Yes, it’s the weekend again, and time to talk about the best new additions to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.So let’s get started!
HULU
One of the biggest new additions at Hulu is a long time coming, but finally available, Borg vs McEnroe. The movie about the 1980 Wimbledon match between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, starring Shia Lebeouf and Sverrir Gudnason, is a international production directed by Janus Metz Pederson. It has a wonderful supporting cast as well, with Stellan Skargard, Tuva Novotny and Robert Emms. And the movie gets pretty good ratings, with an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7/10 on IMDb. Hulu also has Terminal, a 2018 thriller. This film stars Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg and Mike Myers and is directed by Vaughn Stein. Terminal is three intertwining stories, including two assassins, a dying teacher and a janitor and waitress leading double lives. Okay, it may sounds a little confusing, but with such an intriguing cast, I’m going to watch. It gets a 5.3/10 on IMDb.The 2017 movie Freak Show has also been added to Hulu, with Alex Lawther and Abigail Breslin. About a teenage boy, in a conservative high school, who dreams of being homecoming queen, Freak Show has a great supporting cast, with Bette Midler, Larry Pine, AnnaSophia Robb and Lorraine Toussaint. It gets a 6.3/10 on IMDb, and a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, Hulu has Hurricane, the 2000 biopic about Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter starring Denzel Washington. In what Roger Ebert calls “one of Denzel Washington’s great performances”, Hurricane is a wonderful movie about a boxer wrongfully convicted of three murders in New Jersey. It also stars John Hannah, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber and Rod Steiger, and was directed by Norman Jewison. Washington won multiple awards for this role, including a Golden Globe and an Image Award, as well as a nomination for Best Actor at the Oscars.And the movie gets a 7.6/10 on IMDb, and an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
NETFLIX
Netflix, too, has added some exciting new movies and series this week, including The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, with Lily James. Based on the 2008 novel of the same name, the movie is set in 1946, and is about the correspondence of letters between London-based writer, and the society on the island of Guernsey. This stars not only Lily James, of Downton Abbey, but also Matthew Goode and Jessica Brown Findlay of the same show and has a great cast, besides, including Michael Huisman, Tom Courtney and Penelope Wilton. So if you love historical dramas or just Downton Abbey, this is your show. And it gets a 7.1/10 on IMDb and a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, new to Netflix is The House of Flowers, a 2018 Mexican Netflix Original. It’s a dark comedy about a supposedly perfect family and how difficult it is to uphold the facade after a certain tragedy. It stars Veronica Castro, Aislinn Derbez, Cecilia Suarez, Dario Yazbek Bernal and Sheryl Rubio and was created as a web series by Manolo Caro. What I’ve seen thus far is very funny and it gets an 8.1/10 on IMDb! Netflix also offers All About the Washingtons, a comedy series starring Joseph Simmons.Also starring Justine Simmons, this shows is about an hip-hop icon(Simmons) retiring and focusing on his wife’s career and family. The show also stars Kiana Lede, Nathan Anderson and Leah Rose Randall and recurring guest shots by Arsenio Hall and DJ Ruckus. The ratings on IMDb are not great, a 4.2/10, but it’s still early, and I say give the show time to establish itself. Netflix also offers Perdida, a 2018 Argentine movie. Based on the thriller novel Cornelia, Perdida is about a policewoman’s search for a childhood friend who disappeared long ago in Patagonia. It stars Luisana Lopilato, Amaia Salamanca and Rafael Spregelburd and is directed by Alejandro Montiel. Wikipedia says Luisana Lopilato studied martial arts for this role, and I love the strong female heroine. This movie, also, is newly released, so there aren’t many reviews yet, and rating on IMDb is 5.1/10, but it’s a good movie and should be given a chance. Another interesting new movie on Netflix is Beyond the Clouds, a 2017 movie from India. It is about a brother and sister’s lives, and the challenges of poverty in Mumbai. It stars Ishaan Khattar, Malavika Mohanan and Goutam Ghose and is beautifully directed by Majid Majidi. And Beyond the Clouds gets a 6.8/10 on IMDb. Oh, and there’s a great short film on Netflix, Zion, about a teenage boy, Zion Clark, born without legs, who found his calling in wrestling. It’s directed by Floyd Russ, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, won at the Atlanta Film Festival and gets a 7.6/10 on IMDb.
AMAZON
Amazon’s most exciting new addition has to be Ordeal By Innocence, the 2018 mini-series from the BBC. It is an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name, it’s about the murder of a wealthy philanthropist, Rachael Argyll, and the investigation that ensues. It has an amazing cast, with Bill Nighy, Morven Christie, Anna Chancellor, Alice Eve and Eleanor Tomlinson(Poldark), gets a 7.2/10 on IMDb and an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes! Another really intriguing new movie on Amazon is Keep the Change, a 2018 movie. In what the New York Times calls ” a landmark movie” the two people who happen to have autism, and fall in love, are two actors who happen to be autistic. It stars Brandon Polansky and Samantha Elisofon as the pair, and has an excellent supporting cast of Jessica Walter, Christina Brucato, Evander Duck Jr., Sondra James and Tibor Feldman. This is an amazing movie, and gets a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, new on Amazon, is Peacock, the 2010 psychological thriller starring Ellen Page. It takes place in Nebraska, and concerns the mystery that arises after a train wreck. It has an excellent cast, besides Page, with Cillian Murphy, Susan Sarandon and Keith Carradine. It gets a 6.3/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Amazon has added The Illusionist, a 2010 animated movie from France. This is a French/British collaboration directed by Sylvain Chomet, with real (hand-painted cel) animation, based on a story by Jacques Tati(a famous French comic actor and mime) and it is about an illusionist, down on his luck and the girl entranced by his magic. It stars the voices of Jean-Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin and Duncan MacNeil and gets a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5/10 on IMDb. Well worth your time and mine too.
So escape from the heat or whatever and binge on classics and new hits online all weekend long!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 