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

Charly Clive stars as a young woman trying to escape her intrusive, X-rated thoughts.

Photo courtesy of HBO

This weekend, we can all rest easy knowing we've dodged a devastating hurricane (our thoughts with those affected by Laura — here's how you can help). You can celebrate by venturing out, or you could simply stay in and stream some hot new releases.

This week, look for a most excellent return of two of cinema's most favorite, rockin' airheads. Check out a podcast that makes the boring...interesting. And a new TV shows sheds light on the dirty disruption that OCD can cause. Here are your best weekend streaming picks.

Movies

Bill and Ted Face the Music (Orion)
Yeah, Tenet may be the big-name movie that''ll be hitting selected theaters and drive-ins this weekend. But this latest installment in the Bill and Ted saga is highly anticipated as well. The film, which boasts Houston producers, has airhead rock-star wannabes Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) once again going time, space, and all kind of different dimensions in order to save their young daughters, as well as human civilization as we know it. (Available for rent on Friday)

The Binge (Hulu)
For those of you wondering when a comic version of The Purge was gonna show up, it's finally here! Instead of people using one night to commit any crime they want, this comedy takes place on the night where people can legally take all the drugs they possibly can. The movie mostly follows a trio of teens who meet a fair share of messed-up people as they try to get to a rager of a party. Vince Vaughn co-stars as a conservative (of course), high-school principal. (Premiering Friday)

Podcasts

Secretly Incredibly Fascinating with Alex Schmidt (self-distributed)
Ken Jennings isn't the only fascinating Jeopardy! champion out there, folks. We also have comedy writer/emoji creator Alex Schmidt (formerly of The Cracked Podcast), who is out to show how awesome the mundane is with this weekly podcast. Whether it's microwave ovens, grocery stores, the color gray, or U.S. post offices (who we can all agree need our support now more than ever), Schmidt is ready to give us the beauty in the boring.

The Treatment (KCRW)
For nearly 25 years, film critic/gadfly Elvis Mitchell has done this weekly interview show from the studios of California public-radio station KCRW. He has talked to big-screen stars both behind and in front of the screen, and he still continues to do so. Just this year alone, he's hollered at filmmakers Oliver Stone, Judd Apatow, and The Old Guard director Gina Prince-Bythewood. But he also continues to talk to people in arts and entertainment who, just like him, are fascinating as hell.

Television

Love Fraud (Showtime)
We don't know if this was the filmmakers' intentions, but this four-part docuseries serves as yet another jarring reminder that maybe being alone isn't a bad idea. Oscar-winning documentarians Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp) follow a group of women and their search for Richard Scott Smith, the criminal/bigamist/flim-flam man who spent the past two decades scamming ladies out of their money by simply telling them those three little words. (Premiering Sunday at 8 pm)

Pure (HBO Max)
While television shows portray characters who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder as quirky, good-hearted weirdos (shout-out to Monk!), this British import is out to show people how much OCD can wreck a person's life. Based on Rose Cartwright's biography of the same name, this coming-of-age dramedy focuses on a young lady (Charly Clive) who moves to London and tries to stop the intrusive, sexual thoughts that are stuck in her head. (Now streaming)

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Movie Review

Evil Dead Burn maintains this year's streak of top-notch horror movies

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Luciane Buchanan in Evil Dead Burn.

Horror franchises tend to endure because of several reasons. First and foremost, the title conjures up nostalgia for older viewers, as the many of the most popular ones started in the 1970s or ‘80s. Sequels can recycle key elements of past films as long as they tweak the formula enough to offer something original. And they’re also relatively cheap to make, as new films can bring in young or lesser-known actors to be terrorized.

All of those reasons make Evil Dead Burn a smashing success, giving viewers reminders of the past while still becoming its own thing. The film is almost non-stop from the jump as a series of people, known colloquially as “deadites,” get infected by a malevolent force. A long, 15-minute opening set piece introduces the main characters, including Alice (Souhelia Yacob), her brother-in-law Joseph (Hunter Doohan), his girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan), and his parents, Susan (Tandi Wright) and Edgar (Erroll Shand).

They’re all mourning the death of Alice’s husband Will (George Pullar), who they think died while driving drunk. However, the infection in Will’s corpse soon latches on to Edgar, whose descent into murderous rage is initially masked by his intense grief. With the family all gathered together in an older, decaying home, no one is safe from the rampage of the supernatural force.

Written and directed by French filmmaker Sébastien Vanicek and co-written by Florent Bernard, the film is aimed directly at horror fanatics who are used to copious amounts of blood and gore. From the opening scene to the film’s final intense moments, Vanicek and his team come up with numerous hide-your-eyes sequences that test the stomachs of weak-willed viewers. But for those who can’t get enough of such things, they also indicate a creativity and willingness to push boundaries that is both thrilling and entertaining.

While some previous entries in the Evil Dead series leaned comedic, this entry follows the previous two films in 2013 and 2023 as as a pure horror. However, that doesn’t mean that the film is devoid of lightness. One of the most enjoyable aspects is Vanicek comically adhering to the concept of Chekhov’s gun. So many different potential weapons are introduced and later used that you can’t help but laugh when they come into play.

Ultimately, it’s the performances by the lesser-known cast that make the movie what it is. Doohan (Wednesday) plays a mild-mannered character who seems to be the main protagonist early on, but he cedes the spotlight to Yacob as the film goes along. The French actress knows how to hold the screen through both her actions and line deliveries. Shand, with his craggy face and bald head, turns into a superior villain, able to chill with just his intense stare.

Evil Dead Burn is not for everybody, but it’s another great addition to what’s turning out to be a banner year for horror movies. With highly effective, cringeworthy action sequences, moments that lighten the mood when needed, and a cast that carries the story, it’s an announcement of bigger things to come for all involved.

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Evil Dead Burn opens in theaters on July 10.

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