‘Handmaid’s Tale,’ Nye among April show(er)s
April highlights from major streaming and cable on-demand services:
MONDAY
The Great Train Robbery (Acorn). This two-parter from
Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall tells the story of the notorious 1963 hijacking of the Royal Mail train from Glasgow to London, from both the cops’ and robbers’ perspective. It stars Jim Broadbent (Harry Potter’s Professor Slughorn) and Luke Evans ( Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston).
TUESDAY
Louis CK: 2017 (Netflix). This standup special, filmed in Washington, is as close as you’re going to get to new Louie episodes for the time being. So just watch and be grateful.
APRIL 7
The Get Down (Netflix). Baz Luhrmann’s period piece tracing the birth of New York’s rap scene returns for the second half of Season 1.
APRIL 11
Hidden Figures (OnDemand). Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe star in the Oscar-nominated movie about the little-known involvement of three black women in the space program.
Lion (OnDemand). Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman received supporting- Oscar nominations for this story of a young man adopted by an Australian couple whose Google Earth search leads him to his biological mother and birthplace in India.
APRIL 14
Mystery Science Theater
3000: The Return (Netflix). Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo are back to comment on B-movies along with a new human companion (Jonah Ray).
APRIL 17
Easter From King’s (BritBox). Need a soundtrack for your fam- ily’s Easter dinner? Look no further than this choral performance from England’s Kings College Choral Scholars.
APRIL 21
Bosch (Amazon). When the detective drama based on Michael Connelly’s novels returns for its third season, Bosch’s (Titus Welliver) teenage daughter has moved in with him, adding the responsibilities of a single father to his daily routine.
Bill Nye Saves the World (Netflix). The artist formerly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy genetically modifies the talk-show format. He’ll do deep dives on hot science and tech topics and refute anti-scientific claims while doing experiments with celebrity guests; supermodel Karlie Kloss is a correspondent. Girlboss (Netflix). Based on the best-selling memoir, this halfhour comedy depicts the business education of Sophia Amoruso (Britt Robertson), who turned her eBay vintage-clothing store line into a multimillion dollar online fashion empire. The cast includes Robertson’s Under the Dome co-star Dean Norris in a recurring role.
APRIL 25
La La Land (OnDemand). It’s the movie that won Emma Stone and Damien Chazelle their first Oscars.
APRIL 26
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu). Elisabeth Moss ( Mad Men), Samira Wiley ( Orange Is the New Black) and Alexis Bledel ( Gilmore Girls) are forced to become brood mares for infertile couples in the ruling class of a Christian fundamentalist/military dictatorship. Based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood.
APRIL 28
Dear White People (Netflix). Logan Browning takes over for Tessa Thompson in this adaptation of writer/director Justin Simien’s 2014 film about black students at a fictional Ivy League university.
Catastrophe (Amazon). You can catch some of Carrie Fisher’s final work here as the mother of Rob Norris (Rob Delaney), the American who moved to London after his one-weekend-stand (Sharon Horgan) got pregnant. As Season 3 begins, she’s gone back to her teaching job and he’s playing at-home dad and looking for work.