The new Netflix thriller "Behind Her Eyes," which debuted last week, became its most popular show this week.
Familiar favorites like "Bridgerton," "Cocomelon," and "Firefly Lane" are also still holding strong.
Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Insider a list of which TV shows have been most prominent on Netflix's daily top 10 lists of its most popular titles that week.
Below are Netflix's 9 most popular TV shows of the week in the US:
9. "Bridgerton" (Netflix original, 2020-present)
Anthony Bridgerton on Netflix's "Bridgerton."
Netflix
Description: "The eight close-knit siblings of the Bridgerton family look for love and happiness in London high society. Inspired by Julia Quinn's bestselling novels."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 89%
What critics said: "It ultimately just feels hollow — but, unlike me, your mileage may vary." — BuzzFeed (season one)
8. "The Crew" (Netflix original, 2021-present)
Netflix
Description: "Life in the garage swerves off track for a NASCAR crew chief and his tight-knit racing team when a new boss steps in and shakes things up."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 17%
What critics said: "The cast is charming enough, tackling their roles with an understated kind of ease rather than the exaggeration present in so many other sitcoms ... But the characterizations aren't enough to make up for the fact that The Crew just isn't that funny." — AV Club (season one)
7. "Tribes of Europa" (Netflix original, 2021-present)
The stars of "Tribes of Europa."
Gordon Timpen/Netflix
Description: "In post-apocalyptic Europe, amid wars among microstates, three siblings fight for survival as a greater threat looms over the continent."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 83%
What critics said: "Though it does little that hasn't been seen before, fans of dystopian drama are bound to enjoy Tribes of Europa, which is packed with suspense, bloodshed and power struggles." — Den of Geek (season one)
6. "Cocomelon" (YouTube, 2020-present)
Netflix
Description: "Learn letters, numbers, animal sounds and more with J.J. in this musical series that brings fun times with nursery rhymes for the whole family!"
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: N/A
5. "Crime Scene: The Vanishing at Cecil Hotel" (Netflix original, 2021)
Netflix
Description: "The notorious Cecil Hotel grows in infamy when guest Elisa Lam vanishes. From the creator of 'The Ted Bundy Tapes,' a dive into crime's darkest places."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 48%
What critics said: "Berlinger somewhat overdoes it with the creepy dramatic re-enactments, but Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel benefits from a raft of solid talking heads and a central whodunit that proves continually intriguing." — Daily Beast
4. "Firefly Lane" (Netflix original, 2021-present)
Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke star as Tully and Kate in Netflix's "Firefly Lane."
Netflix
Description: "Best friends Tully and Kate support each other through good times and bad with an unbreakable bond that carries them from their teens to their 40s."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 46%
What critics said: "Firefly Lane has more of an edge than its gentle, ethereal title might suggest, a brittle darkness stalking the goofy plot developments and occasionally groan-inducing writing." — Vanity Fair (season one)
3. "iCarly" (Nickelodeon, 2007-2012)
Nickelodeon
Description: "A cyberstar is born when 13-year-old Carly creates an Internet series with a little help from her best friend Sam and neighbor Freddie."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: "As the plausibility of the set-piece disappears, iCarly leaves with a goodbye that is sweet without being noxious and self-referential without being a long inside joke." — AV Club (season five)
2. "Good Girls" (NBC, 2018-present)
Retta, Mae Whitman, and Christina Hendricks on season three of "Good Girls."
NBC
Description: "Three suburban moms orchestrate a local grocery store heist to escape financial ruin and establish independence — together."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 87%
What critics said: "That was a fun season premiere and a great set-up for the rest of the season. It felt like the calm before the proverbial crap storm that is sure to blow in." — TV Fanatic (season three)
1. "Behind Her Eyes" (Netflix original, 2021)
Netflix
Description: "A single mother enters a world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 59%
What critics said: "I like a good twist, but the twist in Behind Her Eyes is a groaner. The series switches genres, and the final chapter felt to me like a slap in the face — when it didn't make me laugh out loud at the absurdity." — Boston Globe
To find out which films have been the most critically acclaimed over time, Insider turned to the reviews aggregator Metacritic for this ranking, which scores films by their composite critical reception.
The resulting list includes modern masterpieces like recent Oscar winners "Moonlight" and "Parasite" in contention with classics like "The Godfather" and "Citizen Kane."
There's also, not surprisingly, a lot of Hitchcock.
Here are the 50 best movies of all time, according to Metacritic reviews:
John Lynch contributed to a previous version of this post.
50. "Children of Paradise" (1945)
Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "Few achievements in the world of cinema can equal it." — Chicago Sun-Times
49. "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940)
20th Century Fox
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "Gregg Toland captures the open spaces and big skies of rural America, while the normally conservative Ford puts forward a sympathetic but radical plea for workers' rights and freedom for the people." — Empire
48. "Don't Look Now" (1973)
British Lion Film Corporation
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "A haunting, beautiful labyrinth that gets inside your bones and stays there." — San Francisco Chronicle
47. "Rocks" (2021)
Netflix
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 6.1/10
What critics said: "With exuberant naturalism from its non-professional actors, and a standout performance from Kosar Ali as Rocks's best friend, the film covers the highs and lows of female adolescence with compelling sensitivity." — Globe and Mail
46. "Parasite" (2019)
"Parasite"
Neon
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "Parasite begins in exhilaration and ends in devastation, but the triumph of the movie is that it fully lives and breathes at every moment, even when you might find yourself struggling to exhale." — Los Angeles Times
45. "Ratatouille" (2007)
Disney / Pixar
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "The subtle colors and textures of the food alone make Ratatouille a three-star Michelin evening." — Time
44. "Nashville" (1975)
Paramount
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "One of the greatest American films of the '70s, Nashville remains Altman's crowning achievement." — Entertainment Weekly
43. "Killer of Sheep" (2007)
Oscilloscope
Critic score: 94/100
User score: 6.9
What critics said: "You have to be prepared to see a film like this, or able to relax and allow it to unfold. It doesn't come, as most films do, with built-in instructions about how to view it." — RogerEbert.com
42. "12 Years a Slave" (2013)
Fox Searchlight
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "A work that, finally, asks a mainstream audience to confront the worst of what humanity can do to itself." — Boston Globe
41. "The Maltese Falcon" (1941)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "This is one of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form." — Variety
40. "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)
Paramount Pictures
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "The brilliance of the film comes more from Polanski's direction, and from a series of genuinely inspired performances, than from the original story." — Chicago Sun-Times
39. "Manchester by the Sea" (2016)
Claire Fogler
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Despite his draw to tragic subjects, Lonergan holds onto a sharp, dark, Irish sense of humor, and a feel for the absurd that comes out at the most unexpected times." — New York Daily News
38. "12 Angry Men" (1957)
A scene from the iconic jury movie "12 Angry Men."
