By Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

While November is typically a month for going out to the movies, with new releases and awards season movies filling theater screens, there are also plenty of opportunities now to catch up with awards season movies at home. Here are several high-profile titles now available to stream or purchase that are worth your time.

Joel Edgerton stars in “Train Dreams.” (Netflix/Netflix/TNS)

Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams” hits Netflix on Friday, and it’s well worth your time. The film, based on a novella by Denis Johnson, is co-written by Bentley and Greg Kwedar. The pair have previously collaborated on the films “Sing Sing” and “Jockey,” trading off directing duties. Joel Edgerton stars in this portrait of a life of an Oregon logger in the early 20th century that is, by turns, devastating, poignant and life-affirming. Stream it on Netflix starting Friday, Nov. 21.

Jacob Elordi as the Creature in “Frankenstein.” (Ken Woroner/Netflix/TNS)

Also on Netflix, if you haven’t yet caught up with Guillermo del Toro’s ravishing adaptation of “Frankenstein,” it’s worth the watch just for the costumes, sets and cinematography, but Jacob Elordi’s emotional performance as the Creature really is the beating heart of the film. Del Toro has always had a thing for monsters, so it’s no surprise that this book would be the perfect property for him to adapt.

From left, Tessa Thompson, Nina Hoss and Imogen Poots in “Hedda.” (Parisa Taghizadeh/epktv/TNS)

On Prime Video, take in Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda,” an update of the Ibsen play, starring Tessa Thompson in the title role. Set in Jazz Age England, Thompson plays Hedda as a chaotic bisexual brat, manipulating everyone around her at a wild party she throws at her home with her husband. Nina Hoss and Imogen Poots co-star. Stream it on Prime Video.

Arriving on Prime Video on Thursday, Nov. 20, is the thorny, academia-set ethical thriller “After the Hunt,” starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield. Roberts plays a philosophy professor at Yale who gets caught in-between sexual assault allegations between two proteges. Luca Guadagnino directs with his usual verve. The film is a conversation starter for sure. Stream it on Prime Video starting Nov. 20.

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Two A24 films are also available to watch at home on premium VOD for a purchase price of $19.99. Dwayne Johnson stars as pioneering MMA fighter Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine, with Emily Blunt playing his girlfriend Dawn. The film follows Kerr’s career at the turn of the century (around 1999-2001) as he was competing in Japan, and navigating his turbulent relationship. The film is directed by Benny Safdie, and it’s a fascinatingly weird take on a sports movie.

Also available this week for purchase is Mary Bronstein’s searing motherhood anxiety attack on film, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” Rose Byrne stars as a woman having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad couple of weeks, trying to care for her medically fragile child while a ceiling in her house has caved in, her husband is out of town, and everything else seems to be falling down around her. Byrne is riveting, and while the film is not for the faint of heart, it has just enough levity and relatability to really work. Purchase it for $19.99 to watch at home.

Finally, two urgent and harrowing documentaries are worth your attention. “The Perfect Neighbor” on Netflix, uses primarily police bodycam footage to map a dispute between neighbors in Florida that takes devastating turns. While deeply upsetting at times, it is a crucial and important film to watch. Stream it on Netflix.

On HBO Max, “The Alabama Solution” depicts the horrifying human rights violations happening in Alabama prisons right now, using cellphone footage from inside the prisons to depict the conditions, violence and drug issues plaguing prisons — the responsibility of which is laid directly at the government’s feet. No matter where you live, this is an important piece of investigative journalism and depiction of America’s prison problem. Stream it on HBO Max.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to use leftover turkey, this may well be the ticket. The original recipe was nabbed from cookbook author Mark Bittman’s book, “Eat Vegan Before 6:00.” A couple of years ago I started adding leftover Thanksgiving turkey to the mix. Of course, that changes the vegan status, but it is a darn tasty soup.

When I first saw the recipe I questioned the addition of a quarter-cup tomato paste. It seemed like it was too much. But guess what? I made it and loved it. The soup is as delicious as it is simple to prepare.

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Leftover Turkey and Vegetable Soup

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 cup tomato paste

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

6 cups vegetable broth or water, plus more if needed in step 4

3 cups chopped firm vegetables, such as carrots, winter squash, cauliflower, broccoli or root vegetables

3 cups chopped soft vegetables such as zucchini, bell peppers, green beans or any greens

3 cups cooked or canned beans or fresh or frozen corn kernels or peas

1 1/2 cups cooked turkey, boned, skinned, cut into medium dice

Garnish 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

1. Put oil in large pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook until it dries out a bit, a minute or two. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Add broth or water and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Add firm vegetables and bring to a boil. Adjust heat so the mixture gently bubbles. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the kinds you’re using.

3. Add zucchini or other soft vegetables, along with beans or corn or peas. Return to boil, then lower the heat so the mixture bubbles gently. Cook, stirring once in a while, until everything is quite soft, another 10 to 15 minutes, adding the diced turkey after 8 minutes.

4. If soup is too thick, stir in additional broth. Stir in basil; taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Source: “Eat Vegan Before 6:00” by Mark Bittman (Clarkson Potter, $26)

Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at @CathyThomas Cooks.com.

