Best Movies and TV (April 4-6)

Jack Black parading around with a ragtag team that includes Jason Momoa in a long wig with shoddy bangs, the wolf girl from Wednesdayand the incredibly talented Danielle Brooks in a Minecraft movie directed by the guy who did Napoleon Dynamite sounds like the setup to an April Fool’s joke. It’s not. And who knows, it’ll probably make tons of money. But unless you have to entertain your young kids, thankfully, there’s more than just that to watch this weekend.

Based on the podcast of the same name, Dying for Sex stars Michelle Williams as Molly, a woman who after receiving a terminal diagnosis decides to end her 15-year marriage (her husband is played by Jay Duplass) to embark on a sexual journey. With the support of her friend Nikki (Jenny Slate), Molly tries to figure out what really turns her on in this touching (pun unintended) comedy.

➽ Michelle Williams just wants you to know that “this is how Molly comes, not Michelle,” btw.

It ain’t summer yet, but that’s not stopping Neon. Its latest horror film comes from Billy Bryk and Stranger Things‘s Finn Wolfhard, who co-wrote and directed this camp slasher. Fred Hechinger stars as the too-earnest counselor while Wolfhard, Bryk, and more young actors are there to surely terrorize him before a masked killer terrorizes them.

“The game’s simple concept becomes the film’s silly premise, and Jack Black is just the man to sell it to us.” (In theaters now; read Ebiri’s full review.)

Kevin Bacon plays the titular bounty hunter who is brought back from the dead to track down demons for the Devil. His extremely dry affect as Hub Halloran looks like it will be a fun counter to the series’ goofy touches, like the Devil communicating via fax and Hub pursuing a country-music career. —Roxana Hadadi

This is not the best new medical drama by any stretch, but it has hot people running around a hospital worrying about their interpersonal dramas. If that plus a badly CGI’d hurricane sounds like just the weekend ticket, this will get the job done. —Kathryn VanArendonk

➽ Too many doctors, not enough time. Here’s how to find your perfect primary TV physician.

Celebrated anime director Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) returns with a new original series. In the near future, a scientist releases a miracle drug that is quickly adopted by society. The only problem? The medicine will kill you within three years. Now it’s a race to track down that scientist and get the vaccine. Like the best Watanabe projects, this one promises plenty of kinetic action sequences and a killer soundtrack. —Tolly Wright

“Death and destruction is the core of your nature” is how this trailer characterizes Dante — the swaggering, greatsword-throwing protagonist of Devil May Cry. Based on the video-game series, this new Adi Shankar-led animated series (notes: swimming the same as the anime Devil May Cry: The Animated Series) looks to capture its breakneck action and demonic bloodletting. It also showcases one of the last posthumous performances of the late Batman voice, Kevin Conroy. —Eric Vilas-Boas

Photo: J. Merritt/FilmMagic

“Those of us who watched Val Kilmer back in the day didn’t always know what to make of him. In his heyday, he was never really a leading man; he was more like someone’s idea of ​​a leading man, with his blond hair, strong jaw, big teeth, full lips, and confident blue eyes. But he often gave great performances, especially in parts that played with that idea.” —Bilge Ebiri on the image of Val Kilmer in pop culture in his review of the 2021 documentary Wavewhich is streaming on Prime Video.

For other Kilmer standardshere are a few more highlights on streaming:

➽ Top Gun, streaming on Prime Video
➽ Tombstone, streaming on Hulu
➽ Heat, streaming on Netflix

I’ll admit I have yet to dive into the world of Love on the Spectrumbut I’ve only heard great things from my colleagues, including writer Alejandra Gularte:

Based on the tease in the first episode (and the last two trips to the White Lotus), we already know this season will end with a literal bang: We finally get to find out who is doing the shooting and who will die. There are a lot of potential suspects and victims among the ensemble cast, but what about the monkeys? —TW

➽ This Sunday, the sun sets on another season of 1923 with a supersize, two-hour-long finale on Paramount+. But have no fear, more Yellowstone spinoffs from creator Taylor Sheridan are in the works.

Kyle Mooney’s Y2K may not have found its footing in theaters, but now it’s getting another chance to party on Max. It’s wall-to-wall references to its namesake as a group of teens (made up of Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, and Lachlan Watson) celebrate the turn of the century but instead get vengeful robots doling out cartoonish kills as they try to take over the world.

➽ Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller Black BagOz Perkins’ adaptation of Stephen King’s The MonkeyA24’s culty Opusand The Colors Within are all on digital platforms.

Want more? Read our recommendations from the week of March 28.