This is perhaps one of the most exciting weeks for movies and TV releases we’ve seen lately.
Ahead of the holiday weekend, two big titles arrived in theaters on Wednesday, Air and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, giving sports and video game fans something to look forward to. Two of the most exciting TV shows of the year are arriving on the streaming side this week. Dave is back on FXX with Season 3, while Netflix debuted its new A24 produced Beef earlier this week.
Other incredible shows like Ted Lasso, Snowfall and Succession are also in full swing on their respective networks and streaming platforms, so this is the time to sit back and catch up on all the incredible content 2023 is delivering already. Check out our choices for the strongest options of what to watch this weekend.
'Air'
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When: April 5
Where: In Theaters
The Air cast and team has done one hell of a job promoting this movie, with Director Ben Affleck even flexing his Spanish during an interview to ensure the film reaches as many audiences as possible. The film centers around Nike executives, Phil Knight (Affleck) and Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and their quest to land Michael Jordan as the face of their basketball division in the ‘80s. The film is intense and a ride from start to finish as Vaccaro, who deeply believes in Jordan’s talents even as a rookie, attempts to convince both Nike and the Jordan family that signing the sneaker deal was the opportunity of a lifetime. While it was produced by Amazon Studios, it’s not arriving on Prime Video until at least 45 days after its movie theater release. Learn all about the real people who inspired the characters here before you go, or after to avoid spoilers, and read our interview with the film’s screenwriter Alex Convery here.
'Dave' Season 3
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When: Wednesday, April 5
Where: FXX and Hulu
Buckle up, because Dave is hitting the road. After two downright hilarious and introspective seasons, the show that is loosely based on Lil Dicky’s rise to stardom is back with its third season. This time around, Dave (played by Dave Burd/Lil Dicky himself) and his crew are hopping on a bus for his first-ever tour, appropriately called The Looking for Love tour. Complex caught up with the cast ahead of the new season’s arrival and they talked all about what to expect from the next 10 episodes, including Dave’s mission to find love while they travel from city to city.
The show’s star and creator expressed how proud he was of this new season. “I feel like this season’s on track to be, I think, by far the best season and the funniest season, just the best overall in every way,” he told Complex. “I feel like this season took it a step forward.”
“We’re really an ensemble this season,” his costar Christine Ko, who stars on the show as Dave’s videographer Emma, told Complex. “On top of just the tour, we’re in a bunch of different cities, so it’s just going to be a new environment every single episode. That’s what’s exciting about Season 3.”
The first two episodes dropped this week with weekly episodes to follow. I’m usually not a fan of trailers, since they tend to give away too damn much these days, but this one above perfectly encapsulates what’s in store for the rest of the season—and it looks like it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
'Beef'
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When: Thursday, April 6
Where: Netflix
A24 has done it again. Leave it to the studio to create one of the most fun, thrilling and unique stories that we’ve seen hit Netflix in quite some time. Beef is a comedy drama created by Lee Sung Jin and stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong. The series kicks off with Danny Cho (Yeun) and Amy Lau (Wong) going head to head in a road rage incident with each other that snowballs into a quest for revenge that begins to consume their lives. Danny is a failing contractor who is desperate to make something of himself, while Amy is a successful entrepreneur who is also an unfulfilled suburban housewife. The road rage encounter serves as the last straw for both of them, who bring out the absolute worst in each other as they both take part in unraveling the other person’s life. Watch the chaos unfold for yourself as Season 1 is now available for binging on Netflix. Complex sat with the leads and the creator at SXSW and you can read that conversation, here.
'The Super Mario Bros. Movie'
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When: April 5
Where: In theaters
I’m going to be honest here: This will either be a movie you absolutely love or absolutely hate—there’s no in between. For diehard fans who grew up playing the Super Mario Bros. video games, this film will carry a deep sense of nostalgia that might just be the driving force behind them heading into a theater. The movie feels like you are watching someone play the video game without being able to participate, which can be a bit frustrating at times. It also seems like the target audience was not those who grew up in the ‘90s—it was instead made for children.
The film follows Mario as he tries to rescue his brother Luigi with help from Princess Peach, who doesn’t play a damsel in distress and instead is a strong teammate for Mario as he faces off against Bowser (Jack Black). The film enlisted A-list voice actors, like Chris Pratt and Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead roles, but that was unnecessary since they don’t really stand out or add to the plot in any way. The film is already doing numbers at the box office, so it might be worth a watch either way.
