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6 best movies, podcasts, and TV shows to stream in Houston this weekend

Jamie Foxx returns in Project Power.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

The stars are out this weekend. Angelina Jolie, Jamie Foxx, and Demi Moore return with some interesting vehicles, some family-oriented, some, well, for more mature audiences.

This weekend, look for a charming animal tale, a super-steamy podcast, and a trip to the 1950s. Here are your best streaming weekend picks.

Movies

The One and Only Ivan (Disney+)
Who's ready for a movie where celebrities voice animals? Well, of course, Disney+ is gonna hit you with such a movie this weekend. This adaptation of K.A. Applegate's 2012 novel of the same name is about an artistic gorilla (voiced by Sam Rockwell) and the other animals who live together in a circus/mall. Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Dame Helen Mirren, and Chaka Khan are just a few of the superstars who voice the animals in this thing. (Premieres Friday)

Project Power (Netflix)
The latest sci-fi/superhero whatzit to come from the unstoppable streaming service has Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback as a trio who join forces in stopping sinister forces behind a newly developed drug that temporarily gifts its user with superhuman abilities. Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, who directed the third and fourth Paranormal Activity movies — as well as the thrillers Nerve and Viral — are behind the camera on this one. (Premieres Friday)

Podcasts

Dirty Diana (QCODE)
Here's something that'll get a lot of people all hot-and-bothered — in the ears. Demi Moore stars in and co-produces this six-episode, scripted series, written and directed by filmmaker Shana Feste (Country Strong). This sex-positive podcast has Moore playing a woman who, despite her dying marriage, secretly runs an erotic website where women reveal their intimate sexual fantasies, craving connection and searching for a new kind of erotica.

What Had Happened Was (Starburns Audio)
Fans of old-school hip-hop may want to check out this endlessly entertaining podcast, where rapper Open Mike Eagle sits down and talks with Prince Paul about his career and legacy. Who is Prince Paul, you ask? Why, he produced De La Soul's first three, career-making, groundbreaking albums, as well as produced by several, Grammy-winning comedy albums for Chris Rock and has released many other ambitious projects — some legendary, some notorious.

Television

Lovecraft Country (HBO)
The latest project from comedian-turned-suspense master Jordan Peele is an adaptation of Matt Ruff's 2016 novel of the same name. Set in a segregated 1950s America, this allegorical horror tale follows three Black Americans on a road trip to find a missing person. Jonathan Majors (The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Da 5 Bloods) stars in this, along with Jurnee Smollett and Emmy winner Courtney B. Vance. J.J. Abrams also serves as a producer. (Premieres Sunday at 8 pm)

Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Former SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis stars in this comedy he co-created with Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Cougar Town), based on a character he played in a series of NBC Sports promotional videos back in 2013. He plays a college football coach who lands a position as the coach of a professional soccer team in England, where there is no doubt he'll be met with opposition before ultimately winning everybody with his down-home, American charm. (Premieres Friday)

movies tv podcasts

Rising up

Houston chef slices into Gordon Ramsay-led cooking competition show

A Trinidad González/Facebook

Chef Trinidad "Machete" González is competing on Next Level Chef.

A Houston chef is showcasing his skills on Season 5 of Next Level Chef. Trinidad Gonzalez, better known locally as Chef Machete is one of the professional chefs who will compete in cooking challenges for the opportunity to win $250,000 and professional mentorship from celebrity chef judges Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington, and Richard Blais.

This Fox show has a unique conceit. Chef teams work together in three kitchen stacked on top of each other, like a strange multi-story culinary incubator where the top floor's kitchen is pristine, with state-of-the-art equipment, the bottom floor's kitchen is decrepit, and the middle floor is an average commercial kitchen. Other twists bring added challenges.

Locally known for his Bay Area taqueria Gordo Niños, Machete is a self-taught chef who serves fusion style tacos and burritos. Available with fillings such as chicken, pastor, and beef, the chef's "secret menu" of over-the-top items such as deep-fried burritos or the "Surf N Turf Killa-Dilla," a quesadilla stuffed with shrimp, carne asada, french fries, guacamole, two kinds of cheese, and Mexican ketchup — add the chef's signature "Lean Sauce" for another $1. He's also a multi-time winner of taco competition that's part of the University of St. Thomas's popular Two Saints and a Taco fundraiser.

Machete survived the first episode, which aired on January 29, making him eligible to be drafted onto a team led by one of the judges. A new episode, which debuts this Thursday, February 5, will feature two Texas-based "social media" chefs, Tim Laielli and Christian Alquiza.

Laielli, who is based in Dripping Springs, has 1.4 million followers on Instagram and 910,000 subscribers on YouTube. He doesn't have an obvious signature style that viewers can expect him to lean on in the competition. If anything, his strength may be his willingness to try new recipes, often using his daughters' requests and cuisines around the world as a springboard (whether complying or completely ignoring them) into dishes like Thai curry, homemade McGriddles, and a lot of steaks.

Over in Austin proper, Alquiza posts videos under the punny account name @illsqueezeya. He's also worked for the channel First We Feast, where he hosts Hot Kitchen, a snappy instructional show focusing on indulgent, dramatic foods like super-hot chicken and a 10,000-calorie cheat meal.

Alquiza's personal videos follow more of the standard food show format, with the chef speaking to the camera and offering step-by-step instructions to follow along with. Even though his image is mostly wrapped up with First We Feast, Next Level Chef considers him a social media chef.

The two Austin chefs have even collaborated before. Things seem to have gone well on the show, since all three Texas chefs posed for a picture at Beyond The Lines Tattoo in Austin, with a text overlay revealing that the chefs got inked up together.

Next Level Chef season 5 contestants at Beyond the Line Tattoo Looks like the chefs had a good time.Beyond the Lines Tattoo/Instagram

Viewers can watch Next Level Chef every Thursday on Fox or streaming the next day on Hulu.

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Eric Sandler contributed to this article.

$Trinidad Gonz\u00e1lez Next Level Chef$

A Trinidad González/Facebook

Chef Trinidad "Machete" González is competing on Next Level Chef.

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