What to Watch: The Super Bowl, Plus 21 More Series and Movies to Stream This Weekend

Family Hour: ‘Earwig and the Witch’

(HBO Max)

Dave Jesteadt knows good animation when he sees it. As president of the movie-distribution company GKIDS, he does his best to watch pretty much every animated film made at home and around the world so he can find films he thinks will resonate in the U.S. He helped bring to U.S. audiences many foreign animated films including “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” and “When Marnie Was There”—both were later nominated for Oscars.

Mr. Jesteadt and GKIDS’s latest, “Earwig and the Witch,” begins streaming Friday on HBO Max. The film is about a precocious girl left as an infant at an orphanage by a witch, and grows up there until, year later, she is distressed to learn that she’s been adopted. Until, that is, she learns that she has been adopted by a witch who promises to teach her the trade if she pulls her weight.

“Earwig,” “Kaguya” and “Marnie” were all produced by Japan’s Studio Ghibli, best known for the Oscar-winning, international hit, “Spirited Away.” All four are available on HBO Max.

Mr. Jesteadt says the test of whether a film will resonate stateside is if he can’t stop thinking about it for days. “For as many movies as I’ve seen, it’s always good news when you can still remember one a week later,” he says. “To have that kind of lasting power suggests there’s something—a story idea, a character, a moment—that really speaks to you and has left its artistic mark.”

New Release: ‘The Sister’

(Hulu)

In “The Sister,” a new limited series streaming on Hulu, Holly is racked with sadness because her little sister, Elise, has been missing for years. Nathan is consumed by guilt and anxiety because he helped bury Elise, made a pact with his accomplice that they’d keep it to themselves—and then went and married Holly.

The series, which premiered last year on ITV in the U.K., is based on the novel “Burial,” by Neil Cross, who created the BBC’s “Luther,” starring Idris Elba. Mr. Cross says he was able to tap into the suffocating anxiety of his characters not, of course, because he’d ever killed someone, but because of his days and nights with a drink.

“What stopped me drinking, primarily was not the health issues, it was simply the anxiety of waking up the next morning and remembering—with that kind of sudden lurch in your stomach—something you said, or something you did, someone you offended and living with that kind of efflorescence of anxiety all day,” says Mr. Cross, who also wrote the series. “And it just struck me: What must it be like to wake up in the morning and you have that surge of anxiety, but you’re remembering not the offensive or dumb or boring thing you said, but the fact that you killed someone?”

New Release: ‘Palmer’

(Apple TV+)

In “Palmer,” a new movie streaming on Apple TV+, Justin Timberlake stars as Eddie Palmer, a high-school football wunderkind recently out of prison. Shopping for a second chance, he begins caring for Sam, a boy who is teased for liking dresses and dolls.

The role isn’t entirely new territory for Mr. Timberlake—whose performance has been hailed by critics including the WSJ’s John Anderson. In “Trouble With the Curve,” for example, he played a former baseball player working on his second act. And director Fisher Stevens notes that Mr. Timberlake, who rose to stardom in NSYNC after a role on “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club,” was a wunderkind himself.

“I think there was a lot he could sink his teeth into,” he says. “Justin tells the story of, when he was 8 years old, he didn’t play with dolls, but he was singing in church and he wanted to sing and he loved performing. And in that sense, he was sort of an outcast himself as a young boy. So he related to that part of the story as well.”

Awards Season: Golden Globe Nominees

(Various)

The conversation about who was snubbed by the Golden Globes this year is raging. Here’s a full list of nominees this year. If you want to catch up on candidates to bring home trophies on Feb. 28, here are some streaming contenders:

Netflix: Netflix titles brought home the most Golden Globe nominations this year—42. In movies, it received six nods for “Mank,” a fictionalized look at the writing of “Citizen Kane,” including best director-motion picture (David Fincher), best actor in a motion picture-drama (Gary Oldman) and best motion picture-drama. “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is also up for best motion picture-drama. On the TV side, the service takes three of five nominations for best television series in a drama, for “The Crown,”“Ozark” and “Ratched.”

Apple TV+: “Ted Lasso,” the story about an American football coach who takes over as the coach of a middling team in the English Premier League, has been a surprise, upbeat hit, drawing viewers during the pandemic. The series is nominated for best television series in a musical or comedy and star Jason Sudeikis is up for best performance by an actor in a television series in a musical or comedy.

Hulu: “Palm Springs,” the bright, “Groundhog Day”-esque film starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, was nominated for best motion picture in a musical or comedy, and Mr. Samberg picked up a nod for best actor in a motion picture in musical or comedy.

HBO Max: HBO’s paranormal, period horror series, “Lovecraft Country,” became a critical hit upon release last summer. It’s been nominated for best television series in a drama. Other nominees available on HBO Max, include “The Flight Attendant” (best television series in musical or comedy) and “The Undoing” (best television limited series or motion picture made for television).

Disney+: Yes, of course, “The Mandalorian” picked up a nod for best television series in drama. The long-awaited “Hamilton” also was nominated for best motion picture in musical or comedy and best actor in musical or comedy (Lin-Manuel Miranda).

Amazon Prime Video: Amazon’s 10 nominations include nods for titles like Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology, Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and Regina King’s “One Night In Miami.”

And in other awards news: John Jurgensen reported this week that the Oscars race is heating up in February, leading to a surge of new releases. Among the talked about contenders is “Malcolm & Marie” which begins streaming Friday on Netflix. The film is about the unraveling of a couple’s relationship after a big night out. Other films include “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Mauritanian,” and Frances McDormand’s “Nomadland.” Read the whole story here.