What to watch: The best streaming TV shows and movies of 2021

We just can't get enough of the true crime genre, especially when it comes to people duping each other. Perhaps why Netflix has tripled down on our obsession with The Tinder Swindler, Inventing Anna, and The Puppet Master.&nbsp;Before we deep dive, here's what else we’re watching (01:20)Mat: Landscapers (HBO Max), The Lost Daughter (Netflix) and Nightmare Alley (HBO Max)Jeff: Summer of Soul (Hulu), St. Vincent (Netflix), Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Netflix)Shindy: Last Night in Soho (VOD), The Gilded Age (HBOMax)&nbsp;Back to our main feature:&nbsp;The Tinder Swindler first impressions (08:07)&nbsp;Docu-dramas vs. documentaries vs. ‘based on’ true stories (13:54)&nbsp;Skilled direction and storytelling (20:27) “I love how much time they spent with the individuals. I thought it was both intimate and great journalism.” - JeffStream It or Leave It? (24:08)&nbsp;Spoiler Alert and Deep Dive (24:17)Naïveté, materialism, and complicity (24:45)&nbsp;Social media ‘love rat’ strategies (26:03)&nbsp;Sympathy or sociopathy? (33:04)&nbsp;Juicy details not in TS (37:19) “That narcissistic need to have control stems from an insecurity where they make others feel bad or bring them down to lift themselves up.” - ShindyShould Simon be in jail? (41:24) “...The social media solution: Name and shame. And this has been unbelievably successful at that.” - Mat--*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Subscribe, share, and comment about this episode or podcast.Newsletter: Find our full episode shownotes at Stream It or Leave It on Substack, and subscribe to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow us: For videos and more fun follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokJeff Kuns: @spqanglemqkerMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: <a...

We simply loved last year’s HBO Max drama It’s a Sin – yet most people have never heard of it.It’s one of our absolute faves, so we dove into the archives to bring you this throwback episode.&nbsp;This British series by celebrated writer Russell T. Davies follows the lives of four close friends living together in early ‘80s London, meanwhile confronting the rise of AIDS. In just five episodes, it’s gripping, joyous, and heart-breaking.&nbsp;But first: What else we’ve been watching (01:52)Jeff: Blade Runner 2049 (VOD), Dune (HBO Max), Matrix Resurrections (HBO Max)Shindy: Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), And Just Like That (HBO Max), After Life (Netflix)Mat: The Last Duel (HBO Max), Mass (VOD), Tick, Tick… Boom! (Netflix)Now, going back in time to 1981:First impressions of It's a Sin (16:52)The history and arrival of AIDS (17:49)Unbelievable central London real estate - a flat for £40,000?! (19:47)&nbsp;Spoiler Alert (20:17)Favorite characters (20:52)Emotional twists and turns (21:02)Fates and reckonings (22:32)Empathy for Ritchie (26:51)Finally, a show that avoids outdated stereotypical character tropes (29:00)Stream It or Leave It? (33:57)--*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchezJeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker*This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks and financial brands.*Stream It or Leave

Showtime’s Lost-meets-Alive series Yellowjackets comes with a ton of buzz. A critical darling, it boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Too good to be true? In this episode, we cut through the hype and tell you if the series is worth 10 hours of your time.&nbsp;What else we're watching (01:36)Mat: Pen15 and Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)Jeff: Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian and The Girl In the Window Across the Street (Netflix)Shindy: The Gilded Age and film The Last Duel (HBO Max)Yellowjackets: first impressions (10:13)Yellowjackets follows a girls’ high school soccer team whose plane crashes in the remote wilderness in the 1990s. They have to survive for a year and a half in a spooky cabin in some spooky woods. In a second timeline unfolding in parallel, we see them deal with the fallout and trauma from that time in the present day.&nbsp;“It came from out of nowhere - all of a sudden, everybody was talking about it, the critics were going crazy," said Mat.“The show does a great job of transporting us back into the nineties, just like how Stranger Things does with the eighties,” said Shindy.We loved the killer playlist from the decade (11:48), the throw-back casting Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis (13:25) and the almost exclusive focus on female characters and storyline (16:39).&nbsp;There were plenty of hang-ups (21:07) but we enjoyed the ambiguity of the spooky happenings in the forest (26:04).Stream It or Leave It? (32:20)Deep dive with spoilers (33:11)That's not all! If you’ve already seen Yellowjackets, join us for our spoilerific deep dive , where we debate the various plot twists and bring out our theories of what is really happening. We also have fun casting some characters we have yet to see as grown-ups for season two (42:59).--*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchezJeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker*This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks and financial brands.*Stream It or Leave It ©Pod Barn, LLC. For questions or sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected].

