COUCH THEATER
“Mean Girls” (PG-13) -Twenty years after the pop culture phenomenon “Mean Girls” premiered, a musical-comedy film based on the film of the same name released in theaters. This new adaptation stars Angourie Rice (“Spider-Man: No Way Home”) as Cady Heron, a homeschooled teen who moves from Kenya to the United States and begins her first public school experience. Cady quickly learns the rules of North Shore High regarding the “Plastics” who own the school, and she teams up with her new friends, Janis and Damian, to take the Queen Bee Regina George (Renee Rapp) down. Overall, the performances of Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho (“Moana”), and Jaquel Spivey were stand-outs in this campy musical. Keep an eye out for a cameo from Lindsay Lohan, who played Cady in the original film. Out now. (Paramount+)
“Anyone but You” (R) -- Another fun pick this week is this romantic comedy starring two all-American heartthrobs -Sydney Sweeney (“Euphoria”) and Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”). Sweeney plays law student Bea, who meets Goldman Sachs employee Ben (Powell) randomly at a coffee shop. The two spend the night together, but due to a miscommunication, they don’t end up seeing each other for another six months. When they meet again due to a mutual friends’ wedding, they’re forced to swallow their pride, and even though they butt heads, Bea and Ben make a deal to pretend to be together to ensure that the wedding goes smoothly. This movie is full of romantic tropes, so this watch will either make you cringe or entertain the heck out of you. Out now to rent. (Prime Video)
“Ripley” (TV-MA) -- Andrew Scott (“Fleabag”) is putting his own twist on the character of Tom Ripley, who you might’ve met in Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel or in the 1999 film adaptation starring Matt Damon. In this eight-episode series taking place in 1960s New York, Tom is hired by a wealthy businessman to convince his son, Dickie, to come home from Italy. But Tom is a grifter who’s accustomed to studying and impersonating people in an eerily accurate manner. So, when Tom arrives in Italy to get Dickie back, he unexpectedly becomes enamored with Dickie’s life, so much so that he thinks he can become him. Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning co-star in this limited series premiering April 4. (Netflix)