Best new movies and TV series on Binge: February 2021

Each month, lots of new films and TV shows are added to BINGE’s’s library. Critic Travis Johnson surveys each month’s selections and picks for titles most worth watching. For the full list of everything arriving on the platform, scroll down.

Top picks: TV

Tin Star Season 3 (February 4)

Former Reservoir Dog Tim Roth plays British cop Jim Worth, who has left behind a career undercover to become the sheriff of a tiny hamlet in the Canadian Rockies. But when his past comes a-calling and he faces new local threats, he calls upon his undercover alter ego—the hard-drinkin’, skull-crushin’ Jack Devlin, to right wrongs and break bones.

This cult Canadian/UK crime series has been bubbling along under the surface for a while, but now’s a good time to hammer through the first couple of seasons in time for the third, which sees our antihero returning to Liverpool for more murky misadventures.

Us (February 23)

No, not the racially-charged modern horror classic, but the British divorce dramedy. Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves star as a married couple whose once-in-a-lifetime European holiday goes off the rails when she reveals that, now their son (Tom Taylor) has grown up and headed for uni, she wants out of their marriage.

Based on the novel by David Nicholls, the series flashes back to the couple’s initial relationship, giving us a bittersweet and poignant four-parter about falling in love and drifting apart.

Superman & Lois (February 25)

How did it take this long? After Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Stargirl and more, the Greg Berlanti-run Arrowverse finally gives us a series about the world’s greatest superhero (Tyler Hoechlin) and love of his life (Elizabeth Tulloch). Only now they have two kids, bringing a new parental angle to the never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way. As we’ve already seen in Supergirl and related shows, Hoechlin is straight-up born to play the Big Blue Boy Scout, so this is appointment television for cape fans.

Top Picks: Movies

The Godfather Trilogy (February 5)

Francis Ford Coppola’s career and genre-defining masterpiece comes to BINGE. Settle in for a sumptuous morality tale that follows the life of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), reluctant mafioso, as he struggles with the mantle bequeathed to him by his legendary crimelord father, Don Vito (Marlon Brando). Spanning generations and continents, this is one of the pinnacle achievements of American cinema—yes, even the much-maligned third instalment.

The Notebook (February 12)

Is it the finest romantic drama of the last 20 years? Probably? Did it inspire a horde of imitators, many also based on books by Nicholas Sparks? Regrettably. Is it still worth your time? Absolutely.

In a nursing home, an old man (James Garner) tells a fellow patient (Gena Rowlands) the tory of the star-crossed love between a poor mill worker (Ryan Gosling) and a young heiress (Rachel McAdams). The final reveal may be predictable, but that doesn’t stop it from packing an emotional wallop like a freight train. Bring tissues.

Mad Max: Fury Road (February 19)

Easily one of the greatest action movies of all time, this fourth film in the post-apocalyptic franchise sees our man Max (Tom Hardy) getting caught up in wasteland warrior Furiosa’s (Charlize Theron) desperate plan to rescue a bunch of sex salves from evil old bastard Immortan Joe (the late and much-missed Hugh Keays-Byrne). Absolute chaos ensues, with some of the best stunt work ever committed to the screen.

Never seen it? You’re about to have your mind blown. Seen it already? Watch it again.