Yes, there are a lot of new shows to stream this week, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, so lets get right to it!
HULU
There are some exciting new additions on Hulu this week, and The First leads the pack. The First is a ensemble series about the first trip to Mars, and stars Sean Penn, Natasha McElhone, LisaGay Hamilton, Hannah Ware and Keiko Agena. Written by Beau Willimon (House of Cards), this series has a great pedigree and wonderful cast- it’s early yet for ratings, but it gets a 6/10 on IMDb. I will be watching. Hulu has also added Stronger, the 2017 movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Stronger is about Jeff Baumann, who was badly wounded in the Boston Marathon bombing, losing both his legs, and his incredible efforts to rehabilitate himself. It also stars Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, Clancy Brown and Frankie Shaw and is directed by David Gordon Green. And it gets a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7/10 on IMDb.And if you want horror, Hulu has The Housemaid, a 2016 Vietnamese movie. It takes place during the first Indochinese war, in 1953, and features the story of Linh, an orphan girl who goes to work as a housemaid on a haunted rubber plantation. It stars Nhung Kate as Linh, Jean-Michel Richaud, Kim Xuan, Rosie Fellner and Phi Phung, and Nhung Kate won a Special Jury Prize for Acting for her portrayal, in the Los Angeles Film Festival. And it gets a 5.8/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Hulu has Cesar Chavez, the 2014 biographical film about the legendary activist. This movie is about his early organizing of the United Farm Workers and stars Michael Pena in the title role, and also features John Malkovich, America Ferrara, Rosario Dawson, Yancey Arias and Gael Garcia Bernal. With such an amazing cast, I can’t imagine why I haven’t seen this yet, except that it’s been hard to find. Now I can remedy that. And it gets a 6.4/10 on IMDb.
NETFLIX
Netflix, too, has added some interesting stuff this week, like The Land of Steady Habits, a Netflix original movie. This comedy has an amazing cast, with Ben Mendelsohn, Edie Falco, Connie Britton, Charlie Tahan and Thomas Mann, and is about a man who leaves his job and family for a happier life…. he hopes. It’s directed by Nicole Holofcener, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and gets an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. Definitely worth checking out. Netflix also has The Resistance Banker, a 2018 Dutch film I’m excited about. It’s about a banker in occupied Amsterdam, who decides to create a fund for the resistance, using his banking skills. It stars Barry Atsma, Jacob Derwig, Fockeline Ouwerkerk and Raymond Thiry and is based on a true story. It was nominated for 11 Golden Calves, at the Netherlands Film Festival and selected for the Dutch entry for the Foreign Language Film for the 91st Academy Awards. And it gets a 7/10 on IMDb. Also new on Netflix is The Rise of the Phoenixes, a Chinese historical drama about ancient China. It takes place in the Three Kingdoms period, and has a lot of great Mandarin film stars, including Chen Kun, Ni Ni, Xhao Lixin, Ni Dahong and Bai Jinting. And it gets a stunning 9.3/10 on IMDb. Netflix also has On My Skin a true crime drama, direct from the Venice Film Festival. It’s about a building surveyor’s mysterious death in prison, after his arrest, in Rome, in 2009. It stars Alessandro Borghi, Jasmine Trinca and Milvia Marigliano and it gets a 7.3/10 on IMDb. And, finally, new on Netflix, is the new season of Ingobernable, the political drama series about the fictional First Lady of Mexico. It stars Kate del Castillo, Erendirra Ibarra, Erik Hayser and Alberto Guerra, and a suspenseful look at the intrigues involved, at least in fiction, in being First Lady. And it gets a 7.3/10 on IMDb.
AMAZON
Amazon’s most exciting addition this week is Forever, their new comedy series starring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen. About a married couple in California, who may or may not be in a rut, Forever also stars Catherine Keener, Noah Robbins, Kim Whitley, Peter Weller and Julia Ormond(!). The N.Y. Times calls it “a thrilling story of boring love” and there are surprises and twists in the tale, but I don’t want to give anything away. And it gets a 6.8/10 on IMDb. Oh, and Amazon has also added On Chesil Beach, the 2017 movie starring Saorise Ronan! Based on a book by Iam McEwan (that was nominated for the Booker prize), this movie also stars Billy Howle, Ann-Marie Duff and Emily Watson, in a tale of a marriage in the 60’s,taking place among the sexual revolution and changing attitudes. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year and gets a 6.3/10 on IMDb. Also new on Amazon is High Fantasy, a 2017 South African comedy. Directed by Jenna Bass, it’s about a group of friends, who’ve gone camping only to wake up to find they have switched bodies. It stars Qondiswa James, Nala Khumalo and Francesca Varrie Michel and gets a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, Amazon offers Cargo, a 2009 scifi thriller. This Swiss production takes place in the year 2267,when Earth is no longer habitable, and people are forced to live on space stations orbiting Earth, or migrate to other planets. It stars Anna Katherina Schwabroh, Martin Rapold and Regula Grauwiller and gets a 6.2/10 on IMDb. I’m definitely tuning in.
So sit back, relax and binge all weekend, on great movies, and television shows on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 