Some months, touting stuff on streaming channels can be like squeezing stones to get juice.  Other months, such as this one, there are so many good and noteworthy titles that several promising things, such as the long-awaited second season of “Dorohedoro” on Netflix or a series dedicated to the political documentaries of Emile de Antonio on the Criterion Channel have to be given a reluctant boot.

Hopefully, what’s left here will still impress readers.  Dan Levy stars in his follow-up to “Schitt’s Creek.”  An acclaimed horror film telling a story from the dog’s POV makes its streaming debut.  Finally, there’s a new season of an acclaimed comedy mystery about a socially inept puzzle maker recruited to solve impossible crimes.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (Disney+)--The war between superhero vigilante Daredevil and corrupt Mayor Wilson Fisk enters a new phase with Fisk’s creation of the militaristic Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF).  Given that the AVTF’s goons are Fisk loyalists who just happen to intimidate (or kill) people hampering their agenda and lock up the people they seize in cages at their Red Hook black ops site, surely there’s no resemblance to the ICE Gestapo?

Dear Killer Nannies Season 1 (Hulu)--Juan Pablo Escobar aka Juampi is the eldest child of notorious Medellin drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar (John Leguziamo).  To prevent rivals from harming Juampi, Escobar employs “nannies” (hired assassins also responsible for babysitting Juampi).  The boy may love his father dearly, but he slowly becomes aware of the horrors of living in a world of criminals.  Based on Juampi’s memoir. 

Grasshopper Republic (Criterion Channel)--This verite science fiction-like documentary takes the viewer to Uganda.  The film’s human subjects are a local grasshopper trapping team followed over three seasons.  To reach their goal of catching and selling grasshoppers by the barrel-load, they will travel to remote villages and forests.  For the film’s non-human subjects, director Daniel McCabe uses micro-cameras to film the natural world from the grasshoppers’ perspective.

Harvie Krumpet (Ovid)--Adam Elliott’s Academy Award-winning animated short film recounts the life of one Harvie Krumpet.  This Polish-American man lives a life plagued by bad luck, yet he remains optimistic.  But does seizing the day really mean embracing nudism and adopting a thalidomide girl?

Merrily We Roll Along (Netflix)--In this adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical, Hollywood power broker Franklin Shepard feels he’s hit rock bottom.  He dearly misses his two oldest and best friends Mary Flynn and Charley Kringas.  But Mary’s now an alcoholic theater critic while Charley has become a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who wants nothing to do with Stephen.  To understand where things went wrong among them, Stephen begins searching his memories.    

The Outcasts (Ovid)--This little seen classic of Irish folk-horror comes from Robert Wynne-Simmons, writer of horror classic “The Blood On Satan’s Claw.”  It’s set in an isolated rural Irish community in the early 1800s.  Naive sweet-natured Maura O’Donnell is secretly attuned to the natural world.  Even though Maura’s treated by the other villagers as “one of God’s infirmities,” there’s an underlying fear of women such as Maura “going astray.”  When Maura is saved from her peers’ cruelty by fiddler Scarf Michael’s magic powers, the musician’s act of kindness unintentionally turns Maura into a scapegoat for the villagers’ misfortunes. 

Petals Of Reincarnation Season 1 (HIDIVE)--In this supernatural anime, high school student Toya Senji has a pipe dream of wishing to excel at Something, like incredibly talented classmate Haito La Buffet.  But Haito’s talents come from using a Branch of Reincarnation to become a Returner, somebody who harnesses the talents of their past life for good.  However, Sinners also use the Branch of Reincarnation to draw on the evil talents of such notorious figures as Hitler and Jack the Ripper.  

Pizza Movie (Hulu)--College roommates Montgomery (the thin geeky one) and Jack (the nerdy curly-haired one) make the mistake of trying out the custom drugs made by the demented chemistry major who used to live in their room.  These Mind Igniting Neural Tuning Stimulants (MINTS for short) wind up sending the duo on such hallucinatory adventures as getting swallowed by a giant squid or having their heads explode every time they swear.  They can reverse the MINTS’ effects by eating the pizza they ordered, but are they too stoned to pick up their food delivery?

The Sins Of Kujo Season 1 (Netflix)--In this live-action adaptation of Shohei Manabe’s manga, Taiza Kujo is a lawyer who defends people from the darker fringes of Japanese society (e.g.  ex-convicts and Yakuza) using methods not exactly according with legal ethics.  Kujo’s partner Shinji Karasuma isn’t sure whether his fellow lawyer is an evil man or someone with unique convictions.

Sirat (Hulu)---Oliver Laxe’s otherworldly drama begins with Luis, son Esteban, and dog Pipa going to a rave in the Moroccan desert to search for their missing family member Mar.  The arrival of soldiers evacuating the European ravers turns into an opportunity to try looking for Mar at another rave deeper in the desert.  The family trio join the breakaway group heading to an area closer to Mauritania.  The mutual hardships they encounter will bring these travelers closer together…or kill them before they reach their destination.    

