Want more TV and movie picks? Subscribe to our weekly Streamliner newsletter here.

Clockwise from top: The Long Walk, Only Murders in the Building, The Girlfriend, and Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Murray Close/Lionsgate, Bleecker Street, Christopher Raphael/Prime, Patrick Harbron/Disney

Nothing like a new Stephen King adaptation to usher in a turning season. Fall might not have technically started yet, but you can still nestle in a dark air-conditioned theater and pretend to your heart’s content with this week’s plethora of options. Alongside The Long Walk, there’s the reunion of a decades-old fake rock band, a return of a charming singing nun/babysitter, another murder in a New York, and a chance to go back in Pixar’s toy box. (A lot of returns, huh?) Plus, the Emmys!

Sign up for Streamliner

A weekly newsletter with the latest TV and movie recommendations, curated by Vulture writers.

Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice

A Francis Lawrence movie set in a dystopian America where young people are part of a deadly competition? Sounds right. The Hunger Games director is taking a break from Panem to adapt some Stephen King. In The Long Walk, young men sign up for a walking contest where they must keep a pace of three miles per hour or be killed on the spot, and the contest only ends when there’s one person left. Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, and Charlie Plummer star as some of the young boys in this gnarly competition while Mark Hamill is the Major, the menacing officer supervising the walk.

➽ How far did The Long Walk make it in our ranking of every Stephen King movie adaptation? Pretty far!

Forty-one years after This Is Spinal Tap, the fictional English rock band is putting on their final show. Rob Reiner’s mockumentary follows the band (made up of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) as they prep for a reunion concert. Reiner also reprises his role as Marty Dibergi, the documentarian filming Spinal Tap. The nostalgia levels go up to 11.

If this list is the first time you’re hearing about Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle, chances are you’re probably not going to be headed to the cinema for this one. But the film, an adaptation of the Infinity Castle arc of the manga series, which follows Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the Hashira as they enter the titular castle and battle deadly Upper Rank demons, is already a huge hit. It’s the third-highest grossing film in Japanese history. (The No. 1 highest grosser? The last one, 2020’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Mugen Train.) —James Grebey

In Jay Duplass’s odd, delightfully rambling film that also serves as a twisted love letter to Baltimore, a down-on-his-luck stand-up comedian and an emergency dentist spend a strangely eventful Christmas Eve together. —Bilge Ebiri

“Attempting any kind of praxis read of The Grand Finale is a fool’s errand. Yet the film moves briskly because it’s the cinematic equivalent of great gowns, beautiful gowns.”

(Read Roxana Hadadi’s full review here. In theaters now.)

Summer’s not over yet, so you still have time to fit in one more sleazy, sexy series. Robin Wright stars as the wealthy and cultured Laura, whose son brings home the girlfriend from hell. Olivia Cooke’s Cherry makes out with Laura’s son in public, lies about her knowledge of art, and seems to be hiding a secret—or is Laura overprotective? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but until then, let the women fight. —Roxana Hadadi

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Someone dies in the Arconia, and Charles, Oliver, and Mabel can’t help but investigate. This time, the suspects include mobsters and billionaires, which couldn’t be more New York, actually. —R.H.

➽ Can Only Murders keep getting away with this formula? Maybe.

Is it Apple’s big night? Between Severance and The Studio, the company is sure hoping for a great night. At least they’re good shows. Plus, we’ll be seeing mini-reunions of Gilmore Girls, The Good Place, and more with the large crop of presenters at the Emmys. If it’s a good night of television, we’ll send our thanks to Sal Saperstein.

➼ The best way to watch? With your best friend, a humble TV antenna. We tested three great ones.

Do, a deer, Re, a drop of golden sun, Mi, a name I call myself, Fa, a long, long way to run, So, a needle pulling thread, La, a note to follow so, and … There’s a snake in my boot. This weekend, we have two childhood classics out in theaters: The Sound of Music and Toy Story. Both are exciting films to see back on the big screen, so might as well have a double feature.

“Gladys is an instant entry into the canon of contemporary horror iconography, and for that alone, the character is worthy of commendation. But she’s also so much more than the inevitable drag shows that will immortalize her. Underneath the pounds of lipstick, eye shadow, and wig is a thrillingly committed performance from [Amy] Madigan, a character actor who has seldom gotten the kind of showcase she gets here.”

Writer Louis Peitzman on the fantastic performance of Madigan in Weapons, now out on VOD. Read more here.

➽ Plus, Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s Warfare is on HBO Max.

Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of September 5.

Related