For cord cutters, the anticipation of watching an event live gets transferred over to the weekly dumps of content on the various video streaming platforms. What’s dropping when becomes important knowledge to have, as you organize your queue. If you don’t have time to comb through all the content coming down the series of tubes that make up the Internet, don’t worry — we do.
Here are our picks for what you should watch this week.
Netflix is no stranger to making its own content. There is a stable of television shows, stand up specials, and documentaries that the streaming service has built up over the last few years. But strangely, the company has never ventured into the realm of the feature film. Netflix can now check that off its list with the release of Beasts of No Nation, and it’s a pretty impressive debut that will likely earn it as much awards attention as its shows have.
The film follows the life of Agu, a young boy in West Africa who finds himself in a difficult position after his father is killed in a civil war. Agu is taken away to become a child soldier in the army of a twisted militant leader. Beasts of No Nation will not be an easy watch — Although it’s beautifully filmed and well-scripted, it’s a challenging film that intends to make the viewer deal with some unpleasant truths about war and the human cost associated with it. There are no names of countries or sides — just warfare. Plug in a conflict taking place today, and the premise of the film will still apply.
Anthony Jeselnik made his name through the series of roasts hosted on Comedy Central, regularly bringing material that received big laughs and bigger cringes. And while he’s added hosting duties to his resume with Last Comic Standing, Jeselnik is still at his best when he’s performing stand up. He spares no one when he’s on stage, and if you aren’t offended by a particular joke, just wait — He’ll get you with the next one.
Horror flick Circle occupies some space between the Hunger Games and Saw franchises. It’s a thriller and a social experiment rolled into one. The film starts with fifty strangers, all held captive in a mysterious chamber awaiting their execution. Every two minutes, a person is killed. The captives quickly learn that, as a room, they have the ability to vote on who gets killed — which means they’re also picking who the one survivor will be.
You are undoubtably familiar with the music of Glen Campbell. The country singer has been working for half a century, penning and singing hits that have topped the charts. The story of his success and struggles as an artist is fascinating, but his battle with Alzheimer’s paints a much more human picture of the music giant. This film documents his decision to continue touring even after his diagnosis, and the challenges he’s faced since.
Jane had her life on track and was intending to remain a virgin until marriage. Yet somehow, thanks to a medical mixup, she ended up pregnant. Jane the Virgin takes a satirical look at the often too-perfect world depicted by most shows and films, as Jane’s life starts to turn more and more into a telenovela like the ones the character obsesses over. The CW show turned into a hit thanks to Gina Rodriguez’s impressive portrayal of Jane.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.