What critics said: "What really transforms the piece from a rather talky demonstration that a man is innocent until proven guilty, is the consistently taut, sweltering atmosphere, created largely by Boris Kaufman's excellent camerawork." — Time Out London
37. "The Shop Around the Corner" (1940)
MGM
Critic score: 96/100
User score:8.6/10
What critics said: "The charm of the gimmick in Lubitsch's take (directing a script by Samuel Raphaelson, who had collaborated with the German-born filmmaker on comedies and melodramas alike) is passed over quickly in favor of studying both its effects on those involved, as well as the dynamics of the workplace at large." — Slant Magazine
36. "Ran" (1985)
Rialto Pictures
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "The drama itself packs a powerful — and timeless — gut punch." Washington Post
35. "Roma" (2018)
Netflix
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "Alfonso Cuarón has made yet another movie that will transport you to another time and place. You will feel like you're living it." — Uproxx
34. "Dumbo" (1941)
DIsney
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "It's not only one of the best classic-era Disney features, but also one of the best animated films from any studio at any time." — AV Club
What critics said: "This superb and singular film catches not only the charm and tribal energy of the teen-age 1950s but also the listlessness and the resignation that underscored it all like an incessant bass line in one of the rock-'n'-roll songs of the period." — Time
32. "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Streetcar is always a wonderful screen drama and now, also, a study in film archaeology." — Austin Chronicle
31. "Battleship Potemkin" (1926)
Kino
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "If you are at all interested in the history of cinema, or the influence of 20th century politics on the medium, then this film is a must-see, although over an hour of Soviet propaganda is likely to test the patience of modern viewers." — BBC
30. "Psycho" (1960)
Paramount Pictures
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 9.1/10
What critic said: "This is a first-rate mystery thriller, full of visual shocks and surprises which are heightened by the melodramatic realism of the production." — Hollywood Reporter
29. "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" (2008)
Bac Films
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "This slice of celluloid dynamite comes from Romania, and what you see will floor you." — Rolling Stone
28. "Gone With The Wind" (1940)
MGM
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "The older it gets, and we with it, the more we're able to see in it. As few American films have, Gone With the Wind succeeds both as historical epic and as intimate drama." — Los Angeles Times
27. "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964)
Columbia Pictures
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "Baleful and brilliant, Dr. Strangelove; Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, will outrage a predictable percentage of the population and enthrall an even greater percentage." — Hollywood Reporter
26. "The Third Man" (1949)
London Film Productions
Critic score: 95/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "The thing about Carol Reed's 1949 The Third Man was that no matter how many times I saw it over the years its magic never failed. Its sophisticated, world-weary glamour never lost its allure." — Newsweek
25. "My Left Foot" (1990)
Miramax
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "That it features a brilliant performance by Daniel Day-Lewis and a fine supporting cast lifts it from mildly sentimental to excellent." — Variety
24. "The Wild Bunch" (1969)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "The hard action, bracing wit and mournful grace of Peckinpah's cowboy classic shames every new movie around. It's a towering achievement that grows more riveting and resonant with the years." — Rolling Stone
23. "Jules and Jim" (1962)
Criterion
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "The mood of the movie reflects the exuberance of youth and the wisdom of experience. New Wave gold." — Empire
22. "All About Eve" (1950)
20th Century Fox
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "ALL ABOUT EVE is the consummate backstage story, a film that holds a magnifying glass up to theatrical environs and exposes all the egos, tempers, conspiracies and backstage back-biting that make up the world of make-believe on Broadway." — TV Guide
21. "Rashomon" (1951)
RKO
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "Every element in the film, from the dense thicket of forest branches to master cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa's deceptive framing and lighting design, is precisely calibrated to make the facts more difficult to discern." — AV Club
What critics said: "A film like 'Hoop Dreams' is what the movies are for. It takes us, shakes us, and make us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself." — Chicago Sun-Times
19. "North by Northwest" (1959)
MGM
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "A sublime classic." — Guardian
18. "Some Like It Hot" (1959)
United Artists
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.3/10
What critics said: "If Some Like It Hot isn't the funniest movie ever made, you can't blame it for not trying. The first time you see Billy Wilder's 1959 farce, you might not believe that anything can make you laugh so hard for so long." — Salon
17. "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006)
New Line Cinema
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "Literally and figuratively marvelous, a rich, daring mix of fantasy and politics." — Village Voice
16. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Mr. Huston has shaped a searching drama of the collision of civilization's vicious greeds with the instinct for self-preservation in an environment where all the barriers are down. And, by charting the moods of his prospectors after they have hit a vein of gold, he has done a superb illumination of basic characteristics in men." — New York Times
15. "The Lady Vanishes" (1938)
MGM
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets is a true original of our period, a triumph of personal filmmaking. It has its own hallucinatory look; the characters live in the darkness of bars, with lighting and color just this side of lurid." — New Yorker
14. "Touch of Evil" (1958)
Universal
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "A masterclass in tension, visual panache and B-movie excess." — Time Out
13. "Pinocchio" (1940)
Disney
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "Every element in Pinocchio shimmers with the energy of young artists reveling in their newly discovered powers of creation." — Los Angeles Times
12. "Intolerance" (1916)
Triangle
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 9.1/10
What critics said: "The plunging and roving camera provides visceral thrills; ecstatic special effects capture the sacred (the Crucifixion) and the profane (combat in the Great War); a metaphysical framing device (starring Lillian Gish) raises human conflict to universal import; and Griffith's trademark closeups lend a quivering lip or a trembling hand the tragic grandeur of historical cataclysm." — New Yorker
11. "Moonlight" (2016)
A24
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "Like Brokeback Mountain a decade ago, Moonlight is a piece of art that will transform lives long after it leaves theaters." — The Playlist
10. "City Lights" (1931)
United Artists
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "There's dignity and folly to The Tramp in City Lights, and everything in between." — The Dissolve
9. "Singin' In The Rain" (1952)
MGM
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Escapism raised to the level of art, Singin' In The Rain inventively satirizes the illusions of the filmmaking process while celebrating their life-affirming joy." — AV Club
8. "Notorious" (1946)
RKO
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "Love is a dark, corroded obsession in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, a black-velvet biocide brimming with notes of tabloid titillation, spy-versus-spy nonsense, and romance as rotten as a half-eaten Granny Smith left out in the summer sun." — Slant
7. "Vertigo" (1958)
Universal
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "The greatest sexual suspense drama ever made has come to be regarded by many Hitchcock admirers as his most accomplished film. It is certainly his most forlorn, and easily his most mesmerizing." — San Francisco Chronicle
6. "Three Colors: Red" (1994)
The Criterion Collection
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "It is a film of much humanity and very far from smart European pap. But the external brilliance of its making does at times subvert its inner workings, as if its manufacture and its meaning were not quite in perfect harmony." — Guardian
5. "Boyhood" (2014)
"Boyhood"/Universal
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 7.6/10
What critics said: "On rare occasions a movie seems to channel the flow of real life. Boyhood is one of those occasions. In its ambition, which is matched by its execution, Richard Linklater's endearing epic is not only rare but unique." — Wall Street Journal
4. "Casablanca" (1943)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "The dialogue is so spare and cynical it has not grown old-fashioned. Much of the emotional effect of Casablanca is achieved by indirection; as we leave the theater, we are absolutely convinced that the only thing keeping the world from going crazy is that the problems of three little people do after all amount to more than a hill of beans." — Chicago Sun-Times
3. "Rear Window" (1954)
Paramount
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "There is never an instant, in fact, when Director Hitchcock is not in minute and masterly control of his material: script, camera, cutting, props, the handsome set constructed from his ideas, the stars he has Hitched to his vehicle." — Time
What critics said: "What's magical about Kane — the sheer transformative thrill of invention — is there in every shot, every performance, every narrative surge." — Entertainment Weekly
To find out which films have been the most critically acclaimed over time, Insider turned to the reviews aggregator Metacritic for this ranking, which scores films by their composite critical reception.
