Weekend Watch: September 8, 2023
Zombie dramas, postpartum fairytales, a year of cake-barring and a big round of applause for Nia Vardalos, OPA!
As we gear up for the weekend, we're back with an incredible lineup of new movie releases and exciting series premieres, all spotlighted on this week's TueDo List.
There's so much to unpack here, so let's dive right in!
Here are this week’s picks:
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (Theaters): Nia Vardalos and John Corbett return as Toula Portokalos and Ian Miller, the couple who've overcome their diverse backgrounds to build a loving, blended family in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." This time, the Portokalos family heads back to Greece to reconnect with their roots and celebrate their heritage. Their mission? To honor the past, enjoy the present, and embrace the future, all sparked by a family reunion invitation. And with Toula's dad, Gus, recently passing, they're determined to fulfill his final wish — finding his old pals and sharing his cherished journal.
We applaud 60-year-old Nia Vardalos, who not only takes on the leading role but also serves as the writer and director of the film—OPA!
The Changeling (Apple TV+): Based on Victor LaValle's award-winning horror fantasy novel; Apollo Kagwa (LaKeith Stanfield), a rare book dealer, meets librarian Emma Valentine (Clark Backo) in 2010 in Queens, New York. Apollo and Emma's love story is a fairytale, until Emma mysteriously vanishes; bereft, Apollo finds himself on a death-defying odyssey through an alternate New York City he didn't know existed.
Fun fact: A changeling is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairies.
Never Let Him Go (Hulu): In December 1988, Scott Johnson, a gay American mathematician, was found dead beneath a cliff in Sydney, Australia. His death was quickly determined to be a suicide. But Steve Johnson, Scott's older brother, had doubts and would spend the next 35 years trying to solve the mystery of Scott's death. This four-part docuseries delves into Scott's extraordinary life and mysterious death, along with Steve's relentless efforts to piece together what really happened to his brother during a time when a wave of anti-gay violence was plaguing the Sydney area.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Dreaming Whilst Black (Showtime, Paramount+): Co-created and co-written by and starring Adjani Salmon, a comedy-drama following Kwabena (Salmon), a young Black-British aspiring filmmaker trying to balance his professional and romantic ambitions against the harsh realities of life, love and a family who’d prefer he had a stable job.
The show is adapted from the web series of the same name, which garnered a string of award wins and nominations for Salmon, including the 2022 BAFTA for Emerging Talent: Fiction and Screen International Star of Tomorrow.
Sitting In Bars With Cake (Prime Video): Inspired by true events, the show follows best friends Jane (Yara Shahidi) and Corinne (Odessa A’zion) navigating life in Los Angeles in their twenties. Corinne, the ultimate extrovert, convinces her shy-but-extremely-talented home baker best friend Jane to commit to a year of baking cakes and bringing them to bars, with the goal of meeting people and developing confidence—also known as “cakebarring.”
Sitting in Bars with Cake isn't only a madcap joyride through some of L.A.’s most colorful watering holes, it's a moving celebration of female friendship, forging identity, and finding joy in the most unexpected places.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC, AMC+): Fan favorite Norman Reedus reprises his role as Daryl Dixon in this latest spinoff of TWD world. Following his departure from The Commonwealth, Daryl (Reedus) washes ashore in France, raising the ire of a splintered but growing autocratic movement centered in Paris and endangering a young boy at the heart of a benevolent religious movement.
Via ComicBook.com: “Daryl Dixon is The Walking Dead as you've never seen it before, enlivened and reinvented to prove that there's a lot of life left in the zombie drama. Vive la Walking Dead.”
I love these recs!!! I’m going to check out The Changeling and Sitting in Bars with Cake. I hadn’t heard of either of them!
Always appreciate these lists. I just discovered that season 12 of Call the Midwife is *finally* on Netflix, so I am looking forward to watching it this weekend.