Each month, new films and TV shows are added to Disney+’s New Zealand library. Here’s Eliza Janssen’s recommendations for the titles most worth watching. Scroll down for the full list of everything arriving on the platform.
Top picks
Prey
Why the heck is this Predator spin-off, with its cinematic production values and inventive take on the canon, headed straight for Disney’s streaming service? It’s from director Dan Trachtenberg, and has already earned some solid reviews from early screenings, with multiple critics calling it the best Predator film since the testosterone-fuelled OG, which starred two future state governors in Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura.
At least watch the bleak, Comanche Nation showdown in full-screen and ideally on a big TV or projector, as those ashy forest visuals and bow-and-arrow battles look enthralling. Amber Midthunder plays our hero Naru, who must protect her people from an intergalactic threat with heat-seeking vision and a big gnashy maw.
Mike
The pet tiger, the face tat, the trash talk with a vicious lisp: all of Mike Tyson’s trademarks suggest a larger-than-life symbol and an enigma all at once. If you loved Ryan Murphy’s bombastic series The People Vs. O.J. Simpson, you might enjoy Mike, an eight-part biopic series weaving a similar tale of an incendiary young Black athlete caught in the crossfires of fame, race, misogyny, and a greedy, insatiable media landscape.
Moonlight actor Trevante Rhodes, himself an accomplished track-and-field star as a young guy, dons the iconic gap tooth and speaks directly to the camera as Tyson. Laura Harrier is the woman who loved him, and Harvey Keitel is the boxing coach who brought him to record-breaking greatness. Let’s hope the fun-looking miniseries doesn’t pull any punches.
The Bear
The customer is not always right in this hype-generating, restaurant-set drama from Christopher Storer, a frequent collaborator of Bo Burnham and the director of TV’s Ramy. It stars Jeremy Allen White as the unlikely inheritor of his late brother’s Chicago sandwich shop, disgruntled staff and all. Ayo Edebiri is one of those comedy talents who’s been bubbling under the surface for some time now, and she’s getting awards buzz for her performance here as one of the chefs who tests the new boss’s patience.
With gritty, painfully paced kitchen scenes that’ll make you think twice about ever leaving a bad Yelp review, The Bear uses food and its healing properties as an answer to the series’ heavier themes of grief, family, and mental illness. A great Italian beef sanga can bring us together, or pull us apart. Mmmm…pull-apart garlic foccacia with pickles and bresaola….
All new titles arriving on Disney+ New Zealand in August
August 3
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Ms. Marvel
Lightyear
August 5
We Are Freestyle Love Supreme
The Lion King: Sing-Along Version
The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride: Sing-Along Version
Prey
LEGO Star Wars: Summer Vacation
August 10
I Am Groot: Shorts
August 17
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law: Season 1 Premiere
August 19
Beauty and the Beast: Sing-Along Version (1991)
Beauty and the Beast: Sing-Along Version (2017)
Tangled: Sing-Along Version
August 24
Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW
August 25
Mike: Season 1 Premiere
August 30
The Patient: Season 1
August 31
PJ Masks: Season 5
The Bear: Season 1