It’s our last episode of the year! For our final episode of 2021, we each share our top 3 (plus a few Honorable Mentions) for the year. We began Stream It or Leave it this year, so join us for a bittersweet trip down memory lane and find out our favorite shows and movies of 2021.If you can’t decide what to watch to kick off the New Year, we’ve got you covered:Shindy’s top 3Shtisel, Season 3 on Netflix (21:02)Maid, on Netflix (12:33)Succession, Season 3 on HBO Max (05:47)Honorable Mentions (25:19)The Music Box series on HBO Max&nbsp;Finding Magic Mike on HBO Max Yellowstone on Paramount&nbsp;The Great British Baking Show on Netflix&nbsp;Alone on NetflixMat’s top 3It’s A Sin on HBO Max (18:58)Summer of Soul on Hulu / Get Back on Disney+ and Apple TV (09:42)Loki on Disney+ (03:43)Honorable Mentions (33:14)Shows:&nbsp;White Lotus (listen to our podcast on this show)&nbsp;Hacks,&nbsp;100 Foot Wave,&nbsp;The Investigation,&nbsp;Exterminate All The Brutes, all on HBO MaxMovies:&nbsp;No Sudden Move, Judas and the Black Messiah on HBO Max, and MLK/FBI on HuluJeff’s top 3Bo Burnham: Inside on Netflix (16:56)Pig on Hulu (08:10)Pen15 on Hulu&nbsp;...

This week we have a festive treat: a bumper episode for a bumper crop of new Netflix films.Heavyweight drama Power of the Dog goes for the awards. Action blockbuster Red Notice goes for the masses. Somewhere in between is Don’t Look Up, a star-studded satire with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Meryl Streep(!).&nbsp;With all the talent and hype, we were “excited … but concerned.” Which should you watch over the holidays?&nbsp;&nbsp;First: Don’t Look Up (02:14), which “goes very broad very quickly” but has “Veep vibes” and “a lot of cool symbolisms.”Why would every actor sign up for this? (11:39)Favorite characters and actors, if any (15:30)Ariana Grande’s “stomach-churning” song and a mysterious Friends cameo (20:01)Stream It or Leave It? (23:32)Second: Power of the Dog (24:35), a “feminist There Will Be Blood” directed by Jane Campion, whom we “love,” but had concerns about the amount of time "Benedict Cumberbatch was going to chew”:&nbsp;Who kills it among Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, and Kodi Smit-McPhee (27:55)Spoiler Alert! (32:11) Does it nail the heavy themes?&nbsp;Did it earn its controversial ending? (38:16)Religious and mystical meanings of the title (42:58)Stream It or Leave It? (48:02)Last and definitely least, we gab Red Notice (48:35): “If Power of the Dog was ‘misery porn’ then … Red Notice is just misery.”We break down the three films’ awards-season chances (53:08).Bonus: What else we’re watching (54:36)Jeff: Alanis Morrissette doc Music Box: Jagged (HBO Max); docu-series Coming Out Colton (Netflix)Mat: mammoth Beatles documentary Get Back (Disney+)Shindy: And Just Like That (HBO Max) and the new Dune (VOD)--*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchezJeff Kuns: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/spqnglemqker/" rel="noopener...