By Céline Gounder, KFF Health News

As misinformation about women’s health spreads faster than ever, doctors say new research on the risks of hormonal birth control underscores the challenge of communicating nuance in the social media age.

The massive study, which was conducted in Sweden and tracked more than 2 million teenage girls and women under age 50 for more than a decade, found that hormonal contraception remains safe overall, but also found small differences in breast cancer risk based on the hormones used in the formulation. In addition, the researchers observed a small, short-term rise in breast cancer diagnoses among current or recent users. Those findings are consistent with prior large studies, including a 2017 Danish registry analysis and a 2023 meta-analysis.

It was published online Oct. 30 in JAMA Oncology.

Doctors say these study results won’t change how they advise patients and that women should not stop using their birth control.

Still, TikTok is flooded with factually incomplete warnings that contraceptives cause cancer and are as dangerous as smoking. Reproductive health advocates warn that studies like this can easily be taken out of context online and be reduced to a single alarming number.

Case in point: The study reported that women who had used hormonal birth control had about a 24% higher rate of breast cancer than women who hadn’t. But because breast cancer is still uncommon in younger women, that works out to an increase from roughly 54 to 67 breast cancer cases per 100,000 women per year — about 13 extra cases per 100,000 women, or about one extra case per 7,800 users of hormonal contraceptives per year.

Co-authors Åsa Johansson and Fatemeh Hadizadeh, epidemiologists at Uppsala University, said the rise is modest and short-term, with risk highest during current use and fading within five to 10 years after stopping.

Rachel Fey — interim co-CEO of Power to Decide, a group whose mission is to provide accurate information on sexual health and contraceptive methods — said that kind of nuance is exactly what tends to disappear on social media. “I get really angry at this because it’s designed to scare people like me away from birth control, which has made my life so much better in so many ways,” she said. “It’s really frustrating … especially when it’s given without context. And then in this era of social media, it can just take off without anybody who knows what they’re talking about providing that context.”

The researchers also found the risk was slightly higher with certain progestins such as desogestrel — found in combined oral contraceptives like Cyred EQ, Reclipsen, Azurette, and Pimtrea — but did not increase with others, such as medroxyprogesterone acetate injections, sold under the brand name Depo‑Provera.

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How to interpret the findings

Some experts say the results should be viewed with care because the study counted both invasive breast cancers and early, noninvasive lesions known as in situ tumors, growths that may never become life-threatening. Including these precancerous cases could make the overall risk of clinically significant disease appear higher than it is.

“A substantial proportion of the ‘cases’ would never have progressed to invasive breast cancer,” said Lina S. Mørch, a senior researcher and team leader at the Danish Cancer Institute. Mørch was not associated with the Swedish study. She added that experts should wait for more data separating early-stage and advanced cancers before making new rules or warnings about specific hormones.

The doctor-patient conversation

Even as scientists debate how to interpret the finer points of the data, physicians emphasize that for most patients, the study reinforces what they already discuss in the exam room: that hormonal birth control is broadly safe, and decisions should be tailored to each woman’s needs and values.

Katharine White, chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Boston Medical Center, said this study won’t change how she talks to her patients.

“When counseling patients about their contraceptive options, I focus on their past experiences with birth control, their medical history, and what’s important to them about their birth control method and pregnancy planning (if applicable),” White wrote in an email. “Side effects and risks of methods are already a key part of my counseling about both hormonal and non-hormonal methods.”

Other doctors noted there are other contraceptive options.

Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, chief of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, said, “For those who prefer hormone-free contraception, the copper IUD offers safe, convenient, highly effective contraception for over a decade after placement, and is rapidly reversible when pregnancy is desired,” referring to a type of long-acting intrauterine device.

Mary Rosser, director of Integrated Women’s Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, said this was a large, high-quality study that looked at many types of hormones over many years. But she added that doctors shouldn’t change their advice yet.

Johansson and Hadizadeh stressed that the results should guide shared decision-making, not cause alarm. “It may be reasonable to consider formulations associated with lower observed risk in our data,” they said. They noted that products containing medroxyprogesterone acetate, drospirenone, or levonorgestrel were linked to lower risk, while long-term use of desogestrel-only contraceptives might be best avoided when other options fit.

Keeping the risk in perspective

Hormonal birth control provides many health benefits beyond pregnancy prevention. It can lighten heavy periods, ease pain from endometriosis, and lower the risk of ovarian and uterine cancers for years after stopping. Mørch noted that even small risks are worth discussing but said decisions should be guided by women’s “values and preferences.”

White said it’s important to see the big picture. “The risk of an unintended pregnancy is 85% for people who do not use contraception—so any risks of birth control need to be weighed against the risk of an unexpected pregnancy,” she wrote.

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By NICK KURCZEWSKI, Edmunds

SUVs deliver many attributes that car shoppers love in a vehicle. Thanks to their elevated height, they provide a commanding view of the road. They also deliver lots of passenger space, roomy cargo holds, and often have strong safety ratings.

