What we’re watching

From left: “The Good Place,” “Lost” and “Halt and Catch Fire.”NBC; ABC; AMC

What to Watch on a Snow Day

Stuck indoors? Your TV is, too. Margaret Lyons recommends some great shows you can binge-watch right now.

From left, scenes from “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Dogville” and “Winter’s Bone.”Fox Searchlight Pictures; Lions Gate Films; Roadside Attractions

12 Gritty Dramas With Strong Female Leads

The heroines on this list of dark thrillers, crime dramas and hero’s journeys — three movie genres traditionally given over to men — show strength of all kinds. They’re compelling. They’re tough. And more important, they feel like real people.

Announcements

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Sign Up for the Watching Newsletter

Once upon a time, “What am I going to watch tonight?” was a simple question to answer. No longer. The number of TV shows, networks and streaming platforms seems to grow each day, and more movies are available in more ways than ever before. We comb through releases big and small, famous and esoteric, in order to bring you our best recommendations on what you should be watching.

Watching is also a newsletter, and our first recommendation is for you to subscribe. We’ll send out suggestions three times a week for which movies and TV shows you should watch, both on streaming and on traditional broadcast and cable outlets.

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RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Aparna Nancherla on “The Standups.”Saeed Adyani/Netflix

Three Shows to Watch This Week

An eerie foreign thriller, a tight British drama and six new Netflix stand-up specials.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

From left, Jeff Bridges as the Dude in “The Big Lebowski” and Joaquin Phoenix as Doc Sportello in “Inherent Vice.”Merrick Morton/Gramercy Pictures; Wilson Webb/Warner Bros.

The Little Lebowskis: 10 Righteous Heirs to a Coen Brothers’ Classic

For the 20th anniversary of “The Big Lebowski,” we’ve compiled a list of great and streamable films that follow in the footsteps of el Duderino.

ASK WATCHING

My husband and I, newly retired baby boomers, haven’t watched much TV since college. But now … with more time on our hands and (we like to think) some great things to watch, we want to make up for lost time. — Formerly TV-Averse

The 100 Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video

As Netflix pours more of its resources into original content, Amazon Prime Video is picking up the slack, adding new movies for its subscribers each month. Its catalog has grown so impressive, in fact, that it’s a bit overwhelming — and at the same time, movies that are included with a Prime subscription regularly change status, becoming available only for rental or purchase. It’s a lot to sift through, so we’ve plucked out 100 of the absolute best movies on Prime right now, to be updated as new information is made available.

Read Our Recommendations

‘Moonlight’

Watch for a gorgeous, moving character study that will stay with you.

‘Amélie’

Watch if you like foreign romantic comedies of soufflé-like lightness.

‘Some Like It Hot’

Watch to finally see one of the most essential and unhinged screwball comedies ever.

Manhunter

In this stylish thriller from Michael Mann, William L. Petersen plays a criminal profiler who’s brought out of retirement to catch a notoriously elusive killer.

‘The Handmaiden’

Watch for a sumptuous, erotic thriller that always stays three steps ahead.

‘Night of the Living Dead’

Watch to see the moment when zombies became a pop-culture phenomenon.

‘Blue Velvet’

Watch to see a truly original and deeply twisted mystery.

‘His Girl Friday’

“The Post” fits the tradition of the “newspaper picture” best defined by Pauline Kael: “a tough modern talkie,” in most cases “a melodrama with crime and political corruption and suspense and comedy and romance” — often with snappy titles like “Scandal Sheet” and “Libeled Lady.”

‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’

Watch because it’s one of the best adventure movies ever.

‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’

Watch if you’re in the mood for a big, bloody spaghetti western.

‘The Conversation’

Watch if you want to see a psychological thriller about surveillance.

‘Steamboat Bill Jr.’

One of the most enduring images of the great Buster Keaton comes from this 1928 classic, in which a clueless Keaton, wandering the streets of his hometown during a cyclone, pauses for a moment in front of a building — which collapses around him, his life saved only by his accidental position in the landing place of an open window.

‘The Salesman’

Even before the best picture envelopes were switched on Oscar night, there were so many memorable moments.

‘Silence’

Watch for a devastating study of faith taking root in infertile territory.

‘Arrival’

Watch if you like idea-driven science-fiction.

‘I Am Not Your Negro’

Like “13TH” and “O.J.: Made in America,” Raoul Peck’s powerful documentary “I Am Not Your Negro” connects the history of African-Americans in the United States to current conversations about race, law-enforcement and civil rights.

