American Gigolo
(Neon)
1980s neo-noir, crime-drama American Gigolo made a movie star out of Richard Gere when he played a high-price male escort who ends up the chief suspect in a murder case. This new series takes that idea and gives it a modern spin to reimagine it for the present day. The series stars Jon Bernthal as the titular gigolo whose wrongful conviction sees him released from prison after 15 years. Adrift in today's world of smartphones, apps and pocket computers masquerading as phones he sets about trying to rebuild his complicated relationships with his ex and his mother while also trying to reassert his own identity in society. Meanwhile, Rosie O'Donnell's detective is intent on cracking the case of the real murderer.
Streaming from Monday on Neon.
Pinocchio
(Disney+)
Wooden you know that the latest animated classic from the Disney vaults to get the live-action/CGI remake treatment is Pinocchio.
The 1940 cartoon classic is an incredibly important film for the House of Mouse, being the direct follow-up to 1937's history-making Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the very first full-length animated movie.
Disney pulled some strings to do this fantasy-musical justice, enlisting Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) and everyone's favourite movie star Tom Hanks to bring this timeless tale about a puppet who goes on a big adventure to become a real boy to life.
Having made a bunch of these adaptations now, including The Lion King, Dumbo and The Jungle Book, Disney has their technique down and the movie certainly looks impressive.
Streaming from tomorrow.
Recipes for Love and Murder
(Acorn TV)
Hot dinners and cold-blooded death come together in this new series based on Sally Andrew's best-selling Tannie Maria mystery novels about a recipe columnist who unexpectedly becomes an amateur detective.
Maria Purvis takes the lead as Maria, a journo working at a small town newspaper in South Africa whose column dishes out advice and tasty recipes. But after one of her regular correspondents writes about her abusive husband before turning up dead, Maria begins investigating. Teaming up with a hot-headed rookie journo the pair race to uncover the killer before more women are murdered and before the killer identifies them.
Streaming now.
Cobra Kai
(Netflix)
Karate kicking its way onto screens tomorrow is season five of Netflix's unexpected success story Cobra Kai, the surprisingly entertaining and really rather good sequel series to the iconic 80s family-friendly action flick The Karate Kid.
Picking up 30 years after the events of the beloved film, the series flipped the script to focus on the point-of-view of the movie's baddie, Johnny Lawrence instead of the hero Daniel LaRusso. Bringing back original actors William Zabka and Ralph Macchio respectively, their charismatic antagonism towards each other fuels the series while also allowing room for a younger cast to thrive. Its mixture of karate action and teen drama is a knockout.
Streaming from tomorrow.