Stranger Eyes (Criterion Channel)--In Yeo Siew Hua’s portrait of modern-day digital voyeurism, Wu (frequent Tsai Ming-Liang collaborator Lee Kang-Sheng) secretly films the couple in the flat across the street from him.  Junyang and Peiying, the couple in question, are traumatized after their baby Bo vanishes in broad daylight from a playground.  When the couple begin receiving DVDs made by Wu of their private lives, they suspect Wu of taking Bo. 

Toni Erdmann (Hulu)--Maren Ade’s acclaimed dramedy concerns prankster Winfried Conradi, who wants to reconnect with his workaholic business consultant daughter Ines (Sandra Huller, “The Zone Of Interest”).  However, the daughter’s more interested in landing a consulting contract with oil company CEO Henneberg.  Ines’ blaming Winfried for a missed client meeting inspires him to become badly disguised life coach Toni Erdmann.  Could “Toni”’s interventions in Ines’ life be what the daughter needs to find happiness?

Untold: Chess Mates (Netflix)--Did the American chess Grandmaster Hans Niemann cheat in 2022 to defeat then Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen?  What role did anal beads play in the scandal?  Find out in this documentary.

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song (Netflix)--Vivy, the first autonomous AI, is a singer who performs in a theme park with the goal of spreading happiness to the park’s human patrons.  One day, she gets a visit from a teddy bear named Matsumoto.  The supposed toy’s actually an advanced AI from a hundred years in the future.  Matsumoto enlists Vivy’s help to avert a devastating future where advanced AIs work to wipe out humanity. 

The Water Murmurs (Criterion Channel)--An asteroid collision with Earth sparks a series of underwater volcanic eruptions.  For the inhabitants of a small riverside town, these eruptions will result in submerging their homes.  Nian wants to say goodbye to the town she grew up in before she evacuates, visiting old friends and favorite places.  Winner of the 2022 Palme d’Or for best short.

First Reformed (Netflix)--Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) leads a New York First Reformed Church which has fallen on hard times.  The church may be on the verge of celebrating its storied 250th birthday, but its congregation seems paltry compared with that of nearby Abundant Life church.  Toller also has problems with alcoholism and guilt over sending his son to die in Iraq.  Pregnant parishioner Mary Mensana (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her radical environmentalist husband Michael.  But that task winds up challenging Toller’s faith.

The Flatshare (BritBox)--How do two strangers share a one-bedroom London flat which neither of them could afford alone?  For journalist Tiffany Moore and hospice nurse Leon Twomey, the answer is decidedly unconventional:  Have a schedule where they never meet each other but share the same bed and communicate via post-it note.  How things work out is the plot of this dramedy based on Beth O’Leary’s novel.

Relentless Memory (Ovid)--Margarita is on a quest to unearth her Mapuche ancestors’ silenced history, a byproduct of the invasions of Argentina and Chile.  Using the diary of Katrulaf, a Mapuche prisoner of war, she retraces the Mapuches’ deportation route.  Along the way, the sights of the Mapuches’ ancestral landscape are connected to brutally erased indigenous memories.

Trust Me: The False Prophet (Netflix)--What happened to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus-Christ Latter Day Saints (FLDS) after founder Warren Jeffs was arrested and imprisoned?   The Katases (cult expert Christine Marie and videographer husband Tolga) came to the FLDS base of Short Creek, Utah to support the remaining people.  But FLDS’ new self-anointed leader Samuel Bateman was perpetuating Jeffs’ criminal abuses by claiming divine authority.  This docuseries chronicles what the Katases did next.

Big Mistakes Season 1 (Netflix)--Dan Levy co-created this follow-up to “Schitt’s Creek” with Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”).  Nicky (Levy) is a gay pastor; his sister Morgan (Taylor Ortega) is a schoolteacher.  Besides the family ties, the duo also share the trait of being deeply incapable at what they do…such as the theft they try to perform for the sake of their dying grandmother.  That caper gets them blackmailed into working for organized crime.  Yet even with increasingly dangerous assignments, these screwup siblings repeatedly manage to fail upward.

Quo Vadis, Aida? (Tubi)---It’s 1995, and Aida Selmanagic serves as translator for the Dutch UN peacekeeping forces in Srebrenica.  Despite being designated a U.N. Safe Area, the town is in the path of Ralko Mladic’s Bosnian Serb army.  When Srebrenica does indeed fall to Mladic’s forces, Aida is torn between her translator duties and keeping her family alive.  Not helping matters is the Dutch UN peacekeepers believing Mladic can be trusted to not massacre Aida’s neighbors..

