EPIX will be in free preview for all Sling Orange and Blue subscribers from Friday, April 16 to Monday, April 19. With so much premium content, we thought we’d whittle down a list of 10 movies and shows you’ll want to watch this weekend. To add EPIX to your Sling package, use the link at the bottom of this page and select EPIX in the Extras.
Godfather of Harlem
Some shows can exist on star power alone. Forest Whitaker and Vincent D’Onofrio lead Godfather of Harlem into its second season Sunday night, continuing the tale of 1960s New York City mob boss Bumpy Johnson as he goes head-to-head against the city’s biggest crime families in a battle for control of the heroin trade. Taking place against the backdrop of the burgeoning civil rights movement, the drama inadvertently seems ripe for the current moment.
Watch Season 1 on demand before Season 2 premieres, Sunday, April 18 at 9pm ET
Sonic the Hedgehog
For a movie based on a video game about a blue hedgehog that runs fast, the story of bringing Sonic the Hedgehog to the big screen was surprisingly complicated. Following fan backlash at Sonic’s ungainly design in the first trailer, producers delayed the film and went back to the literal drawing board. They came up with a version of the character that audiences loved, making Sonic the third biggest hit of 2020. The movie itself is better than it needed to be, with committed performances from an overqualified cast that includes James Marsden and Jim Carrey.
Bombshell
An award-winning cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, and Margot Robbie take the stage in this ripped-from-the-headlines drama about the sexual harassment scandal that rocked Fox News. The film won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the Academy Awards last year, a worthy honor considering they were able to turn Theron into a dead-ringer for Megyn Kelly.
Bill & Ted Face the Music
For those of us of a certain age, Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan epitomized a certain glazey-eyed optimism about the potential of rock music as a planet-uniting force. This long-in-the-works sequel serves as a more mature counterweight to such idealism: It seems the pressure to write the perfect song has prevented Bill and Ted (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) from doing so. It’s a clever setup for a surprisingly sweet and sensitive sequel.
Pennyworth
As we noted in our Season 2 preview, Pennyworth has a location and tone that’s miles away from the “grimey, rain-soaked back alleys of the Batman universe.” The second season just wrapped up, and it introduces a number of interesting ripples in the mythology of the iconic character. As much as anything, Pennyworth feels like an alternate history of mid-20th century London, with stylish design and costuming in service of a story that borrows from the grand political struggles of the time.
Like a Boss
Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne are hilarious in this corporate revenge comedy, in which the two women are forced to sell their burgeoning cosmetics company to an unscrupulous CEO (Salma Hayek). The tone lands somewhere between The Devil Wears Prada and Horrible Bosses and Billy Porter and Jennifer Coolidge steal the show in supporting roles.
War of the Worlds
The second season of Howard Overman’s critically-acclaimed sci-fi thriller War of the Worlds hits Epix on June 6 with a new twist: What if the invaders who took out most of mankind in a coordinated, violent attack on planet Earth are human? Does your brain hurt yet? Did you just let out a guttural “Whoa!” à la Blossom-era Joey Lawrence? This cryptic reveal potentially alters the entire world of this H.G. Wells adaptation, and it’s one worth investing in. Start the journey from the beginning with a binge of Season 1, as Gabriel Byrne leads a handful of survivors through the quiet, body-strewn streets of London in the 10 days following the cataclysmic event.
Saint Maud
Something—or some holy force—comes over Maud, a young hospice nurse, sparking an obsession with a dying patient. A recent religious convert, Maud (Morfydd Clark) is made out to believe she must save her soul from eternal damnation. Saint Maud is not only totally terrifying but also highly critically acclaimed: this psychological horror film holds a stellar 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Condor
EPIX’s newest show continues their winning streak of tense thrillers. An adaptation of James Grady’s Six Days of the Condor (which became a Robert Redford hit in 1975), the show stars Max Irons as an idealistic young CIA analyst who ends up in a cat-and-mouse chase after his entire office is assassinated. The original film was a classic of post-Watergate political paranoia; the new version updates the particulars for the modern world but retains its cynical spirit. New episodes air Sundays at 10pm and a second season is expected to air later this year.
Waiting To Exhale
Godfather of Harlem star Forest Whitaker made his directorial debut with this 1995 romance starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett. Centering on four friends whose relationships are in differing states of disarray, the movie is also notable for its score by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and hit soundtrack, that included Whitney’s Grammy-winning, chart-topping “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).” Late last year, Lee Daniels announced that he’s developing a television series based on the film.
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