Less appealing are higher fuel bills and the expense of buying an SUV that’s showroom-fresh. The experts at Edmunds have found five solutions on the used market to keep costs in line. Choosing a used hybrid SUV saves money at the point of purchase, and the hybrid engine helps lower the cost of refueling for many miles down the road.

Using a price cap of $25,000, Edmunds’ team has compiled five used hybrid-powered SUVs that are practical and kind to a car shopping budget.

Ford Escape

This photo provided by Ford shows the Escape, a compact SUV available as a hybrid on the used market for less than $25,000. (Courtesy of Ford Motor Co. via AP)

The Escape Hybrid is the fuel-sipping cousin of Ford’s popular compact SUV. Getting it down the road is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder paired to an electric motor. Front-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is optional. In terms of fuel economy, both the front-wheel-drive and all-wheel drive models delivers an EPA-estimated 39 mpg combined. Edmunds has complimented the Escape’s comfortable ride, easy-to-use controls and everyday practicality.

Look for:Arriving for the 2020 model year, the fourth-generation Escape Hybrid is a well-rounded driving companion. For 2023, Ford updated the infotainment system and exterior design. For added peace of mind, it’s worth knowing the hybrid has always come standard with Ford’s Co-Pilot360 bundle of driver assist features.

Honda CR-V

This photo provided by Honda shows the CR-V hybrid, a fuel-efficient compact SUV that can be found used for less than $25,000. (Courtesy of American Honda Motor Co. via AP)

The Honda CR-V has long been a top choice for SUV shoppers looking for reliable transportation at an affordable price. During testing, Edmunds complimented the driving refinement of the CR-V with the available hybrid powertrain. Braking and handling are equally polished, though Edmunds noted accelerating from 0 to 60 mph took 8.5 seconds — 1 second longer than the non-hybrid model. Fuel economy is strong at an EPA-estimated 38 mpg combined city/highway for 2020-2022 models. The spacious interior has good outward visibility and generous cargo space.

Look for:The hybrid version of the previous generation CR-V ran from 2020 through 2022. Standard equipment included all-wheel drive, a 7-inch touchscreen, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the Honda Sensing suite of driver assist features. Honda dropped the entry-level LX trim for the 2021 model year, so used prices tick upward from that point.

Hyundai Tucson

his photo provided by Hyundai shows the Tucson Hybrid, a compact SUV available used with a price tag under $25,000. (Courtesy of Hyundai Motor America via AP)

Making a styling statement isn’t always high on car shoppers’ priority list. Hyundai didn’t get that memo because the Tucson Hybrid’s eye-catching design is highlighted by a sculpted exterior and headlights hidden within the pattern of the grille. Under the hood is a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder and electric motor coupled to standard all-wheel drive. Fuel economy is up to 38 mpg combined depending on the trim and model year. Better still, Edmunds notes this peppier drivetrain addresses the non-hybrid Tucson’s sluggish acceleration.

Look for:The redesigned Tucson created a splash when it arrived for the 2022 model year. Its upscale interior matched the bold exterior; the cabin was filled with high-quality materials, and standard features included an 8-inch touchscreen with wireless smartphone connectivity. The Tucson also has an outstanding warranty, including 10 years/100,000 miles of powertrain coverage.

Kia Niro

This photo provided by Kia shows the Niro Hybrid, a small SUV with excellent fuel economy available on the used market priced under $25,000. (Courtesy of Kia America via AP)

The Niro makes a strong case for itself based on its lower price point and excellent economy. Along with the Niro hybrid, there are plug-in and fully electrified versions. Given its small size, the Niro delivers a surprising amount of passenger space and cargo room. The ride is generally smooth, though Edmunds noted it can get unsettled on bumpy roads. A class-leading warranty and up to an EPA-estimated 53 mpg combined, depending on the trim and model year, are two additional standout qualities.

Look for:A redesign for the 2023 model year gave the Niro a futuristic shape and improved cabin quality. Edmunds complimented the interior design but found some audio and climate controls overly finicky. The Niro is also front-wheel-drive, with no option to add all-wheel drive. Yet its budget-friendly prices mean used versions readily come in below $25,000.

Toyota RAV4

This photo provided by Toyota shows the RAV4 Hybrid, a popular hybrid compact SUV available used for less than $25,000. (Courtesy of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. via AP)

The RAV4 Hybrid uses the strong foundation of Toyota’s best-selling SUV and adds greater fuel economy and speedier acceleration. Edmunds found the all-wheel-drive RAV4 Hybrid needed 7.8 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph — a second faster than the non-hybrid version. Fuel economy is excellent thanks to EPA-estimated combined average of up to 40 mpg depending on trim and model year. The RAV4 also has near class-leading cargo space, plus a low load floor that’s appreciated when loading heavy items.

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Look for:The fifth generation of the RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid was available from 2019 to 2025. Outside of some upgraded tech touches — such as a larger touchscreen and improved smartphone connectivity — changes were minimal. The RAV4 holds onto its resale value, so older used models will more easily fall under $25,000.

Edmunds says

A well-maintained used hybrid SUV is a savvy way to save money when sealing the deal and in terms of keeping fuel bills reasonable.

This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. Nick Kurczewski is a contributor at Edmunds.