The 9 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend

It looks like Hollywood is a little too busy with the Oscars on Sunday to release some movies. I feel like the host of The Bachelor saying this, but it really has felt like the most dramatic awards season yet, so there’s bound to be something to talk about from the ceremony — with Conan O’Brien hosting! But if awards shows aren’t your thing, there’s always a new season of Survivor. Here’s everything to check out this weekend.

Featured Presentations

The 97th Academy Awards

The long road to the Oscars ends here. Will the controversial most-nominated movie, Emilia Pérez, win any little gold men? Could there be a surprise upset in the Best Picture category? Will host Conan O’Brien bring back Pimpbot 5000 and the Masturbating Bear during one of his bits? —Jen Chaney 

Running Point

Kate Hudson plays a sports exec and franchise heir trying to steady a glitzy pro-basketball team in this thinly veiled hagiography of Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. Max Greenfield, Justin Theroux, and Chet Hanks also star. — Nicholas Quah

Survivor 48

Some people buy lotto tickets for a chance of a million dollars, others sign up for Survivor and spend 26 days on an island with only the shirts on their backs for a cash prize.

Berlin ER

So you’re hooked on The Pitt, which you should be. But you’re also impatiently waiting each week for a new episode that will help fulfill your desire for a medical drama about competent people doing their best. Berlin ER can also do that! It’s got a gritty look, a fast-moving energy, and a dark sense of humor. — Kathryn VanArendonk

Animation Station

Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim

“FORTH, EORLINGAS!!” The action anime feature for everyone who couldn’t get enough of the horseplay in The Two Towers has finally cantered onto Max. Directed by action vet Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Jin-Roh, and Blade Runner: Black Lotus) and rubber-stamped by LOTR screenwriter Philippa Boyens, the new film follows the tale of Héra, an ancient shield maiden of Rohan, as she and her father, Helm Hammerhand (yes, he of the legendary Horn and the even more famous Deep), battle against a hill-tribe horde. War’s closest analog is probably The Animatrix: It’s supplementary to the early-’00s trilogy, perhaps, but no less artistic. —Eric Vilas-Boas

Finally Streaming

Nickel Boys

Watch this one with the lights off, because there is no more poetically shot and edited theatrical film this year. Nickel Boys, directed by RaMell Ross, lensed by Jomo Fray, and cut by Nicholas Monsour, adapts Colson Whitehead’s novel of the same name almost entirely in first person. Nearly every scene is filmed through the eyes of its leads, two Black boys who have been sent away to a reform school in Jim Crow–era Florida. Intercut with their perspectives are stills, newspaper clippings, and time jumps to the modern day. The cumulative effect of those choices, the performances they capture, and the story of Nickel Academy are both beautiful and devastatingly tragic. —E.V.B.

➽ Perfect timing after Timothée Chalamet’s SAG win, because A Complete Unknown is now on digital platforms. Also, September 5 is on Paramount+. (If you want to check out the other Oscar contenders, we’ve got you covered here.)

Physical Media Lives!

Amadeus

Real Amadeus-heads know that we’ve only had the director’s cut available to us for a while, but in honor of the Academy Award–winning film’s 40th anniversary, the theatrical cut of Amadeus is being remastered in 4K Ultra HD on both physical and digital media. Whether you get the physical DVD or buy on VOD, you’ll also get access to a great film (and a brand-new bonus feature, The Making of Amadeus). Get ready to spend some time with a truly petty bitch.

Want more? Read our recommendations from the week of February 21.

Related

• The 30 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
• How to Watch and Stream All the Oscar Contenders This Year