Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of award-worthy pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (March 28 – March 30)

The main stream: The Studio

It’s not cinema, it’s TV.

Created by Seth Rogen and his frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg alongside Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez, The Studio takes viewers behind the scenes of an embattled movie studio after a reshuffling of power puts Rogen’s Matt Remick, a cinephile with the best intentions, at the top of the mountain. The 10 episode series — the first two episodes of which are now streaming on Apple TV+ — reveals how the proverbial sausage is (or is not) made and how the quest for great art is complicated by money and ego in a uniquely funny series that should appeal to everyone regardless of their familiarity with the so-called “industry.”

In addition to Rogen, the satirical series stars Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara, Emmy nominee Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, and Chase Sui Wonders, while six-time Emmy winner Bryan Cranston guest-stars. But they’re only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Hollywood elite who stroll through the doors of the fictional Continental Studios, as directors like Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, and Sarah Polley and actors like Anthony Mackie and Zac Efron all stop by for a laugh (or a cry). You don’t have to love movies to enjoy The Studio, but as the awards contender to watch this weekend, it’s a plus.

The best of rest, TV edition

• Mid-Century Modern: Hulu’s new multi-camera comedy is a throwback similarly bursting at the seams with talent. From Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, the series stars Emmy winner Nathan Lane, Emmy nominee Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham as three gay friends of a certain age living in the oasis that is Palm Springs. Comparisons to The Golden Girls abound as the first episode finds the trio moving in together in the wake of the death of the fourth member of their quartet. Rounding out the regular cast is the late Linda Lavin, who appears as Lane’s character’s mother (the Tony winner died in late 2024 during production on Season 1). Meanwhile, Ryan Murphy serves as an executive producer, as does the legendary director James Burrows, who steps behind the camera for all 10 episodes, which are now streaming on Hulu.
• The Pitt: The fallout from the mass shooting that defines the final arc of the acclaimed medical drama’s first season continues this week in “7:00 P.M.,” as more victims from Pittfest arrive at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center and Robby’s (Noah Wyle) overworked ER staff attempt to save as many lives as possible. The episode is now streaming on Max.
• Reacher: Everything comes to a head in the Season 3 finale of Amazon’s popular action drama, and by that we mean the long-awaited showdown between Alan Ritchson‘s Reacher and Olivier Richters‘ Paulie is upon us. Other stuff happens too, but the pair’s climactic confrontation during Beck’s (Anthony Michael Hall) party is the real reason we’re all here, right? The episode, titled “Unfinished Business,” is now streaming on Prime Video.

Moonlighting with Mufasa

Mufasa: The Lion King, Barry Jenkins’ photorealistic CGI prequel to The Lion King, is now streaming on Disney+. The Academy Award-winning Moonlight director goes commercial with this animated film, which tells the origin story of the beloved titular king of the jungle. Aaron Pierre voices young Mufasa, taking over the role from the late James Earl Jones. The film tells the story of Mufasa and his adoptive brother Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who grows jealous of Mufasa’s relationship with Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), which leads to the breakdown of their relationship. If you know The Lion King, you know where the story goes. Mufasa is not great art, but Jenkins puts his mark on the material, and it’s pretty striking to see Jenkins’ signature colors and close-ups used in the context of a Disney blockbuster. 

Watch an exclusive clip from the “Songs of the Savanna” featurette with Barry Jenkins and Lin-Manuel Miranda breaking down “I Always Wanted a Brother”:

The best of the rest, movie edition

• Queer: Daniel Craig stars in Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of a William S. Burroughs novella as an American expat in 1950s Mexico City who falls in love with a younger man, played by Drew Starkey, who doesn’t identify as “queer.” It’s a lyrical drama about desire and dependence, both chemical and emotional, that finds beauty in longing. It’s stylish and sensual, like all of Guadagnino’s work. It was one of two movies Guadagnino released in 2024, along with Challengers. While neither film made it to the Academy Awards, Challengers was at least a box office hit, which Queer was not. But Queer is worth watching for the vibes now that it’s on Max. 
• Bring Them Down: Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan play Irish shepherds who get in a feud over sheep in this quietly intense revenge thriller. It’s about sheep, but it’s not really about sheep, you know? It’s about people’s history with each other in small towns and how pain gets passed down through generations. It’s also about Abbott doing an Irish accent, which he pulls off convincingly. The film comes from writer-director Christopher Andrews, who won Best Debut Director at the British Independent Film Awards for his work. Bring Them Down is available to stream on Mubi or buy on VOD platforms, including Amazon. 
• Holland: Nicole Kidman’s prolific spree continues (this is her sixth movie or show released since the start of 2024, not counting voice work) with this quirky straight-to-streaming thriller that premiered at SXSW earlier this month. She plays a woman with a seemingly picture-perfect suburban life in the uniquely Dutch-influenced town of Holland, Mich. But underneath the veneer, she’s cracking. She suspects her husband, an eye doctor played by Matthew Macfadyen, is cheating on her. And it’s not clear if he is, or if she’s an unreliable narrator who’s losing her grip on reality. In other words, it is the kind of role Kidman plays very often, and according to the reviews, it’s not one of the better variations. But if you like Fargo-influenced movies about the seedy underbelly lurking beneath the wholesome small-town surface, check it out on Amazon Prime Video. 
• The Rule of Jenny Pen: John Lithgow is getting in some weird roles before he spends his golden years playing Dumbledore. He stars opposite Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush in this Hitchcockian psychological horror movie from New Zealand that’s now streaming on Shudder. He plays a man in a nursing home who takes sadistic pleasure in terrorizing the other residents with a “game” involving his memory care doll, Jenny Pen. The staff and the residents’ families can’t or won’t help, so Rush’s character, a judge recovering from a stroke, takes matters into his own hands, which aren’t working well these days. It’s a two-hander about a battle of wills that goes to surprising places.  
• The Life List: If you like Netflix movies, the algorithm has such a Netflix movie for you to watch next. The Life List is like a millennial version of The Bucket List. Sofia Carson, a Netflix star for Purple Hearts and Carry-On, leads this life-affirming romance drama. She plays Alex, a young woman in New York City whose mother (Connie Britton) recently passed, and left her a series of video messages on DVD. To get the following message, Alex has to cross an experience off the “life list” she made when she was 13 and her mother kept. Sometimes it takes a shock to remember to live life to the fullest.