‘A Quiet Passion’

Watch for a nuanced and occasionally heartbreaking portrait of a complicated creator.

‘Creed’

Watch if you’re looking for an old-school sports movie for a new generation.

‘Capote’

Watch for one of the great performances by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

‘Zodiac’

Watch for a mesmerizing crime thriller about obsession.

‘Anomalisa’

A motivational speaker arrives in a nondescript hotel, in yet another nowhere city, resigning himself to a night of emptiness — and then he meets a woman who, quite literally, changes how he sees the world.

‘Glengarry Glen Ross’

This film adaptation of the Pulitzer-winning play by David Mamet transposes the action from Chicago to Brooklyn, and the pressure-cooker real-estate office in which it is set is nastier than ever.

‘Inside Llewyn Davis’

Watch if you’re in the mood for a playful, sad character study filled with lovely folk music.

‘Manchester by the Sea’

Watch for a tender, delicate tear-jerker with a wry sense of humor.

‘Little Big Man’

Three years after reinventing the crime movie with “Bonnie and Clyde,” director Arthur Penn worked similar magic on the Western, adapting Thomas Berger’s novel about a very old man (Dustin Hoffman) who tells the tale of his exploits in the Old West, where he was raised by Native Americans.

‘Sophie’s Choice’

In her head, the Polish immigrant Sophie (Meryl Streep) is tormented by memories of her nightmare years in Auschwitz.

‘Fences’

Watch for some of the finest screen acting in recent memory.

‘The Believer’

This 2001 drama from the writer-director Henry Bean won the Grand Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was the breakthrough role for its dazzling star, a “Mickey Mouse Club” vet named Ryan Gosling.

‘Green Room’

Watch for a white-knuckle thriller with a serrated edge, like “Die Hard” for the mosh pit set.

‘The Accused’

Released in 1988, “The Accused” was one of the first Hollywood films to address the moral culpability of unprotesting witnesses to rape.

‘Monster’

Patty Jenkins’s recounting of the grim story of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos is leavened somewhat by the director’s access to 12 years of letters Wuornos wrote to an old friend from death row: Her first kill is clearly self-defense; after that, the line blurs.

‘Terms of Endearment’

Skip mushy Valentine’s Day movies if you’re not in the mood and watch one of the best mother-daughter weepies instead.

‘3:10 to Yuma’

A desperate rancher (Christian Bale) agrees to deliver a dangerous outlaw (Russell Crowe) to a prison train — knowing full well that the villain’s gang is coming to break him out.

’20th Century Women’

Watch for a heartfelt and evocative memoir that’s flush with specific detail.

‘The Central Park Five’

Watch if you want to understand why the case gripped the nation’s imagination, and why it’s still important.

‘Long Strange Trip’

The audience for a four-hour documentary about the Grateful Dead may be extremely self-selected, but non-Deadheads needn’t be intimidated by this admiring and surprisingly intimate portrait by Amir Bar-Lev.

‘Room’

Brie Larson won an Oscar for her powerful leading performance in this moving adaptation of the novel by Emma Donoghue, in which a woman held for years in captivity tries to escape from her kidnapper with the help of her young son.

‘Nightcrawler’

Watch for Jake Gyllenhaal’s ferocious performance as a creature of mirthless ambition.

‘Paterson’

Watch for an empathetic look at an artist’s simple domestic life, grounded by a warm lead performance.

‘Short Term 12’

Watch if you’re looking for an indie drama with a strong female lead.

‘The Kid’

Charles Chaplin’s first feature-length comedy — “six reels of joy,” according to the original advertisements — was informed by his suspicion that audiences would grow restless if subjected to an hour-plus of gags and slapstick.

‘Young Adult’

Watch for an acidic comedy where the laughs stick in your throat.

‘The Big Sick’

Watch for a romantic comedy that breaks the Hollywood mold.

‘Desperately Seeking Susan’

“Desperately Seeking Susan” is just about the only major release of the 1980s that was about female friendship but also written, directed and produced by women; it explores a less-investigated aspect of the female gaze: the desire to be like someone else.

‘The Fits’

Watch for an experimental, dreamy indie drama about teen girls.

‘Logan Lucky’

This poor Steven Soderbergh movie found very little love when it was released in theaters last year.

‘What We Do in the Shadows’

Watch for a comedy that finds what might be the last original slant on the vampire flick.

‘The Witch’

Watch if you like slow, atmospheric horror.

‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’

In 1974, with a budget of little more than couch change, Tobe Hooper all but wrote the playbook for the four decades of horror cinema that followed.

