Taylor Swift, '3 Body Problem,' 'Shogun' -3-

There's also a new season of the small-town drama "American Rust" (March 28), starring Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney; Peter Farrelly's imaginary-friend comedy "Ricky Stanicky" (March 7), starring Zac Efron and Jon Cena; recent movies including "Five Nights at Freddy's" (March 5), Neil Jordan's private-eye drama "Marlowe" (March 7), the rom-com sequel "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3" (March 12) and and the illustrated documentary "Frida" (March 14), about artist Frida Kahlo. Prime also now has NWSL soccer, with a schedule of 27 total matches starting March 15.

Catch up: The reboot of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," which dropped in February and shares little in common with the 2005 Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie movie other than its name, is the best series of year (so far), with Donald Glover and Maya Erskine giving electric performances as spies/assassins thrown together in a marriage that starts out as a cover but evolves into something much deeper. The first few episodes are wildly fun, with spectacular action scenes (the Lake Como episode is...wow), while the latter eps turn much more uncomfortable and darker, before a jaw-dropping finale. Highly recommended.

Who's Prime Video for? Movie lovers, TV-series fans who value quality over quantity.

Play, pause or stop? Stop, for now at least. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is worth a watch at some point, "Road House" will likely be dumb fun but not necessarily essential viewing, while "Invincible" can wait another month until all its eps drop.

Paramount+ ($5.99 a month with ads, $11.99 a month with Showtime and no ads)

Sports are the big draw for Paramount+ this month.

Following a jam-packed slate of regular-season and conference tournament games, the NCAA men's basketball tournament - aka March Madness - tips off on March 21. Paramount+ with Showtime won't have all the games, just the ones broadcast on CBS (while Max will stream games that are shown on TBS, TNT and truTV).

And for soccer fans, the UEFA Champions League kicks off its round of 16, starting March 5, along with women's Concacaf Gold Cup matches (final March 10) and men's Concacaf Nations League matches (final March 24).

Meanwhile, there's the Showtime series "A Gentleman in Moscow" (March 29), based on the best-selling novel by Amor Towles. Ewan McGregor stars as a Russian aristocrat in post-revolution Russia who's sentenced to house arrest in a fancy Moscow hotel.

There's also "Little Wing" (March 13), a movie about a teen (Brooklynn Prince) who turns to pigeon racing in hopes of solving her family's financial woes; CBS shows such as "The Good Wife" spinoff "Elsbeth" (Feb. 29) and a new season of "The Amazing Race" (March 13); and the addition of all nine seasons of "The King of Queens" (March 25).

Who's Paramount+ for? Gen X cord-cutters who miss live sports and familiar Paramount Global (PARA) broadcast and cable shows.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. There's nothing essential that you can't also watch in a sports bar.

Need more? Catch up on previous months' picks at What's Worth Streaming.

-Mike Murphy

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-03-24 1650ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.