What to watch: This new fantasy series tops ‘Hobbit’ and ‘Game of Thrones’

While Will Smith seeks to crash the Oscar sweepstakes with his portrayal of Serena and Venus Williams’ dad in “King Richard” (we’ll weigh in on that next week), streaming releases from Amazon Prime (“The Wheel of Time”) and Netflix (“Cowboy Bebop”) make for worthy viewing.

In more of a musical mood? Tune into “tick, tick..BOOM!”

Here’s our roundup.

“The Wheel of Time”: Whereas there was a lot of bloat in Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit” movies and a lot of gratuitous … everything in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” this vintage Amazon Prime adaptation of Robert Jordan’s towering fantasy novel series expertly hones in on the essentials and refuses to over-accessorize.

What a relief.

The six-part adaptation — the first in what promises to be an ongoing series — leaves you wonderstruck. It’s a classically structured epic that respects the source material yet isn’t blindly reverential. Series creator Rafe Judkins is working on a massive scale, but succeeds, along with the cast — led by Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Josha Stradwoski and Madeleine Madden — at making us care about the fates of the multi-dimensional characters. Pike stars as the powerful Moiraine, who is on a mission to find the Dragon Reborn — a savior in a world that is threatened to be torn apart by the dark side, which includes fearsome beasts known as the Trollocs. All six episodes speed along with the force of a hurricane, and will leave you begging for more. What makes “Wheel of Time ” so special is how it is so adroit at world building, weaving in Jordan’s elements of religion and feminism into a classic good vs. evil storyline. It’s a crowning achievement in every way. Details: 4 stars out of 4; available Nov. 19 on Amazon Prime.

“Cowboy Bebop”: Whenever someone gets the hots to redo an iconic movie or series such as this one, not everyone within its ginormous vocal fansphere is gonna be happy. That’ll hold true to this mostly kick-ass, live-action adaptation of the Japanese animated series. The good news is that showrunner Andre Nemec’s 10-episode series gets its sea legs after a somewhat wobbly start. The cast — including an impressively buff and long-haired John Cho as former crime member Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir as hard-working former cop and Cowboy Bebop ship captain Jet Black and Daniella Pineda as a crafty gambler — capture the spirit of “Bebop” magic, as do the neon-lit sets that look trippy and otherworldly. Details: 3 stars; available Nov. 19 on Netflix.

“Tick, Tick … Boom!”: In this big-hearted musical directed by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, we enter the hyperactive and restless mindset of late playwright Jonathan Larson (“Rent”) as he nears his 30th birthday. Coming off a meh performance in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Andrew Garfield belts one out like a Broadway star, portraying the antic, energetic Larson whose ambitions sometimes steamrolled those who loved him. “Tick, Tick…Boom!” is stuffed with great musical numbers and captures what it means to be an artist. In smaller roles, Alexandre Shipp as Larson’s girlfriend, Judith Light as his agent and Robin de Jesus as his gay best friend are unforgettable. Details: 3½ stars; available Nov. 19 on Netflix.

“The Power of the Dog”: Jane Campion’s moody Western basks in the Montana landscape and then shocks the hell out of you as it takes a bruising and brutal look at the dangers of machismo and repressed desires. Based on Thomas Savage’s acclaimed 1967 novel, it’s slathered in tension (both sexual and violent) as the 1925 cowboy/ranching life of the Burbank Brothers swings out of whack when brother George (Jesse Plemons) becomes smitten with a widow (Kirsten Dunst) who has an often-bullied son (Kodi Smit-McPhee). None of this sits well with George’s cruel brother Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) who proceeds to make everyone’s life a nightmare. Campion’s disturbing, unsettling film is crafted to perfection — from the performances to a near-Shakespearean finale. Details: 4 stars; in select theaters Nov. 17, available Dec. 1 on Netflix.

“Julia”: Just as they did with “RBG,” the Oscar-nominated filmmaking duo of Julie Cohen and Betsy West whip up something special for public consumption: a vigorously researched portrait of an American female trailblazer. In this affectionate portrait, Child’s loves, losses and triumphs, along with her skill as a businesswoman, come into sharp focus. The food shots are unbelievable and the clips from her TV show a joy to revisit. And the revelation that Child could admit when she was wrong makes her even more impressive. Details: 3 stars; opens Nov. 19 in theaters.

“Boiling Point”: This would make an ideal double-bill pairing with “Julia,” an excruciatingly intense one-shot wonder from Philip Barantini. Set entirely on a fateful Christmastime night at a posh London restaurant, it follows coming-undone chef Andy (Stephen Graham) as he wrangles with a surprise health inspection, food allergies, newbie hires, demanding customers and a celebrity chef and restaurant critic who pop in to say hi and then torment him. You’ll feel like you’ve been tenderized like a tough flank steak afterwards. Details: 3 stars; In theaters Nov. 19.

“Zeros and Ones”: If you’re looking for a straight-up Hollywood thriller, the sort where Gerald Butler runs around and bellows a lot, stay far away from this non-traditional genre film from writer/director Abel Ferrara. Set around a terrorist plot to blow up the Vatican, this gritty, shaky-camera COVID-era product stars Ethan Hawke as a soldier on a mission to save his brother. It stays true to Ferrara’s playbook throughout its tidy 86 minutes. Details: 3 stars; opens Nov. 19 in select theaters and on AppleTV+.

“India Sweets and Spices”: Writer/director Geeta Malik’s dramedy starts off like one of those inane, paint-by-numbers Netflix rom-coms. But the subversive feature is much smarter and more audacious than that. If anything it winds up as the antithesis of a traditional rom-com with UCLA student Alia (Sophia Ali in a pitch-perfect performance) spending an eventful summer at her parents’ overdone home in the tony New Jersey ‘burbs. What she discovers, besides running into a cute guy (Rish Shah) working at his parent’s Indian grocery store, is that her obnoxiously uptight and snobby mother Sheila (Manisha Koirala) harbors a secret from her past while her father has a secret of his own. Malik addresses potent cultural issues with clarity and sophistication and the film winds up being as much of a spitfire as its irresistible female protagonist. Details: 3 stars; opens Nov. 19 in select theaters.

“Freeland”: San Francisco co-director and co-writer Kate McLean teams up with Oakland’s Mario Furloni to take us on an immersive road trip to Humboldt County where we encounter one of the most intriguing fictional creations of 2021. Former California hippie Devi (“Krisha’s” Krisha Fairchild) has been a small-time, small-town pot grower/seller for more than 30 years, and continues to operate a baby grow that sells mostly to states where pot remains illegal. Times, of course, have changed: Marijuana is legal in California and is becoming the domain of big business and automated farming. With her strappy band of workers — some with questionable motivations — Devi fights a barrage of bureaucratic maneuvers aimed at shutting down her business. “Freeland” never hits a phony moment in its quietly powerful tale of a resilient entrepreneur who is in danger of getting swallowed by a system that no longer cares about the human factor. Fairchild is magnificent, and the cinematography is absolutely staggering. Details: 3½ stars; available to stream Friday.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.