Stream On This Week: This Year’s Box Office “Obsession,” The Man Burns, and Sam Neill Remembered

Welcome to the latest issue of Stream On, the weekly newsletter from Consequence that answers the eternally confounding question: What films and TV shows should you be watching? (Subscribe here!) We’re looking at all the new and recent releases from Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, HBO Max, and more for ideas — not to mention a Blast From the Past and streaming recommendations from this week’s special guest!

This Week’s Picks

Obsession (Film)

Directed by: Curry Barker
Cast: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter
Streaming on: Peacock

It’s remarkable that Obsession, this year’s jaw-dropping box office success, is going to still be in movie theaters while also making its streaming debut. Frankly, I can’t think of another example of that happening before now. Just another landmark moment for this sleeper horror hit, a success that was clearly not predicted by its studio (since it’s also now available on 4K — again, while still in theaters).

So, you ask, how’s the movie? Pretty damn interesting, especially as a portrait of writer/director Curry Barker’s generation. The premise is very simple and more than a little familiar: A young man wishes that the girl of his dreams would fall in love with him, and that wish comes true… much to his regret. Things get pretty damn horrific as a result, with star Inde Navarrette doing an incredible job of selling every layer of the terror involved.

One note: There’s no explicit animal violence, but there is a sequence involving a dead animal that nearly made me throw up in the theater. For that reason alone, it’s not a movie I’m eager to revisit, but it does stand out as a remarkable example of low-budget horror, and the performances will without a doubt still sing on your flatscreen.

Connor Ratliff Presents The Acting Class: “DEAR STEVEN SPIELBERG: An Hour-Long Audition For You” (Comedy Special)

Filmed by: Tom Levin
Cast/Creator: Connor Ratliff
Streaming on: YouTube

Connor Ratliff is a comedian and actor who you’ve definitely seen in something — his recent credits include Widow’s Bay, Ghosts, and Last Week Tonight, as the pre-taped opening for this hour of comedy reveals. Filmed at the UCB Theater in New York, this is the latest in a series of improvised one-person shows Ratliff has been doing live, framed as an acting class but really evolving into so much more. As indicated by the title, this is technically meant for an audience of one, but watching Ratliff play with his craft in the moment is a fascinating meta exercise. It’s also cool to see him playing himself for once, as opposed to George Lucas, and you get to see his very real self-tape for the role of the station manager in Disclosure Day.

The Man Will Burn (TV)

Directed by: Jehane Noujaim, Vikram Gandhi
Streaming on: HBO Max

This three-part documentary series looks at both the long history of Burning Man as well as the recent crisis the organization faced in the wake of COVID; there’s a lot of very intimate footage following key players involved with the organization, as well as interviews with a collection of veteran attendees and newcomers who all believe in the 10 Principles. If you have no idea what Burning Man is, the doc will explain, and if you’re a longtime burner, you may be into this behind-the-scenes look at how the event has come together in the past and present. There’s something intriguing about the way this event has evolved since its humble beginnings on a San Francisco beach, and what hard choices reveal about the community around it.

Ride or Die (TV)

Created by: Tessa Coates
Cast: Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Ed Skrein, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, Jamie Parker, Sylvia Hoeks, Bill Nighy, Jacky Ido
Streaming on: Prime Video

This one’s weird but fun, an hour-long action comedy series starring Ted Lasso‘s Hannah Waddingham and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer as longtime friends, with one totally unaware that the other is a professional assassin. (But she only kills bad people, don’t worry.) Basically, remember the movie Spy? Yeah, it’s kind of like that, except more of a dramedy than a comedy, and no Jason Statham. That’s a shame, of course, but Waddingham and Spencer have fantastic friend chemistry, and the action is solid.

Blast From the Past

The home screens of streaming services are always packed with the latest new releases, but we don’t spend enough time appreciating how much good library content is streaming across all of these platforms. Each week, Stream On will spotlight one less-than-new favorite (must pre-date the founding of Consequence, so 15 years or older) that deserves attention from modern-day eyes.

