Yes, it’s the weekend again, and time to discuss the latest additions to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Let’s get started!
HULU
Okay, Hulu does not have a lot of new movies added this week, but it does have City of God, the Brazilian movie of 2002. It is a crime drama, using a lot of real citizens, many of the favelas of Rio, as it’s actors, as well as some pretty impressive professionals. It stars Alexandre Rodriguez, Alice Braga, Phillippe Haagensen, Leandro Fimino Da Hora and Seu Jorge. This film is a treatment based on a true story, about the grip of crime on life in Ciudade Deus, a suburb Rio De Janiero and was nominated for four Academy Awards, and was number 2, in Roger Ebert’s best ten films of 2003. It gets a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.7/10 on IMDb. Also, new on Hulu, is City Island, a 2009 movie starring Andy Garcia. This movie is a comedy/drama about a man and his dysfunctional family, in NYC, on Bronx City Island. It has a wonderful cast, including Julianna Marguilies, Alan Arkin, Dominik Garcia Lorido and Emily Mortimer and gets an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.4/10 on IMDb. Hulu also has new episodes of I Love You America, with Sarah Silverman. Now, I haven’t seen this yet, Silverman is great, as has amazing guests, like Tig Notaro, Al Franken and Roxanne Gay, and the show tries to features typical conservatives, including a visit to a conservative family in Louisiana. And it has poop jokes, of course. And it gets a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 6.1/10 on IMDb. Hulu has added Dragon Blade, a 2015 movie with Jackie Chan. It takes place in 48 B.C., with a corrupt Roman leader, Tiberius, played by Adrien Brody, teams up with a Han Chinese Commander, played by Chan. Okay so that’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s a fun movie, also starring John Cusack, Lin Peng and Choi Siwan, and Jackie Chan is always entertaining. And it gets a 6.1/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Hulu has added Pilgrimage, a 2015 Irish medieval thriller. Yes, you don’t hear that often, medieval thriller, but this movie takes place in the 12th century and concerns a group of monks, conveying their holiest relic to Rome, and that’s dangerous. It stars Tom Holland, Richard Armitage, Stanley Weber and Jon Bernthal and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. And it gets a 5.8/10 on IMDb.
NETFLIX
Netflix has some good additions this week, besides Black Panther and one of them is Sisters, an Australian Netflix original 2018 series. It’s about a group of women who discover they are sisters, when their father, a fertility doctor and pioneer, reveals he donated his sperm, in hundred of fertilizations. It stars Maria Angelico, Lucy Durack, Antonia Prebble and Barry Otto, and is charming and funny. And it gets a 7.5/10 on IMDb. Also, new to Netflix, is The Road to Calvary, a Russian 2017 mini series. Based on the epic novel of the same name by Alexei Tolstoy, this series tells the story of the Bulavina sisters before,during and after World War I. It stars Anna Chipovskaya, Yuliya Snigir, Leonid Bichevin and Svetlana Khodchenkova and it gets a 7/10 on IMDb. If you want something a little more horrific, Netflix has added Stephanie, a 2017 American film. Reccommended by our horror expert, Stephanie takes place in the wake of an apocalypse, to find a little girl abandoned in her home, that is haunted. There is also telekinesis involved and her brother’s dead body is still in the house. So this is way to scary for me, but it stars Anna Torv, Frank Grillo and Shree Crooks. Watch if you dare. And it gets a 5.7/10 on IMDb. Oh, and Netflix has added The Most Assassinated Woman in the World, a 2018 French thriller. This gory movie got rave reviews, and is about a woman, Paula Maxa, who gets murdered every night in the 1930′s Grand Guignol Theatre in Paris. Then , a reporter becomes convinced Jack the Ripper style murders are connected to the theatre’s shows. It stars Anna Mouglalis, Neils Schneider and Andre Wilms, and is directed by Franck Ribiere. It doesn’t have a rating on Rotten Tomatoes yet, but it gets a 5.5/10 on IMDb. Also new on Netflix is the new season of Wentworth, an Australian prison series. It’s about a woman(Danielle Cormack) who is accused and imprisoned for the attempted murder of her husband and what ensues. It also stars Nicole Da Silva, Kris McQuade, Leeanna Walsman and Kate Atkinson and is dark and violent. It gets an 8.7/10 on IMDb. And , finally, Netflix has added the second season of Atypical, the American series about a boy with autism spectrum and his life. It’s a refreshingly funny and open depiction of autism , with depiction of Sam Gardner(by Keir Gilchrist) and his family. Gilchrist has a great supporting cast, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bridgette Lundy-Paine, Michael Rapaport and Amy Okuda. This is an overlooked gem on Netflix and gets an 8.3/10 on IMDb. Well worth watching.
AMAZON
Amazon has some interesting offerings this week, and if you’re missing the Toronto Film Festival this month, catch a darling of last year’s Festival with Luk’ Luk’ l, a 2017 Canadian drama from Wayne Wapeemukwa. This film won for Best Canandian First Feature Film for it’s portrayal of five citizens of the Luk’ Luk’l neighborhood of Vancouver, B.C.. It stars Angel Gates, Joe Buffalo, Ken Harrower, Eric Buurman and Angela Dawson and is a vivid depiction of life on the poorer side of town. And it gets a 7.8/10 on IMDb. Also, new on Amazon, is Porches and Private Eyes, a 2016 American movie. If you haven’t heard of this, you’re not alone, I haven’t myself, but it’s about a circle of women who, after a boy goes missing in their small Southern town, start to hypothesize themselves about what happened and who is responsible. It stars Cotton Yancy, Lynn Forney, Elise McMurry and Marlene Cupit and is directed by Travis Mills. And it gets a 6.2/10 on IMDb. And Amazon has added a classic that you see too little of these days, Hope and Glory, the 1987 tale of World War II, in London. This is a different view of war, though, that of a seven year old boy, who finds the bombings of London thrilling as well as scary, and who is enthralled with all the excitement. It stars Sebastian Rice-Edwards, Sarah Miles, David Hayman, Susan Wooldridge, Geraldine Muir and Anne Leon and was nominated for five Academy Awards and won one for Wooldridge, for Best Supporting Actress. It gets a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.4/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Amazon has added The Last Keepers, a 2013 fantasy drama. It’s about a teenage girl, who meets an unusual boy, and has a wonderful cast, with Virginia Madsen, Aiden Quinn, Olympia Dukakis and Zosia Mamet. And it gets a 5.4/10 on IMDb.
So sit back and relax this weekend and enjoy a binge of movies and TV series online on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 