WHAT WE CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH
Never Have I Ever
Tamil-Canadian Maitreyi Ramakrishnan from Mississauga won her role in Mindy Kaling’s new YA comedy series after responding to an open casting along with 15,000 other people. The coming-of-age series is partly inspired by Kaling’s own childhood. Ramakrishnan plays Devi, an overachieving and temperamental Indian teen navigating sex and popularity during her sophomore year in a California high school. Kaling (real name Chokalingam) and Ramakrishnan are joined by Poorna Jagannathan playing Devi’s mom. Never Have I Ever seen so many Tamils on American television. April 27
A Secret Love
Amazon’s announcement of a series based on A League Of Their Own got a lot of attention recently, but Netflix is stealing a little of its rival’s thunder with Chris Bolan’s documentary about Terry Donahue, a closeted ballplayer in the women’s baseball league that inspired Penny Marshall’s 1992 movie, and her partner Pat Henschel. The two women fell in love in 1947, sparking a secret relationship that lasted most of their lives. Originally set to make its world premiere at SXSW earlier this month, but… well, you know. April 29
Middleditch & Schwartz
Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley) and Ben Schwartz (Parks & Recreation, Sonic The Hedgehog) take long-form improv to new heights, building a brand new full show each night based on one audience suggestion. So this is a different breed of comedy special in that it comes in three parts: three different shows, each entirely different from the last. That spontaneous comedy-without-a-net brings performers and audiences together, all cheering for the same thing. It’s exactly what we need right now. April 21.
Coffee & Kareem
Last summer, Canadian filmmaker Michael Dowse (Goon, The F Word) gave us the appealing action throwback Stuber – the one with Kumail Nanjiani as Dave Bautista’s Uber driver. Dowse’s next is another retro-feeling buddy comedy with an even punnier title. Ed Helms is James Coffee, a Detroit cop dating single mother Vanessa, (Taraji P. Henson) whose 12-year-old son Kareem (Terrence Little Gardenhigh) hates him so much he hires a gang of fugitives to kill him. When it all goes sideways, James and the kid have to team up to take down an entire crime syndicate. It sounds ridiculous. Hopefully in a good way. April 3
Nailed It! (Season 4)
Disappointed with your gastronomic gaffes during this time of quarantine and self-isolation? Well, they won’t be quite so bad as those in Nailed It!, the addictive reality series in which a bunch of culinarily-challenged contestants try to recreate famous desserts. Now in its fourth season, still hosted by the merciless stand-up comic Nicole Byer, the show takes the cake for funniest (and messiest) food show. April 1
Sergio
Two things make this biopic about United Nations diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello intriguing to us: first, director Greg Barker (The Final Year) made a pretty good HBO documentary about Vieira de Mello in 2010, focusing on his work as the U.N.’s high commissioner for human rights and his attempts to finesse the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. And second, Barker’s drama – which casts Narcos’ Wagner Moura as Vieira de Mello – co-stars Ana de Armas as his partner, the economist Carolina Larriera. And after Knives Out, anything she does goes on the must-watch list. Fun fact: Moura and de Armas also appeared in Olivier Assayas’s Wasp Network, which Netflix acquired after TIFF last year and plans to release later this spring. April 17
Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020 (Part 3)
During these stressful and uncertain times, this placid Japanese reality TV show’s return should feel like a soothing balm: the most dramatic storyline is housemate Ruka’s dire cooking skills. In Part 3, expect new housemates, wrestling matches, late-night manga drawing sessions and Ruka’s questionable meals. April 7
Rachel Mason profiles her parents’ legendary West Hollywood gay porn shop in Circus Of Books.
