Q Wave’s Watchlist: February 2023
"There's nothing to watch" is not a phrase that should exist in a world drowning in content. Join us every month to get curated content - from the latest and greatest to revisiting oldies - we'll help you avoid the dreaded “Netflix Block” and find something to watch!
Your Place or Mine (Netflix)
It’s February, which means love is in the air, and Netflix has given us a perfect flick for Valentine’s Day!
This movie stars two legends of the rom-com game, Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon. They each play former lovers turned best buds. Witherspoon is Debbie, a single mother who lives in Los Angeles with a strict routine as she cares for her son. Kutcher is Peter, the polar opposite, living in New York with an ever-changing day-to-day life. The pair decides to switch lives for a week and stay in each other’s homes, where they learn that what they think they don’t want might be what they need.
Initially announced in 2020, the movie is written and directed by Aline Brosh McKenna, who has handled some other big-time rom-coms, having previously written The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses. It’s only Kutcher’s second film since 2014 (the other being his co-starring role in last year’s dark comedy, Vengence), and he cites the opportunity to work with Witherspoon as the contributing factor for his agreement to star.
Your Place or Mine hits Netflix on February 10th.
You'd like this if you enjoyed: Home Again, I Want You Back
Runtime: 109 minutes
Genre: Romantic comedy
The Consultant (Amazon Prime)
It’s always fun to see a great actor jump from the big screen to the small screen and flex their muscles throughout an entire season of a show. That’s what makes The Consultant, starring two-time Oscar winner, Christoph Waltz so exciting (he took home the Best Supporting Actor prize for a pair of Quentin Tarantino flicks, Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained).
In what’s been described as a “twisted, comedic-thriller,” the Austrian-born star plays Regus Patoff. He’s hired as a new consultant to improve the business at CompWare, an app-based gaming company. Upon his arrival, the employees experience new demands and challenges that put everything they know into question, including their lives.
Starring as the boss from hell is a perfect fit for Waltz, who flourishes when he plays a character with a mean streak.
The series premieres on February 24th.
You'd like this if you enjoyed: Severance, Horrible Bosses
Runtime: 8 episodes
Genre: Thriller, Comedy
Elvis (Crave)
From Walk the Line to Bohemian Rhapsody, biopics about musicians have a solid track record at the Oscars, and Elvis is hoping for similar results.
Snagging 8 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Austin Butler, the film has been a hit grossing $287.3 million worldwide on an $85 million budget. The movie centers on rock n’ roll icon, Elvis Presley, and his unprecedented rise to superstardom from his childhood to becoming ‘The King’ in the 1950s. The story is told from the perspective of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) and highlights their complex relationship.
Even though Hollywood legend Tom Hanks is in this movie, the talk has all revolved around Austin Butler as Elvis. In addition to having a good shot at taking home the Oscar for his role, he’s already picked up some hardware, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. Elvis is the fourth highest-grossing Australian-produced film of all time and the second-highest music biopic of all time, behind only, Bohemian Rhapsody.
You'd like this if you enjoyed: Walk the Line, Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody
Runtime: 159 minutes
Genre: Biographical, Drama
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney Plus)
After the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman in 2020, the status of The Black Panther franchise was very much up in the air. How could the story continue when the heart and soul of the film is no longer with us? Would they re-cast? Questions abound; director Ryan Coogler set out on the arduous task of helming the follow-up to his colossal 2018 hit, Black Panther.
Opting not to re-cast the role and instead forge a path forward with most of the returning cast from the original film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opened last fall and became the sixth highest-grossing movie of 2022, taking in $840 million worldwide.
The film deals with the aftermath of King T’Challa’s death as invading forces from around the world target the country of Wakand’s natural resource of Vibranium, unleashing chaos. It’s up to the Wakandans to defend their home, especially when a mysterious civilization emerges from the depths of the sea led by a powerful warrior named, Namor.
Coogler has done an admirable job navigating the complicated circumstances surrounding the film, and his steady hand has been rewarded to the tune of five Oscar nominations. Angela Bassett has garnered much praise in her role of Ramonda, the Queen Mother of Wakanda who is grieving the death of her son, T’Challa. Bassett has already won a Golden Globe and has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, with many pundits picking her as the favorite to win.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now streaming on Disney Plus.
You'd like this if you enjoyed: Any Marvel movie Runtime: 161 minutes Genre: SuperheroYou'd like this if you enjoyed: Any Marvel movie
Runtime: 161 minutes
Genre: Superhero
Hello Tomorrow! (Apple TV+)
With shows like Foundation, For All Mankind, and Severence, Apple seems to have planted its flag firmly in sci-fi television. Enter Hello Tomorrow!, the streamer’s newest offering with a retro-futuristic twist.
Starring and executive produced by Billy Crudup (who you make recognize from Apple’s other hit, The Morning Show), Hello Tomorrow! follows a group of travelling salesmen hawking lunar timeshares. Crudup stars as Jack, an exceptionally talented and ambitious salesman whose total faith in a brighter tomorrow inspires his co-workers and revitalizes his customers but threatens to leave him dangerously lost in the dream that sustains him.
The show’s aesthetic looks interesting, set in a futuristic version of the 1950s. The designs, fashions and vehicles have all been given their own distinctive look.
Hello Tomorrow! debuts February 17th with three episodes available initially and new episodes arriving weekly after that.
You'd like this if you enjoyed: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Black Mirror
Runtime: 10 episodes
Genre: Sci-fi, drama, comedy