Well, finally it’s Saturday, and time to review the best additions to the big three streamers online, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. So let’s get started!
HULU
Hulu has added one really important new movie, Active Measures, a 2018 documentary about the Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. directed by Jack Bryan, this movie meticulously measures where Russia meddled in the election, connections to Paul Manafort and Donald Trump, as well. This is the movie that Vanity Fair queried “Is This the Documentary That Can Take Down Trump?” about and while that remains to be seen, this is an important movie for every American to watch. And it gets a 7.4/10 on IMDb and an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. And if that’s not scary enough for you, Hulu has added a horror movie called Marrowbone, a 2017 movie from Spain. It features a family whose mother dies, and whose kids later hide her death from the authorities, only to begin witnessing strange occurences in the family home, Marrowbone. This movie stars George McKay, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Mia Goth and Tom Fisher and was directed by Sergio G. Sanchez. And it gets a 6.6/10 on IMDb. Also, newly added to Hulu is Midnighters a 2017 thriller. This is a low-budget indie film, from director Julius Ramsay(The Walking Dead), about a couple on a drive on New Years Eve, who unintentionally hit a man, and don’t report it. It stars Alexandra Essoe, Perla Haney-Jardine,Dylan McTee ,Ward Horton and Andrew Rothenber. Brian Tallerico, of rogerebert.com, calls it a “smart thriller” and it gets an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, new on Hulu, is Searching for Sugar Man, the classic 2012 documentary about a 70’s rock icon, Rodriguez. Rodriguez maybe unheard of here, but in South Africa,he was famous, so Malik Bendjeloull,director and writer, and other Cape Town fans, go looking for him. This film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as other awards, and gets an 8.2/10 on IMDb and a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, Hulu has added Adaptation, the 2002 Spike Jonze comedy. This movie is based Charlie Kaufman‘s (writer of this movie) struggle to adapt The Orchid Thief, a nonfiction bestseller, and stars Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper. Roger Ebert, gaveit a perfect four stars and said the film “leaves you breathless with curiosity, as it teases with the directions it might take. To watch the film is to be actively involved in the challenge of its creation itself ,” and it won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Chris Cooper. It gets a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7/10 on IMDb. Definitely worth watching.
NETFLIX
Okay, the HUGE addition to Netflix this month is Black Panther! It stars Michael P. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Daniel Guira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright and Forest Whittaker, in the first Marvel treatment of the black hero comics series, Black Panther. So stay tuned. Available now on Netflix is The Law of Thermodynamics, a romantic comedy from Spain. It stars Vito Sanz, Berta Vasquez, Chino Darin and Vicky Luengo in a tale of a kind of neurotic physicist, who tries to apply the laws of physics to everything, including his love life. Variety calls it a” cute, quick-witted movie”, and if you likes rom-com’s, this may be for you. And it gets a 5.7/10 on IMDb. Also, new to Netflix, is Cathedral of the Sea, a historical drama series from, again, Spain. This takes place in 14th century Barcelona, during the Spanish Inquisition, and tells the story of a serf, Arnau Estanyol, played by Aitor Luna, and his rise out of poverty, to build a church, Santa María de la Mar. It also stars Daniel Grao, Michelle Jenner, Oscar Hernandez and Lucia Diez , is based on an acclaimed historical novel of the same name and gets a 6.6/10 on IMDb. I will certainly be watching. Netflix has also added the Yeh Meri Family, a series from India. It’s a nostalgic look at a preteen boy’s family life in 1998 Jaipur, and it stars Vishesh Bansal, Mona Signh and Akarsh Kurana. The atmosphere of the India here is wonderful, and the actors are great. And it gets a 9.7/10 on IMDb! And, finally, Netflix has added A Leaf of Faith, a 2018 documentary on the interesting but controversial drug Kratom. Directed by Chris Bell (BIGGER,FASTER, STRONGER), this movie looks into how Kratom is said to be a pain killer, but non-addictive. It is very interesting and full of facts, and gets an 8.4/10 on IMDb.
AMAZON
Amazon hasn’t added any big budget new films this week, but they have added some newer movies and classics that should be seen. One of those is A Good Woman, starring Helen Hunt, from 2004. Based on Oscar Wildes’s Lady Windemere’s Fan, it also stars Scarlett Johansson, Milena Vukotic and Tom Wilkinson. A Good Woman takes place in the 1930′s, instead of the 1890′s, and is said to be much altered from Oscar Wilde’s original, but it has an extraordinary cast, and I, for one, will have to see for myself. It gets a 6.5/10 on IMDb. If you want a proven classic, Amazon has also added Chinatown, the 1974 mystery starring Jack Nicholson. From a screenplay by Robert Towne and directed by Roman Polanski, this movie has amazing acting, cinematography and enough twists to make your head spin a little. It also stars Faye Dunaway, John Huston, John Hillerman and Diane Ladd. It won multiple awards, including an Academy Award for Robert Towne, and gets an 8.2/10 on IMDb and a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Another classic recently added to Amazon‘s list is There Will Be Blood, the 2007 movie starring Daniel Day Lewis. Adapted from Upton Sinclair’s Oil! novel, it’s the tale of a ruthlessly ambitious oil man (Lewis) in the early days of the California oil boom. It also stars Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor and Ciaran Hinds and was superbly directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, and won 2, including a Best Actor Oscar for Lewis and won many others, as well. And it gets a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Amazon has added A Field in England, a 2012 thriller from England. It’s set during the English Civil War, in 1648, when a group of soldiers escape battle, only to be set upon by a pair of alchemists. It stars Julian Barratt, Peter Ferdinando and Richard Glover. And it gets a 6.3/10 on IMDb and an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So sit back and binge for your holiday weekend, and enjoy classics new and old, online!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 