Why Watch That Radio

On this episode of Why Watch That:

FIRST LOOK

I Care a Lot 

Website: Netflix

Synopsis: Poised with sharklike self-assurance, Marla Grayson (Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike) is a professional, court-appointed guardian for dozens of elderly wards whose assets she seizes and cunningly bilks through dubious but legal means. It’s a well-oiled racket that Marla and her business-partner and lover Fran (Eiza González) use with brutal efficiency on their latest “cherry,” Jennifer Peterson (two-time Academy Award winner Dianne Wiest) — a wealthy retiree with no living heirs or family. But when their mark turns out to have an equally shady secret of her own and connections to a volatile gangster (Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage), Marla is forced to level up in a game only predators can play — one that’s neither fair, nor square.

Release Date: February 19, 2021

Directed by: J Blakeson

Screenplay by: J Blakeson

Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, and Alicia Witt, with Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Dianne Wiest

Distributor: Netflix

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller

Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes

Rated R

SNEAK PEEKS

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Website: Hulu

Synopsis: The legendary Billie Holiday, one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, spent much of her career being adored by fans across the globe. Beginning in the 1940's in New York City, the federal government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to escalate and racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial and heart-wrenching ballad, "Strange Fruit." Led by Oscar® nominated director Lee Daniels and introducing Grammy® nominated singer-songwriter Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday unapologetically presents the icon's complicated, irrepressible life. Screenplay writer Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, pens this intimate tale of a fierce trailblazer whose defiance through music helped usher in the civil rights movement.

Release Date: Available on Hulu February 26, 2021

Directed by: Lee Daniels

Screenplay by: Suzan-Lori Parks

Starring: Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes, Natasha Lyonne, Garrett Hedlund, Miss Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Evan Ross, Tyler James Williams, Tone Bell, and Erik LaRay Harvey

Distributor: Hulu

Genre: Biography, Drama, Music

Running Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Rated R

Cherry

Website: Apple TV+

Synopsis: “Cherry” follows the wild journey of a disenfranchised young man from Ohio who meets the love of his life, only to risk losing her through a series of bad decisions and challenging life circumstances. Inspired by the best-selling novel of the same name, “Cherry” features Tom Holland in the title role as an unhinged character who drifts from dropping out of college to serving in Iraq as an Army medic and is only anchored by his one true love, Emily (Ciara Bravo). When Cherry returns home a war hero, he battles the demons of undiagnosed PTSD and spirals into drug addiction, surrounding himself with a menagerie of depraved misfits. Draining his finances, Cherry turns to bank robbing to fund his addiction, shattering his relationship with Emily along the way. Brought to the screen in bold, gritty fashion by visionary directors Anthony and Joe Russo, “Cherry” is a darkly humorous, unflinching coming-of-age story of a man on a universal quest for purpose and human connection.

Release Date: In select theaters on Friday, February 26, 2021 and globally on Apple TV+ on Friday, March 12, 2021

Directed by: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Screenplay by: Angela Russo-Otstot and Jessica Goldberg

Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Jack Reynor, Michael Rispoli, Jeff Wahlberg, Forrest Goodluck, and Michael Gandolfini

Distributor: Apple TV+

Genre: Crime, Drama

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Rated R

The Father 

Website: Sony Pictures Classics

Synopsis: Anthony is 80, mischievous, living defiantly alone and rejecting the carers that his daughter, Anne, encouragingly introduces. Yet help is also becoming a necessity for Anne; she can’t make daily visits anymore and Anthony's grip on reality is unravelling. As we experience the ebb and flow of his memory, how much of his own identity and past can Anthony cling to? How does Anne cope as she grieves the loss of her father, while he still lives and breathes before her? THE FATHER warmly embraces real life, through loving reflection upon the vibrant human condition; heart-breaking and uncompromisingly poignant – a movie that nestles in the truth of our own lives.