The resulting list includes modern masterpieces like recent Oscar winners "Moonlight" and "Parasite" in contention with classics like "The Godfather" and "Citizen Kane."
There's also, not surprisingly, a lot of Hitchcock.
Here are the 50 best movies of all time, according to Metacritic reviews:
John Lynch contributed to a previous version of this post.
50. "Children of Paradise" (1945)
Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "Few achievements in the world of cinema can equal it." — Chicago Sun-Times
49. "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940)
20th Century Fox
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "Gregg Toland captures the open spaces and big skies of rural America, while the normally conservative Ford puts forward a sympathetic but radical plea for workers' rights and freedom for the people." — Empire
48. "Don't Look Now" (1973)
British Lion Film Corporation
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "A haunting, beautiful labyrinth that gets inside your bones and stays there." — San Francisco Chronicle
47. "Rocks" (2021)
Netflix
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 6.1/10
What critics said: "With exuberant naturalism from its non-professional actors, and a standout performance from Kosar Ali as Rocks's best friend, the film covers the highs and lows of female adolescence with compelling sensitivity." — Globe and Mail
46. "Parasite" (2019)
"Parasite"
Neon
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "Parasite begins in exhilaration and ends in devastation, but the triumph of the movie is that it fully lives and breathes at every moment, even when you might find yourself struggling to exhale." — Los Angeles Times
45. "Ratatouille" (2007)
Disney / Pixar
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "The subtle colors and textures of the food alone make Ratatouille a three-star Michelin evening." — Time
44. "Nashville" (1975)
Paramount
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "One of the greatest American films of the '70s, Nashville remains Altman's crowning achievement." — Entertainment Weekly
43. "Killer of Sheep" (2007)
Oscilloscope
Critic score: 94/100
User score: 6.9
What critics said: "You have to be prepared to see a film like this, or able to relax and allow it to unfold. It doesn't come, as most films do, with built-in instructions about how to view it." — RogerEbert.com
42. "12 Years a Slave" (2013)
Fox Searchlight
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "A work that, finally, asks a mainstream audience to confront the worst of what humanity can do to itself." — Boston Globe
41. "The Maltese Falcon" (1941)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "This is one of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form." — Variety
40. "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)
Paramount Pictures
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "The brilliance of the film comes more from Polanski's direction, and from a series of genuinely inspired performances, than from the original story." — Chicago Sun-Times
39. "Manchester by the Sea" (2016)
Claire Fogler
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Despite his draw to tragic subjects, Lonergan holds onto a sharp, dark, Irish sense of humor, and a feel for the absurd that comes out at the most unexpected times." — New York Daily News
38. "12 Angry Men" (1957)
A scene from the iconic jury movie "12 Angry Men."
What critics said: "What really transforms the piece from a rather talky demonstration that a man is innocent until proven guilty, is the consistently taut, sweltering atmosphere, created largely by Boris Kaufman's excellent camerawork." — Time Out London
37. "The Shop Around the Corner" (1940)
MGM
Critic score: 96/100
User score:8.6/10
What critics said: "The charm of the gimmick in Lubitsch's take (directing a script by Samuel Raphaelson, who had collaborated with the German-born filmmaker on comedies and melodramas alike) is passed over quickly in favor of studying both its effects on those involved, as well as the dynamics of the workplace at large." — Slant Magazine
36. "Ran" (1985)
Rialto Pictures
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "The drama itself packs a powerful — and timeless — gut punch." Washington Post
35. "Roma" (2018)
Netflix
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "Alfonso Cuarón has made yet another movie that will transport you to another time and place. You will feel like you're living it." — Uproxx
34. "Dumbo" (1941)
DIsney
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "It's not only one of the best classic-era Disney features, but also one of the best animated films from any studio at any time." — AV Club
What critics said: "This superb and singular film catches not only the charm and tribal energy of the teen-age 1950s but also the listlessness and the resignation that underscored it all like an incessant bass line in one of the rock-'n'-roll songs of the period." — Time
32. "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Streetcar is always a wonderful screen drama and now, also, a study in film archaeology." — Austin Chronicle
31. "Battleship Potemkin" (1926)
Kino
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "If you are at all interested in the history of cinema, or the influence of 20th century politics on the medium, then this film is a must-see, although over an hour of Soviet propaganda is likely to test the patience of modern viewers." — BBC
30. "Psycho" (1960)
Paramount Pictures
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 9.1/10
What critic said: "This is a first-rate mystery thriller, full of visual shocks and surprises which are heightened by the melodramatic realism of the production." — Hollywood Reporter
29. "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" (2008)
Bac Films
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "This slice of celluloid dynamite comes from Romania, and what you see will floor you." — Rolling Stone
28. "Gone With The Wind" (1940)
MGM
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "The older it gets, and we with it, the more we're able to see in it. As few American films have, Gone With the Wind succeeds both as historical epic and as intimate drama." — Los Angeles Times
27. "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964)
Columbia Pictures
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "Baleful and brilliant, Dr. Strangelove; Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, will outrage a predictable percentage of the population and enthrall an even greater percentage." — Hollywood Reporter
26. "The Third Man" (1949)
London Film Productions
Critic score: 95/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "The thing about Carol Reed's 1949 The Third Man was that no matter how many times I saw it over the years its magic never failed. Its sophisticated, world-weary glamour never lost its allure." — Newsweek
25. "My Left Foot" (1990)
Miramax
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "That it features a brilliant performance by Daniel Day-Lewis and a fine supporting cast lifts it from mildly sentimental to excellent." — Variety
24. "The Wild Bunch" (1969)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "The hard action, bracing wit and mournful grace of Peckinpah's cowboy classic shames every new movie around. It's a towering achievement that grows more riveting and resonant with the years." — Rolling Stone
23. "Jules and Jim" (1962)
Criterion
Critic score: 97/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "The mood of the movie reflects the exuberance of youth and the wisdom of experience. New Wave gold." — Empire
22. "All About Eve" (1950)
20th Century Fox
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "ALL ABOUT EVE is the consummate backstage story, a film that holds a magnifying glass up to theatrical environs and exposes all the egos, tempers, conspiracies and backstage back-biting that make up the world of make-believe on Broadway." — TV Guide
21. "Rashomon" (1951)
RKO
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "Every element in the film, from the dense thicket of forest branches to master cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa's deceptive framing and lighting design, is precisely calibrated to make the facts more difficult to discern." — AV Club
