Yes, it’s that time again, time to obsess about the good new movies and television shows on the big three streaming sites. Let’s get right to it!
Hulu
The biggest news this month on Hulu is Castle Rock, the new horror series from Stephen King and J.J. Abrams, but that doesn’t arrive until July 20! So here’s are some lesser known movies on Hulu now. First, there’s The Brother’s Bloom, a comedy from 2009. It has a great cast, with Mark Ruffalo, Rachael Weiss, Adrien Brody, Maximillian Schell and Rinko Kikuchi, and features two con men(Brody and Ruffalo) who may meet their match in an heiress(Weiss) they had set their sights on. It gets a 6.8/10 on IMDb. Hulu has also just added This Is Spinal Tap, the 1984 classic from director Rob Reiner. It’s a mockumentary of the fictional hard rock group Spinal Tap and it stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer as the band members. It also has a host of great cameos by people like Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, Fred Willard and Anjelica Huston. It also got great reviews,including Roger Ebert, who gave it 4/4 stars and wrote it was “one of the funniest, most intelligent, most original films of the year. ” But it got little notice until it went to video and cable. Now it’s considered a classic and gets an 8/10 on IMDb and a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hulu has also added Before Midnight, the 2013 classic Starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. Hulu also offers Trishna, a 2011 British-Swedish-Indian movie. Trishna is loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Ubervilles, and it stars Freida Pinto in the title role, with Riz Ahmed, Meeta Vashist, Roshan Seth and Harish Khanna rounding out the cast. Trishna gets a 6/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Hulu has Certified Copy, a 2011 movie starring Juliette Binoche. Binoche plays an art gallery owner who feigns marriage to an author(William Shimell), as the film deals with what’s real and what’s not. Binoche won the Best Actress Prize at Cannes for this role, Roger Ebert gave it 3.5/4 stars, and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 89%.
Netflix
One of the best new additions on Netflix this week is Certain Women, a 2016 movie. It stars Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart in three different stories about women in Montana. It’s directed by Kelly Reicheardt(Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff) and also stars Lily Gladstone, James Le Gros and Rene Auberjonois. This film won awards at the London Film Festival, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle. And it gets a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix has also added The Sinner, last year’s surprise hit on USA Network. It stars Jessica Biel, Bill Pullman and Christopher Abbott in a mystery about a woman who suddenly murders a stranger. This series gets an 8/10 on IMDb and a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Another new series on Netflix is Samantha!, a Brazilian Netflix Original about a former child star of the ’80’s. It’s a comedy, of course, and follows Emanuelle Araujo as a grown-up Samantha, who tries to once again become a star. It also stars Douglas Silva, Sabrina Nonata, Caua Goncalves and Alice Braga and gets a 7.5/10 on IMDb. Netflix also offer Duck Butter, the 2018 movie starring Alia Shawkat(Arrested Development). The story of two woman trying to cultivate their romance with 24 hours together, Duck Butter also stars Laia Costa, Mae Whitman, Hong Chau and Kate Berlant. It only gets a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s a milestone lesbian movie, and witty, so I’m including it. Netflix has also included Sacred Games, a mystery from India. The series is about a cop in Mumbai(Saif Ali Khan) who is trying to solve a cryptic case that threatens the city. Sacred Games also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte and Pankaj Tripathi and it gets a 9.6/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Netflix has Tau, a 2018 science fiction movie. a story about a street smart girl who has to battle AI, Tau, to escape a ruthless experiment she has unwillingly been made a part of. The movie stars Maika Monroe, Ed Skrein and Gary Oldman and gets a 5.7/10 on IMDb.
Amazon
Okay, so Amazon doesn’t have a lot of blockbuster movies newly available this month, but it does have some classics that are great for viewing. One of those is Gran Torino, the Clint Eastwood movie of 2008. It stars Eastwood as a unhappy, racist Korean War vet, and features a Hmong neighbor trying to steal his car, a Gran Torino, to appease his gang, and the friendship that develops between the two. It also stars Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley and Brian Haley and gets an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1/10 on IMDb. Amazon also had The Insult, a 2017 movie from Lebanon. About an insult between a Palestinian refugee and a Lebanese Christian that goes to court, it stars Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha and Rita Hayek. This movie won Kamel el Basha the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It gets an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.8/10 on IMDb. And, Amazon also has Samsara, the 2013 movie directed by Ron Fricke. It’s an unnarrated documentary that travels 25 different countries and is kind of mind blowing and psychedelic; Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 stars and said it would have been called ” a head trip ” in the ’70’s. And Samsara, which literally means “continuous flow,” gets a 8.5/10 on IMDb and a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, amazon has Barfly, a 1989 movie starring Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke. This movie is based on the life of poet/author Charles Bukowski, who had a tendency to drink. It’s a comedy, but dark, and also stars Alice Kirge, J.C. Quinn and Gloria LeRoy. This film was nominated for the Palme d’ Or, Golden Globes and Independent Spirit Awards and gets a 7.3/10 on IMDb and 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. Oh, and Roger Ebert gave it 4/4 stars.
So sit back and relax this weekend and stream old and new favorites on Hulu, Amazon and Netflix!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 