What We're Watching This Fall — And What's Actually Worth Your Time

“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s talk-of-the-town action-comedy epic, is currently dominating the mainstream movie discourse, and it’s very easy to see why.

The film, which hit theaters last Friday, follows a band of radicals who go into hiding after one resistance mission turns deadly. Cut to 16 years later, washed-up, paranoid revolutionary Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) has been living off the grid with his self-reliant daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti), after being abandoned by her mother, the former activist Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), as a baby. When Bob’s longtime nemesis, Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical and his daughter are forced to battle the consequences of their pasts.

That’s the shorthand version of a sprawling, nearly three-hour plot packed with themes of political violence, power, white supremacy, good vs. evil and so much more. As overloaded as that sounds, Anderson pulls it off with an uber talented ensemble cast — which includes Regina Hall, Benicio del Toro, Wood Harris, Tony Goldwyn and rapper Junglepussy — and a bonkers plot that’s as chaotic as it is compelling.

After seeing the film myself, I can say the hype is just about everything critics have hailed it to be, for the most part anyway. It’s bold, kinetic, thrilling, highly entertaining and so nerve-racking that you might on the edge of your seat the entire time, especially during the car chase scenes at the end. As far as performances go, Infiniti is the biggest standout, even as a newcomer making her film debut. Taylor is a close second, even though her presence is limited to the first act.

Those are some of the film’s strengths, but calling it a "masterpiece,” as some critics have, is a stretch, in my opinion, largely due to some of the questionable racial dynamics that undercut the storytelling. The issues begin with the fetishization of Taylor’s character and continue through a subplot involving Willa’s mixed-race parentage — namely, a paternity case between Bob and Lockjaw, on account of an assumed one night stand the latter and Perfidia had. That fact later complicates Lockjaw’s membership to an elite white supremist club, which is a whole other ordeal that leans way too much on Perfidia as a plot device instead of a whole being — which feels especially uncomfortable given her absence for most of the movie.

But even with those flaws, I still enjoyed “One Battle After Another” for what it was, an adrenaline-fueled ride. Some dots just needed more connecting for it to make better sense.

“One Battle After Another” is now playing in theaters.

Hot boy of the moment Glen Powell is turning off his Hollywood hottie persona to morph into Chad Powers on Hulu’s new comedy series. The series, co-created by Powell and Michael Waldron, was adapted from Eli Manning’s viral ESPN sketch.

Powell stars as Russ Holliday, a former college football star who has a huge fall from grace at a championship game. (That intro scene is so good that it’ll pull you right in!)

Soon after, Holliday slaps on some prosthetics to become the titular character so he can walk on as quarterback to a new football team. It’s a fun concept albeit it’s been done a zillion times before — and better. (There’s a scene that shows a billboard of “Mrs. Doubtfire” that’s as cheeky as it is cheesy.)

But what “Chad Powers” has going for it is that it’s only six episodes and the episodes are 40 minutes or shorter. That is one thing I can get behind: a TV show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and lets audiences enjoy it and not think too hard.

The first two episodes of “Chad Powers” are streaming on Hulu. The following episodes will debut weekly on Tuesdays.

I’ve been faithfully watching “The Morning Show” since after its breakout first season made waves (although, with so much TV to keep up with, it took me a minute to power through Season 3). However, I’ve fully committed to the messiness of this newsroom drama, no matter how far it spins out of control, or seems to be losing steam in its latest season.

The Apple TV+ series returned for Season 4 on Sept. 17, springing forward two years after the shocking UBA-NBN merger, led by Alex (Jennifer Aniston), and Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) and Cory’s (Billy Crudup) exits from the company. Even after parting ways, they all wind up back in the building together when an investigation into a previous company cover-up threatens to put the network in jeopardy again. All this happening while UBA’s in the thick of promoting its Paris Olympics coverage after acquiring the rights to cover the Games — which the newly-merged network needs to stay above water.

It’s the same song and dance “The Morning Show” has done for the last three seasons of ripped-from-headlines plots that ultimately boil down to saving the company and keeping the newsroom intact.

While Season 4 manages to throw some juicy drama in between — like now-CEO Stella’s (Greta Lee) steamy affair with the board president’s husband (Aaron Pierre) — this cycle is starting to grow a bit stale. I’ll still be tuning in, but since the show already been renewed for a fifth season, I hope there’s a plan to get it back on course and give it some actual direction. Otherwise, it’s just another series overstaying its welcome.

