Close out April with a malevolent A.I., a campy YouTube politics and culture, Tom Cruise, Catskills nostalgia, and a tribute to the ringmaster himself, Jerry Springer.
Mrs. Davis - Peacock
Picked by Digital Editor Mike Nam
As a fan of Betty Gilpin in GLOW and Damon Lindelof's HBO series adaptation of Watchmen, I am very much intrigued by this wild new series about Gilpin playing a nun who is kicked out of her convent and embarks on a quest to take down the all-powerful artificial intelligence named Mrs. Davis who was behind her fall from grace, so to speak. This will, of course, involve finding the Holy Grail. Anyway, this seems like the right kind of zany for me.
ContraPoints - YouTube
Picked by Newsletter Writer Graison Dangor
Natalie Wynn is a YouTuber, but her highly-produced, imaginative, campy political essays, which are nominated for a Peabody this year, are not the rants or polemics you might expect. In videos that range in the low 20-minute range to well over an hour, she explains opposing views with humanity that their proponents, including anti-trans and alt-right figures, don't extend to her as a trans woman. And then there is her style: Wynn's direct-to-camera deadpanning, dialogues with herself in different costumes, over-the-top special effects and set dressing, and gratuitous piano playing make them unlike anything else that's streaming. I just started her latest video, a two-hour journey through the anti-LGBTQ movement from Anita Bryant to J.K. Rowling, and recommend what I've seen so far as much as I do any of her other videos.
Top Gun: Maverick - Amazon Prime Video
Picked by Reporter Alex Vuocolo
If you haven't yet seen one of the biggest movies of 2022, Top Gun: Maverick, it's now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. The film's outstanding box office success should tell you that at the very least this long-awaited sequel is effective big-budget entertainment. I'd also like to add that it's one of the most elegantly crafted blockbusters of recent memory, combining extraordinary aerial stunts, deft plotting, and soulful performances from the likes of Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, and even Val Kilmer in a heart-wrenching cameo.
Welcome to Kutsher's - Amazon Prime Video
Picked by Senior Editor Dina Ross
This documentary celebrates the golden age of New York's Catskill Mountains. Kutsher's Resort was one of many hotels where families would spend the summer to see old friends, have some fun, and play matchmaker for the young adults (think: Dirty Dancing). The film is filled with descriptions from the people who worked there about the rise of the region, the resort's heyday, and how eventually all good things must come to an end.
THROWBACK PICK:
Jerry Springer - PlutoTV
Picked by Growth Associate Keara O’Driscoll
In memory of the late Jerry Springer, who passed on Thursday, this weekend is a great time to re-watch the chaos of everybody’s favorite guilty-pleasure show. Coined lovingly by Springer himself as “the worst TV show of all time,” it was home to some of the most outrageous moments on television and some of the most meme-able moments (before memes even existed) that has truly shaped pop culture, whether we like it or not. So this weekend, find yourself chanting "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry" to send off the iconic host one more time.
