Lifestyle

Apple TV+ is free this weekend. Here's what we'd watch

Published

2 days ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

Anna Konkle in The Afterparty on Apple TV+

Apple TV+

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Apple TV+

Subscribing to every streaming service out there is not an option for most people. It just isn’t. They’re too expensive, there are too many, and it’s also just a lot of work to keep track of so many options and apps and interfaces. Some folks pick and choose, while some folks use the rotation method (service #1 for a few months to catch up, then service #2 for a few months to watch their stuff, and so forth).

Apple TV+ is free this weekend for anybody who has an Apple ID. It’s a service that has not taken off the way some people thought it might, despite having some successes — Ted Lasso in particular. I’m not here to tell you to pick this service over any other one, or to pay for it at all. But I am here to give you a little advice on what might be worth using this free weekend to catch, since they’re giving it away.

In the thriller 'Severance,' Adam Scott's humanity hangs in the (work-life) balance

'Shrinking' gets great work from a great cast

Some things (aside from Ted Lasso) have gotten a ton of good press already. Severance is a spooky, beautifully designed drama/sci-fi story about the drudgery of office life, and it’s starting again in a couple weeks, so now could be the perfect time to catch up. Pachinko is a really moving saga based on Min Jin Lee’s novel of the same name. My current favorite show, if I had to name one, is Shrinking, a very funny and often very emotionally rich story about a bunch of great characters, many of them therapists — it also features my favorite Harrison Ford performance in years and years and years. Bad Sisters, especially the first season, is a delicious and fabulously performed story of devoted siblings getting the better of a terrible, terrible husband.

Other favorites of the TV critics I know: Dickinson, Slow Horses, For All Mankind, Silo, and this year’s Cate Blanchett drama Disclaimer. And they’ve got movies, too: Coda won best picture at the 2022 Oscars, after all.

But maybe you feel like “yes, yes, I’ve heard of all those things.” So let me spotlight a handful of other Apple offerings that haven’t gotten quite as much attention that you might enjoy.

On 'The Afterparty,' a high school reunion really can kill you

The Afterparty: This series stars a murderer’s row of comic actors — in the first season it was folks like Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, John Early, Ike Barinholtz, Tiya Sircar and Ilana Glazer — in an actual murder mystery that takes place at a high school reunion. Every episode is done in a different genre (musical, action picture, rom-com). It’s a lot of fun, and if you enjoy comic mysteries as much as I do, it might be right up your alley.

'Platonic' is more full-circle friendship than love triangle, and it's better that way

Platonic: I was a big fan of this show, starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as best friends who reunite after a long time out of touch. It’s really funny, but it also has a nice feel for actual platonic friendships (it is not about whether they are going to kiss) and their complications. If you like your comedies to be proudly and brightly funny rather than heavy and high-concept, give it a shot.
Sharper: This film is a thriller that I feel like absolutely nobody saw except me — but again, it was right up my alley. It’s a twisty story about New York scammers starring Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and Justice Smith. There are reversals and betrayals and ooh, it was kinda fun.
Flora and Son: This movie is about a single mom, played by Eve Hewson, who takes guitar lessons remotely with a laid-back guy played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was written and directed by John Carney, who made Once and Sing Street, so you are in good hands. He just has a way with big musical moments, and I really enjoyed where this one ended up.
Boys State and Girls State: Boys State and Girls State are twin documentaries about leadership programs for high school students, and both are absorbing and sobering, particularly when seen side-by-side.

This piece also appeared in NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what’s making us happy.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Clockwise from top left: A Man on the Inside, Hacks, Challengers, Flow, Nickel Boys, Shōgun.

Lifestyle

Here are the winners of the 2025 Golden Globes

Published

6 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Here are the winners of the 2025 Golden Globes

Zoe Saldaña accepts the award for best supporting actress in a motion picture at the Golden Globes Sunday night for her role in the film Emilia Pérez.