New episodes of “The Morning Show” premiere weekly on Wednesdays.

TV land lately has been filled with shows that are accidentally (or purposely) mirroring real-world politics. Prime Video’s hit series “The Boys” has lived in that space shamelessly for most of its four-season run now, and its college spinoff series “Gen V” falls right in line, too, especially in Season 2.

The show, which returned on Sept. 17, follows a group of super-powered students at Godolkin University as they sniff out a sinister conspiracy about a supe-killing virus at their college. The spinoff runs parallel with the timeline of “The Boys,” with Season 2 picking up just after the inherently fascist, Trump-like figure Homelander (Antony Starr) seized control of America and declared martial law at the end of the flagship show’s fourth season, with every superhero across the nation reporting to him. That goes for the supes at God U, too, where MAGA influencers and the conservative Vought have the upper-hand on campus, making it even harder for Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Jordan (London Thor/Derek Luh) and Emma (Lizze Broadway) to expose what they know has been happening at their university.

The parallels between “The Boys” universe and the Trump 2.0 era are too spot on to ignore. As many times as creator Eric Kripke has said his superhero satires aren’t trying to predict the future, they’re always on point with what’s happening in our current reality. Perhaps these overexaggerated (yet oddly accurate) depictions of American politics are more of what we need right now to understand what we’re losing in this country. In any case, it’s another show that’s unafraid to go after the president and his supporters at a time when so many institutions are bending the knee. Let’s see what else “Gen V” has to say this season.

New episodes of “Gen V” premiere weekly on Wednesdays.

Who wants to watch an hour-long commercial? Not me.

But somehow, “On Brand With Jimmy Fallon” reeled me in with its first two episodes. The new NBC series, hosted by Fallon and marketing exec and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Bozoma Saint John, has recruited a handful of influencers and marketing pros to come up with ad campaigns for brands like Dunkin’ Donuts and Southwest Airlines. They are competing to not only have their ads showcased nationwide, but also for a chance to win $100,000 and get a feature in AdWeek. It premiered on Sept. 30 and airs twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

In the first episode, the contestants are working for Dunkin’ Donuts. Quite frankly, I was impressed with many of the campaigns. Ultimately, Ryan, who created the Breakfast Built for Doers campaign, won the “innovator of the week” for his working-class-centered breakfast campaign. He told a touching story about watching his dad get up and go to work every day, and created a special lunch pail called the PowerPail and fashioned it as new Dunkin’ merchandise.

Despite hearing some endearing stories from the contestants, the show seems like a cash grab by NBC — I mean, I imagine that these brands are paying the network hella money for all this ad placement. Fallon is perfectly fine as the host of the show; he literally says like three lines each episode trying to encourage the contestants to come up with their best ideas. Saint John just seems like window dressing as a co-host, mostly because of her long resume as a marketing executive.

With so few new network shows this fall — “On Brand” is the only new show on NBC this season — people might just end up tapping into this one every week. But if you’re looking for a truly fun and engaging reality TV competition, I’d say you could skip this one and check out one of the new game shows on Fox.

“On Brand With Jimmy Fallon” airs Tuesdays and Fridays until Oct. 17. The final two episodes air Oct. 24 and 31. It streams on Peacock.

Netflix’s “Ruth & Boaz” caught my attention when Tyler Lepley (“P-Valley,” “Harlem") and Serayah (“Empire”) were announced as the movie’s leads, but the biblical love story hook is where things got a little shaky for me. The film, co-produced by Tyler Perry and DeVon Franklin, is billed as a modern-day reimagining of the story of Ruth and Boaz from the bible. In the film, Ruth Moably, a rising Atlanta hip-hop artist, leaves behind her small-time fame after tragedy strikes. She seeks a fresh start in rural Tennessee while she cares for her late boyfriend’s mother (Phylicia Rashad), and there she finds new purpose through an unexpected romance with generous vineyard owner Boaz (Lepley).

I’ll be honest, my expectations for “Ruth & Boaz” were very low, considering the film’s association with Perry. As we know, the filmmaker has a shaky track record with making decent films, and we’ve hardly ever seen him get behind a wholesome Christian project. This is also the same man who created, wrote, directed and executive produced Netflix’s “Beauty in Black,” among other extremely explicit shows. So I truly didn’t know what to expect from this.

