Here Are All The Movies And TV We're Talking About This Fall

There’s a lot of educational value to a ground-level documentary like “Union,” which takes viewers behind the scenes of the multiyear journey of a group of Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York. In 2022, they made headlines as the first Amazon warehouse to unionize — a huge turning point for the American labor movement. The group’s charismatic leader, Chris Smalls, became a nationally recognized figure, and the workers garnered support from high-profile progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Beyond those headlines, it’s rare to get such an up-close and personal view of the immense obstacles facing unions and workers in America, especially at corporate behemoths like Amazon. Opening in theaters Friday, “Union” is an instructive must-see for understanding the painstaking and methodical process of labor organizing.

As “Union” documents, at companies like Amazon, seemingly everything is designed to prevent workers from forming a union. There’s high turnover, and employees are often siloed. And thanks to Amazon’s huge power and deep pockets, management can easily hire expensive union-busting lawyers and regularly holds what are known as “captive audience” meetings during the work day, designed to dissuade new employees from joining a union. Meanwhile, the workers have to scrappily build their movement from the ground up, and can only do their organizing during lunch breaks at the bus stop outside the Amazon warehouse. It’s no wonder that the odds are so stacked against them.

However, the documentary’s chronological and on-the-ground approach sacrifices opportunities to go deeper when necessary. For instance, we briefly get some glimpses into the racial and gender dynamics and tensions within the core organizing group, one of several parts of the film where it would have been prudent to take a step back and explore that subject more. While it doesn’t take away from the documentary’s overall value, some of those scenes feel a bit glossed over, and that additional context would have deepened viewers’ understanding. In union organizing, information is power.

Nearly two decades since her beloved WB sitcom “Reba,” Reba McEntire returns to network TV with a new sitcom: “Happy’s Place,” premiering Friday on NBC. The country music legend plays Bobbie, who, upon her father’s recent death, finds out she has a much younger half-sister, Isabella (Belinda Escobedo). Per his will, they are now co-owners of his bar, from which the show takes its name.

So far, the series feels stale and hackneyed, with much of the jokes drawing from reductive takes on Bobbie and Isabella’s generational and racial differences. While it’s fun to see McEntire reunite with “Reba” co-star Melissa Peterman, who plays Bobbie’s colleague Gabby, it would be more appealing to see the show move beyond its disappointingly bland premise.

Season 1 of “Shrinking” really snuck up on me. The Apple TV+ sitcom follows a group of therapists — played by Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, and, in a rare comedic role, a delightfully grouchy Harrison Ford — and their problems outside of work. It’s a bit of a cliché to say the show essentially boils down to: Therapists make mistakes, too. Much of the first season is setting up the cycle of the show’s central trio, Jimmy (Segel), Gaby (Williams) and their mentor Paul (Ford), helping their patients while ignoring their own problems. But with such a fun cast, it’s hard not to breeze through each episode.

The show’s second season, which premiered Wednesday and will air weekly, feels even warmer and cozier than the first now that we’re invested in the characters’ growth. Certain plotlines this season work less effectively than others, and some of the show’s supporting characters begin to feel a bit one-note. However, I do enjoy hanging out with most of the characters, and that’s ultimately the feeling you want on an ensemble sitcom like this. The new season also boasts some excellent guest stars, several of whom have connections to people involved in this show, so it’s fun to spot those reunions.

Cast some big stars (perhaps someone who doesn’t usually do TV), give them lots of money, and turn out a mediocre show: With a few exceptions, that seems to be Apple TV+’s business model.

Premiering Friday, “Disclaimer” continues the streaming service’s trend of putting out shows that look great and clearly cost a lot, but end up being pretty pointless. Created and directed by Alfonso Cuarón (with his usual team of collaborators, including cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki), the psychological thriller stars Cate Blanchett as a successful documentarian whose life is turned upside down when a self-published novel by a grieving, vengeful father (Kevin Kline) reveals some potentially damning allegations about her from two decades ago.

Over the show’s seven episodes, it becomes clear that the story we’re being presented isn’t the whole truth, and one begins to wonder about the discrepancies. The problem is that the big reveal comes so late and so abruptly that it yields far more questions than answers, even though its ending is supposed to be fairly conclusive. I only slogged through all seven episodes because I wanted to see how the show resolved that central mystery. But aside from that, it’s another show that relies pretty heavily on its star power and spectacle, and delivers very little beyond that. Blanchett is solid, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen her do before. And it’s hard to believe this middling show comes from the same cinematic legends who made visual marvels like “Y Tu Mamá También,” “Children of Men,” “Gravity” and “Roma.”