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Demi Moore, Zoe Saldaña, Kieran Culkin and Adrien Brody all took home awards Sunday night at the 82nd Golden Globes.

Comedian Nikki Glaser hosted the event in Beverly Hills, California.

The queer musical-thriller Emilia Pérez led the night in wins from the film categories, taking home four awards of their ten nominations, including a supporting actress award for Saldaña and the Golden Globe for best motion picture, musical or comedy. The Brutalist ended the night with three awards, including the Golden Globe for best motion picture, drama, and a best actor win for star Adrien Brody. On the television side, FX’s Shōgun took home four awards, winning in every category the show was nominated for, including acting awards for stars Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai and Tadanobu Asano. Hacks and Baby Reindeer also took home two awards apiece.

This year’s ceremony comes after years of Golden Globes turmoil: In 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported that there were no Black members in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which founded the awards in 1944. NBC cancelled the 2022 awards telecast and studios and stars boycotted the ceremony in protest. Longtime Globes producer Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries, a holding company, acquired the awards in 2023. (Dick Clark Productions is owned, in part, by Penske Media Corporation, which publishes a number of outlets including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Rolling Stone.) An expanded voting body of 334 entertainment journalists from around the world now vote on the awards.

Below are 2025 Golden Globes nominees, with winners marked in bold.

Best motion picture, drama
Winner: The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nickel Boys
September 5

Best motion picture, musical or comedy
Winner: Emilia Pérez
Anora
Challengers
A Real Pain
The Substance
Wicked

Best motion picture, animated
Winner: Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Moana 2
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

When a massive flood arrives in the new animated film Flow, a cat finds safety on an abandoned boat with other animals.

Adrian Brody and Felicity Jones star in The Brutalist.

Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence in director Edward Berger's CONCLAVE

Best motion picture, non-English language
Winner: Emilia Pérez
All We Imagine as Light
The Girl With the Needle
I’m Still Here
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Vermiglio

Best director, motion picture
Winner: Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker, Anora
Edward Berger, Conclave
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light

Best screenplay, motion picture
Winner: Peter Straughan, Conclave
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Best actress in a motion picture, drama
Winner: Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
Angelina Jolie, Maria
Nicole Kidman, Babygirl
Tilda Swinton, The Room Next Door
Kate Winslet, Lee

Best actor in a motion picture, drama
Winner: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig, Queer
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Best actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Winner: Demi Moore, The Substance
Amy Adams, Nightbitch
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Zendaya, Challengers

Demi Moore accepts the award for best actress in a musical or comedy film for her role as Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

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Best actress in a supporting role in any motion picture
Winner: Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Margaret Qualley, The Substance
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

Best actor in a supporting role in any motion picture
Winner: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Yura Borisov, Anora
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Denzel Washington, Gladiator II

Best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Winner: Sebastian Stan, A Different Man
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Hugh Grant, Heretic
Gabriel LaBelle, Saturday Night
Jesse Plemons, Kinds of Kindness
Glen Powell, Hit Man

Best original score, motion picture
Winner: Challengers
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
The Wild Robot

Best original song, motion picture
Winner: Emilia Pérez – “El Mal”
The Last Showgirl – “Beautiful That Way”
Challengers – “Compress/Repress”
Better Man – “Forbidden Road”
The Wild Robot — “Kiss the Sky”
Emilia Pérez – “Mi Camino”

Cinematic and box office achievement
Winner: Wicked
Alien: Romulus
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Deadpool & Wolverine
Gladiator 2
Inside Out 2
Twisters
The Wild Robot

Wicked director Jon M. Chu accepts the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Wicked director Jon M. Chu accepts the Golden Globe award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

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On the TV side

Best television series, drama
Winner: Shōgun
The Day of the Jackal
The Diplomat
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Slow Horses
Squid Game

Best television series, musical or comedy
Winner: Hacks
Abbott Elementary
Only Murders in the Building
Nobody Wants This
The Bear
The Gentlemen

Richard Gadd as Donny Dunn (left) and Jessica Gunning as Martha (right) in Netflix's Baby Reindeer.

