STREAMING THIS WEEK
WHAT’S NEW ON NETFLIX “Ginny & Georgia”
Test and explore the strength of a mother-daughter bond when the new Netflix series “Ginny & Georgia” makes its debut on Wednesday, Feb. 24, on the streamer. After having lived somewhat of a nomadic lifestyle, moving town to town for much of their lives, edgy and rootless 30-year-old Georgia Miller (Brianne Howey, “The Exorcist”) and her two children, 15-year-old Ginny (Antonia Gentry, “Candy Jar,” 2018) and young Austin (Diesel La Torraca, “Lambs of God”), land in Massachusetts for yet another “fresh start” (as so delicately put by Georgia). As the family begins to settle in and Georgia realizes how well her kids are adapting to this specific new lifestyle, she starts to question whether moving again, as she had always planned, is a good idea after all. While planting roots ultimately seems like the only way to give her kids the stability they crave, the longer they stay in the Massachusetts town, the more it seems there may be a more sinister and urgent reason behind the Millers’ constant need to relocate. Written and produced by new talent Sarah Lampert (“Haze,” 2016), this quirky 10-episode dramedy series’ premiere season also stars a largely Canadian supporting cast, including Felix Mallard (“Locke & Key”), Sara Waisglass (“Degrassi: The Next Generation”), Jennifer Robertson (“Schitt’s Creek”) and Alex Mallari Jr. (“Dark Matter”).
“Caught by a Wave” (2021)
Take a trip to Italy with the brand new Netflix original film “Caught by a Wave,” coming to the streamer on Friday, Feb. 26. Rife with beautiful scenery, the heightened and exciting emotions that drive young love and all the drama of being a teenager, this romantic drama stars the voices of Oliver Paris (“Go! Live Your Way”) and Olivia Castanho (“Triad Princess”) in the recounted story of two teenagers who fall in love during a summer in Sicily. Through a series of heartbreaking events, the two are forced to grow up faster than either of them had ever hoped. Titled “Sulla Stessa Onda” in the original Italian version, “Caught by a Wave” was directed by Massimiliano Camaiti (“Armando,” 2006) and was cowritten by Camaiti and Claudia Bottino (“Seuls,” 2019). The Italian-language film also stars Manuela Ventura (“Questo nostro amore”), Vincenzo Amato (“Unbroken,” 2014), Donatella Finocchiaro (“Angela,” 2002) and Corrado Invernizzi (“Marco Polo”) and features music by Japanese composer Yakamoto Kotzuga (“Baby”).
WHAT’S NEW ON HBO MAX “Tom & Jerry” (2021)
Get animated with the newest installment in a long franchise of cat-andmouse films: “Tom & Jerry” are back and coming to HBO Max on Friday, Feb. 26. For more than 80 years, Tom the Cat and Jerry the Mouse have conned, beaten and schemed one another into various high-stakes, would-be deadly (to humans) circumstances. Now, in this live-action-animation combination film from Warner Animation Group and Hanna-Barbera Productions, the frenemies are back in a serious way and living it up in the finest of Big Apple hotels. While preparing for “the wedding of the century,” hotel staff Terrance (Michael Peña, “American Hustle,” 2013) and DuBros (Rob Delaney, “Bombshell,” 2019) hire Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz, “Carrie,” 2013) on as the newest member of their prestigious team. One of her main tasks: to rid the hotel of its (cartoon) mouse problem, otherwise known as Jerry. Rather than choosing to hire an exterminator or apply mouse traps to the hotel’s nooks and crannies, Kayla opts to fight fire with fire — or, rather, mouse with cat — and brings in Tom to solve the Jerry problem once and for all. But, as all Tom & Jerry franchise fans know, Jerry is anything but an average mouse. Filmed as a live-action production with a classic cartoon style superimposed over top, Tim Story’s (“Taxi,” 2004) “Tom & Jerry” is a truly unique visual experience in modern-day film. Loaded with film and comedy talent, this new addition to the saga also stars “Saturday Night Live’s” Colin Jost, “Community’s” Ken Jeong, “Lion’s” (2016) Pallavi Sharda and “Peaky Blinders’” Jordan Bolger.