What critics said: "A film like 'Hoop Dreams' is what the movies are for. It takes us, shakes us, and make us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself." — Chicago Sun-Times
19. "North by Northwest" (1959)
MGM
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "A sublime classic." — Guardian
18. "Some Like It Hot" (1959)
United Artists
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.3/10
What critics said: "If Some Like It Hot isn't the funniest movie ever made, you can't blame it for not trying. The first time you see Billy Wilder's 1959 farce, you might not believe that anything can make you laugh so hard for so long." — Salon
17. "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006)
New Line Cinema
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "Literally and figuratively marvelous, a rich, daring mix of fantasy and politics." — Village Voice
16. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Mr. Huston has shaped a searching drama of the collision of civilization's vicious greeds with the instinct for self-preservation in an environment where all the barriers are down. And, by charting the moods of his prospectors after they have hit a vein of gold, he has done a superb illumination of basic characteristics in men." — New York Times
15. "The Lady Vanishes" (1938)
MGM
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets is a true original of our period, a triumph of personal filmmaking. It has its own hallucinatory look; the characters live in the darkness of bars, with lighting and color just this side of lurid." — New Yorker
14. "Touch of Evil" (1958)
Universal
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "A masterclass in tension, visual panache and B-movie excess." — Time Out
13. "Pinocchio" (1940)
Disney
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "Every element in Pinocchio shimmers with the energy of young artists reveling in their newly discovered powers of creation." — Los Angeles Times
12. "Intolerance" (1916)
Triangle
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 9.1/10
What critics said: "The plunging and roving camera provides visceral thrills; ecstatic special effects capture the sacred (the Crucifixion) and the profane (combat in the Great War); a metaphysical framing device (starring Lillian Gish) raises human conflict to universal import; and Griffith's trademark closeups lend a quivering lip or a trembling hand the tragic grandeur of historical cataclysm." — New Yorker
11. "Moonlight" (2016)
A24
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "Like Brokeback Mountain a decade ago, Moonlight is a piece of art that will transform lives long after it leaves theaters." — The Playlist
10. "City Lights" (1931)
United Artists
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "There's dignity and folly to The Tramp in City Lights, and everything in between." — The Dissolve
9. "Singin' In The Rain" (1952)
MGM
Critic score: 99/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Escapism raised to the level of art, Singin' In The Rain inventively satirizes the illusions of the filmmaking process while celebrating their life-affirming joy." — AV Club
8. "Notorious" (1946)
RKO
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "Love is a dark, corroded obsession in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, a black-velvet biocide brimming with notes of tabloid titillation, spy-versus-spy nonsense, and romance as rotten as a half-eaten Granny Smith left out in the summer sun." — Slant
7. "Vertigo" (1958)
Universal
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "The greatest sexual suspense drama ever made has come to be regarded by many Hitchcock admirers as his most accomplished film. It is certainly his most forlorn, and easily his most mesmerizing." — San Francisco Chronicle
6. "Three Colors: Red" (1994)
The Criterion Collection
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "It is a film of much humanity and very far from smart European pap. But the external brilliance of its making does at times subvert its inner workings, as if its manufacture and its meaning were not quite in perfect harmony." — Guardian
5. "Boyhood" (2014)
"Boyhood"/Universal
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 7.6/10
What critics said: "On rare occasions a movie seems to channel the flow of real life. Boyhood is one of those occasions. In its ambition, which is matched by its execution, Richard Linklater's endearing epic is not only rare but unique." — Wall Street Journal
4. "Casablanca" (1943)
Warner Bros.
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "The dialogue is so spare and cynical it has not grown old-fashioned. Much of the emotional effect of Casablanca is achieved by indirection; as we leave the theater, we are absolutely convinced that the only thing keeping the world from going crazy is that the problems of three little people do after all amount to more than a hill of beans." — Chicago Sun-Times
3. "Rear Window" (1954)
Paramount
Critic score: 100/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "There is never an instant, in fact, when Director Hitchcock is not in minute and masterly control of his material: script, camera, cutting, props, the handsome set constructed from his ideas, the stars he has Hitched to his vehicle." — Time
What critics said: "What's magical about Kane — the sheer transformative thrill of invention — is there in every shot, every performance, every narrative surge." — Entertainment Weekly
February 9, 2021Travis ClarkUncategorizedComments Off on The cross-platform future of Hollywood franchises is starting to take shape, as movie studios jump into streaming and Netflix builds content based on comics, games, and more
"The Mandalorian"
Disney Plus
Hollywood studios are shifting their biggest franchises to streaming TV.
Netflix is also rethinking its franchises and recently introduced new divisions to help its effort.
Analysts say it could have major implications for the theater and movie business.
The biggest media companies are rethinking how they approach franchise building.
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated legacy media's push into streaming and as Disney, WarnerMedia, and more look to build their own direct-to-consumer platforms while movie theaters struggle, they've begun to tap into their libraries of intellectual property.
The ramifications will be felt throughout the entertainment business long after the pandemic, as blockbuster franchises increasingly become cross-platform affairs.
"There's a trend of world building and expanding IPs into something that's cross platform," said Shawn Robbins, the chief analyst at Box Office Pro. "It will be a major advantage for both [theatrical and streaming]."
He added: "We're in the midst of 'peak streaming' right now, but the landscape will shift yet again when a fully operational [theatrical] market and recovering economy are in play."
But not everyone is convinced that theaters will still be a major driver long term.
"Looking at the next five to 10 years, it's bad for theaters," said Jeff Bock, the senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations. "Theaters are not going to be the first choice. Studios will see if they can stretch something into a series instead of a movie trilogy."
Netflix, which doesn't have Disney's rich library of IP to draw on, has also been rethinking its approach to franchises. Last year, it introduced new teams dedicated to event/spectacle and franchise TV shows.
"The thing that many studios are able to do is create great franchises," Reed Hastings, the Netflix co-CEO, told The Hollywood Reporter in September. "We're making great progress on that with 'Stranger Things' and other properties, but compared to 'Harry Potter' and 'Star Wars,' we've got a long way to go."
"WandaVision"
Disney Plus
Disney and WarnerMedia are ahead of the curve
The most notable example of this shift is Disney Plus' "Star Wars" live-action series, "The Mandalorian." While it premiered in November 2019 before the coronavirus had spread widely, its success was a precursor for Disney Plus content over the next few years.
At its investor day conference in December, Disney announced plans for 10 "Star Wars" and 10 Marvel TV shows exclusive to Disney Plus. While there's plenty of Marvel movies in the works, Disney announced just one "Star Wars" feature: "Rogue Squadron," directed by the "Wonder Woman" filmmaker Patty Jenkins," to be released in 2023.
"Disney is cognizant that the feature films need a break after some didn't meet expectations on some level, whether with critics or financially," Robbins said.
Over at WarnerMedia's HBO Max, the company is planning multiple DC movie spinoffs. And both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported last month that a "Harry Potter" series was in early development at HBO Max (Warner Bros. and Max denied the reports in a statement).
Max has had a slower start than Disney Plus, which had nearly 87 million subscribers worldwide as of December, but is showing signs of growth with more than 17 million activations, up from 12 million in early December. High-profile, big-budget originals are could boost Max and give it a competitive edge.
Disney and WarnerMedia aren't the only legacy media companies building their streaming components. NBCUniversal's Peacock launched in July and ViacomCBS' Paramount Plus debuts in March.
But Bock said that Disney and WarnerMedia are ahead of the curve with franchise building via streaming.
"Netflix took the rug out from under studios because it realized how important content is," Bock said. "Disney Plus realized this and Max is making the same play ... other studios are waiting in line."
"The Witcher"
Netflix
Netflix is building bigger franchises
Companies like Disney and WarnerMedia can dip into their catalog of properties to build out franchises, but Netflix is starting from scratch.
To help build its own franchises, the company recently introduced two new teams: the franchise-TV division led by Netflix's VP of international originals Kelly Luegenbiehl and the event/spectacle-TV division led by VP of original drama series Peter Friedlander.
According to a person familiar with Netflix's strategy, the franchise division focuses on properties that could inspire spinoffs like "The Witcher." For the event division, think of more contained stuff, like "The Queen's Gambit" or the upcoming "Three-Body Problem," from the "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
The streaming giant also has its sights on video-game IP, with shows in the works based on popular game franchises like "Resident Evil," "Tomb Raider," and "Assassin's Creed." Video games are the third biggest category for upcoming Netflix TV adaptations following books and comics, according to the research firm Ampere Analysis. But as Netflix continues to explore untapped properties, that could grow.
"As operators search for fresh IP, it is commercially astute to examine the games sector where a huge amount of time is being spent by key demographics," said Piers Harding-Rolls, Ampere Analysis' research director for games. "Using that brand awareness to draw in new audiences or to engage existing subscribers means that games IP is increasingly considered a viable area to develop."
Netflix isn't the only streaming giant expanding its IP search right now.
Amazon is building a collection of genre properties like "The Boys" and "The Expanse." Soon it will release a "Lord of the Rings" TV series, stepping into a universe that Warner Bros., a traditional Hollywood studio, has already tackled on the big screen. Amazon paid $250 million for the rights, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The surplus of content coming to streaming could have major implications for Hollywood and the theatrical market as audiences get their fix of fan-favorite franchises at home.
Robbins, the Box Office Pro chief analyst, thinks this would benefit both theaters and streaming services, while Bock thinks it's worrisome for theaters as consumers increasingly want the choice to stay home to watch. At any rate, the pandemic has accelerated many of these shifts.
"There's a demand for this content like never before," Bock said.
Have more to share? Email the author at [email protected] or DM him on Twitter @TravClark2
"WandaVision" is slowly by surely inching its way to the top of the most in-demand streaming shows in the US.
Marvel's first Disney Plus series is now No. 3 in the US, with only "The Mandalorian" and Netflix's "Cobra Kai" in the way. But those shows are losing audience demand while "WandaVision" has been gaining since it debuted three weeks ago.
Every week, Parrot Analytics provides Insider with a list of the nine most in-demand TV shows on streaming services in the US.
The data is based on "demand expressions," Parrot Analytics' globally standardized TV-demand measurement unit. Audience demand reflects the desire, engagement, and viewership weighted by importance. The list is ranked by how much more in demand the top series are than the average TV show in the US.
Below are this week's nine most popular original shows on Netflix and other streaming services:
9. "Lucifer" (Netflix)
Netflix
Times more in demand than average show: 29.8
Description: "Bored with being the Lord of Hell, the devil relocates to Los Angeles, where he opens a nightclub and forms a connection with a homicide detective."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 5): 81%
What critics said: "Part of Lucifer's charm is it's always erred on the side of cheesy soap opera when it calls for it, but there are some real gut-punching, grounding moments this season." — Metro (Season 5)
Season 5 premiered on Netflix on August 21. See more insights for "Lucifer."
8. "The Crown" (Netflix)
"The Crown"
Netflix
Times more in demand than average show: 31.0
Description: "This drama follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 4): 97%
What critics said: "It is, without a doubt, the season many Crown viewers have been waiting for." — Decider (season 4)
Season four premiered on November 15 on Netflix. See more insights for "The Crown."
7. "The Expanse" (Amazon Prime Video)
Amazon Prime Video
Times more in demand than average show: 32.0
Description: "In different parts of the Solar System, the crew of the Rocinante and their allies confront the sins of their past, while Marco Inaros unleashes an attack that will alter the future of Earth, Mars, the Belt, and the worlds beyond the Ring."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 5): 100%
What critics said: "This moral ambiguity has always been The Expanse's strength, bolstered by a great cast and damned good special effects." — Film School Rejects (Season 5)
Season 5 premiered on Prime Video on December 16. See more insights for "The Expanse."
6. "Titans" (HBO Max)
DC Universe
Times more in demand than average show: 34.7
Description: "'Titans' follows young heroes from across the DC Universe as they come of age and find belonging in a gritty take on the classic Teen Titans franchise. Dick Grayson and Rachel Roth, a special young girl possessed by a strange darkness, get embroiled in a conspiracy that could bring Hell on Earth. Joining them along the way are the hot-headed Starfire and lovable Beast Boy. Together they become a surrogate family and team of heroes."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 81%
What critics said: "'Trigon' ends on a hopeful note because it ends with the Titans of Titans finally feeling like they are ... the Titans." — Collider (Season 2)
Season 2 premiered on DC Universe in September, 2019. See more insights for "Titans."
5. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (Disney Plus)
Disney Plus
Times more in demand than average show: 40.0
Description: "From Dave Filoni, director and executive producer of 'The Mandalorian,' the new 'Clone Wars' episodes will continue the storylines introduced in the original series, exploring the events leading up to 'Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.'"
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 7): 100%
What critics said: "Its impressive visuals and balance of action and focus on the characters makes it feel as if the series had never left." — Flickering Myth (season 7)
Description: "When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 3): 89%
What critics said: "Even the most distinctive moments feel disconnected from the rest, especially a segment in the final episode that feels as if its sole purpose is to be extracted and recirculated as a meme." — Slate (Season 3)
3. "WandaVision" (Disney Plus)
Monica Rambeau and Jimmy Woo have no idea what they're dealing with.
