Movies Update: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ and More

Plus, the best superhero stories to stream.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story April 2, 2021 By Mekado Murphy Movies Editor Hey, movie fans! Your favorite oversized creatures are back, this time romping and stomping their way into your living room. "Godzilla vs. Kong" is out now on HBO Max and in theaters. (It still looks very expensive, even on the flat screen.) A.O. Scott calls it "an action movie made with lavish grandiosity, zero pretension and not too much originality." Watch a splashy fight scene from the movie, look back at that other time Kong met Godzilla and check out other big-screen franchise duels. Want to get a leg up on predicting the shorts categories at the Oscars? Those mini-movies are available, both in theaters and on virtual screens. We break down the best and worst. Like scary movies but fear the overwhelming number of options? We sifted through the bad ones to point you in the direction of the good ones available to stream. And on the superhero front, if you're not so thrilled about the Avengers or Justice League, we find some nontraditional stories that will keep you intrigued. In Oscar news, we spoke to a couple of septuagenarian nominees who may not have been on your radar: Paul Raci of "Sound of Metal" and Yuh-Jung Youn of "Minari." Enjoy the movies! Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures 'Godzilla vs. Kong' Review: Let's You and Him Fight Ape and lizard go toe-to-toe, with a cast of talented humans to comment on the action. By A.O. Scott ShortsTV 'The 2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films' Review: Major Issues in Brief From social justice themes to stories about grief and reckoning with the past, this year's nominated shorts get serious. By Jeannette Catsoulis, Maya Phillips and Ben Kenigsberg Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS IFC Films Stream These 5 Chilling New Horror Movies Looking for some big scares, but overwhelmed by choices? We have picks for you. By Erik Piepenburg Netflix Hate Superheroes? Maybe You Just Haven't Met the Right One Even if Avengers and Justice Leagues leave you cold, there's probably some superpowered champion out there for you. Here's a guide to the best nontraditional superhero stories available to stream. By Maya Phillips Hulu The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO Max, Hulu and More in April Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of April's most promising new titles. By Noel Murray CRITICS' PICKS Iglesias Mas/Sony Pictures Classics Critic's Pick 'The Human Voice' Review: Almodóvar Meets Cocteau Meets Swinton The first English-language film from the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar stars Tilda Swinton and adapts Jean Cocteau to sublime results. By Glenn Kenny Grasshopper Film Critic's Pick 'Malni — Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore' Review: Embracing Our Ghosts This ethereal experimental documentary by Sky Hopinka is an essential portrait of contemporary Indigenous life. By Beatrice Loayza Dekanalog Critic's Pick 'This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection' Review: Bringing Out the Dead In this drama, a widow rises out of grief to protest a threat to her village. By Nicolas Rapold Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ANATOMY OF A SCENE Warner Bros. 'Godzilla vs. Kong' | Anatomy of a Scene The film's director Adam Wingard narrates the scene where Godzilla and Kong first spar. By Mekado Murphy MOVIE REVIEWS 'Malmkrog' Review: Now You're Talking Welcome to a three-hour, multilingual 19th-century house party, organized by the Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu. By A.O. Scott 'The Unholy' Review: 'There's Something About Mary' Miraculous acts or evil deeds? This tame, trite horror movie has a familiar answer. By Jeannette Catsoulis 'Every Breath You Take' Review: The Therapist as Trauma Victim Casey Affleck plays a vaunted psychiatrist whose life and career are derailed after he boasts about a miraculous new technique, which then fails tragically. By Kristen Yoonsoo Kim 'WeWork' Review: The Sharing Economy or a Shared Delusion? This documentary on the workspace start-up is a fast-paced, entertaining saga of relentless self-selling and a curious corporate culture. By Ben Kenigsberg 'Concrete Cowboy' Review: Acquiring Horse Sense on the Philly Streets Idris Elba leads us through the long-buried heritage of America's Black cowboys, manifested in their modern-day urban descendants. By Glenn Kenny 'Amundsen: The Greatest Expedition' Review: Ice, Ice, Baby This overstuffed trek through the chilly life of the famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen is a handsome snooze. By Jeannette Catsoulis 'The Man Who Sold His Skin' Review: The Artwork Has Legs In this Oscar-nominated film, a Syrian refugee agrees to become a piece of art in exchange for passage to Europe. By Nicolas Rapold 'The Place That Makes Us' Review: Rebuilding, Brick by Brick This documentary offers a brief look at a handful of people trying to revitalize Youngstown, Ohio. By Ben Kenigsberg Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT NEWS & FEATURES Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures When King Kong Accidentally Met Godzilla The 1962 monster matchup was supposed to pit the big ape against Frankenstein's monster. A rights issue cropped up, Toho got involved and the rest is history. By Robert Ito Peter Ash Lee for The New York Times She Never Dreamed of Acting. Now She's an Oscar Nominee for 'Minari.' The veteran Korean star Yuh-Jung Youn has had a thriving career for five decades — all because of a choice she made when she failed her college entrance exam. By Carlos Aguilar Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times The Projectionist How 'Sound of Metal' Star Paul Raci Went From Day Jobs to Oscar Nominee After decades of struggle, the 72-year-old actor finally found his breakthrough playing a deaf Vietnam vet with addiction issues — a role with parallels to his own life. By Kyle Buchanan Ioana-Cristina Moldovan for The New York Times Since the Oscar-Nominated 'Collective,' Much and Little Has Changed The documentary revisits a deadly 2015 fire that brought down the Romanian government and exposed the catastrophic health care system. But not all the troubles are in the past. By Kit Gillet Sign up for the Louder Newsletter Stay on top of the latest in pop and jazz with reviews, interviews, podcasts and more from The New York Times music critics. Sign up How are we doing? We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to moviesupdate@nytimes.com. Like this email? 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