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Thursday 18
“After the Murder of Albert Lima” (Crackle streaming) Crackle gets into the true crime biz with this documentary about Paul Lima, who spent a decade trying to get justice for his father’s murder. Eventually, he sent a couple bounty hunters to Honduras to track down the killers.
“The Last Unknown” (Discovery+ streaming) Award-winning photographer and conservationist Ian Shive heads out on a daring research mission to one of the most remote and inaccessible places on Earth—the Aleutian Islands, located in the freezing sea between Siberia and Alaska.
Zach Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max streaming) So … Warner Bros.’ follow-up to the thoroughly “meh” Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was originally directed by Zach Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, Man of Steel). But he had to drop out, late in the process, when his daughter committed suicide. Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Avengers: Age of Ultron) was brought on to finish the project. Evidently, Whedon reshot a ton of scenes and re-edited the entire film. The result was … well, it was mostly lame. Three years later Snyder has returned to re-edit and reshoot Whedon’s re-edited reshoot. While I can’t guarantee this now four-hour monstrosity is any better, it’s at least something new for curious superhero fans to check out and vigorously debate.
“The Legend of the Green Hornet” (FYI 8pm) Craig Jackson (of Barrret-Jackson Car Auction fame) rebuilds a legendary, one-of-a-kind Shelby Mustang prototype using some of the most significant auto engineering advancements.
Friday 19
“Calls” (Apple+ TV streaming) Pedro Pascal, Nick Jonas and Rosario Dawson lend their voices to this unique TV experiment. Also on board providing voice talent are—brace yourself—Clancy Brown, Lily Collins, Mark Duplass, Karen Gillan, Judy Greer, Danny Huston, Riley Keough, Aubrey Plaza, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jennifer Tilly. Fede Álvarez (who gave us the 2013 remake of Evil Dead) directs this nine-episode mystery drama, which uses audio combined with “minimal abstract visuals” to tell nine individual, short-form stories through nine interconnected phone calls.
“Cypher” (Roku streaming) Up until now Roku has just been a brand of digital media players used to stream content from your computer to your TV. Now, though, the company has produced its first original series. It’s a crime thriller about an FBI cryptanalyst (Aussie actor Martin Dingle Wall) who discovers a secretly coded document and finds himself in the crosshairs of hackers, hitmen and his own government.
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (Disney+ streaming) Disney follows up its refreshingly risky “WandaVision” with this slightly more conventional superhero series. High-flying ex-soldier The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and reformed super-assassin The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) buddy up to travel the globe and fight baddies.
Saturday 20
“Estonia” (Discovery+ streaming) The ferry MS Estonia sank into the Baltic Sea in 1994, taking 852 souls with it. Discovery+ meets up with the handful of survivors to reveal never-before-discussed details of that tragic day.
VC Andrews Landry Family Movie Series: Ruby (Lifetime 6pm) Lifetime has had a great deal of success adapting VC Andrews’ other trashy teenage Gothic novels, so why not jump into another series? This one (and the four movies that will follow) traces the life of Louisiana bayou-dwelling ingénue Ruby Landy, who lives with her Cajun hoodoo grandmother and wants to marry her nice-guy high school sweetheart. But a series of deep, dark family secrets renders her simple desires forbidden and sends her off on a quest to find her long-lost (and mysteriously wealthy) father.
Sunday 21
“The Gloaming” (Starz 7pm) When a woman is found brutally killed, the clues surrounding her death connect to murders both past and present. At the center of this vaguely supernatural web of death are two detectives who share a tragic past. Like almost all dark murder mysteries on TV these days, this one is from overseas (Australia).
“Q: Into the Storm” (HBO 7pm) Like Vice News and “South Park” before it, HBO investigates the origins and beliefs of America’s conspiracy group du jour, QAnon.
Monday 22
“Shine True” (Fuse 8pm) Richie Shazam and Lucas Silveira work with mentors and role models to help non-binary and trans people “explore their inner identity and passions.”
Tuesday 23
“Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil” (YouTube streaming) Singer, songwriter and actress Demi Lovato gets the docu-reality series treatment, a follow-up to the streaming site’s 2017 documentary feature Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated. I mean, she did suffer a near-fatal overdose in 2018—so, lot to catch up on.
Wednesday 24
“Who Killed Sara?” (Netflix streaming) Popular Colombian TV actor (and the co-star of Beverly Hills Chihuahua) Manolo Cardona stars as a man who has spent 18 years in prison, unjustly, for the murder of his sister. Now out of jail, he’s on the hunt for answers and revenge.