreshingly, abandons the trope where the serial killer is brooding, charismatic, and sexually mystifying. (Maybe there are just some characters that don’t need to be sexy!) Sam is certainly captivating, but he’s also pathetic, damaged, delusional, and unappealing—even at the moments when he is slightly empathetic. That you’re able to see him as all of these complex things is because you’re viewing him through Alan’s—and Carell’s—eyes.”
Laura’s pick: Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul is a whip-smart tragicomedy satire that skewers faith and faithfulness, with a Regina Hall performance as big and bold as her fabulous pastor’s wife’s hats.
“Honk for Jesus unfolds largely as a mockumentary created by a mostly silent director named Anita. Trinitie (Regina Hall) resents Anita’s constantly rolling cameras and “fly on the wall” approach from the beginning, and over time, it’s easy to see why. With each forced smile, each evasive and dissembling response about Lee-Curtis’ (Sterling K. Brown) misdeeds, the fury quivering in Hall’s eyes intensifies. She’s spent years, it seems, performing both for the congregation and for her husband, playing the well-worn role of a loyal First Lady whose most unshakeable faith rests not in the Lord, but in the man sitting on the matching throne by her side.”
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