‘The Blackcoat’s Daughter’

Watch for a moody, chilly, character-driven horror story.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

A scene from “Babylon Berlin.”Beta Film

Did You Love ‘Babylon Berlin’? Here’s What to Watch Next

Few series possess the riches of this German-language import, but here are seven shows that should hit some of the same pleasure points.

Available on:

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Donald Glover in “Atlanta.”Guy D'Alema/FX

What to Read About ‘Atlanta’ Season 2

The surreal and thoughtful FX comedy from Donald Glover is finally back. And people are talking.

Available on:

Tour the Five Boroughs With These Films on Amazon Prime

A lot of productions are filmed in New York City, but often it’s only the city’s greatest hits and its bobo playgrounds that seem to get much screen time, especially lately. What about those New York neighborhoods that feel (or at least used to feel) a little more authentic and lived in? We took a walk through the movies currently on Amazon Prime and found several that wandered a bit farther afield, setting foot in all five boroughs along the way.

Read Our Recommendations

‘Good Time’ (Queens)

Robert Pattinson has made it a point since leaving the “Twilight” series to subvert his twinkling vampire teen persona from those movies with a series of weird or grimy performances.

‘Little Senegal’ (Harlem)

In this moving film from the French-Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb, a widowed Senegalese tour guide (Sotigui Kouyate) at a slavery museum in his home country learns that he has distant relatives living in America.

‘The Warriors’ (Bronx to Coney Island)

Released at a time when the most of the country thought New York City was a scary place (the late ’70s — and to be fair, it sort of was), “The Warriors” follows a group of young hooligans who are framed for the murder of a big-time gang leader and forced to retreat to their home turf in Coney Island.

‘Landline’ (Chelsea and Greenwich Village)

“Landline” isn’t as sentimental as an episode of “I Love the ‘90s,” but it might bring back some fond memories of your grunge phase.

‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ (Greenwich Village)

Watch if you’re in the mood for a playful, sad character study filled with lovely folk music.

‘Moonstruck’ (Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens)

Watch for a seductive blend of cynicism and schmaltz.

‘Sophie’s Choice’ (Flatbush)

In her head, the Polish immigrant Sophie (Meryl Streep) is tormented by memories of her nightmare years in Auschwitz.

‘Crown Heights’ (Flatbush and Crown Heights)

In 1980, a teenage boy named Mario Hamilton was shot and killed in the street outside Erasmus High School.

‘It Felt Like Love’ (Gravesend, Gerritsen Beach, Neponsit)

A lonely and virginal teenage girl gets in over her head when she tries to pass herself off as worldly to an older, rougher crowd of kids.

‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ (Sheepshead Bay)

This film adaptation of the Pulitzer-winning play by David Mamet transposes the action from Chicago to Brooklyn, and the pressure-cooker real-estate office in which it is set is nastier than ever.

‘Requiem for a Dream’ (Brighton Beach and Coney Island)

The hellhole of abusing drugs — from the “hard stuff” of heroin to the seemingly harmless likes of diet pills — is brought to blunt, brutal, visceral life in Darren Aronofsky’s adaptation of the novel by Hubert Selby Jr.

‘Big Fan’ (Staten Island)

For his feature, the writer and director Robert Siegel focused in on a little-explored part of New York in cinema history: Staten Island, often referred to as the forgotten borough.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Daniel Kaluuya in “Get Out.”Justin Lubin/Universal Pictures

Where to Stream the 2018 Oscar Winning Movies

Most of the big winners are already streaming. Here’s where to see them and why.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Sally Hawkins with Doug Jones, as the Asset, in “The Shape of Water.”Fox Searchlight Pictures

What to Read About Best Picture Winner ‘The Shape of Water’

We’ve compiled a brief list of essential interviews, features and critical essays on the Academy’s favorite films of last year.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Foreground from left, Wesam Keesh, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Britt Robertson in “For the People.”Nicole Wilder/ABC

13 Shows We’ll Be Talking About in March

"Atlanta.” “The Americans.” And a laundry list of promising new shows. There’s a lot to look forward to.

Read Our Recommendations

In the Bedroom (2001)

Expanded from an Andre Dubus short story — which constitutes just the final third of the film — this devastating drama from the actor-turned-director Todd Field takes a ball-peen hammer to the cracks in an upper-middle-class marriage.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Watch for a seafaring adventure distinguished by exceptional authenticity.

Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

Watch if you want a smart and stylish story about mid-century American history.