I'm a sucker for a good horror concept, since there are so few compelling ones out there today. So I was immediately intrigued by the trailer for "Mr. Crocket." A demonic children's show host involved in a "Poltergeist"-esque kind of plot? Sold. The movie, which hit Hulu on Oct. 11, is based on director Brandon Espy's six-minute short film of the same name, which was produced for Hulu's 2022 "Bite Size Halloween" anthology series. It centers on the mysterious titular lead (played by Elvis Nolasco), who, after making a deal with the devil, snatches young children away from their abusive parents through their television sets, never to be seen again. However, one grieving mother is determined to rescue her son from Mr. Crocket's clutches after he falls victim to the creepy entertainer's trap.

At best, "Mr. Crocket" is an homage to horror classics and the millennial era of puppetry in children's TV. The film's whimsical aesthetic is clearly inspired by kids' shows like "Barney & Friends," "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and "Pee-wee's Playhouse," while its scare tactics and boogeyman antagonist take cues from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the aforementioned "Poltergeist." The creative effort is admirable, using horror as a playground of sorts to offer something new to the genre, as opposed to another haunted house story. But throughout "Mr. Crocket," I found myself anticipating scary moments that never quite came. The slasher aspects of the film attempted to bring the scary, but at times they simply felt more like a spoof, and ultimately it didn't quite stick the landing for me. "Mr. Crocket" is a decent addition to the 2024 Halloween slate, but I doubt it'll be one to revisit every year.

It’s disappointing when a ripe and colorful premise turns into a paint-by-numbers kind of show. "The Franchise,” which premiered Sunday on HBO, had so much going for it: a satire set during the chaotic production of a fictional superhero movie (clearly inspired by some real but unnamed comic book franchises). The show boasts several veterans of great TV satires, like showrunner Jon Brown, who was previously part of the brilliant team of writers on "Succession"; and executive producer Armando Iannucci, who created "Veep," its TV older cousin of sorts.

Unfortunately, HBO's newest comedy series misses the mark. Each episode often feels as if the writers came up with a list of big-budget movie tropes to satirize — divalike actors, studio megalomania and underwritten female characters, among others — and checked off those boxes, rather than mining some genuine comedy out of them. The jokes just aren't there. It's especially disheartening given the amount of talent involved, like "Station Eleven" star Himesh Patel as Dan, the movie's besieged first assistant director, and "Shrill" star Lolly Adefope as Dag, his right-hand woman on set. The series also continues HBO's disappointing streak of satirical misfires as of late (see also: “The Regime”).

If you, like me, find your eyes widening at the words “Joshua Jackson cruise ship medical drama,” I can report that the show in question, ABC’s “Doctor Odyssey,” is as fun and soapy as that premise makes it sound. The new “case of the week” series follows the onboard medical team of a cruise ship: Jackson as Dr. Max Bankman, alongside Phillipa Soo and Sean Teale as veteran nurses Avery and Tristan, and Don Johnson as the ship’s captain.

ABC is smartly airing the show Thursday nights, opposite its long-running medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy.” “Doctor Odyssey” already follows some of the same rhythms, like attractive people reciting medical jargon and becoming entangled in love triangles. However, the medical cases are obviously a much different vibe: someone eating too much shrimp, someone breaking their penis after too much honeymoon sex, and other situations specific to cruise ships. It’s all kind of ridiculous — but like I said, fun and soapy!

I was excited about "The Front Room" when I saw the trailer over the summer. Brandy is back in a horror film? Yes! Produced by A24? Yes! She's singing in the trailer? Amazing! But let's just say that's where my excitement about the movie ends. The film, now available to rent on various streaming platforms, is a straight-up dud.

Brandy stars as Belinda, a professor who's pregnant and still mourning the loss of her firstborn child. She's married to Norman (Andrew Burnap), a public defender hoping to advance in his career once he wraps up a current case. But when his father dies and his stepmother Solange (Kathryn Hunter) moves in, everything starts going wrong in their old house.

Thirty minutes into the film, I contemplated turning it off. There's nothing redeemable about "The Front Room," and some of the film's choices make you question what even is the point of it. The marketing for the movie was sparse at best, and now I can see why: It didn't really deserve to be in theaters anyway. According to Deadline, the film made less than $2 million on its opening weekend. I can't help but compare it to Netflix's "The Deliverance," another terrible "horror" film from this year — with its mean old white woman in a bad wig who wants to bring up religion at every turn, and its unforgivable waste of a talented actor, and writing that just doesn't make any damn sense. Brandy deserved so much better than whatever this film was trying to be. Don't waste your time.

As "Power Book II: Ghost" finishes its record-breaking run, it seems determined to go out with a bang.

The New York City drug game is in disarray in Season 4, which airs Fridays on Starz. Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.), Brayden (Gianni Paolo) and the Tejadas (Mary J. Blige, Woody McClain, LaToya Tonodeo and Lovell Adams-Gray) are still being targeted by a ruthless task force hell-bent on squeezing them for information on the city’s plug, Noma (Caroline Chikezie).

Between the walls closing in on them and so many loose plotlines still dangling in the wind, the main question on viewers' minds is, how will the show come to an end? All I know is that the Oct. 4 finale will surely be the talk of social media.