Marvel Studios
Times more in demand than average show: 54.0
Description: "Marvel Studios' captivating new series 'WandaVision' stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, and marks the first series from Marvel Studios streaming exclusively on Disney+. The series is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision — two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives — begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 1): 93%
What critics said: "It's all deliciously, confidently, stylishly done. The parodies are fantastic fun, the jokes are great, the performances (especially from Olsen and Bettany, whose chemistry is a joy in itself) are wonderful." — Guardian (Season 1)
Season 1 premiered on Disney Plus January 15. See more insights for "WandaVision."
2. "The Mandalorian" (Disney Plus)
Disney Plus
Times more in demand than average show: 60.6
Description: "After the fall of the Empire, a lone gunfighter makes his way through the lawless galaxy."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 94%
What critics said: "Aside from just being watchable TV, The Mandalorian season 2's real strength is that it's great Star Wars." — Polygon(Season 2)
Description: "Decades after the tournament that changed their lives, the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel reignites in this sequel to the 'Karate Kid' films."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 3): 89%
What critics said: "With hard hits, cool kicks, and an absolute mastery of tone (which is that of an evolved, self-aware '80s blow out), Cobra Kai balances valiant drama with (sometimes) utter ridiculousness." — IGN (season 3)
Season 3 premiered on January 1 on Netflix. See more insights for "Cobra Kai."
"Fate: The Winx Saga" beat "Bridgerton" as Netflix's most popular series this week.
Streaming search engine Reelgood keeps track of Netflix's daily top 10 lists and provides Business Insider with a rundown of the week's most popular TV shows on Netflix.
"Fate: The Winx Saga" topped "Bridgerton," Netflix's biggest series ever, in the streamer's popularity rankings this week.
Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Business Insider a list of which TV shows have been most prominent on Netflix's daily top 10 lists of its most popular titles that week.
Below are Netflix's 9 most popular TV shows of the week in the US:
9. "LA's Finest" (Spectrum, 2019-2020)
Spectrum Originals
Description: "In this spinoff of the 'Bad Boys' franchise, two police detectives team up while trying to keep their stormy pasts — and differences — from interfering."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: N/A
8. "Bling Empire" (Netflix original, 2021-present)
Kim Lee and Christine Chiu in episode five of "Bling Empire."
Netflix
Description: "Follow LA's wildly wealthy Asian and Asian American fun seekers as they go all out with fabulous parties, glamour and drama in this reality series."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 100%
What critics said: "Mostly follows the tried-and-true reality formula, but with just enough new wrinkles to get fans of that genre excited to binge its first season in one or two sittings." — Decider (season one)
7. "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" (Adult Swim, 2019)
Adult Swim
Description: "After a demon attack leaves his family slain and his sister cursed, Tanjiro embarks upon a perilous journey to find a cure and avenge those he's lost."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 100%
What critics said: "What's rare about Demon Slayer's adaptation is the consistency with which the animation and voice acting enhances the work, not just for specific important scenes, but every episode." — The Verge (season one)
6. "Jenni Rivera: Mariposa de Barrio" (Telemundo, 2017)
Telemundo
Description: "This drama follows Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera's unlikely rise from suicidal pregnant teen and abused wife to banda superstar."
Description: "Six teens invited to attend a state-of-the-art adventure camp on Isla Nublar must band together to survive when the dinosaurs break out of captivity."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 75%
What critics said: "Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous shows that there's still plenty of excitement to be mined in good, old fashioned Jurassic Park chaos." — RogerEbert.com (season one)
4. "Henry Danger" (Nickelodeon, 2014-2020)
Nickelodeon
Description: "A new part-time job forces Henry Hart to balance two lives, one as a typical teenager and the other as secret superhero sidekick Kid Danger."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: N/A
3. "Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer" (Netflix original, 2021)
Netflix
Description: "Beneath the sunlit glamour of 1985 LA lurks a relentlessly evil serial killer. In this true-crime story, two detectives won't rest until they catch him."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 69%
What critics said: "There is a story to be told about life in suburban Los Angeles, where the Night Stalker proved that the veneer of bucolic normalcy is so thin, so tenuous ... Maybe one day that story will get told. This is not it." — Indiewire
2. "Bridgerton" (Netflix original, 2020-present)
Daphne Bridgerton and Eloise Bridgerton on "Bridgerton."
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
Description: "The eight close-knit siblings of the Bridgerton family look for love and happiness in London high society. Inspired by Julia Quinn's bestselling novels."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 89%
What critics said: "It ultimately just feels hollow — but, unlike me, your mileage may vary." — BuzzFeed (season one)
1. "Fate: The Winx Saga" (Netflix original, 2021-present)
Netflix
Description: "Determined to master their enchanting powers, a group of teens navigate rivalry, romance and supernatural studies at Alfea, a magical boarding school."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 31%
What critics said: "By rejecting the aesthetic and vibe of its source material entirely for a pale imitation of other YA properties, Fate: The Winx Saga might just end up slipping through the cracks." — Variety (season one)
"WandaVision" surged in audience demand this week, closing the gap between it and the reigning champion, Netflix's "Cobra Kai."
While "WandaVision" is the fourth most in-demand streaming series this week, it jumped from No. 9 last week. And "Cobra Kai's" demand decreased significantly from last week, even though it's still the top series. It seems likely that "WandaVision" will catch up if its momentum continues.
Every week, Parrot Analytics provides Business Insider with a list of the nine most in-demand TV shows on streaming services in the US.
The data is based on "demand expressions," Parrot Analytics' globally standardized TV-demand measurement unit. Audience demand reflects the desire, engagement, and viewership weighted by importance. The list is ranked by how much more in demand the top series are than the average TV show in the US.
Below are this week's nine most popular original shows on Netflix and other streaming services:
9. "The Witcher" (Netflix)
"The Witcher"
Netflix
Times more in demand than average show: 30.1
Description: "Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster-hunter for hire, journeys toward his destiny in a turbulent world where people often prove more wicked than beasts."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 1): 67%
What critics said: "And although 'The Witcher' is more fantasy balderdash, it's also somewhat addictive fantasy balderdash. Bring on the blood-spilling, the orgies, the haunted forests and wizards: It seems we can't get enough." — Detroit News (Season 1)
Season 1 premiered on Netflix on December 20, 2019. See more insights for "The Witcher."
8. "The Crown" (Netflix)
Emma Corrin plays Princess Diana on "The Crown."
Des Willie/Netflix
Times more in demand than average show: 30.7
Description: "This drama follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 4): 97%
What critics said: "10 episodes of television that may not be uniformly among the show's finest, but which are somehow its most authentic." — RogerEbert.com (season 4)
Season four premiered on November 15 on Netflix. See more insights for "The Crown."
7. "The Expanse" (Amazon Prime Video)
Wes Chatham in "The Expanse" season 4
Amazon Prime Video
Times more in demand than average show: 32.2
Description: "In different parts of the Solar System, the crew of the Rocinante and their allies confront the sins of their past, while Marco Inaros unleashes an attack that will alter the future of Earth, Mars, the Belt, and the worlds beyond the Ring."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 5): 100%
What critics said: "Even with the protomolecule saga relatively sidelined this season, "The Expanse" draws so much strength from exposing how fragile an expansive society like this is." — Indiewire (Season 5)
Season 5 premiered on Prime Video on December 16. See more insights for "The Expanse."