Atonement (2007)

Watch if you like literary adaptations with visual and narrative panache.

True Grit (2010)

Watch to see a remake of a classic western that’s even better than the original.

Winter’s Bone (2010)

Watch to witness the origins of Jennifer Lawrence’s movie stardom.

The Tree of Life (2011)

Watch if you’re in the mood for a visually stunning combination of emotion and philosophy.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Watch if you want to see a gripping thriller about the end of a dark chapter in American history.

American Hustle (2013)

Watch if you want a cross between heist movie, romantic comedy and political exposé.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Watch if you like the offbeat, meticulous worlds of Anderson films like “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

Selma (2014)

Watch if you’re looking for an absorbing, informative historical drama.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Watch for two hours of unrelenting and virtuosic action set pieces.

Arrival (2016)

Watch if you like idea-driven science-fiction.

Hell or High Water (2016)

Watch for an exciting neo-western with a surprisingly political undercurrent.

Hidden Figures (2016)

Watch for a rousing tribute to unsung trailblazers.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

From left, scenes from “Zootopia” and “Jaws.”Disney; Universal Pictures

12 Great Titles Expiring From Netflix in March

Every month, as various licenses expire, streaming services lose movies and TV series from their catalogs. Catch these before they leave Netflix.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

A scene from “Black Panther.”Matt Kennedy/Marvel — Disney

‘Black Panther’ Movie: What You Should Read After Watching the Boundary-Breaking Film

Whether you’re interested in the movie’s racial and gender politics, curious about the future of the Marvel Universe or you simply want to sample the best spoiler-filled essays, read on.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Clockwise from left: “Ghostbusters,” “Atomic Blonde,” “March of the Penguins 2,” “Up in the Air” and “The Secret of N.I.M.H.”Columbia Pictures; Focus Features; Hulu; Paramount Pictures; MGM

The Best TV Shows and Movies New to Netflix, Amazon and More in March

Every month, subscription streaming services add a new batch of movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are the titles we think are most interesting this month.

10 Modern Korean Movies to Stream if You Don’t Want Horror

The past few decades have seen a surge of innovative filmmaking out of South Korea, some of it among the most conceptually bold and aesthetically daring work in contemporary cinema. That surge may have broken through with the “K-horror” thrills of films like “The Host” and “A Tale of Two Sisters,” but its breadth is much more expansive than any single subgenre. As the Winter Games get underway in Pyeongchang, South Korea, catch up with this audacious, genre-busting, tonally unruly work from 10 of the country’s leading lights. (Dates reflect the year of a film’s South Korean release.)

Read Our Recommendations

Nowhere to Hide (1999)

Lee Myung-se is among the lesser-known names in contemporary Korean cinema, mainly because his breakthrough action film, “Nowhere to Hide,” never broke through, despite having wowed festival audiences enough to secure a major American distributor.

Memories of Murder (2003)

Watch for a foreign police procedural with an unexpected existential streak.

The President’s Last Bang (2005)

On October 26, 1979, President Park Chung-hee of South Korea was assassinated inside the Blue House presidential compound by his own intelligence director and lifelong friend, Kim Jae-kyu, thus ending a 16-year rule on a note of confusion and surreality.

3-Iron (2004)

Early in his career, Kim Ki-duk established himself as a festival provocateur with stories of extreme violence and sadomasochistic relationships, like “The Isle” and “Bad Boy,” but his reputation improved in the mid-aughts when he shifted to more serene inquiries into human nature.

Treeless Mountain (2009)

The Korean-American director So Yong Kim (“In Between Days”) keeps the camera tight on two little girls as they fight for survival in the Korean-language film “Treeless Mountain,” a sensitive ode to the vulnerability and resilience of children in a cruelly indifferent environment.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)

The writer and director Kim Jee-woon made this Korean version of a Spaghetti Western, which follows bandits and soldiers of multiple nationalities as they go treasure-hunting in 1930s Manchuria.

Poetry (2010)

This beautiful drama from Lee Chang-dong unfolds on two fronts simultaneously: Yun Jung-hee plays a widow with early-onset Alzheimer’s who takes a poetry class to help her document a world she’ll soon forget.

The Yellow Sea (2010)

Staged on a vast scale by Korean standards, this action-thriller from Na Hong-jin (“The Wailing”) turns on the Coen-like folly of an ordinary man, who desperately and clumsily crosses over into criminal mischief.

Oki’s Movie (2010)

Hong Sang-soo has made movies at about a once-a-year clip since the late 1990s, and his consistency extends to the projects themselves, which are usually structural variations on what happens when a filmmaker and a woman drink too much soju.

