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The Best New Shows and Movies on Netflix This Week - Fyre, The Punisher
Plus: Killer Mike has his own show and it's great
Ready to watch something new on Netflix this weekend? Here is a list of all the best new shows and movies released on Netflix this week.
Whether you're fresh out of the womb or just Amazon Primed a casket for yourself, there's something for everyone this week on Netflix thanks to a plentiful bounty of wide-ranging new releases. In the mood for a violent superhero series? Check. Need an animated series to remind you of the days you pounded on the keyboard of an Apple II? Yep! Need a reality show about super-preggers high-society women? You got it. If you can't find something on Netflix to watch this weekend, then throw a hammer through your TV because you're done.
Below I go through all the Netflix releases this week, and if you're looking for even more hand-picked recommendations, click over to our Watch This Now! page.
(All titles are out Friday, Jan. 18 unless specified otherwise.)
The Biggest Releases
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
If you've ever cruised Instagram and came across a "social media influencer" and wished that their perfect stupid life would experience just ONE hiccup, then this movie is for you. The infamous Fyre Festival is the subject of this documentary, which follows the schadenfreudetastic collapse of the event from the beginning so we can all revel in the fact that we weren't there. A swindler masked as a promoter promised gourmet grub and lavish accommodations in the Bahamas, and delivered adult snack packs and a tarp. Oh also, there was no festival and everyone got stuck on the island. It's OK to laugh.
Marvel's The Punisher, Season 2
Better watch this while you can, because Netflix and Marvel are going through a long, slow breakup. Jon Bernthal returns as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, the violent vigilante who takes the law into his own hands and crushes its windpipe. This season there's a new villain, a right-wing fundamentalist, but the real core of the show is the relationship between Frank and Billy Russo, who is one step closer to becoming the supervillain Jigsaw after his face got torn to shreds in Season 1. (Trailer)
Grace and Frankie, Season 5
Is this more than the comedy that Netflix keeps renewing in order to keep its elder subscribers coughing up the dough? Maybe! Grace and Frankie (played by the duo of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) continue to reel and find their place in the world after their husbands left them for each other, but there are cracks showing in the comedy as it approaches its golden years. RuPaul guest stars as someone very much like RuPaul. (Trailer)
Everything Else
Trigger Warning With Killer Mike, Season 1
Rapper Killer Mike is one of the smartest people on the planet, and this fun docuseries that shows his brains off is very hard to describe. I liked all three episodes I saw, which ranged from Mike challenging himself to go three days using only goods from black-owned businesses to telling schoolchildren to give up their lofty dreams to do something practical like carpentry to creating a Crip-branded cola. It's a hoot, but it's also loaded with eye-opening positivity. Everyone should get an "I am woke" certificate upon completing the series.
Carmen Sandiego, Season 1
She's right here, everybody! Gina Rodriguez voices the world-traveling cat burglar in this animated series as she ganks from an evil consortium and gives back to its victims. For all you hardcore Carmen fans, the series serves as an origin story. (Trailer)
9 Twisted Shows to Watch After Bingeing YOU on Netflix
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Netflix fave Noomi Rapace plays a security expert trusted to protect an heiress from a whole bunch of people who want to kidnap her in this female-fronted action series. Early reviews are not so good, but what do critics know, right? (Trailer)
Girl
A 15-year-old girl who was born in the body of a boy continues her dream of becoming a professional ballerina. It won the Cannes prize for first feature. (Trailer)
IO
A young scientist is the last person on Earth(*) after we screw it up so badly, it's uninhabitable. It's like a live-action version of Wall-E! (*Except she's not.) (Trailer)
Soni
This Indian drama film is about a female police officer and her superintendent who try to rid the streets of crime against women. (Trailer)
Trolls: The Beat Goes On, Season 5
I swear Season 4 came out like a month ago. In fact, a quick look at Wikipedia tells me that the first four seasons of the show all came out in 2018 in batches of six or seven episodes. What is this, British television? Why the cruel delivery system? Some child is out there DYING because the seasons are so short. C'mon, Netflix, this isn't a way to teach kids a lesson in strategically releasing content for maximum desirability. What if you did that with Stranger Things? I've got every mind to organize a toddler march on your headquarters to demand an end to these fake "seasons" just to increase demand. Oh I forgot: This show is about trolls. (Trailer)
The World's Most Extraordinary Homes, Season 3
This show is about really extraordinary homes from around the world. Each of them has at least one bathroom, extraordinary! (Trailer)
Yummy Mummies, Season 1
A gaggle of upper-crust women act like spoiled reality stars... and they're pregnant. I hope the show gets renewed for 14 seasons and they have to be pregnant for each one. This is the latest in a flurry of Australian reality shows, but it's not as good as Back With the Ex or Instant Hotel. (Trailer)
Justice
Be a part of history and watch the first procedural drama to come from the Middle East. A young female lawyer gets a law degree from America and returns home to Abu Dabhi to start her career on her own, but her father wants her to work for his prestigious law firm. Watch so you can be ready for the inevitable Justice: Dubai, Justice: Sharjah and Justice: Special Victims Unit when they get made. (Monday, Jan. 21 / no trailer available, power of imagination required)
Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
This four-episode true-crimer features previously unheard recordings of serial killer Ted Bundy while he was on death row for killing more than 30 women in the 1970s. I bet most of the conversations go something like, "Hey Ted, what the f---, man?" (Thursday, Jan. 24 / Trailer)
Stop searching, start watching! TV Guide's Watch This Now! page has even more TV recommendations.