On Our Streaming Radar this week, we have several different types of shows and movies you can check out: a rom-com from Jenny from the Block, a documentary regarding one of the most historically popular and controversial subjects of all time, a man who once battled Rocky Balboa now taking on history, and a remake of a remake that is going to get a lot of attention.
We’ll start with Cape Fear.
The new Apple TV limited series stars Javier Bardem, Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson, and is based on the classic story that was already adapted into the 1962 film and later remade by Martin Scorsese in 1991. So yes, this is a remake of a remake, but with some serious firepower behind it.
Interestingly enough, the big names attached to this project do not just come from the cast. Both Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg serve as executive producers, bringing together two of the most important directors of their generation for this new psychological horror-thriller.
Cape Fear centers around Max Cady, played this time by Javier Bardem, a vengeful ex-con who targets the lawyers connected to his conviction. Earlier this year, I heard Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson talk about this project at an Apple TV event in Los Angeles and got a chance to see some of the footage. I will tell you, I was horrified from the preview alone, so I can only imagine audiences will be horrified and thrilled by the full series.
Cape Fear begins streaming this week with two episodes on June 5, followed by new episodes weekly through July 31.
But if you want something a little lighter, Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein are starring in a new movie called Office Romance on Netflix.
The film is exactly what the title promises: a workplace rom-com centered around a secret office romance and the complications that come when two workaholics start thinking with their hearts instead of their heads. Lopez plays a powerful CEO, while Goldstein plays the new lawyer who complicates her carefully controlled world.
The movie also features Betty Gilpin, Amy Sedaris and Tony Hale, and puts the spotlight on a classic rom-com question: what do you choose when your career and your heart are suddenly at odds?
This is a comfortable shoe Jennifer Lopez is slipping back into after recent projects like Kiss of the Spider Woman and Atlas, which moved her outside the traditional romantic-comedy lane. But for fans of The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan or J.Lo herself, Office Romance looks like a return to familiar territory.
Also this week on Netflix is Michael Jackson: The Verdict, a documentary series that revisits one of the most infamous celebrity trials of the 21st century.
The docuseries arrives at a moment when Michael Jackson is once again dominating the cultural conversation, especially following the release of Michael, the major biopic that brought the King of Pop’s life and music back to the big screen earlier this year. The timing works well for Netflix, as The Verdict places Jackson’s 2005 trial under the microscope, looking at the courtroom, the media frenzy, the cultural conversation and the lasting impact of a case that still draws intense interest, scrutiny and controversy decades later.
In his latter years, Michael Jackson was still known for his music, his legacy and his unmatched place in pop culture, but the child molestation allegations followed him until his death in 2009. This is not light viewing. This is the kind of documentary that will spark a lot of conversation, especially during this new wave of interest in Jackson’s career and complicated legacy.
Many people will have a lot to say about this documentary, and Michael Jackson will remain one of the most studied, debated and fascinating figures in entertainment history.
And lastly, you might know Dolph Lundgren from playing Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, He-Man in Masters of the Universe, the original Punisher, or as one of the larger-than-life action stars of the 1980s and beyond. But Lundgren also has a background in chemical engineering, and it is that background that makes him a surprisingly perfect host for the new History Channel series History’s Greatest Machines with Dolph Lundgren.
History’s Greatest Machines explores the stories behind groundbreaking inventions, from stealth helicopters and spy planes to espionage technology and the rocket that helped take humanity to the moon. It is part history lesson, part engineering deep dive and part guided tour through the machines that changed the world.
The series shows how human ingenuity has shaped civilization for the better, for the worse and for everything in between. With Lundgren at the center, it becomes more than just a show about machinery. It is a fascinating look at the guts and the genius behind the inventions that rewrote history.