Thrash (Netflix)--Director Tommy Wirkola goes from dead Nazi zombies (“Dead Snow”) to a survival thriller.  A small coastal town gets hit by a Category 5 hurricane.  The fierce storm brings torrential rain, rising waves, and sharks.  Cut off from outside aid, can the trapped townspeople somehow survive both the storm and the swimming predators?

#Skyking (Hulu)--This documentary recounts the strange story of Horizon Air ground service agent Richard Russell.  On August 10, 2018, Russell stole a Dash 8-400 airplane from Seattle-Tacoma airport and took it on an unauthorized flight.  His sojourn involved buzzing around the Seattle skyline for over an hour before ending tragically.

The 1% Club Season 3 (Hulu)--Joel McHale hosts the return of the American version of a popular British game show.  For the uninitiated, 100 contestants are asked a series of questions previously posed to a random group of Americans.  The questions are arranged in increasing levels of difficulty from 90% of polled people getting the right answer down to just 1% of people answering correctly.  Exhibiting skill and logic under time pressure matters more here than remembering trivia.   

Fish And Cat (Ovid)--Shahram Mokri’s Iranian horror tale is based on an unfortunately true story.  A group of college students travel to a remote lakeside region to take part in a kite-flying competition.  What they don’t know yet is that the old neighboring restaurant happens to be run by Babak and Saeed, a pair of chefs whose special ingredient for their dishes happens to be human flesh.  The film was shot in a single uninterrupted 130-minute take.

Beef Season 2 (Netflix)--This dramedy shifts to an elite country club for its new season.  Low-level country club staffers and engaged couple Ashley and Austin accidentally witness an argument between the club’s General Manager Joshua (Oscar Isaac) and his wife Lindsay (Carey Mulligan).  Against their will, the club grunts get entangled in the General Manager’s marriage problems.  On top of that, both couples are vying for the favor of the club’s billionaire owner Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung).  But the owner has her own marital problems…

Dandelion (Netflix)--This animated adaptation of Hideaki Sorachi’s (“Gintama”) titular work follows the cases of Tetsuo Tanba and Misaki Kurogane, members of the 21st Division of the Japanese Angel Federation’s Send Off Department.  They track down restless earthbound spirits and guide them to the afterlife.  But unlike other angels, the duo take the time to help these spirits resolve the regrets that keep them here on earth. 

Wrinkles The Clown (Netflix)--In 2015, a viral YouTube video introduces the world to Wrinkles The Clown.  He’s a professional Florida clown available for hire to scare misbehaving children.  Over the next few years, Wrinkles became a national folk legend.  In 2019, a documentary film crew gets permission to learn more about the man behind the clown makeup.   But how much of what they’re shown is the truth?

Santita Season 1 (Netflix)--When a car crash results in Maria Jose Cano (aka Santita) becoming wheelchair bound, she leaves the love of her life (Gael Garcia Bernal) at the altar to seek a better sex life.  Two decades later, Santita’s ex-lover re-enters her life, and his return will trigger Santita’s confronting the choices she’s made over the years  Directed by Rodrigo Garcia (“Albert Nobbs”).

Flunked Season 1 (Netflix)--To avoid jail time, conman and delinquent math prodigy Eddy goes undercover as a high school teacher.  His goal: identify the child of a criminal mastermind in three weeks and then track the mastermind down.  Created by Francois Uzan (“Lupin”).

No Other Choice (Hulu)--Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy”) adapts Donald Westlake’s dark comedy “The Ax.”  Middle manager Man-su’s upper middle class lifestyle goes into the toilet when his company downsizes him and he can’t find equivalent work.  He plans to get hired at the successful Moon Paper by killing his nearest competitors and the company’s current manager.  But committing multiple homicides isn’t Man-su’s strong suit.

Good Boy (Hulu)--Indy is a Golden Retriever who moves with his lung disease-stricken human Todd into the isolated but vacant house of Todd’s late grandfather.  What the dog realizes is that there’s a malevolent supernatural presence in the house which wants Todd.  The canine is determined to do what he can to protect his human.  

Daddio (Hulu)--A young woman referred to as Girlie (Dakota Johnson) is being driven back from JFK Airport to her Manhattan apartment.  When a car accident causes a delay on the journey, Girlie begins talking with her cab driver Clark (Sean Penn) to kill time.  What begins as a conversation on the merits of cash vs. credit cards goes in unexpected directions.    

Ludwig Season 2 (Britbox)--John is “Ludwig,” a master puzzle maker who posed as his missing police detective twin brother James to find out what happened to him.  As Season 2 begins, the puzzle maker no longer has to pretend to be James as he’s officially a Crime Scene Consultant handling “impossible” crimes for the Cambridge Police Department.  However, he’s forbidden from using any police resources to investigate James’ disappearance.  But this socially hapless man is still determined to solve his personal puzzle..