Blue Beetle, Netflix’s Wes Anderson, and every new movie you can watch

Good news, everyone: It’s a busy week of new movies to watch at home.

Despite dropping Asteroid City over the summer, Wes Anderson has another new movie out, this time straight to Netflix (and just a tad under 40 minutes long). It’s the first of a few Anderson projects for Netflix due out this week, and early responses have been very positive. Some of the summer blockbusters make their way for home viewing, too: The Meg 2 splashes onto Max, while Blue Beetle and Gran Turismo veer their way onto VOD.

Those are the main highlights, but there’s plenty more options for people looking to watch new movies at home this weekend. Let’s get into it.

New on Netflix

Wes Anderson shorts

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Image: Netflix

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 39m
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Rupert Friend

Wes Anderson’s second movie of the year, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, is the first of a group of Netflix shorts he’s made adapting Roald Dahl stories. A new Wes Anderson is always an event, and this one sees friends new (Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley) and old (Ralph Fiennes) for the one-of-a-kind filmmaker. The other three shorts — The Swan, The Rat Catcher, and Poison — are all also dropping on the platform this week, with the last one premiering Saturday.

Reptile

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: Kyle Kaplan/Netflix

Genre: Crime thriller
Run time: 2h 14m
Director: Grant Singer
Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Justin Timberlake, Eric Bogosian

Benicio Del Toro stars in this brutal new crime thriller as Tom Nichols, a gruff detective who finds himself unnerved by a disturbing new case. The trailer plays like a cross between Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners and David Fincher’s Gone Girl, with a wild example of stunt casting in the form of Justin Timberlake as a prime suspect in the murder of his wife.

New on Max

Meg 2: The Trench

Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre: Sci-fi action
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Sophia Cai

Remember The Meg, that movie about Jason Statham fighting a gigantic man-eating Megalodon shark? Well, guess what: There are plenty more fish in the sea, and they’re just as colossal and pissed off as the first one!

From our review:

Two movies in, the Meg series doesn’t seem to have much idea about what makes sharks scary, apart from the fact that they appeared that way in other, better movies. If too many movies have turned sharks into calculating forces of pure malevolence, at least those understand the primal, instinctive terror we may feel upon the realization that many parts of this planet do not belong to us. The trench of Meg 2 has no such terror attached, nor a sense of wonder. (More fantastical Warner movies like Aquaman or Godzilla vs. Kong do a better job on both counts.) Statham is an indomitable force the movie mostly understands; sharks, meanwhile, remain just another barely sketched bad guy.

New on Apple TV Plus

Flora and Son

Where to watch: Available to stream on Apple TV Plus

Genre: Music drama
Run time: 1h 37m
Director: John Carney
Cast: Eve Hewson, Jack Reynor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Eve Hewson (Bridge of Spies) as Flora, a young single mother desperately trying to find common ground with her troubled son Max (Orén Kinlan). After discovering a discarded guitar in a dumpster, Flora takes guitar lessons from an instructor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in an effort to build a bond with Max through the power of music.

New to rent

Blue Beetle

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Warner Bros./DC Comics

Genre: Superhero action
Run time: 2h 7m
Director: Ángel Manuel Soto
Cast: Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, Adriana Barraza

DC Comics’ latest movie was intended as a straight-to-streaming project for Max. But Warner Bros. Discovery’s new management upgraded it with a theatrical release, bringing actor Jaime Reyes, Guillermo del Toro Easter eggs, and a prestigious stunt team to the big screen.

From our review:

Blue Beetle is a charming romp of a film, but it’s desperately trying to punch above its weight class, peppering its story with constant nods to the Latin American experience, while also delivering the action and comic book Easter eggs expected of superhero cinema.

Gran Turismo

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Image: Sony Pictures

Genre: Sports drama
Run time: 2h 14m
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Cast: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe

Would you believe a gamer … could become a racer? Gran Turismo does, because it’s happened in real life (multiple times, actually).

The movie adaptation of the mega racing franchise follows a fictionalized version of the real story of Jann Mardenborough, who went from pro Gran Turismo competitor to professional racer.

From our review:

Gamers aren’t an oppressed minority anymore — if they ever were in any venue outside of their own heads and the media reflecting their fantasies. This kind of aggrieved posturing isn’t a good look in 2023. Geek culture won. Mardenborough’s story is real, and has a much more significant dimension than victory in some imagined gaming culture war. Games gave this kid from a low-income family a viable and affordable route into one of the world’s most elitist sports. Gran Turismo could have used this inspiring true story to show how video games open up possibilities and remove barriers in the real world. Instead, it just uses it to score points.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

Photo: Yannis Drakoulidis/Focus Features

Genre: Romantic comedy
Run time: 1h 32m
Director: Nia Vardalos
Cast: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Louis Mandylor

One of cinema’s most endearingly goofy families is back, in the most family-centric franchise this side of the Fast and Furious movies. It’s the first Greek Wedding movie since 2016, which came nearly 15 years after the original smash hit. This time, star-writer Nia Vardalos takes over directorial duties, following up her 2009 directorial debut I Hate Valentine’s Day.