Do you feel like you’re drowning … but you haven’t even left your couch? Welcome to the Great Content Overload Era. To help you navigate the choppy digital waves, here are The Globe’s best bets for weekend streaming.
Twins (Apple TV, rent or buy)
What’s behind the sudden revival of interest in director Ivan Reitman’s 1988 comedy about unlikely twin brothers? Its height-diverse stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito have reunited twice so far this year – first in an ad for State Farm Insurance during the Super Bowl, then as co-presenters at the Oscars with an inspired comic bit comparing their times as Batman villains in the 1990s.
Alas, this isn’t promotion for the long-in-development sequel, Triplets – which had Eddie Murphy and Tracy Morgan attached as the third brother at different times. That project died when Reitman did in 2022. According to Schwarzenegger, that was Jason Reitman’s fault: “When his father passed away, Jason says, ‘I never liked the idea’ and put a hold on it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. Maybe if enough folks rent Twins this weekend, junior will reverse that decision.
Homicide: New York (Netflix)
Please do not confuse this new Netflix five-episode true-crime docuseries from Law & Order multiverse god Dick Wolf with New York Homicide, a similar series that streams on Prime Video with a Hayu add-on subscription. Homicide: New York does, however, kick off with an episode on the 2001 Carnegie Deli murders – which were also the subject of an episode of New York Homicide last year (and which actually took place five floors above the famous midtown Manhattan deli).
In this latest rehash of that bloodbath, some of NYPD’s finest look back on the case, but the real star is Barbara Butcher from the office of chief medical examiner. She’s got the right name for her line of work, illustrates her points by making a gun with her hand and, with a straight face, delivers lines such as: “You can’t shoot five people in New York.”
Canada’s Got Talent, Citytv+
My son has never seen a reality-television talent competition but is really into the Sing movies starring anthropomorphic animals. So we’ve PVRed this season’s opening episode of Canada’s Got Talent, which premiered this week and runs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, for family viewing this weekend.
As Howie Mandel keeps saying in the ads, this is the show’s “million-dollar season,” apparently marking the first time a million-dollar prize will be award on Canadian television (and only 27 years after fellow Canadian funnyman Mike Myers made that sum sound small as Dr. Evil in Austin Powers). As Sing teaches us, however, it’s not about the money but the friends made along the way.
Along with Mandel, fellow judges Lilly Singh, Trish Stratus and Kardinal Offishall are back to weigh in on 116 acts from across the country in several categories: singing, dancing, comedy, magic, animal acts, stunts and the ever-popular “novelty.”
Juno Awards, CBC and CBC GEM
Juno Week, which I’m sure you’ve all been enjoying on the daily, culminates with a final set of awards given out on during a broadcast that airs live from Halifax on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. The bird-like Nelly Furtado is hosting – and will perform as well.
Also showing off their stuff are up-and-rocking Toronto group the Beaches, 2022 artist of the year Charlotte Cardin, country star Josh Ross, rapper Karan Aujla and the powerful and outspoken singer Jeremy Dutcher, who is your best bet for a viral political moment. There will be musical tributes, too, to Gordon Lightfoot, Robbie Robertson and Karl Tremblay, the singer and co-founder of Les Cowboys Fringants. Plus, Elliot Page will give a special award for awesomeness – no, wait, humanitarianism, sorry – to Tegan and Sara.
Much Ado About Nothing, STRATFEST@HOME
Chris Abraham, the artistic director of Toronto’s Crow’s Theatre, is having a good week. Mirvish Productions announced that his production of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 will be a part of its subscription season next year, and the Stratford Festival’s digital streaming service has uploaded a film of his critically acclaimed 2023 production of Much Ado About Nothing.
Graham Abbey is hilarious as Benedick; Maev Beaty elicits both tee-hees and tears as Beatrice. It’s as good a version as you’ll see and actually quite traditional despite a tiny bit of added text from playwright Erin Shields to paper over its narrative cracks. Nevertheless, Ezra Levant, rabble-rouser of Rebel News infamy, took time out from his busy schedule of lawsuits last summer to go after this Much Ado for being woke or something. So watch this Shakespeare to own the far right too, if that floats your boat.