Merlin (1998, TV Miniseries)

Directed by: Steve Barron
Cast: Sam Neill, Helena Bonham Carter, John Gielgud, Rutger Hauer, Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Martin Short
Streaming on: Prime Video, Peacock, The Roku Channel, Tubi

Originally, I was going to use this week’s slot to celebrate one of the films from our Best Mythology Movies list, created in the lead-up to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. But with the sad passing of Sam Neill, I wanted to switch things up — and while we decided not to include Arthurian legend in any of our picks for Mythology Week, thematically the vibe endures here.

The production of this miniseries is about what you’d expect from a cable show made in the mid-90s (the CGI in particular is showing its age). However, that leads to an enjoyably camp vibe which only enhances this take on the wizard who advised King Arthur. As said wizard, Sam Neill dons some unfortunate old age makeup at a few points, but overall he’s really good in it, that famous sly smile a perfect fit for his magical role.

And the supporting cast is also packed with standouts including Isabella Rossellini playing Merlin’s first love, Helena Bonham Carter as Morgan le Fay, and Miranda Richardson making some wild-ass vocal choices in her dual role as the Lady of the Lake and Queen Mab. At the end of the day, Merlin proves to be a sweet reminder that Neill was never less than 100% committed to any part he took on, and always seemed to enjoy the work.

A Special Guest Recommends!

Liz isn’t the only person in the world capable of suggesting stuff for people to watch… So each week, Stream On will now feature picks from a special guest! Said special guest could be literally anyone from the world of entertainment — actors, writers, directors, musicians, or anyone else Liz thinks might be watching something interesting.

This Week: Patrick Cotnoir!

Who Are They? Patrick is a producer, talent booker, and casting director whose accomplishments include putting someone inside a dumpster one time and producing great comedy like The George Lucas Talk Show — which stars the aforementioned Connor Ratliff, a legitimate coincidence/consequence of schedules and timing. Patrick also co-hosts the podcast Hey, That’s Me!: A Commentary Podcast, in which, he says, “we do audio commentaries on things with people who worked on them who never had the chance to do a commentary.” As one recent example, they featured Widow’s Bay cinematographer Christian Sprenger, talking about Episode 3 of that Emmy-nominated series.

What Do They Recommend? Patrick’s got a tasty trio of picks today:

I would say the obvious thing right now is Widow’s Bay (Apple TV). I haven’t been this excited for a TV show in so long. It strikes such a tightwire of a tone that I have not seen on TV before, and the casting is superb, so many amazing comedians and cool, interesting character actors doing some of the best work of their career. It looks beautiful and has quickly, weirdly, become a comfort show.

Now is a great time for Apple TV, it seems like, because I’m also super into Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (Apple TV). I’m a few episodes behind, so please do not send me spoilers, but anytime Tatiana Maslany is on TV, you can pretty much guarantee that the show is gonna rule. New York really is like a character in the show…

Also, I’m watching Star Trek: The Next Generation (Paramount+) for the first time. That’s streaming. It counts, right? Worf is cool.

Worf is cool! Thanks so much to Patrick for these picks — check out Hey, That’s Me!: A Commentary Podcast all the usual podcast places.

One Last One Before Bed

Finally, let’s spotlight a movie or TV show that’s not only great, but won’t take up too much of your time: Think of this section as the answer to the question “What’s something I can watch before hitting the hay, that won’t keep me up too late?” The only rule is that it has to be less than 95 minutes if it’s a movie, or less than 30 minutes an episode if it’s a TV show. Otherwise, sky’s the limit!

The Lovebirds (Film)

Directed by: Michael Showalter
Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Issa Rae, Paul Sparks, Anna Camp, Kyle Bornheimer
Streaming on: Netflix

One of those pandemic releases that may have thus slipped by a ton of people, The Lovebirds is like a one-night stand between a romantic comedy and Martin Scorsese’s After Hours — plus the violence associated with other Scorsese movies. (So it’s a threesome, I guess.) Director Michael Showalter does impressive work managing the balance of tones involved, Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani have solid chemistry, and I will never get over how good a rom-com stare Nanjiani in particular has.

We’ll be back next week with more picks — in the meantime, stay safe out there, or better yet stay inside, where it’s definitely safe, and there’s so much film and TV to watch. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter!