5 picks to stream if you’re stuck indoors
I’m sure you’re way ahead of me.
Hopefully, if you are able and responsible, you’re spending almost all your time at home right now — and that means time in front of the television.
Still, I thought it couldn’t hurt to give you five suggestions about what to watch on these myriad platforms we have available to us in 2020.
I’ve included some things old, some things new, and while nothing is borrowed, if you count Marge Simpson’s hair, there’s something blue.
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
The first three episodes of the adaptation of author Celeste Ng’s best-selling 2017 novel were released slightly ahead of the March 18 premiere date by Hulu. The show, like the novel, is set in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights. Reese Witherspoon stars as Elena Richardson, an affluent, socially liberal mother of four. She rents property to, and soon hires to work in her own home, Mia Warren (Kerry Washington), an artist with a mysterious past and a teenage daughter.
The Plot Against America (HBO)
Here’s another noteworthy series that just debuted. It, too, is an adaptation of a book, in this case the 2004 novel of the same name by the late Phillip Roth. Like the book, the six-episode limited series tells an alternate-history tale in which the antiwar Charles Lindbergh challenges Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 election. Be warned, though: The parallels to today’s political landscape are laid on very thick.
Midsommar (Prime)
It’s rare that I watch a movie that runs longer than 2 ½~ hours and wish I’d held out for the longer director’s cut instead. That’s how engrossing I found Ari Aster’s not-your-typical-horror-film horror film from last year. Wonderfully shot by the director of “Hereditary” and cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, “Midsommar” sees a group of friends travel to Sweden for a midsummer festival and find themselves embroiled in the bizarre rituals of a cult.
The Witcher (Netflix)
A lot of people have streamed the eight-episode first season of this fantasy series based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski. If you haven’t gotten around to it, though, now may be the time to do it; while at times silly, the show can be a challenging watch because it is set in different timelines. There aren’t a ton of recognizable faces in the cast, but Henry Cavill — who has played Superman on the big screen in recent years — stars as Geralt of Rivia.
The Simpsons (Disney+)
If you subscribed to Disney+ plus for solid “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” or so your children could watch “Frozen 2” twice a day, try to spend some time revisiting one of the best TV shows ever made. Specifically, I’m advocating for a rewatch of the animated comedy’s fifth season. It contains the show’s bestever episode, “$pringfield,” in which the town gets a casino.