Release Date: In theaters in LA and New York February 26, 2021; In theaters nationwide March 12, 2021; Available on Premium VOD March 26, 2021

Directed by: Florian Zeller

Screenplay by: Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

Based on the play “The Father” by Florian Zeller

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Rufus Sewell, Imogen Poots, and Olivia Williams

Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 1 hour 37 minutes

Rated PG-13

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On this episode of Why Watch That:

SERIES PREMIERES

The Equalizer 

Website: CBS

Clarice

Website: CBS

The Luminaries 

Website: Starz

It’s a Sin 

Website: HBO Max

CHECK-IN BEFORE SEASON FINALE

WandaVision 

Website: Disney+

SEASON FINALES

C.B. Strike: Lethal White 

Website: HBO Max

30 Coins

Website: HBO

Your Honor

Website: Showtime

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That:

TV SNEAK PEEKS

Behind Her Eyes (series premiere)

Website: Netflix

For All Mankind (season 2 premiere)

Website: Apple TV+

MOVIE SNEAK PEEK 

The Mauritanian 

Website: Official Site

Synopsis: Directed by Kevin Macdonald and based on the NY Times best-selling memoir “Guantánamo Diary” by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, this is inspiring the true story of Slahi’s fight for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the US Government for years. Alone and afraid, Slahi (Tahar Rahim) finds allies in defense attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) who battle the US government in a fight for justice that tests their commitment to the law and their client at every turn. Their controversial advocacy, along with evidence uncovered by a formidable military prosecutor, Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch), uncovers shocking truths and ultimately proves that the human spirit cannot be locked up. 

Release Date: In theaters February 19, 2021

Directed by: Kevin Macdonald

Screenplay by: M.B. Traven and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani

Based on the book “Guantanamo Diary” by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Starring: Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Levi, and Saamer Usmani

Distributor: STX Entertainment

Genre: Drama, History, Thriller

Running Time: 2 hours 9 minutes

Rated R

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That:

SNEAK PEEKS

Land

Website: Focus Features

Synopsis: From acclaimed actress Robin Wright comes her directorial debut Land, the poignant story of one woman’s search for meaning in the vast and harsh American wilderness. Edee (Wright), in the aftermath of an unfathomable event, finds herself unable to stay connected to the world she once knew and in the face of that uncertainty, retreats to the magnificent, but unforgiving, wilds of the Rockies. After a local hunter (Demián Bichir) brings her back from the brink of death, she must find a way to live again.

Release Date: In theaters February 12, 2021

Directed by: Robin Wright

Screenplay by: Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam

Starring: Robin Wright, Demián Bichir, and Kim Dickens

Distributor: Focus Features

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 1 hour 29 minutes 

Rated PG-13

The World to Come

Website: Bleecker Street

Synopsis: In this powerful 19th century romance set in the American Northeast, Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a farmer's wife, and her new neighbor Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) find themselves irrevocably drawn to each other. A grieving Abigail tends to her withdrawn husband Dyer (Casey Affleck) as free-spirit Tallie bristles at the jealous control of her husband Finney (Christopher Abbott), when together their intimacy begins to fill a void in each other's lives they never knew existed. Directed by Mona Fastvold and scripted by Jim Shepard and Ron Hansen, THE WORLD TO COME explores how isolation is overcome by the intensity of human connection.

Release Date: In theaters February 12, 2021 and on digital March 2, 2021

Directed by: Mona Fastvold

Screenplay by: Jim Shepard and Ron Hansen

Starring: Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, and Casey Affleck

Distributor: Bleecker Street Media

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 1 hour 38 minutes

Rated R

Judas and the Black Messiah

Website: Warner Bros.

Synopsis: FBI informant William O'Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther Party and is tasked with keeping tabs on their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). A career thief, O'Neal revels in the danger of manipulating both his comrades and his handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons). Hampton's political prowess grows just as he's falling in love with fellow revolutionary Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback). Meanwhile, a battle wages for O'Neal's soul. Will he align with the forces of good? Or subdue Hampton and The Panthers by any means, as FBI Agent J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) commands?

Release Date: In theaters and on HBO Max for 31 days on February 12, 2021

Directed by: Shaka King

Screenplay by: Shaka King and Will Berson

Story by: Shaka King, Will Berson, Kenny Lucas, and Keith Lucas

Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Dominique Fishback, Jesse Plemons, and Martin Sheen

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Genre: Biography, Drama, History

Running Time: 2 hours 6 minutes

Rated R

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That:

SEASON PREMIERE

Snowpiercer (TNT)

SERIES PREMIERES

The Investigation (HBO)

The Head (HBO Max)

Resident Alien (Syfy)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That:

NETFLIX FIRST LOOKS

Malcolm & Marie

Website: Netflix

Synopsis: A filmmaker (John David Washington) and his girlfriend (Zendaya) return home following a celebratory movie premiere as he awaits what’s sure to be imminent critical and financial success. The evening suddenly takes a turn as revelations about their relationships begin to surface, testing the strength of their love.