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Circus Of Books
Rachel Mason’s documentary, which screened at last year’s Inside Out film festival, profiles the West Hollywood gay porn shop that her parents, Karen and Barry Mason, operated for nearly 40 years. The store was a queer community landmark, but the couple’s matter-of-fact attitude toward sex, their tenacity in fighting for First Amendment rights and perseverance during the AIDS crisis turn what might seem like a oddball mom-and-pop story into something more expansive and complex. April 22
Surviving R. Kelly (season 1)
This six-part docuseries, which details the many sexual assault allegations against R. Kelly made such big waves in January 2019 that the R&B star was dropped by his record label and boycotted by countless artists and radio stations. He is currently awaiting trial at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Centre, and is facing 18 federal counts, including child pornography and kidnapping. A difficult and damning series, it traces his own abusive childhood to his rise in the music world to the countless reports of abuse he has managed to dodge over the years. With commentary from A-listers who dared to speak on the subject and his abuse victims, along with their families and teachers, Surviving R. Kelly made the allegations impossible to avoid. April 18.
Dawn Of The Dead
Let’s be honest, this is exactly the right time to watch a movie where Sarah Polley is chased around the GTA by stampeding zombies. Scripted by James Gunn, Zack Snyder’s adrenalized riff on George A. Romero’s 1978 classic plays down the comedy and cranks up the dread, with Polley at the head of a great ensemble that also includes Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Jayne Eastwood, Boyd Banks, Lindy Booth, Matt Frewer and Kevin Zegers. Also, Modern Family’s Ty Burrell turns up as the closest thing the movie has to a villain, which is kind of hysterical. April 1
Dune
With Denis Villeneuve’s new adaptation set to arrive at the end of the year – assuming there are any theatres left to play it – David Lynch’s 1984 run at Frank Herbert’s sprawling sci-fi novel is suddenly back in cinephile conversations. It hasn’t gotten any better with age – it’s still beautiful to look at and stultifyingly dull to sit through, thanks to a tortured post-production process that saw over an hour of footage slashed from Lynch’s cut. (The filmmaker refuses to engage with the movie to this day.) But there is a certain fascination in watching the august international cast – which includes everyone from Kyle MacLachlan, Virginia Madsen, Sean Young and Sting to Max Von Sydow, Francesca Annis, José Ferrer and a young(ish) Patrick Stewart – run around in rubber costumes trying to find the gravitas in the story. April 1
Far From Heaven
Todd Haynes’ reteamed with Safe star Julianne Moore for this splendid and hyper-stylized homage to Douglas Sirk’s 1955 classic All That Heaven Allows. The Sirk film starred Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson as a May-December couple who are regarded with disapproving eyes. In Haynes’ update, Moore is a picture-perfect Connecticut housewife who is neglected by her husband (Dennis Quaid) and finds comfort in her Black gardener (Dennis Haysbert). Haynes’ exquisite update follows in the footsteps of Sirk’s monumental work, which shaped a new kind of melodrama. But in dealing with race and homosexuality, Far From Heaven goes where the earlier film couldn’t. April 1
We Own The Night
James Gray’s old-school cop drama is the kind of macho melodrama you might be inclined to mock. But this saga about two brothers (Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg) on opposite sides of the law teaming up to take down a violent criminal organization still fucks. Gray concocts thrillers that are slow, sexy and stylish. The sight of Eva Mendes with a cigarette hanging from her lips will get your heart rate up. And a rain-drenched car chase that keeps viewers locked inside the interior of a vehicle under attack ranks among best action sequences ever. April 1
The Squid And The Whale
If you were devastated by Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach’s savage look at a family being torn apart by divorce, you’ll want to watch (or rewatch) his masterful 2005 film about the same subject – but told from the perspectives of the two children (Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline), who shuttle between their self-absorbed, selfish parents (Jeff Goldblum, Laura Linney). April 1
Gosford Park
Long before Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, the late Robert Altman played off prickly class tensions on a wealthy estate in the whodunit Gosford Park. Taking a page from Agatha Christie and Jean Renoir’s The Rules Of The Game, Gosford Park invites viewers on an absurdly decadent weekend shooting party at an English manor. When the wealthy patriarch is killed, it’s only a matter of time before everyone assumes the butler did it. But the murder mystery is a conduit for observations on how servants discreetly hover and manage the obscenely rich. Succession will thrill to it. April 1
Little Children
Not many actors manage to capture the ennui of suburban life as well as Kate Winslet in Little Children. At one point, as the lovelorn Sarah, she justifies her sexual exploits thusly: “It’s the hunger. The hunger for an alternative, and the refusal to accept a life of unhappiness.” The writer of those words is the ever-consistent Tom Perrotta (Mrs. Fletcher). Again, he proves to be a rare male writer who can capture the depths and meaning of female desire. Sarah’s ache for more, along with several others in her small town, is triggered when a registered sex offender moves in and ruffles the feathers of the locals. One particular scene remains indelible a decade on: the offender appears at the public pool, filled to the brim with children. Slowly, a murmur spreads. The pool evacuates as the man remains underwater, swimming along, as families watch in horror. Chase it with Parasite and you’ve got yourself a double feature. April 1.