To be fair, “Ruth & Boaz” was directed by Alanna Brown and the screenplay was written by Michael Elliot and Cory Tynan, so it seems in different hands, a solid film backed by Perry is still possible. And while I’m sure lots of die-hard Christians will nitpick over how accurate the movie is to the actual biblical story, I can at least say “Ruth & Boaz” wasn’t completely insufferable. As a romance, it was a cute film, and the cast’s chemistry seemed to flow nicely. It gets a pass from me.

“Ruth & Boaz” is now streaming on Netflix.

When “Reasonable Doubt” concluded last season with Jax (Emayatzy Corinealdi) and Lewis (McKinley Freeman) getting served with a wrongful death lawsuit on their doorstep — having just come up from air from the verge of divorce, and Jax helping her best friend, Shanelle (Shannon Kane), avoid prison time from her murder trial — I knew we were in for loads more drama to come.

And with the three-ring circus that kicks off Season 3, the series certainly doesn’t disappoint.

But before we get there, a quick refresher on how the second season wrapped up: most of it revolved around Shanelle’s highly publicized trial, where she was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her abusive football player husband JT (Christopher Mychael Watson). In a shocking twist, it was revealed that their daughter had accidentally killed him while trying to protect Shanelle from his wrath, and Shanelle was let off the hook. Meanwhile, fallout from Lewis’ affair with his mistress Toni (Tristan Cunningham) came to light, which included the death of their baby, which Toni is now suing Lewis and Jax over.

The latter carries over to Season 3 as Jax, Lewis and Toni are in the thick of litigating the issue just as the former gets entangled in another legal nightmare, unbeknownst to her. Enter Ozzie Edwards (Kyle Bary), the former child star who seeks Jax’s services to help clean up his image now that he’s up for a major franchise movie role. The optics around his personal dealings with a stylist (who he’s in love with) could derail that opportunity, according to his team, though Ozzie feels differently. Those cracks in his circle begin to show early on, but especially when his stylist girlfriend goes missing and he comes up as the No. 1 culprit — and thus, Jax finds her latest courtroom battle.

But not without a colleague who’s trying to make partner at her firm cutting in on her territory. Last season, it was Morris Chestnut’s Corey Cash getting in Jax’s way, but this time, it’s Bill Sterling (played by “Power” star Joseph Sikora), who’s playing both sides of the fence to kiss up to the other partners and get on Jax’s good side. We’ll have to wait and see how that’ll play in his favor. But knowing “Reasonable Doubt,” things will only get messier from here.

The first few episodes of Season 3 set up a missing person’s case-turned-murder trial that seems like it’s going to take a lot of dark turns. And because I’ve already screened half the season, I’ll stop here to avoid giving away any more spoilers. Just know, there’s still a lot to look forward to — including some juicy secrets that’ll blow you away.

New episodes of “Reasonable Doubt” premiere on Hulu on Wednesdays.

There are two reasons I was mildly excited to see “The Man in My Basement.” One, I love Corey Hawkins' acting, so I’ll pretty much check out anything starring him. And two, I’ve always been intrigued by book-to-movie adaptations because it’s interesting to see how the page material translates to the silver screen. Will it stay true to the original story? Will it be better?

Unfortunately, in the case of Nadia Latif’s adaptation of Walter Mosley’s 2004 novel (a film the duo also co-wrote together), the answer is no. And the reason is why most critics have panned the film.

Like Mosley’s book, Latif’s take on “The Man in My Basement” is a theme-heavy tale set in the African-American neighborhood of Sag Harbor, New York, where down-on-his-luck Charles Blakey (Hawkins) is out of a job and on the verge of foreclosure on his ancestral home. That is until Anniston Bennet (Willem Dafoe), a mysterious white businessman, shows up on Charles’ doorstep with a lucrative proposition — one that would clear the slacker’s debts — to rent his basement for the summer. After some reluctance, Charles gives in, but Anniston has some rules.

Said rules are part of an oddball experiment Anniston has set up in Charles’ basement, where he has locked himself in a prison-like cage he set up himself and demands to be kept there as part of what he calls a “spiritual journey.” Charles is, of course, horrified at the thought of someone stumbling upon a Black man keeping a white man prisoner in his basement, but eventually goes along with the ruse. All the while, he’s having his own spiritual reckoning of sorts after stumbling across some family history in his house, which a local antique dealer, Narciss (Anna Diop), helps him sort through.

From there, “The Man in My Basement” goes from strange to bizarre to downright confusing, as Anniston’s experiment begins delving into the film’s true intentions, interrogating philosophical messages steeped in race, power dynamics, heritage, identity, guilt and plenty more, I’m sure. The problem is the movie spends so much time presenting these big ideas, they never amount to much substance. And the ending gets buttoned up so quick, the only thing I could say once the credits rolled was, “WTF?”