6. "Titans" (HBO Max)
DC Universe
Times more in demand than average show: 34.5
Description: "'Titans' follows young heroes from across the DC Universe as they come of age and find belonging in a gritty take on the classic Teen Titans franchise. Dick Grayson and Rachel Roth, a special young girl possessed by a strange darkness, get embroiled in a conspiracy that could bring Hell on Earth. Joining them along the way are the hot-headed Starfire and lovable Beast Boy. Together they become a surrogate family and team of heroes."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 81%
What critics said: "Titans is not going to blow anyone away but it will still appeal to established fans and has some nice moments for fans of DC Comics history." — JoBlo's Movie Network (Season 2)
Season 2 premiered on DC Universe in September, 2019. See more insights for "Titans."
5. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (Disney Plus)
Lucasfilm
Times more in demand than average show: 39.2
Description: "From Dave Filoni, director and executive producer of 'The Mandalorian,' the new 'Clone Wars' episodes will continue the storylines introduced in the original series, exploring the events leading up to 'Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.'"
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 7): 100%
What critics said: "In the endgame, the show is better than ever." — Memphis Flyer (season 7)
Description: "Marvel Studios' captivating new series 'WandaVision' stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, and marks the first series from Marvel Studios streaming exclusively on Disney+. The series is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision — two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives — begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 1): 93%
What critics said: "WandaVision's commitment to confounding expectations might offer something few franchises as hoary as this one ever do - a fresh, surprising way in." — NPR (Season 1)
Season 1 premiered on Disney Plus January 15. See more insights for "WandaVision."
3. "Stranger Things" (Netflix)
"Stranger Things" season 3
Netflix
Times more in demand than average show: 53.7
Description: "When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 3): 89%
What critics said: "Even the most distinctive moments feel disconnected from the rest, especially a segment in the final episode that feels as if its sole purpose is to be extracted and recirculated as a meme." — Slate (Season 3)
2. "The Mandalorian" (Disney Plus)
The Child in "Chapter 12" of "The Mandalorian."
Disney Plus
Times more in demand than average show: 67.0
Description: "After the fall of the Empire, a lone gunfighter makes his way through the lawless galaxy."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 94%
What critics said: "The Mandalorian is still the most enjoyable Star Wars cinema we've had since ... well, I still insist Solowas pretty good." — Polygon (Season 2)
Description: "Decades after the tournament that changed their lives, the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel reignites in this sequel to the 'Karate Kid' films."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 3): 89%
What critics said: "A high energy showdown for youth in revolt, alongside a never-more-sensitive portrayal of middle-aged reminiscence. It reaffirms Cobra Kai as one of the cleverest reboots in our nostalgia-drunk era." — Entertainment Weekly (season 3)
Season 3 premiered on January 1 on Netflix. See more insights for "Cobra Kai."
The true-crime docuseries "Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer" was Netflix's most popular TV show this week.
Streaming search engine Reelgood keeps track of Netflix's daily top 10 lists and provides Business Insider with a rundown of the week's most popular TV shows on Netflix.
Netflix reinvigorated the true-crime genre with "Making a Murderer" six years ago and since then it has released several similar hits. The latest, "Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer," topped the streaming giant's popularity rankings this week.
Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Business Insider a list of which TV shows have been most prominent on Netflix's daily top 10 lists of its most popular titles that week.
Below are Netflix's 9 most popular TV shows of the week in the US:
9. "Jenni Rivera: Mariposa de Barrio" (Telemundo, 2017)
Telemundo
Description: "This drama follows Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera's unlikely rise from suicidal pregnant teen and abused wife to banda superstar."
Description: "Princess duties call, but she'd rather be drinking. Free-spirited Bean exasperates the king as she wreaks havoc with her demon and elf pals."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 67%
What critics said: "Matt Groening's third installment of Disenchantment continues to build on its expansive medieval-fantasy world with an adequate number of laughs — although some running jokes continue to outstay their welcome." — IGN (season three)
7. "Cobra Kai" (Netflix original, 2018-present)
Netflix
Description: "Decades after the tournament that changed their lives, the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel reignites in this sequel to the 'Karate Kid' films."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 93%
What critics said: "A high energy showdown for youth in revolt, alongside a never-more-sensitive portrayal of middle-aged reminiscence. It reaffirms Cobra Kai as one of the cleverest reboots in our nostalgia-drunk era." — Entertainment Weekly (season three)
Description: "Follow LA's wildly wealthy Asian and Asian American fun seekers as they go all out with fabulous parties, glamour and drama in this reality series."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: "If you are somebody who likes this sort of show, then you'll want to add this to your queue — and maybe start begging Netflix for new episodes after that spectacular season finale." — Mashable (season one)
5. "Lupin" (Netflix original, 2021-present)
Omar Sy stars in "Lupin."
Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
Description: "Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief Assane Diop sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 95%
What critics said: "The series also doesn't waste a single minute, packing each and every moment full of suspense. Put all of that together, and it's an early front-runner to steal a spot as one of the best shows of the year." — Slate (season one)
4. "LA's Finest" (Spectrum, 2019-2020)
Spectrum
Description: "In this spinoff of the 'Bad Boys' franchise, two police detectives team up while trying to keep their stormy pasts — and differences — from interfering."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: N/A
3. "Henry Danger" (Nickelodeon, 2014-2020)
Nickelodeon
Description: "A new part-time job forces Henry Hart to balance two lives, one as a typical teenager and the other as secret superhero sidekick Kid Danger."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: N/A
2. "Bridgerton" (Netflix original, 2020-present)
Daphne Bridgerton and Violet Bridgerton on "Bridgerton."
Netflix
Description: "The eight close-knit siblings of the Bridgerton family look for love and happiness in London high society. Inspired by Julia Quinn's bestselling novels."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 90%
What critics said: "I was not madly in love with the show, but I was endlessly amused by it." — Boston Globe (season one)
1. "Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer" (Netflix original, 2021)
Netflix
Description: "Beneath the sunlit glamour of 1985 LA lurks a relentlessly evil serial killer. In this true-crime story, two detectives won't rest until they catch him."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 72%
What critics said: "Night Stalker is an interesting true crime series that still feels a little disappointing when compared to other major event series like it in the last few years." — RogerEbert.com
"Outside the Wire" was Netflix's biggest movie this week.
Streaming search engine Reelgood keeps track of Netflix's daily top 10 lists and provides Insider with a rundown of the week's most popular movies on Netflix every Friday.
Anthony Mackie's new Netflix original movie, "Outside the Wire," was the streamer's most popular movie this week. And Robert Rodriguez's "We Can Be Heroes," which topped the list last week, is still holding steady at No. 2.
Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Insider a list of which movies have been most prominent on Netflix's daily top-10 lists that week. On Reelgood, users can browse Netflix's entire movie library and sort by IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
Below are Netflix's 9 most popular movies of the week in the US:
9. "The Secret Life of Pets 2" (2019)
Directed by Chris Renaud.