Yo yo yo! Join MC Boba Tea aka Shindy, DJ Ice Milk aka Jeff, and Static Masta Mat on a dope two-season trip through the life (and pants) of would-be nebbish rapper, Dave now playing on Hulu. Here’s how we break it down:First Impressions: Curb Your Enthusiasm with a beat? (02:44)Defector article: "Dave Is Too Sad To Redeem Lil Dicky" See comment section.Spoiler Alert (14:48)Nice guy or narcissist? And our favorite characters (15:30)Favorite episodes? (24:50)“One of the obvious themes that the show tackles is racism … Dave has a very diverse group of friends.”Why doesn’t Dave stick up for Emma and his other friends? Racism and allyship (30:46)Our favorite things: track suits, shaved heads, and pooping&nbsp;(35:24)Stream It or Leave It? (39:03)Bonus: What else we’re watching&nbsp;(39:37)Mat: The Many Saints of Newark (Sopranos prequel) on HBOMax; The Sparks Brothers (music documentary) on NetflixJeff: Zodiac with Jake Gyllenhaal (he finally pronounced it right! Chloë Sevigny? not so much) and Robert Downey, Jr. on Netflix.Shindy: What Happened, Brittany Murphy? on HBO Max --*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchezJeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker* This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks and financial brands.*Stream It or Leave It ©PodBarn, LLC. For questions or sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected].

Join us across the pond for an animated adventure that pulls no royal punches. Sorry mates, we’re talking about The Prince, from its humble beginnings as an Instagram parody to 12-part mini-episodes on HBOMax.So grab your afternoon tea and scones with clotted cream for bits from Mat, our resident Brit, ex-Londoner Shindy, and Jeff:First Impressions: “It’s the Family Guy where everyone is Stewie.” (02:27)Spoiler Alert (06:54)An all British big-name cast (07:23)Instagram feed vs. HBOMax (12:43)Funny or tasteless? Is there a line and did this cross it? Is the outrage unwarranted (16:56) “Satire can be the most sophisticated form of humor when it's used to reveal a truth, but these characters are one-dimensional.”Is this invasion of a child’s privacy? And Hollywood hypocrisy at its best? (20:23)Fave episodes and subplots, upstairs and downstairs (29:27)Stream It or Leave It? (34:45)Bonus: What else we’re watching&nbsp;Mat: Pig (ft. Nicholas Cage) and Truffle Hunters, a documentary, on VOD&nbsp; (35:45)Jeff: Stray, a documentary on HULU (38:11)Shindy: The Durrells and What the Durrells Did Next, Prime Video (39:18)*Correction: Shindy refers to Prince George as "Charles's" and Kate's eldest child (1:54), it's obviously "Will's," duh. Also, Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards, not the Emmy’s. (18:03).&nbsp;--*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchezJeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker*This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks...

Mwa-ha-ha-ha, we want to suck your streaming TV time! Can’t decide what to watch this Halloween? Each of the Stream It or Leave It ghouls is sharing our top 3 spooktacular films and shows to watch this fright night.&nbsp;Stick around after the outro for even more horror picks ... if you dare.JEFF'S PICKS: 1- The Brain That Wouldn't Die (2:31)1962, Directed by Joseph Green"Melodramatic, poorly-written, cheesy, sleazy, and incredibly violent. Conveys the hubris of American ‘50s hyper-masculinity and its backlash (and make sure to watch the MST3K feature).”On Prime Video and YouTube (MST3K), 82 min2- Let the right one in (15:57)2008, Directed by Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)“Turns the vampire thing on its head and really spotlights aspects of ‘emotional’ vampirism.”On Prime Video, 112 min3- The Witch: A New-England Folktale (29:36)&nbsp;2015, Written and directed by Robert Eggers“Incredible moral stupidity and insensitivity of Puritans and early American settlers, who denied help to each other on the basis of disagreement over a bible verse.”On Prime Showtime, 92 minSHINDY'S PICKS:1- Squid Game (8:29)&nbsp;2021, Written and directed by Hwang Dong-Hyuk“People who’ve lost their way in life enter a game where they can win $40 million ... a veiled commentary on capitalism and communism; a parody of the West, and the most creative and original thing I’ve seen in a long time.”On Netflix, 9 episodes, approx. 60 min each2- Dracula (19:45)2020, Directed by Jonny Campbell (Westworld), Damon Thomas (Killing Eve), written by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, The Favourite)“Funny, creepy, scary, excellent, and witty. A fresh take on Dracula.”On Netflix, 3 episodes, 90 min each 3- Black Mirror, “Metalhead,” Season 4, Episode 5 (27:10)2017, Directed by David Slade, written by Charlie Booker“A post-apocalyptic land full of transcendent robot dogs. It’s terrifying, with lots of blood and gore, and edge-of-your teeth suspense.”On Netflix, 41 minMAT'S PICKS:&nbsp;1- The Descent (6:29)2005, Written and directed by...