Release Date: February 5, 2021

Directed by: Sam Levinson

Screenplay by: Sam Levinson

Starring: Zendaya and John David Washington

Distributor: Netflix

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 1 hour 46 minutes

Rated R

The Dig

Website: Netflix

Synopsis: As WWII looms, a wealthy widow hires an amateur archaeologist to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain's past resonate in the face of it's uncertain future‎.

Release Date: January 29, 2021

Directed by: Simon Stone

Screenplay by: Moira Buffini

Based on the novel by John Preston

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, and Johnny Flynn

Distributor: Netflix

Genre: Biography, Drama, History

Running Time: 1 hour 52 minutes

Rated PG-13

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That:

OUR FAREWELL TO SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2021

Films Mentioned (in alphabetical order):

CODA

In the Earth

Jockey

Judas and the Black Messiah

Land

Mass

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Together Together

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That:

OUR TRIBUTE TO CICELY TYSON

Cicely Tyson's Wikipedia Page

Cicely Tyson's IMDb Page

IMDb's Tribute Video

SNEAK PEEK

Bliss

Website: Prime Video

Synopsis: Bliss is a mind-bending love story following Greg (Owen Wilson) who, after recently being divorced and then fired, meets the mysterious Isabel (Salma Hayek), a woman living on the streets and convinced that the polluted, broken world around them is nothing but a computer simulation. Doubtful at first, Greg eventually discovers there may be some truth to Isabel's wild conspiracy.

Release Date: On Prime Video February 5, 2021

Directed by: Mike Cahill

Screenplay by: Mike Cahill 

Starring: Owen Wilson, Salma Hayek, and Nesta Cooper

Distributor: Amazon Prime Video

Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

Running Time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Rated R

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That: 

SNEAK PEEKS

Palmer

Website: Apple TV+

Synopsis: Former high school football star Eddie Palmer (Justin Timberlake) went from hometown hero to convicted felon, earning himself 12 years in a state penitentiary. He returns home to Louisiana, where he moves back in with Vivian (June Squibb), the grandmother who raised him. While trying to keep his head down and rebuild a quiet life for himself, Palmer is haunted by memories of his glory days and the suspicious eyes of his small town community. Things become more complicated when Vivian’s hard-living neighbor Shelly (Juno Temple) disappears on a prolonged bender, leaving her precocious and unique 7-year-old son Sam (Ryder Allen), often the target of bullying, in Palmer’s reluctant care. In time, Palmer is drawn into a more hopeful world as he forges a connection with Sam through their shared experience of being made to feel different by those around them. Life improves for Palmer, and a romance develops between him and Sam’s teacher Maggie (Alisha Wainwright). An inspiring and unexpected journey unfolds for the three of them, but soon Palmer’s past threatens to tear apart this new life.

Release Date: Available on Apple TV+ January 29, 2021

Directed by: Fisher Stevens

Screenplay by: Cheryl Guerriero

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple, Alisha Wainwright, June Squibb, and Ryder Allen

Distributor: Apple TV+

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes 

Rated R

The Little Things

Website: HBO Max

Synopsis: Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city.

Release Date: In theaters and on HBO Max for 31 days on January 29, 2021

Directed by: John Lee Hancock

Screenplay by: John Lee Hancock

Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Natalie Morales, Terry Kinney, Chris Bauer, Joris Jarsky, and Michael Hyatt

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Running Time: 2 hours 7 minutes

Rated R

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Why Watch That: 

SERIES PREMIERES

Mr. Mayor

Website: NBC

Miss Scarlet & The Duke

Website: PBS

All Creatures Great and Small 

Website: PBS

WandaVision

Website: Disney+

SEASON PREMIERES

Grown-ish 

Website: Freeform

C.B. Strike: Lethal White

Website: HBO Max

Gomorrah

Website: HBO Max

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.