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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: Fargo Season 5
Fargo Season 5 recaptures the immediacy and intrigue that had started to taper from the anthology’s continued efforts, recalling the Coen Brothers’ 1996 film by putting the women—a wily Juno Temple and hard-ass, hilarious Jennifer Jason Leigh—front and center to take on Jon Hamm’s bumbling, Trump-loving sheriff.
Here’s Nick Schager’s take:
“Following an underwhelming 1950s-set fourth season that threatened to put a final nail in its coffin, Noah Hawley’s Fargo leaps to the almost-present of 2019 for its newest go-round and, in the process, regains some of its suspenseful and comedic mojo.
There’s nothing mind-blowingly novel about the writer/director’s latest 10-episode tale of murder, mischief, and misogyny most foul on the rural borderlands of Minnesota and North Dakota, and at this point its references to Joel and Ethan Coen’s body of work have lost some of their original inventive luster. Nonetheless, thanks to dexterous stewardship and fine performances from an all-star cast led by Juno Temple, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jon Hamm, it’s a sinister remix that by and large satisfies, no matter its frequent habit of telling rather than showing.”
Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la, and Mahershala Ali.
NetflixSkip: Leave the World Behind
Leave the World Behind is essentially Netflix’s annual holiday season apocalypse film (think Bird Box and Don’t Look Up), only slightly more refined. It’s suspenseful, but tonally confused, and lacks enough subtlety in its message to really pack a punch.
Here’s Coleman Spilde’s take:
“Early into Leave the World Behind—writer-director Sam Esmail’s new thriller, in theaters Nov. 22 and streaming on Netflix Dec. 8—Amanda Sanford (Julia Roberts) proclaims just how much she detests her fellow humans. They’re loud, obnoxious, and undeservingly arrogant, she says, barely looking up from their phones long enough to avoid smacking into another person on the sidewalk, and completely unapologetic if they do. This revelation strikes Amanda so fiercely that she hops out of bed in the middle of the night, books a secluded, sprawling vacation rental in a little hamlet of the Hamptons, and starts packing suitcases for her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their two kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), just so she can get away from her fellow man.
None of these actions strike Amanda as ironic. Instead, she fails to realize that her cynicism is the exact kind of trait cultivating that detached feeling. Much like Amanda, Leave the World Behind is blinded by its own smugness, fancying itself privy to the secrets of the human condition. Esmail is confident that he’s got the answer as to what will happen to our spoiled society when it all goes to shit, like it does when the Sanfords reach their remote destination. While his script’s criticisms are occasionally on-point, they’re too often muddled by both cloying messaging and the series of agonizingly vague apocalyptic events that plague the Sanfords —and the film—no matter how hard they try to escape.”
Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine in Wish.
DisneySkip: Wish
Wish feels like a mere outline of a Disney film cobbled together for the studio’s 100th anniversary—right down to its overly literal title. It’s a serviceable animated affair, but is missing that breathtaking Disney magic. Quite simply: You’ll wish you were watching something else.
Here’s A.A. Dowd’s take:
“It should come as no surprise that the Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th birthday with a fairy tale. Wish (in theaters Nov. 22) opens with the cracking of a leather-bound tome—a framing device that immediately positions the studio’s latest animated feature within a long line of adventures that either were or could have been pulled from a storybook. Will the movie cling to Mouse House tradition? Or will it subvert this history like Shrek, a Disney-skewering cartoon comedy that also began with the turning of pages? In the aftermath of Frozen, there’s no reason Disney can’t have its cake and eat it too.
Turns out that the storybook prologue has a dual function. It also gives the filmmakers a head start on explaining the rather convoluted rules that govern their bedtime story. More exposition arrives in the form of the introductory this-is-my-town number sung by earnest teenager Asha (Ariana DeBose). It may be the only song of its kind whose lyrics include a Q&A session. Later, Asha will bust out a second book to illustrate the plot to another character. Even she gets lost at one point, stuttering out a relatable ‘I’m just not sure how this works.’ You don’t either, huh?”
(L-R) Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell and Nicole Byer in Good Burger 2.
Vanessa Clifton/Nickelodeon/Paramount+Skip: Good Burger 2
Good Burger 2 finds the schtick of the cult-classic movie (ripped from Nickelodeon’s popular All That sketch) on its last legs, with stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell scraping the last bits of gristle off a once-solid comedic bit for a meal of bland, greasy nostalgia.
Here’s Jesse Hassenger’s take:
“Though the current iteration of Saturday Night Live is not the sketch-to-movie factory it once threatened to become, it’s still remarkable that Kenan Thompson could spend two full decades as a cast member—easily a show record—and not ever have one of his characters adapted for a feature film à la MacGruber, Wayne’s World, or The Blues Brothers. Then again, Thompson might consider that box checked off, having achieved something rarer and stranger: He’s one of two guys who has ever toplined a movie based on an All That sketch. Only he and partner in shenanigans Kel Mitchell can truly understand the trajectory of appearing on Nickelodeon’s intended JV-level SNL that was really more of middle-school Carol Burnett Show, then jumping (however briefly) to the big screen for 1997’s Good Burger.
Perhaps the ultra-rarity of the Good Burger experience engendered deep loyalty in its star. Maybe Thompson appreciates the movie’s nostalgic appeal in retrospect. Or maybe he well and truly enjoyed himself making a deeply silly, not especially funny, but largely harmless movie in the era where Nickelodeon’s cinematic house style could be described as ‘goony nonsense where adults fall down,’ marketed with the restraint and tastefulness of Gak. Whatever the reasons, a fully adult Kenan and Kel are back in Good Burger 2 (albeit not on movie screens; this is a Paramount+ streaming exclusive).”
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