The weekend is here again and no one likes to spend hours searching for what to watch.
Whether you’re in the mood to hit a movie theater or stay at home browsing through all of the streaming services’ latest offerings, we’ve got you covered. In movie theaters Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will satisfy the cravings of anyone looking for some action. For anyone in search of a thoughtful, heartfelt story, look no further than A Thousand and One, starring Teyana Taylor. Spinning Gold is also arriving in theaters this weekend, providing an inside look at record producer and Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart, who helped launch the career of icons like Donna Summer, Kiss, Village People. He also helped take George Clinton, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Isley Brothers, and more to the next level. Wiz Khalifa appears in the film as George Clinton and Complex caught up with the rapper and the legendary singer to chat all about the story.
For those looking for something on the lighter side, Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery 2 is hitting Netflix on Friday, and Complex briefly caught up with him and costar Jennifer Aniston for a chat (which you can find below) about the sequel to their hit 2019 movie and what it’s like working together again. Kevin Hart’s Die Hart: Die Hearter is also hitting Roku this weekend, and we chatted with the comedian and he broke down the inspiration behind his action series.
While there is always something new dropping every week, not everything is worth your time, attention, and money, so we chose the highlights from this week below that you must absolutely watch that will also fit whatever mood you are in.
'A Thousand and One'
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When: Friday, March 31
Where: In theaters
Teyana Taylor was born to play Inez in A Thousand and One. The film is A.V. Rockwell’s feature directorial debut and it tells a story about Harlem and the struggles Black women often face in both relationships and in motherhood. After spending a year at Rikers, Inez finds herself without a place to live and desperate to be reunited with her son, Terry, who was placed in the foster care system. When she finds an opportunity, she finds a way to kidnap him and take him away, and the mom-and-son duo attempt to build a new life together in Harlem. The story is a gut-wrenching display of a woman fighting to find a place in the world, as the neighborhood she grew up in changes all around her and the family she built slips away from her. Taylor is fantastic in the role, and the film captures the essence of New York City in the late ‘90s and early 2000s in only a way a native New Yorker could. This is a must-see in theaters. Read our interview with the film’s star and director here.
'Murder Mystery 2'
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When: Friday, March 24
Where: Netflix
Murder mysteries are having a moment and after the viewership success of the first Murder Mystery on Netflix, Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are back with a part 2. The two actors have a history of working together—they also starred in 2011’s Just Go With It—and have also been friends for decades. Sandler has made it a habit to work with his friends in almost every movie he stars in and produces, and this one was no different.
“When you are with people from your past that you know for a long time there is guaranteed fun, calm, confidence, trust, love,” Sandler tells Complex during a quick call. “We know we’re going to have a good time.”
Aniston agrees. “And really you just have a ball together, because if you love who you’re working with—we love our job and love what we do,” she tells Complex. “And life’s too short to work with schmucks.”
Another one of the perks of being friends with Aniston and working with her is that she will stay on top of your health with healthy snacks and vitamins if you’re not feeling well. “I know when I go over to Jennifer’s trailer, she’s going to possibly give me a delicious treat,” Sandler quips. “Every time I go over there, she’s very, very nice to me. She wants me in a good mood and says, ‘I see what’s wrong with what you’re eating,’ fixes it, and then I’m automatically a little better.”
While there are some new faces this time around—including Jodie Turner-Smith and Money Heist’s Enrique Arce—the movie will follow the actors who play married couple, Nick and Audrey Spitz, whom viewers met in the first film. Now that they are private detectives with their own agency after solving a huge mystery abroad in the first Mystery, they will find themselves at the center of yet another international investigation when a friend of theirs is abducted at his wedding. Sandler recalls watching murder mysteries like Dial M for Murder with his parents when he was younger and trying to solve the crime as they watched along, so he is not at all surprised at their recent boom and relentless popularity.
Murder Mystery 2 is louder, more explosive, larger than the first, and just enjoyable enough for a calm Friday night at home. Catch Sandler and Aniston as they reunite as husband and wife Nick and Audrey in Murder Mystery 2, now on Netflix.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
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When: Friday, March 31
Where: In theaters
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Paramount’s film adaptation of Hasbro’s tabletop game, arrives in theaters on March 31. The game-inspired blockbuster was directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, and based on a screenplay they co-wrote with Michael Gilio, and it made its world premiere at SXSW in Austin, Texas earlier this month. The story follows Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) and Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez) who together have to escape from a tower to find Edgin’s daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman), who is in the hands of Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant). Their journey, similar to the game, has plenty of twists and turns that make it an exciting ride for anyone watching.
The role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons first launched in 1974, and now Honor Among Thieves could launch a new movie franchise for Paramount. There was an ongoing battle about who would get the rights to recreate the film and now it looks like it landed in the right hands. Adapting games for the big screen doesn’t always work, but there has been some success as of late as more studios invest more in bringing fan favorites to life. From the reactions so far, D&D might just become one of those film franchises that build up a strong following and this reboot is a strong place to start.