Universal Studios
Description: "On a farm outside New York, Max aims to boost his confidence while in the city, Snowball attempts to rescue a tiger cub and Gidget pretends to be a cat."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 61%
What critics said: "It's never a great sign when the biggest laughs a movie gets are during the end credits." — New York Post
8. "Homefront" (2013)
Justin Lubin/Open Road Films
Description: "When an ex-DEA agent is widowed, he moves with his young daughter to a small town, but his quiet life is shattered by a meth-making drug trafficker."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 43%
What critics said: "A maniacally muddled and maudlin thriller, co-written and produced by Sly Stallone." — London Evening Standard
Description: "A cheap, powerful drug emerges during a recession, igniting a moral panic fueled by racism. Explore the complex history of crack in the 1980s."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 67%
What critics said: "The movie takes us back and also forward, into the sadder and wiser present day, when we can now see how crack changed the culture." — Variety
Description: "Working at a neighborhood fast-food joint, two teens try to save the restaurant when a giant burger franchise fires up the competition."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 32%
What critics said: "If you like your burger well-done, you're in for a disappointment." — New York Daily News
5. "Pinkfong & Baby Shark's Space Adventure" (2019)
Netflix
Description: "Joined by new friends from other planets, Pinkfong and Baby Shark explore outer space and search for missing star pieces to return home."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: N/A
What critics said: N/A
4. "Penguins of Madagascar" (2014)
DreamWorks Animation
Description: "Elite penguin spies Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with the suave agents of the North Wind to defeat power-mad genius Octavius Brine."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 73%
What critics said: "These penguins really are cute, the animation is consistently appealing, and the movie is obviously bound for megamoolah at the box office." — Wall Street Journal
3. "The Vanished" (2020)
Adonais Productions
Description: "When their daughter disappears during a family vacation, two terrified parents launch their own investigation that soon exposes local secrets."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 15%
What critics said: "The Vanished does its best to entertain, yet with two central protagonists who ultimately are more like villains, the movie never really works." — CBR
2. "We Can Be Heroes" (2020, Netflix original)
Netflix
Description: "When alien invaders capture Earth's superheroes, their kids must learn to work together to save their parents — and the planet."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 73%
What critics said: "We Can Be Heroes is a cheerful and colorful take on the superhero genre with a powerful message about empowering younger generations to take the reins and do better than their parents." — IGN
1. "Outside the Wire" (2021, Netflix original)
Netflix
Description: "In the near future, a drone pilot sent into a war zone finds himself paired with a top-secret android officer on a mission to stop a nuclear attack."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 37%
What critics said: "Despite strong lead performances and some intriguing themes, this rarely rises above being a serviceable action thriller." — Empire
January 21, 2021Travis ClarkUncategorizedComments Off on Netflix’s push into franchise TV will be essential as Disney Plus prepares a barrage of Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ shows
"WandaVision"
Marvel
Netflix recently introduced new teams to help it build bigger franchises: a franchise-TV division and an event/spectacle-TV division.
Franchises will be essential for Netflix as Disney Plus looks to release at least 10 new "Star Wars" and 10 new Marvel TV shows in the next few years.
Data from Parrot Analytics shows Disney's "WandaVision" is already a hit.
Netflix announced in its earnings report this week that it had reached a pivotal milestone in its streaming dominance, passing 200 million subscribers worldwide.
The next phase of Netflix will reflect its global reach. The streaming giant has plans to build on event-sized and franchise-launching TV to compete with traditional Hollywood movie studios.
When asked during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in September what Netflix could learn from Hollywood, the company's co-CEO Reed Hastings said that movie studios "create great franchises."
"We're making great progress on that with 'Stranger Things' and other properties, but compared to 'Harry Potter' and 'Star Wars,' we've got a long way to go," Hastings said.
"The Witcher"
Netflix
Netflix has already planted seeds with the aforementioned "Stranger Things"; the hit fantasy series "The Witcher," which Netflix has already ordered a prequel to called "The Witcher: Blood Origin"; an upcoming "Resident Evil" show based on the video-game series; and the upcoming "Three-Body Problem," based on the sci-fi book series and developed by the former "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
To help get these projects off the ground, Netflix recently introduced two new teams: the franchise-TV division led by Netflix's VP of international originals Kelly Luegenbiehl and the event/spectacle-TV division led by VP of original drama series Peter Friedlander.
According to a person familiar with Netflix's strategy, the franchise-TV team focuses on properties that could launch spin-offs, sequels, and more (like "The Witcher"), while the event/spectacle-TV team includes more contained TV that would attract a large audience (like "The Queen's Gambit").
What separates Netflix from its traditional Hollywood counterparts that have jumped into the streaming game, like Disney and WarnerMedia, is that Netflix doesn't have decades-old IP to build on. It's starting from scratch by snatching up properties with franchise or event potential, another source close to Netflix said.
"The Queen's Gambit"
Netflix
Disney Plus has 'Star Wars' and Marvel
The strategy will be essential for Netflix's future as it competes against Hollywood titans looking to build their streaming services - particularly Disney Plus, which has amassed nearly 90 million subscribers since launching in November 2019. Disney is preparing to ramp up development on at least 10 Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows and 10 "Star Wars" shows, as announced during a recent Disney investor day.
In other words, Disney's biggest theatrical franchises are looking to dominate streaming, too.
The good news for Netflix is that "Cobra Kai," which it inherited from YouTube for its third season that debuted this month, is the No.1 most in-demand streaming original in the US right now. But as Disney Plus releases more episodes of "WandaVision" in the coming weeks, its audience demand could grow. And Disney's "Mandalorian" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" sat at No. 2 and No. 4 this week, respectively.
It shows the power of Disney's biggest franchises to eat into Netflix's demand share and why those new divisions are so important to Netflix. As Hastings said, Netflix wants to build franchises like that. It wants its own "Star Wars" and Marvel.
Hastings isn't shy about acknowledging Disney's streaming success, either. During this week's earning call, the co-CEO said that it's "super impressive what Disney has done."
"The Mandalorian"
Disney Plus
"It is going to be great for the world that Disney and Netflix are competing show by show, movie by movie," Hastings said. "And we're very fired up about catching them in family animation, maybe eventually passing them, we'll see."
That's not the first time Hastings has said he wants to catch up to Disney in animation. During that September THR interview, he said that Netflix wants to "to beat Disney in family animation" but it will "take a while," similar to his comments about franchise building.
Netflix and Disney Plus have been locked in this struggle over consumer attention since Disney Plus' launch, when the first seasons of "The Mandalorian" and "The Witcher" duked it out for audience demand week-to-week. But as both streaming services continue to grow and develop their respective spectacle TV series, the competitiveness between them may have even bigger repercussions for the rest of the streaming space.
Have more to share? Email the author at [email protected] or DM him on Twitter @TravClark2