Netflix's 'Baby Reindeer': A dark, haunting story bungles its depiction of queerness

'Shōgun' banked on authenticity. It became one of 2024's most successful shows

Best limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television
Winner: Baby Reindeer
Disclaimer
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
The Penguin
Ripley
True Detective: Night Country

Best actor in a television series, drama
Winner: Hiroyuki Sanada, Shōgun
Donald Glover, Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Jake Gyllenhaal, Presumed Innocent
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Eddie Redmayne, The Day of the Jackal
Billy Bob Thornton, Landman

Best actress in a television series, drama
Winner: Anna Sawai, Shōgun
Kathy Bates, Matlock
Emma D’Arcy, House of the Dragon
Maya Erskine, Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Keira Knightley, Black Doves
Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Best actor in a limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television
Winner: Colin Farrell, The Penguin
Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer
Kevin Kline, Disclaimer
Cooper Koch, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Ewan McGregor, A Gentleman in Moscow
Andrew Scott, Ripley

Best actress in a limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television
Winner: Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country
Cate Blanchett, Disclaimer
Cristin Milioti, The Penguin
Sofía Vergara, Griselda
Naomi Watts, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
Kate Winslet, The Regime

Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobb in The Penguin on HBO.

Best actress in a television series, musical or comedy
Winner: Jean Smart, Hacks
Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along

Best actor in a television series, musical or comedy
Winner: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This
Ted Danson, A Man on the Inside
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Best actress in a supporting role in a TV series
Winner: Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
Liza Colón-Zayas, The Bear
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Dakota Fanning, Ripley
Allison Janney, The Diplomat
Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country

Best actor in a supporting role in a TV series
Winner: Tadanobu Asano, Shōgun
Javier Bardem, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Harrison Ford, Shrinking
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
Diego Luna, La Máquina
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

Best performance in stand-up comedy on television

Winner: Ali Wong, Single Lady
Jamie Foxx, What Had Happened Was
Nikki Glaser, Someday You’ll Die
Seth Meyers, Dad Man Walking
Adam Sandler, Love You
Ramy Youssef, More Feelings

Lifestyle

Aubrey Plaza Skips Presenting at Golden Globes After Husband's Death

Published

7 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Aubrey Plaza Skips Presenting at Golden Globes After Husband's Death

Aubrey Plaza didn’t join the ranks of numerous celebrities at the Golden Globes Sunday night … skipping the ceremony two days after her husband passed away.

Numerous celebrities packed the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills for the 82nd iteration of the ceremony … but, Aubrey wasn’t among them — and, it’s pretty clear why.

0104 aubrey plaza jeff baena sub getty swipe

Plaza was originally scheduled to present an award … though it’s unclear which one or who filled in for her.

We broke the story … police and fire responded to a Los Angeles-area home at 10:30 AM on Friday after an assistant discovered Baena dead.

Remembering Jeff Baena

Law enforcement has ruled the death a suicide.

Baena was known for directing “Life After Beth” and “Horse Girl” … and, he co-wrote the classic comedy “I Heart Hucakbees.”

molly shannon aubrey plaza Jeff Baena

Actress Molly Shannon paid tribute to Baena Sunday … sharing a series of photos of them together captioned with a simple “💔” emoji.

Also worth noting … Baena was mentioned at the Golden Globes — after “The Brutalist” director Brady Corbet brought him up during one of his acceptance speeches.

The Drew Barrymore Show

Baena and Plaza married in 2021 … and, Aubrey described the lowkey affair on an episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show.”

We’ve reached out to Aubrey’s team about her decision to skip the Globes … so far, no word back.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Lifestyle

See Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and More at W Magazine’s Golden Globes Party

Published

14 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

See Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and More at W Magazine’s Golden Globes Party

In the movie “The Substance,” Demi Moore plays an entertainer in her 50s so intent on hanging onto stardom that she signs up to take a potion that will restore her youth, but at a horrific price.