Casper
There are few sexual awakenings as prime as the moment Casper the friendly ghost transforms into a real boy for one night to dance with the lonely Kat (Christina Ricci) at a Halloween party. From a pillowy wisp to pillowy lips, Casper becomes 90s heartthrob Devon Sawa. Eyes locked, the pair dance, and he whispers those infamous words – “Can I keep you?” – revealing his identity to a delighted Kat before the two share a peck. A 90s confection, costarring the ever-endearing Bill Pullman, Caspar never gets too sentimental and is a charming watch for kids and parents, especially millennials looking for a hit of nostalgia. April 1
List of new titles available in April by date:
TV shows
Coming Soon
Arashi’s Diary: Voyage
The Circle Game
The King: Eternal Monarch
April 1
Community (seasons 1-6)
David Batra: Elefanten I Rummet
How To Fix A Drug Scandal
The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch
Nailed It!: (season 4)
Sunderland ‘Til I Die: (season 2)
April 3
La casa de papel (part 4)
Spirit Riding Free: Riding Academy
StarBeam
April 6
The Big Show Show
April 7
Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 (part 3)
April 9
Hi Score Girl (season 2)
Riverdale (weekly episodes starting)
April 10
Brews Brothers
April 14
Chris D’Elia: No Pain
April 15
The Innocence Files
Outer Banks
April 16
Fary: Hexagone (season 2)
Fauda (season 3)
Mauricio Meirelles: Levando o Caos
April 17
#blackAF
El Dragón: Return Of A Warrior (season 2)
The Last Kids On Earth: Book 2
Too Hot To Handle
April 18
Life In Pieces (season 4)
Surviving R. Kelly (season 1)
April 20
Cooked With Cannabis
The Midnight Gospel
April 21
Bleach: The Assault
Bleach: The Bount
Middleditch & Schwartz
April 22
Absurd Planet
Win The Wilderness
April 23
House Of Flowers (season 3)
April 24
After Life (season 2)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (season 7)
Hello Ninja (season 2)
Yours Sincerely, Kanan Gill
April 26
The Last Kingdom (season 4)
April 27
Never Have I Ever
April 29
Extracurricular
Nadiya’s Time To Eat
Summertime
April 30
Drifting Dragons
The Forest Of Love: Deep Cut
The Victims’ Game
Movies
April 1
40 Days And 40 Nights
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle
The Age Of Innocence
Anger Management
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Casper
Charlie St. Cloud
Dawn Of The Dead
Dune
Europa Report
Evolution
Far From Heaven
Gosford Park
Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer
Little Children
Magic Mike
Maid In Manhattan
Reservoir Dogs
The Skulls
The Squid And The Whale
Troy
Twins
Waiting…
We Own The Night
The Wedding Planner
White Chicks
April 3
Coffee & Kareem
Money Heist: The Phenomenon
April 10
LA Originals
La vie scolaire
Love Wedding Repeat
The Main Event
Tigertail
April 12
Ocean’s 8
April 17
Betonrausch
Earth And Blood (La terre et la sang)
Legado en los huesos
Sergio
April 19
Just Friends
April 20
Ocean’s Thirteen
Ocean’s Twelve
April 22
Circus Of Books
El silencio del pantano
The Plagues of Breslau
The Willoughbys
April 24
Extraction
April 29
A Secret Love
Murder To Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story
April 30
Dangerous Lies
Rich In Love (Ricos de Amor)
Last Call
TV series and movies leaving Netflix this month.
April 1
Liar Liar
Pride & Prejudice
April 6
Justice League
April 28
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (series 1-3)
April 30
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
@nowtoronto