WHAT’S NEW ON DISNEY+ “Secrets of Sulphur Springs”
Catch the first five episodes of the hit Disney series “Secrets of Sulphur Springs” when they come to Disney+ on Friday, Feb. 26. With the first season set to feature 11 episodes, this series follows the mystery of The Tremont, an old hotel being restored to its former glory by the Campbell family. Moving his family from Chicago to the small town of Sulphur Springs, Louisiana, father Ben Campbell (Josh Braaten, “Married to the Kellys”) has high hopes for an old hotel property. However, when his 11-year-old son, Griffin (Preston Oliver, “This Is Us”), attends his new school for the first time since moving, he learns that his new house may, in fact, be haunted by the spirit of a young girl named Savannah (Elle Graham, “Swamp Thing”), who disappeared without a trace several decades prior. Befriending the curious and eager Harper (Kyliegh Curran, “Doctor Sleep,” 2019) in his class, Griffin and his new bud set out to solve the mystery of the missing girl, the haunted manor and the time-bending portal found on The Tremont’s property. Directed by Ellen S. Pressman (“Thirtysomething”) and Jennifer Phang (“Advantageous,” 2015), this creepy kids’ mystery also stars Landon Gordon (“Coop and Cami Ask the World”) and Madeleine McGraw (“American Sniper,” 2014) as Griffin’s siblings, Kelly Frye (“Criminal Minds”) as the Campbells’ mom and Bryant Tardy (“Queen & Slim,” 2019) and Diandra Lyle (“NCIS”) as Topher and Jess Dunn. “Okavango: River of Dreams” Go on a virtual safari from your couch when the PBS documentary miniseries “Okavango: River of Dreams” lands on Disney+ on Friday, Feb. 26. This threepart series, presented and directed by Dereck and Beverly Joubert (“Eye of the Leopard,” 2006), follows the animals of Southern Africa’s Okavango Delta as they hunt, grow, play, live their lives and interact with one another. Located in Botswana, about 1,600 kilometers after the river begins in the highlands of Angola, the Okavango Delta is a lush oasis that provides life sustenance and nutrients to some of Africa’s most majestic creatures — from elephants and hippos to crocodiles, lions and beyond — right in the middle of a desert wasteland. Originally released on PBS in 2019, “Okavango: River of Dreams” is broken into three near-hour-long episodes. The first, “Paradise,” sets up the upper landscape of the river and tells the tale of an injured lioness that must stay alive to provide for her cubs; the second, “Limbo,” uncovers the life of middling creatures of the Delta, such as hyenas and warthogs; and the third and final part, “Inferno,” addresses lower-river life, a place where zebras, wildebeest and other mammals bake in the sun while searching for the water and minerals they need to survive. A highly educational experience, “Okavango: River of Dreams” is narrated by F. Murray Abraham (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” 2014).
WHAT’S NEW ON HULU “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (2020)
Get into the music and take in all of Lady Day when the new feature film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” comes to Hulu on Friday, Feb. 26. Known in her time and throughout history as one of jazz and blues music’s most valued and haunting voices, Billie Holiday’s (portrayed by triple-threat performer Andra Day, “Marshall,” 2017) soul and honesty spoke to many during a career that spanned more than a quartercentury. This biographical music drama chronicles the Federal Bureau of Narcotics’ investigation into Holiday that began in 1939 and lasted for several years of arrests and censorship, and which ultimately contributed to her death in a hotel room under police watch 20 years later. Adapted for the screen by SuzanLori Parks (“Their Eyes Were Watching God,” 2005) and with inspiration from Johann Hari’s 2015 book “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs,” this film, directed by Lee Daniels (“Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” 2013), also stars Trevante Rhodes (“Moonlight,” 2016), Garrett Hedlund (“TRON: Legacy,” 2010), Leslie Jordan (“The Help,” 2011), Natasha Lyonne (“Orange Is the New Black) and Tyler James Williams (“Dear White People,” 2014).
“Dredd” (2012)
Head to the future for an action-packed viewing of Hulu’s newest addition, “Dredd.” Joining the streamer on Tuesday, Feb. 23, this science-fiction film takes place in a future metropolis where the police have ultimate control over the population and can prosecute or execute its citizens at their whim and will. Also plagued by SLO-MO, a reality-bending drug, the city is now in the hands of a police officer who has teamed up with a trainee to take down the gang responsible for the drug’s distribution. Featuring Karl Urban (“Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” 2002) as the title character, Judge Dredd — first created by Carlos Ezquerra and John Wagner for the 1995 film “Judge Dredd” — this action film reboot also stars Jason Cope (“District 9,” 2009), Olivia Thirlby (“Juno,” 2007), Rakie Ayola (“Been So Long,” 2018), Lena Headey (“Game of Thrones”) and Wood Harris (“Ant-Man,” 2015). “Dredd” was directed by Pete Travis (“Vantage Point,” 2008).
WHAT’S NEW ON PRIME “The Informer” (2020)
Find out just what a man would do for his freedom and to secure a normal life for his family with “The Informer,” coming Friday, Feb. 26, to Prime. Ex-con, family man and former special operations soldier Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman, “The Killing”) has been working alongside the FBI as an informant for quite some time in an operation to take down a powerful New York City crime lord who goes by the name The General. When one of his assigned stings goes sideways and an undercover police officer is killed, Koslow becomes a pawn in a game between the criminal underworld and the organization trying to expose it. Agreeing to get himself reincarcerated in order to expose The General from inside the system, Koslow soon comes to realize that the only person he can trust is himself. Starring Rosamund Pike (“Gone Girl,” 2014), Clive Owen (“Children of Men,” 2006), Ana de Armas (“Blade Runner 2049,” 2017), Mateusz Kosciukiewicz (“In the Name Of,” 2013), Common (“Suicide Squad,” 2016) and new actor Karma Meyer, “The Informer” was directed by Andrea di Stefano (“Escobar: Paradise Lost,” 2014) and was based on the 2009 novel “Three Seconds” by Swedish authors Börge Hellström and Anders Roslund.