“This is more joyous,” Ms. Moore said of the beautification process leading up to W Magazine’s Golden Globes party held on Saturday evening, the night before the ceremony, in a top floor suite of the Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood.

She was decked out in a black and white polka-dot dress from Nina Ricci as she stood in a tented area where the smell of cigarette smoke was surprisingly strong and household-name celebrities and fellow Globe nominees were everywhere.

The party, co-hosted by W’s Magazine’s editor in chief Sara Moonves, and its editor at large, Lynn Hirschberg, was celebrating the magazine’s annual Best Performances issue, and the walls were covered with enlarged photographs of the featured celebrities.

On one side of the room, the real-life Nicole Kidman stood underneath a giant image of the actor Daniel Craig, nominated for a Globe for his role in the movie “Queer.” On the other side, the real-life Mr. Craig, in a pair of tinted glasses, a black shirt and wide trousers, stood beneath a giant image of Ms. Kidman, who was nominated for her part in the film “Babygirl.”

“Not a bad year,” someone said to Ms. Kidman as she made her way through the crowd with her daughter Sunday Rose Kidman-Urban.

“Not a bad year, indeed,” Ms. Kidman said as a DJ played Blondie’s Rapture while Sabrina Carpenter and Cynthia Erivo shimmied by.

Did Ms. Erivo, who is up for a Globe for the film “Wicked,” have an outfit picked out for the next evening?

Of course she did.

“LV,” she said, by which she meant Louis Vuitton. Nicolas Ghesquière, the artistic director women’s collections at the brand, happened to be out on the terrace, a few yards from Ms. Moore and within spitting distance of Angelina Jolie, a nominee for her performance in the film “Maria,” in which she plays the opera diva Maria Callas.

She seemed to be the only attendee who had a handler stopping photographers from taking pictures of her. But a moratorium on her moratorium took place when Ms. Moonves ambled over to say hello and to politely make it clear that, for history’s sake, the moment would be captured.

Kevin Mazur, a celebrity photographer for Getty Images, raced through the crowd with his camera. The pop stars Charli XCX and Ms. Carpenter huddled together with the model and actress Cara Delevingne.

By 10 p.m., the place was so crowded that the designer Christian Louboutin realized he was going to have to leave the penthouse suite for his room elsewhere in the hotel.

But only for a moment.

“I have to pee!” he said.

“You can get in but you can’t get out,” said Pamela Anderson, who was by the door, hoping to make an exit.

And who could blame her?

After all, Ms. Anderson is featured in the magazine’s issue and is nominated for a Globe for her role in the film “The Last Showgirl.”

Clearly, she had a full weekend ahead of her, although so did the celebrity stylist Law Roach, who seemed to have no interest in leaving.

What was his client Zendaya, nominated for the movie “Challengers,” wearing to the awards the next evening?

“Vuitton,” he said, adding that the jewelry would be Bulgari and that the whole look would be inspired by Joyce Bryant, the glamorous Black singer of the 1940s and ’50s who broke racial barriers in nightclubs.

A few feet away, Eddie Redmayne, nominated for his role in the television series, “The Day of the Jackal,” was hanging out with Andrew Garfield, who is scheduled to present at the Globes.

Colman Domingo, nominated for his part in the movie “Sing Sing,” mingled with Tilda Swinton, nominated for her role in the film “The Room Next Door,” and then headed to the dance floor around the time that DJ Ross One began pumping Shannon’s “Let the Music Play.”

Around 11:30 p.m., the party was still going strong. Waiters paraded around the room with chocolate truffles and French fries.

Kevin Bacon, with his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, was by one of the sofas inside the suite wearing a blazer and a vintage Iron Maiden T-shirt. It was one of only a few outfits not selected by a stylist.

“My son got it for me for Christmas,” he said.