New movies and TV series March 2024

The spring season has begun, and we’re looking forward to a lot of movie and TV series premieres and hopefully warmer weather. We’ve put together a selection of six new movies and seven TV series worth watching in March.

Cenzorka

The story of a young woman, Lyuba, who was sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of her unfaithful husband. After giving birth to her son Kolya, she is serving her sentence in an Odesa prison. Lyuba doesn’t want her child to end up in an orphanage, a fate that awaits all children of prisoners after they turn three. At the prison, Lyuba meets Irina, a 40-year-old woman who works as a guard at the prison. Irina sees this situation as a new opportunity for herself.

The film was released back in 2021 and won several awards at prestigious European film festivals, but it has only just reached us.

The film Cenzorka was directed by Tymofii Boiko, an art director who unfortunately died on September 16, 2022, during heavy fighting in the Kherson region. He participated in the creation of more than 40 Ukrainian films.

The film is scheduled to premiere on March 7.

Imaginary

When Jessica returns with her family to her childhood home, her younger stepdaughter Alice develops an eerie attachment to a teddy bear toy named Chauncey that she finds in the basement. Alice begins to play childish games with Chauncey that become increasingly sinister. Alice’s behavior is increasingly disturbing, and Jessica eventually begins to realize that Chauncey is extremely dangerous to her family.

Did you start getting scared of animatronics after the movie Five Nights at Freddy’s by Blumhouse? Now get scared of teddy bears in the new movie created by the same studio! Personally, I’m not a fan of this genre, but horror fans should check it out.

The film will be released on March 7.

Me, Victory and Berlin

In the early ’90s, the aspiring musicians were not picky. So when the opportunity arose to exchange an old car for a six hundredth Mercedes, they agreed without hesitation. Kuzma and his friend Bard are heading to Berlin. They will be driving a barely alive Pobeda to exchange it for the coveted Mercedes in Germany. By the time they leave Lviv, there are three days left before the scheduled concert, so the boys have to make it.

A screen adaptation of the work by Andriy Kuzmenko (Scryabin) himself. I’m sorry, I haven’t read the original, but knowing what Kuzma was like, it’s not hard to guess that this is at least an interesting thing. It’s hard to believe that the legendary performer has been gone for more than 9 years, but it’s good that his legacy still lives on. The film based on the book should popularize the part of Andriy Kuzmenko’s work that is not often mentioned, namely his writing.

The film will premiere on March 14.

Kung Fu Panda 4

At first glance, Po is a clumsy fat guy. In reality, he is an outstanding martial artist and Dragon Warrior. This was the case until recently, when Po decided to give up his honorary title and take up spiritual guidance. This upset many people, especially Master Shifu. To remedy the situation, Po sets out to find someone to become the new Dragon Warrior.

The original adventures of a panda named Po are rightfully considered one of the best movie trilogies in history. Its advantages can be listed for a very long time, but I think the main one is the central character of the story. Each film revealed some interesting aspect of his life and developed the panda’s character: in the first part he was a student, in the second he learned about his past and gained “inner peace,” and in the third he became a master and discovered spiritual power.

The fourth installment, which comes out 8 years after the previous one, continues Po’s formation as a legendary warrior and makes him take the path of the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. I hope that the sequel will not disappoint and we will be treated to a fun, philosophical story, incredible fight scenes and a cool villain, which has long been the hallmark of this series of cartoons. It’s just a pity that the “invincible five” seem to be relegated to the background this time, although the characters are definitely worth watching. I still don’t understand why DreamWorks hasn’t created a spinoff about them yet.

The cartoon will be released in Ukraine on March 14.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

The world shuddered at the unexpected discovery. It turns out that a huge unstoppable force has always existed in the depths of the Earth, capable of destroying everything in its path. The longtime enemies Godzilla and Kong are not ready for reconciliation, but in the face of a threat that could destroy them and the entire world, they will be forced to unite.

It would seem that such a banal idea as “one monster beats another for 2 hours” should have bored everyone long ago, but sometimes you really want to just relax and watch King Kong kick Godzilla’s ass or vice versa. Or when they beat up other monsters together. Not many franchises can offer this type of action, so it’s recommended for all fans of the genre and just people who want to relax after a hard week at work. It’s a movie without too much drama or philosophy, just a battle between two iconic monsters.

Unfortunately, the Japanese who made last year’s Godzilla: Minus One don’t have the same budgets as Legendary Pictures. That movie had a budget 15 times smaller than “Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire, but they look almost identical in terms of the quality of graphics and production. Let the next Monsterverse films invite the authors of Godzilla: Minus One to direct them, I think it will be very spectacular.

