e-Popcorn Recommends: What to watch on Star+?
I’m sure you’ve spent more than 45 minutes scrolling through your favorite streaming service’s catalog, trying to decide what to watch, and ended up giving up or rewatching a random series, right?
Don’t worry, if your answer is yes, mine is: me too! And it was with people like us in mind that I decided to create “e-Popcorn recommends”, where I (and my questionable taste in movies and series) will give you suggestions on what to watch on multiple streaming services.
And to start, nothing better than my current favorite platform: Star Plus, the Disney’s streaming service exclusive to Latin America with shows focused on adult audiences.
Star Plus
The Star Plus streaming service debuted in Brazil on August 31, 2021, targeting an adult audience. Its catalog includes productions such as Grey’s Anatomy, This is Us, The Simpsons, and other works produced by partners.
Although the catalog is not very innovative, for fans of police, investigative, and medical series, such as Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, and The Resident, this stream has ample options for binge-watching, making it a must-see for fans of AXN’s programming in Brazil.
In addition, the service also has titles produced exclusively for the platform, such as the series “O rei da TV,” a biographical drama series that tells the story of presenter and businessman Silvio Santos, released in 2022.
And for sports lovers, on Star Plus you can find live broadcasts of the ESPN channel, with basketball, baseball, American football, tennis, and more.
O que assistir no Star+
Palm Springs (2020)
The first suggestion has a romantic comedy feel, mixed with a very well-executed science fiction by Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother).
Tala’s (Camila Mendes) big day has arrived, about to marry the love of her life, Sarah’s (Milioti) sister has no idea of the mess she’s in. After meeting Nyles (Samberg), one of the wedding guests, and getting involved with him during the ceremony, Sarah finds herself trapped in a time loop: condemned to live the same day every day. Only the two of them realize what’s happening, which makes everything more fun and offers the characters endless opportunities to live new adventures without suffering the consequences.
With a touch of “Groundhog Day” and the typical awkward humor present in most comedies involving the members of The Lonely Island group, the film manages to deliver humor and romance in equal measure, without causing nausea or becoming repetitive (despite the theme).
The film premiered in 2020, had a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is a good film for those days when we want to watch a couple slowly falling in love and, who knows, fall in love with them.
Only Murders in The Building (2021 – Current)
In times of technology and easy access to information, podcasts have been increasingly taking over other people’s playlists and headphones. Add a little curiosity and the success of True Crime stories and boom!, we have the recipe for success.
The plot of Only Murders in The Building begins with all these factors in common, when a crime takes place inside a building on the Upper West Side in New York. Three strangers with different personalities, but with a common passion for criminal cases, find themselves forced to start their own investigation of a case that the police declare to be a suicide.
Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short) and Charles (Steve Martin) use all their knowledge to conduct an amateur investigation and start their own podcast and share with true crime fans their discoveries in the case of the murder of Tim Kono (Julian Cihi).
Only Murders in The Building works intelligently and dynamically to insert new media as a theme and object of work in a series. After all, podcasts are gaining more and more prominence and, here, they are used as a weapon of entertainment and investigation. In addition, it represents well the image of listeners from the True Crime community who consider themselves capable of conducting the search or unraveling the mystery of crimes that occur in society.
The series has two full seasons and has already been confirmed for the third season, with the participation of Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) and Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy) in the cast.
New Girl (2011-2018)
And now, an honorable mention to New Girl! That’s because it’s not at all unknown, but, in my opinion, it deserved more views!
Jesse (Zooey Deschanel) has just ended a 6-year relationship after discovering that she was cheated on. Deciding to change and start her life over, she finds an ad on the internet to share an apartment with three other people, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) who is replaced by Winston (Lamorne Morris) after the pilot.
(From left to right)
Even though the formula “friends with different personalities + shared apartments + comedy” is already a bit old hat, the first season of New Girl was one of the best first seasons I’ve ever watched. It’s a timely comedy that plays really well with each character’s temperament and has jokes made at just the right time to make you laugh unexpectedly.
The series has its ups and downs, like all series that have many seasons, but it’s a good choice to distract your mind and have an easy laugh.
As I said above, all the recommendations here are based on my weird taste in series and movies. But of course, I wouldn’t recommend anything that wasn’t good (at least for me, lol).
I hope you enjoy this list!