Alright, listen up crew, this is the plan: Steven Soderbergh, king of fast-talking, slickly-edited heist movies, is back on familiar territory with No Sudden Move.Like the Ocean’s trilogy, the cast is deep and the double-crosses plentiful.&nbsp;But this time, the movie comes with an unusual look, heavy themes, and a surprise cameo.&nbsp;We follow Don Cheadle as Curt Goynes, a down-on-his-luck but deceptively bright small-time crook hired for what seems to be a straightforward heist job. When it goes wrong, he finds a complex web of organized crime and industrial espionage in a race-torn 1954 Detroit.“A group of gangsters, cops, and mistresses go from their asses to their elbows trying to one-up each other, all in the name of cars and capital secrets in 1950s Detroit. But why?” as Shindy put it.So, do you take the job? Press play to hear our first impressions and top Soderbergh films (03:17), and after our Spoiler Alert (08:55) we unpack:Soderbergh’s cast: The great, the meh, and the underwritten … and a major cameo from the new king of cameos? (20:42)Camera techniques: wide panning shots and fisheye lens (16:10)Faves, hangups, and a MAJOR goof? (27:54)The ending: Bleak or redeeming? Oversimplified exposition or neat? (39:50)Stream It or Leave It? (42:30) *Errors &amp; Amplifications: Shindy refers to the lead actor of Hell or High Water as Chris Evans, not the actual lead played by Chris Pine, which apparently even Chris Pine has to clear up quite often.Bonus: What else we’re watching (44:24)Mat: The White Lotus, HBO MaxJeff: Atypical, NetflixShindy: An Unorthodox Life, Netflix*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchezJeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker*This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks and financial brands.*Stream It or Leave It ©Pod Barn, LLC. For...

This show we pack our bags for Hawaii and check into our 5-star suite, where a pu pu platter of privilege awaits our consumption at The White Lotus, now streaming on HBOMax.Basking in the moonglow of excess and entitlement, we stroll along pearlescent, stolen, sandy beaches — but one of us doesn’t make it home alive.“Quite a treat. Fantasy Island meets The Shining in America, 2021, or, terrible people in a beautiful place, in a spiral of anxiety,” praised Mat. “I loved the ‘Upstairs and Downstairs’ element because I wasn't expecting that,” exclaimed Shindy.&nbsp;“A lot of outstanding players here,” deduced Jeff.&nbsp;Press play to hear what happens after our rowdy closed door office Spoiler Alert party (05:50):The star-studded White Lotus cast (05:53)What ‘tropical anxiety’ looks like and how it inspired The White Lotus theme music ... and why Shindy skips opening credits (09:55), (13:36)Show continuity from episode to episode (14:43)Subversive themes and metaphors, like white privilege and reparations (17:48), (20:18)Our favorite White Lotus moments (23:53)Our White Lotus predictions (we taped this show before the ep. 6 finale) (29:23)Who dies?Does Armand keep his job?Do Rachel and Shane stay together?What happens to Quinn?Does Belinda get what she wants?White Lotus and the Buddhist ‘false nirvana’: (34:00)&nbsp;Which White Lotus characters you are and why (35:18)&nbsp;Stream it or Leave it? (38:21)Bonus: What else we’re watching (39:02)Mat: The Suicide Squad, in theatersJeff: Rachel Dratch’s Late Night Snacks, TRUtv on HBO MaxShindy: Woodstock 99, on Hulu*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes.&nbsp;Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the crew:&nbsp;Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTokMat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchezJeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker*This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks and financial...