The film will premiere in Ukraine on March 28.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

The Spangler family decides to return to New York. Moreover, the famous building that used to house the firehouse could be occupied by ghost hunters again. They start working on inventing new, more effective ways of hunting. A mysterious discovery can help them with this, but at the same time it unleashes the previously unknown evil power of the Cold of Death. If left unchecked, this disaster could plunge the planet into a new ice age and wipe out all of humanity.

Ghostbusters is a cult franchise that has died and been revived several times in its 40-year history. The original 1984 movie is a timeless classic and an example of how to make a movie about scary monsters very funny and original. But the biggest plus was still the four main characters played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. They were very cool characters, and it was their acting that made the movie a cult movie. Not to mention the incredible Ghostbusters song, which still sticks in my head.

After its huge success, Columbia Pictures wanted more money and released a sequel in 1989, which was somewhat of a disappointment due to the project’s worse script. The main problem with the film was that the original was simply a complete story that should not have been continued. Bill Murray was so dissatisfied with the final result that he refused to do the sequel for any money.

For years, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis tried to write a script and shoot the third installment, but the studio saw no prospects in these projects. And in 2014, Ramis died, and with him gone, it made no sense to make a movie about the original team of hunters.

In 2016, a relaunch movie with a female team of hunters was released, which failed at the box office. The characters turned out to be uninteresting, the plot was banal, the jokes were unfunny, and even the actors from previous films were forced to play some incomprehensible roles. Imagine in the new Terminator, Arnold would have played a curtain seller in a short scene instead of the iconic character.

The most ridiculous were the authors’ attempts to justify this movie by saying that only sexists and white men dislike it. This is despite the fact that in the late 1990s there was an animated series continuing the story of a new team of hunters called Extreme Ghostbusters, where each character represented a vulnerable group of American society (an African American, an emo girl, a Latino, and a guy with disabilities) and it is still one of the best projects of its era, which fans love.

Fortunately, the 2016 relaunch failed, and it was a sign to the studio that the franchise should be treated with respect, otherwise nothing will happen except for the loss of money and reputation. Therefore, in the 2021 reboot, titled “From the Other Side,” the authors did most things right. Not surprisingly, the film was directed by Ivan Reitman, the creator of the original dilogy. Yes, the movie was a bit overdone with fanservice and references to the previous installments, but when the first Ghostbusters appeared at the end, you could even shed a nostalgic tear. In addition, the authors said a fitting farewell to Harold Ramis. The 2021 film was indeed the sequel that fans deserved.

nd this month, we will have a sequel called Frozen Empire. Unfortunately, Ivan Reitman left our world in 2022, but I hope his son, Jason, who wrote the script, will continue his father’s work with dignity. We can already see from the trailer that the creators are going all in. The old actors will now have much more screen time and will become full-fledged characters, and the budget of the film has increased significantly. Lickety-split and the Marshmallow Man are here!

If only this celebration of nostalgia didn’t forget about the development of the new characters introduced in the previous installment. They will now have to compete with such “titans” as Bill Murray or Dan Aykroyd and should not be in the shadow of their predecessors. After all, the franchise should be driven by the younger generation, and Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor and Logan Kim did a pretty good job with it in the previous installment.

We will find out whether the sequel to the cult franchise, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, was a success on March 28.

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This month’s series segment turned out to be particularly interesting, and I don’t even know if I’ll have enough time to watch every project on this list.

The Regime

The series tells the story of a year in the collapsing authoritarian regime. After a long tenure in power, the incumbent Chancellor Helena Wernham becomes increasingly paranoid and unstable and turns to a soldier, Herbert Zubak, as a confidant. As Zubak’s influence over the chancellor grows, Helena’s attempts to expand her power ultimately lead to the country’s division.

I love political satires, so I’m really looking forward to this project. Usually, the authors talk about the problems of real countries, so watching American or British projects usually starts with studying the political systems of these countries. This time, the creators followed Sacha Baron Cohen’s scheme with his Dictator, where the main character was a collective image of authoritarian leaders in the Middle East.

In The Regime, Kate Winslet plays an authoritarian ruler of a fictional Central European country who copies her “bunker grandfather” and adds something of herself. It’s a great opportunity for the actress to prove herself in a new role. The supporting cast also includes Hugh Grant as an oppositionist whose arrest leads to protests (hopefully not as miserable as those of our neighbors).

The first episode was released on March 3 on HBO Max, and there will be 6 episodes in total.

Supersex

The story of how Rocco Siffredi forgot about his humble life and became the most famous porn star in the world. Based on real events.

Here’s a series about a man whose work has been seen by many people, but no one will talk about it. It seems that the tendency to have too many sexual scenes in Netflix products has given the producers the idea of a new biopic series about the life of a porn star.

