This week’s roundup of the best releases from two of our favorite streaming services, Netflix and Apple TV, are as varied as it gets — with all of the titles you’ll find listed below built around stories featuring everything from mobsters to world-class chefs, and in formats that span both docuseries as well as prestige drama. And even though the name of Apple TV+ might have changed, you’ll see that the quality of the content is as high as ever, with a Scorsese documentary series breaking into the streamer’s top 10.
Whether you’re in the mood for a geopolitical thriller or something more along the lines of a love story, this week’s mix offers something for every kind of viewer. We’ve picked out five of the best movies and TV shows to binge, and we’ll kick things off with a closer look at something new for true-crime fans that’s coming to Netflix on Wednesday.
Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia (Netflix, Oct. 22)
Netflix’s new true-crime series “Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia” takes viewers back to one of the most violent chapters in the so-called City of Brotherly Love — a period in the ’90s when rival mob crews turned Philadelphia’s underworld into a quasi-battlefield. “The docuseries,” explains Netflix’s Tudum, “traces the turbulent saga of Philly’s mob, beginning with the power vacuum left by Scarfo’s 1986 arrest. John Stanfa, handpicked by New York’s Five Families to restore order and return business to the shadows, soon found his old-school grip threatened by a new breed of mobsters.”
Using firsthand accounts from insiders, law enforcement, and journalists, what unfolds is a story about how the feds scrambled to shut down a mob war in the city once and for all. You can stream all three episodes of this “Shakespearean saga” on Netflix starting on Wednesday, October 22.
Nobody Wants This: Season 2 (Netflix, Oct. 23)
“First comes love, then comes life,” Netflix explains in its synopsis for Season 2 of the comedy “Nobody Wants This.” “The last time we saw agnostic podcast host Joanne (Kristen Bell) and unconventional (hot) rabbi Noah (Adam Brody), their unmatched chemistry surprised everyone in their lives, including her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe), his brother Sasha (Timothy Simons) and sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn), and even themselves. Their spark proved stronger than all of the obstacles trying to keep them apart.”
In Season 2, the two lovebirds are back at it and still committed to not only staying together but bringing their very different families together. Does love truly conquer all? This season finds the show’s unlikely couple navigating the messy realities of love — from grappling with totally different worldviews to families that couldn’t be more dissimilar. There’s a reason the show was nominated for multiple Golden Globe and Emmy awards after its debut season.
A House of Dynamite (Netflix, Oct. 24)
Don’t press play on this next Netflix release, meanwhile, if the current state of the world makes you uneasy. “A House of Dynamite,” from Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, unspools the chain of events tied to a nuke launch that’s headed straight for the U.S. Overall, reviews have been fairly positive — in the same ballpark as her 2017 film “Detroit.”
Rebecca Ferguson leads a cast that includes Idris Elba, Anthony Ramos, Gabriel Basso, and Greta Lee, and the movie serves as Bigelow’s return to the same thematic territory that made her earlier films like “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Hurt Locker” so visceral. One of her favorite themes is just how close civilization can come to the brink when power and human fallibility intertwine. “‘A House of Dynamite,'” writer Michael Isikoff noted for the Spy Talk Substack, “exposes many weaknesses in US nuclear defenses — including psychological pressures that could cause defense professionals to crack up.”
Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV, now streaming)
Moving next to the now plus-less Apple TV, there are two new docuseries worth spending time on for subscribers to the iPhone maker’s streamer. The first, the five-part “Mr. Scorsese,” is out now and delivers a fascinating portrait not just of director Martin Scorsese’s life, but of all the experiences along the way that indelibly shaped his art.
The series draws on Scorsese’s private archives and features reflections from longtime collaborators like Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, and it takes viewers inside the mind of one of Hollywood’s greatest directors of all time — the artist who gave filmgoers everything from “Taxi Driver” to “The Irishman.”
“While heating up some frozen food,” video game designer Hideo Kojima tweeted over the weekend, “I just kept watching the documentary series ‘Mr. Scorsese’ [about] the director I deeply admire, Martin Scorsese. I only paused when I had to go to the bathroom or make coffee. Finished watching to Episode 5. I can’t even put my feelings into words. I’m overwhelmed. Scorsese’s films have saved me countless times before. This time, through his life and the way he’s lived as a filmmaker, I received a renewed sense of creative ‘energy’ and a never-ending ‘calling.'”
Knife Edge (Apple TV, now streaming)
This final release is an existing streaming title — the Apple TV docuseries “Knife Edge,” which debuted earlier this month and the fourth episode of which arrives this week. The upcoming episode of the show — which offers a look at how chefs around the world are chasing the ultimate honor in the profession, a Michelin Star — journeys to Scandinavia, where two chefs are pursuing different visions of greatness. In Sweden, viewers follow one chef in his quest for a second star; over in Copenhagen, another chef tries for something even more elusive — a third Michelin Star.
Like so many of Apple’s originals, “Knife Edge” also feels quintessentially Apple: Brimming with polish, and as prestige as it gets. If you want to know more, be sure to check out our full review of “Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars” from earlier this month ahead of the show’s debut.
