What to stream: 'Moana 2,' John Mulaney, 'Confessions of Octomom,'
Amanda Seyfried and 'Dope Thief'
[March 10, 2025]
“Moana 2,” the third-biggest movie box-office hit of 2024, and Amanda
Seyfried playing a Philadelphia patrol officer fighting rampant opioid
addiction in Peacock’s “Long Bright River” are some of the new
television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The
Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: A long-lost documentary
resurfaces on Tom Petty, comedian John Mulaney launches a live weekly
celebrity talk show on Netflix and a six-part series called “Confessions
of Octomom” looks back at the turbulent life of single mom Nadya Suleman.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM MARCH 10-16
– “Moana 2” was nearly a streaming series. Instead, it arrives Wednesday
on Disney+ after more than $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. The
movie, the third-biggest box-office hit of 2024, is set three years
after the 2016 original. Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) again sets sail from
her home island, this time in search of a wider community of Pacific
Islanders. Dwayne Johnson, as the voice of Maui, is also back. In my
review, I wrote that “the warm Polynesian spirit and open-sea sense of
adventure is back in ‘Moana 2,’ but little of the original’s humor or
catchy songs finds its way into this heartfelt but lackluster sequel.”
— Directors Anthony and Joe Russo (“Avengers: Endgame”) are back on
Netflix with their adaptation of Simon Stalenhag’s 2018 illustrated
novel “The Electric State.” The Russos, who last released 2022’s “The
Gray Man” on the streaming service, bring their big-budget flare to a
retro-futuristic tale populated by cartoon-like robots. Millie Bobby
Brown stars as a teenager in search of her long-lost brother, who
travels the American southwest with Keats (Chris Pratt) and his robot
sidekick, Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie).
– Payal Kapadia’s luminous “All We Imagine as Light” begins streaming on
the Criterion Channel. The film, one of the most acclaimed of 2024, is
about three Mumbai hospital workers — played by Kani Kusruti, Divya
Prabha and Chhaya Kadam — who are each grappling with different
constrictions in modern Mumbai. When they travel to a seaside town, “All
We Imagine as Light” transforms into a radiant, illusary imagination of
the lives they could have. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
wrote, “Like a dream, this is a film that washes over you.”
— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle
NEW MUSIC TO STREAM MARCH 10-16
— In 2022, the K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM emerged fully-formed: An
ambitious Gen Z quintet whose hooks who helped usher in a new wave of
such groups. It was their single “ANTIFRAGILE” that seemed to suggest a
new sound was being popularized: They pulled from reggaetón filtered
through Rosalía as much as they did the tentpoles of much K-pop: stacked
melodies, R&B, hip-hop, EDM. On Friday, they will release a new EP,
“HOT,” its title-track promising further combinations of “rock and disco
elements, revolving around love,” their agency Source Music said in a
statement. It’s enough to get excited about.
— In February 1983, “Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party” aired just
once on MTV — a long-lost documentary that doubles as Cameron Crowe’s
true directorial debut. It follows Petty and his Heartbreakers around
their 1982 “Long After Dark” album. The film has been found and
remastered, and on Tuesday, will premiere on Paramount+.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
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This combination of photos show promotional art for "Dope Thief,"
left, "Electric State," and "Long Bright River." (Apple
TV+/Netflix/Peacock via AP)
 NEW SHOWS TO STREAM MARCH 10-16
— In 2009, the world was introduced to Nadya Suleman, a single mom
of six who gave birth to eight living children at one time via in
vitro fertilization. The public fascination into this woman dubbed
Octomom quickly became vicious and judgmental. Suleman had no job
and relied on government assistance, so she was declared
irresponsible and unfit to raise 14 kids. She did capitalize on the
attention with a book deal, tabloid deals and paid TV appearances
but within a few years she'd declared bankruptcy, turned to
pornography to earn money and was accused of welfare fraud by the
state of California. A new six-part series called “Confessions of
Octomom” looks back at that turbulent time and how Suleman and her
14 kids made it through. It debuts Wednesday on Lifetime and streams
on Hulu live.
— Comedian John Mulaney launches a live weekly
celebrity talk show on Netflix called “Everybody’s Live with John
Mulaney” on Wednesday. It’s a follow-up to “John Mulaney Presents:
Everybody’s in LA” a live nightly show during last year’s Netflix is
a Joke comedy festival. Richard Kind returns as the sidekick. At a
press event earlier this year to promote Netflix’s 2025 programming,
Maloney promised, “We will never be relevant. We will never be your
source of news. We will always be reckless.”
— Amanda Seyfried, who won an Emmy Award in 2022 for portraying
former Silicon Valley It Girl, Elizabeth Holmes, stars in a new
thriller series for Peacock. In “Long Bright River,” Seyfried plays
Mickey, a Philadelphia patrol officer in a neighborhood plagued by
rampant opioid addiction. Mickey becomes determined to solve a
series of murders when her sister, who is also an addict, goes
missing. It’s based on a novel by Liz Moore. The eight-episode
series launches Thursday.
— A different limited series for Apple TV+ called “Dope Thief” is
also set in Philadelphia against the world of drugs. Brian Tyree
Henry and Wagner Moura star as two longtime friends who pose as DEA
agents and conduct fake raids to take possession of other people’s
drugs and money. It’s a series of easy scores until the two men
target the wrong people. “Dope Thief,” produced by Ridley Scott,
begins streaming Friday, March 14.
— Alicia Rancilio
NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
— Video games love to make you feel like a hero, but what happens to
warriors who fail? Alta, the protagonist of Wanderstop, takes a job
managing a quiet tea shop in a magical forest. That sounds like the
setup for a relaxing, “cozy” game like Animal Crossing or Stardew
Valley — but be warned, one of its creators is Davey Wreden, the
mastermind behind 2013’s The Stanley Parable. That cult classic is
one of the most devious brain-twisters ever, so who knows what
Wreden and his colleagues at Ivy Road have up their sleeves for
their indie studio’s debut release? Judging from the trailer, Alta
may have more on her mind than creating the perfect cup. Find out
what's brewing Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
— Lou Kesten
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