And if we’re being serious, so much content about the adult industry has already been made (Boogie Nights, The Deuce, The People vs. Larry Flynt) that the new project will have to really try to stand out and be remembered by viewers. This is the case when the plot plays the main role, because Netflix may not even try to outdo the original Rocco Siffredi films in terms of eroticism.

The series will be released on Netflix on March 6.

The Gentlemen

After inheriting the family estate, aristocrat Eddie discovers that there is a huge marijuana empire, and its owners are not going anywhere.

The 2020 spinoff series of The Gentlemen is from Guy Ritchie himself, who directed and wrote the project. The director is a cult figure and is best at creating crime films about gangsters with charismatic characters, a twisted plot, and incredible editing and music selection. “Cards, Money, Two Guns, The Big Score, Rock and Roll, and The Gentlemen brought Guy Ritchie the fame of the “British Tarantino.”

I hope that the Netflix series will be a project that will include all the director’s trademarks and will entertain the audience as much as his classic films. The main roles will be played by Theo James and Kaya Scodelario, and among the secondary stars will be Giancarlo Esposito and Vinnie Jones himself, who played the role of a tough gangster in the old Richie movies.

It will premiere on March 7 on Netflix.

The Signal

The disappearance of an astronaut makes her family desperate for answers. But the more they find out, the more unexpected the truth turns out to be, and the revelation of which will affect the whole world.

A German-produced science fiction series. The plot twist seems trite for the genre, but with the right approach, the project can become a worthy representative of science fiction. The actors are mostly unknown, and this series will be a great opportunity for them to develop their careers.

All four episodes will premiere on Netflix on March 7.

Manhunt

A conspiracy thriller about one of the most famous but least understood crimes in history. This is an amazing story about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, when the fate of the country hangs in the balance.

No, this is not an adaptation of a series of games from Rockstar, but a conspiracy thriller about the search for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. The series does not claim to be historically accurate, and fans of accurate depiction of history should definitely avoid this work. But for those who want to watch an interesting setting of the American Civil War, the project can be a good way to spend a few evenings.

We’ll find out what will come of all this on March 15 on Apple TV+.

3 Body problem

Five brilliant scientists in different decades and on different continents master the laws of nature and come to a terrible conclusion: the existence of humanity is under threat.

This is truly one of the main premieres of the month! Liu Qixin’s book trilogy The Memory of Earth’s Past is rightfully considered one of the best science fiction works of the 21st century. This is a very thoughtful and large-scale world, incredible plot twists and interesting characters. In particular, the novel introduced a new concept of the Dark Forest, which is interesting but frightening at the same time.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who previously worked on Game of Thrones, are adapting the book series for the Netflix streaming service. If you were disappointed with the last seasons of George R.R. Martin’s adaptation, this time the situation is different. The original plot of “The Memory of Earth’s Past” is complete, and Benioff and Weiss, although they have not proved to be very good writers of original stories, are really good at translating printed material into a series format.

The first seasons of Game of Thrones are proof of this, as this adaptation turned out to be even better than the original books due to simplified presentation and less attention to coats of arms and titles. Liu Qixin’s trilogy also sometimes suffers from excessive description of the world and processes, which makes it difficult to read, so simplifying this part of the material would definitely be useful.

We look forward to seeing it on Netflix on March 21.

X-Men ’97

The X-Men face new dangerous challenges after losing their leader, Professor X.

The original X-Men animated series from 1992-1997 is one of the most significant projects of its era and the best version of the mutant team this world has ever seen. No movie or animated series after the 1990s version has even come close to its quality. It had a great storyline, in which every character was fleshed out and had cool drama (these are the only X-Men in which Cyclops was an interesting character!), the animated series perfectly adapted iconic comic book arcs such as the Phoenix Saga and for the first time showed the powerful villain Apocalypse, who is still impressive when you watch it.

The original project ended with the mortally wounded Professor X being sent into space, where he would be able to survive, but would no longer see his students and friends. This sequel decided to put an end to this story, as Charles Xavier died and Magneto became the head of the X-Men team, to whom the Professor inherited the school for mutants.

The animation was brought as close as possible to the 1992-1997 series, but so far it doesn’t look very impressive, and maybe the result will be much better in the animated series itself. The main thing is to continue the plot with dignity, because the ending of the original was already a good conclusion to the story, which penetrates emotions even so many years after watching it. The success of the project may pave the way for season 6 of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which, unlike its counterpart, was really cut off in mid-sentence, so we’re waiting for X-Men ’97 and hoping for the best.

The animated series will premiere on March 20 on Disney+.