The Handmaiden (2016)

Watch for a sumptuous, erotic thriller that always stays three steps ahead.

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

MBC; Chorokbaem Media; Group Eight; May Queen Pictures; Celltrion Entertainment; Hwa&Dam Pictures

A Starter Guide to Streaming Great South Korean TV Drama

Entering the unpredictable world of K-drama, you’ll need to throw your TV rule book out the window.

Read Our Recommendations

Gavin & Stacey

Watch for a sweet, upbeat romantic comedy that rarely turns saccharine.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Watch if you’re a fan of gutsy heroines or Jewish humor.

The Simpsons

Watch if you want to see some of the most brilliant comedy that’s ever aired on television.

30 Rock

Watch if you love fast sitcoms rife with pop culture references and great performances.

The Great British Baking Show

Watch if you like talent, sweets and sweetness.

Gilmore Girls

Watch if you like quick, pop-culture heavy dialogue and strong emotional attachments.

Being Erica

Watch if you like magical realism and want a story about a grown up growing up.

The Good Place

Watch for a surprisingly nuanced lecture on theology and Aristotelian ethics, shot through with surrealist hilarity.

Daria

Watch if you love smart, sardonic teenage-girl protagonists.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Watch for a lighthearted, endearing comedy about an N.Y.P.D. squad.

Adventure Time

Watch if you’re looking for something weird to engage both kids and adults.

Friends

Watch if you like cultural literacy.

Chatter

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Thandie Newton in the “Westworld” Season 2 trailer.HBO

Watch the First Trailer for ‘Westworld’ Season 2

HBO’s sci-fi-western puzzle box returns on Sunday, April 22, at 9 p.m.

Available on:

Read Our Recommendations

Fresh Dressed

It may not be one of the original four pillars, but fashion has been an essential part of hip-hop culture since the beginning.

The Endless Summer

Over 50 years after its release, this one-of-a-kind documentary from Bruce Brown remains the definitive surfing movie, causing such a sensation at the time that legions of “surf-and-travel” tourists tried to mimic its multi-coastal adventure.

Presenting Princess Shaw

Samantha Montgomery is an eldercare worker in New Orleans who spends her off hours on YouTube, building a following for the songs she writes and sings under the pseudonym Princess Shaw.

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me

Broadway legend.

GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling

If you’ve binged your way through the Netflix comedy “GLOW” and are craving more spandex, hair spray and body slams, why not watch the documentary that inspired the show’s creators?

Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made

Iris

Watch if you like documentaries about stylish tastemakers.

Man on Wire

Watch to see an amazing feat brought vividly to life.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Watch if you want to see some amazing artwork.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

Watch for a startling window into the anxieties of being a stand-up comic.

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Watch if you want to learn how your lunchtime sushi could be art.

Rubble Kings

RECOMMENDATION of the DAY

Michael Douglas and Annette Bening in “The American President.’'Castle Rock Entertainment

Where to Stream Aaron Sorkin’s Best Work

If you’d like to take a walk-and-talk through Sorkin’s chatty oeuvre before seeing “Molly’s Game,” here’s a guide to his best films and TV shows available for streaming.

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What we’re watching

What to Watch on a Snow Day

What we’re talking about

12 Gritty Dramas With Strong Female Leads

Announcements

Sign Up for the Watching Newsletter

Three Shows to Watch This Week

The Little Lebowskis: 10 Righteous Heirs to a Coen Brothers’ Classic

ASK WATCHING

The 100 Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video

Did You Love ‘Babylon Berlin’? Here’s What to Watch Next

What to Read About ‘Atlanta’ Season 2

Tour the Five Boroughs With These Films on Amazon Prime

Where to Stream the 2018 Oscar Winning Movies

What to Read About Best Picture Winner ‘The Shape of Water’

13 Shows We’ll Be Talking About in March

15 Great Pictures That Could Have Won Best Picture

12 Great Titles Expiring From Netflix in March

‘Black Panther’ Movie: What You Should Read After Watching the Boundary-Breaking Film

The Best TV Shows and Movies New to Netflix, Amazon and More in March

10 Modern Korean Movies to Stream if You Don’t Want Horror

A Starter Guide to Streaming Great South Korean TV Drama

Comforting TV Shows for Stressful Times

Chatter

Watch the First Trailer for ‘Westworld’ Season 2

Stream These 13 Non-Depressing Documentaries on Netflix

Where to Stream Aaron Sorkin’s Best Work