Paramount+ is a kind of streaming providers the place a variety of film genres, area of interest gems, and blockbusters, traditional and new, can conceal in plain sight. And with the calendar flipping over to a brand-new month, there’s a complete new crop of films added to the service.
For the week of February 2 to eight, I’ve cued up one of many hardest and most compelling documentaries I’ve ever watched, a mob traditional that retains getting higher with age, a chaotic satire that is as soon as once more grow to be related, and a ridiculously quotable comedy about male fashions.
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Predators
I delay watching this disturbing crime documentary on Paramount+ for weeks, as a result of the subject material is so delicate and the trailer alone is a bit exhausting to observe. However with its 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes and the vital reward it is gotten, I grit my tooth and hit play. And I am glad I did. Predators is a chilling however fascinating exploration of the controversial crime actuality TV sequence To Catch a Predator. The recurring Dateline NBC section from the mid-2000s was hosted by investigative journalist Chris Hansen and utilized “decoy” actors posing as underage minors on-line, in an effort to lure and expose potential little one predators in hidden digital camera stings. The segments had been exhausting to imagine, however America could not look away.
The documentary makes use of stunning and uncomfortable archival and behind-the-scenes footage, in addition to compelling interviews with Hansen, the present’s creators, and among the decoy actors, to inform the story. However what makes it so watchable and polarizing is that whereas it would not excuse the predatory males focused, it calls into query using the platform to reveal them, and our urge for food for watching actual trauma unfold in an uneasy spectacle. It is a chilling and eye-opening watch.
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The Godfather
I attempted beginning this writeup off with a line about how watching The Godfather could be like a deal you could not refuse, however then determined that this iconic mob film, one which formed all the pieces from Goodfellas to The Sopranos, was simply too legendary to joke about. Director Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece, and its sequels, are once more accessible on Paramount+ to your marathon-viewing pleasure.
The 1972 authentic movie, based mostly on Mario Puzo’s novel, wrote the e book on slow-burn mafia dramas, because it follows getting older boss don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando in his Oscar-winning position), who’s struggling to maintain the household enterprise collectively amid gang wars. After an try on his life, Vito’s solely recourse is to herald his son Michael (Al Pacino), a reluctant businessman who simply needs a traditional life, to take over. What we get to witness is the chilling transformation of mild-mannered Michael right into a ruthless, calculating mob chief. It is one of many biggest films of all time.
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Crew America: World Police
Once I interviewed South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone in 2004, when their over-the-top satirical spectacle Crew America: World Police got here out, a number of issues I keep in mind most about what they informed me are: One, making a film with marionettes was one of many hardest issues they’d ever finished. Two, they made it to make enjoyable of Hollywood and the pretentious actors in it. And three, the Matt Damon puppet got here out of the kiln with a melted face, so they simply went with it (if you understand, you understand).
The ensuing movie, an homage to the Nineteen Sixties TV sequence Thunderbirds, is a gleefully crude, vulgar puppet motion film about an American anti-terror “world police” crew that, whereas imposing freedom across the globe, leaves destruction of their wake. In an effort to thwart a sinister plot by Kim Jong-il, Crew America recruits top-gun Broadway actor Gary Johnson to assist, as a result of, nicely, actors are simply nice at all the pieces. It is cringey at instances, stuffed with motion, and even bizarre puppet intercourse. Oh, and it is a musical. If you happen to love South Park, Crew America is twisted required viewing.
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Zoolander
It is exhausting to imagine that one among comedy’s most iconic characters was born out of a brief movie that Ben Stiller created for the VH1 Fashion Awards in 1996 and 1997. They had been so well-loved that Stiller, who was nonetheless establishing himself as a director, author, and producer, determined to show it right into a full-fledged function. Zoolander hit theaters in 2001 in all its quotable glory, and it nonetheless stands at this time as probably the most sharply-constructed fashion-industry satires ever made.
Stiller stars as legendary male mannequin Derek Zoolander, who loves a great gasoline struggle, cannot spell eulogy, or flip left on the runway, however rattling, is he ridiculously handsome. When Derek is brainwashed and hypnotized by eccentric designer Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferell) into an assassination plot to kill the Malaysian prime minister, with the assistance of hard-nosed reporter Matilda (Christine Taylor) and sizzling male mannequin Hansel (Owen Wilson), they three should resolve it earlier than it is too late. Stiller, Wilson, and Ferrell give traditional performances, however preserve an eye fixed out for excellent cameos from David Duchovny, Billy Zane, Alexander Skarsgård, and Winona Ryder, too.
No matter you are within the temper for—darkish, sobering documentaries to stupid-funny satires—this week’s picks have you ever lined. Additionally make sure you take a look at our publish on everything coming to Paramount+ in February 2026.
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