The best parts of “The Man in My Basement” are anytime Hawkins and Dafoe share scenes. The way they play off each other, even with a challenging script at play, is quite impressive. And although Dafoe’s lengthy monologues add to the film’s confusion, he delivers them with such passion. Same for Hawkins, as he embodies Charles’ tense, unpredictable personality so well you almost feel like you’re going through the motions with him.

But alas, their performances don’t make up for all the other missteps the adaptation takes. As much as I wanted to like the film, it left me more frustrated than anything.

“The Man in My Basement” is now streaming on Hulu.

By now, it’s no secret that “Him,” the Justin Tipping-directed, Jordan Peele-produced sports horror flick, isn’t the stellar blockbuster some expected it to be when it hit theaters on Sept. 19 — although its premise did seem promising.

In an effort to answer the question, “What would you sacrifice to become the greatest of all time?” “Him” follows the journey of Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), a rising-star quarterback who has sacrificed everything and devoted his entire life to the game of football to fulfill his late father’s (Don Benjamin) wish of becoming the GOAT. His dreams are jeopardized after a mysterious stranger hits him in the head on the football field and gives him a traumatic brain injury.

But just as all hope is lost, Cade’s idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), a legendary quarterback and current GOAT — who also plays for Cade’s favorite team, the San Antonio Saviors — invites the young prodigy to his remote compound for a week of intense training to prove he has what it takes to replace White once he retires. However, as Cade’s training ramps up, and White’s ritualistic test gets more deranged, the young quarterback discovers that he’s expected to sacrifice much more than just his blood, sweat and tears for the sport he loves to attain a near-impossible dream.

This is more or less when “Him” starts to fall apart, as it tries to blend elements of horror with social commentary on a gladiatorial sport that, by its message, often leaves Black men broke down, beat up and ultimately screwed over by white ownership for their entertainment. Its effort left critics less than impressed, though.

The initial reviews were harsh, with criticisms on everything from the movie’s muddled messaging on the dangers of professional football and exploitation of Black bodies to its failed attempts at venturing into actual scary territory.

Some of those points are valid. I, too, had a few concerns with the film, particularly its oddly handled fight-to-the-death ending that hardly feels in service to the point that the film tried to make. I also wish “Him” had invested just as much time into White’s backstory as it did Cade’s. It would’ve been helpful to know why his football-obsessed character ranked the sport over everything else in his life, family and God included, and why he turned out the way he did. That might’ve answered a few questions about his demise as well.

Still, there are some forgiving aspects of “Him” that are being overshadowed by bomb reviews online.

Like the impressive, dramatic performance of Wayans, which comes as no surprise if you’ve seen the actor in this bag before (see his roles in “Requiem for a Dream,” “Respect,” “Bel-Air,” etc.). The usually comedic Wayans brother plays a menacing mentor-like figure to Cade, who goes completely off the rails by the movie’s end. His part makes up for an awkward script written by Tipping, Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie. Similarly, Withers, who’s relatively new to Hollywood, holds his own next to his co-star and uses his personal experience as a former college wide receiver to his advantage where it counts.

On the other hand, I still have mixed feelings about Julia Fox playing White’s celebrity influencer wife and why she had such an involved role in the film’s ending. But her acting wasn’t terrible.

Overall, performances saved “Him” where it otherwise lacked. However, the discourse surrounding the film hasn’t been as nuanced, with some who saw it opening week giving it an immediate thumbs down.

Whatever the opinions of “Him” are, I think it’s important to remember it’s still a film worth engaging with. Allowing critics’ reviews or first reactions to dictate whether people want to see a movie feels like letting others’ opinions control our own. And all that does is limit the perspective through which we view art (or whatever you categorize “Him” as).

Wayans responded to negative reviews of “Him” by acknowledging that critics’ work “shapes our industry, but an opinion does not always mean it’s everyone’s opinion.”

“Some movies are ahead of the curve,” he noted on Instagram. “Innovation is not always embraced and art is to be interpreted and it’s subjective.”

“I’ve had a career of making classic movies that weren’t critically received and those movies went on to be CLASSICS,” the actor added in his post, including screenshots of low Rotten Tomatoes scores for some of his cult classics, like “White Chicks” and “Scary Movie.” “So don’t take anyone’s opinion just go see for yourself.”

“Him” is now playing in theaters.