Yes, it’s the weekend, again, and time to review the new movies and television shows added online. Lets get started!
HULU
Okay, so Hulu hasn’t added a lot of new stuff this week, and won’t until Monday, October 1. That’s okay, because Hulu has added a few new movies worth seeing. One of them is Gemini, a 2017 thriller. In this movie, starring Zoe Kravitz and Lola Kirke, a Hollywood starlet is murdered, and her personal assistant is the number one suspect. Also starring John Cho, Michelle Forbes, Greta Lee and Rikki Lake, premiered at SXSW, and the New York Times called it “a pleasurably drifty, low-wattage mystery.” And it gets a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hulu has also added Suburbicon, the 2017 Matt Damon movie. Directed by George Clooney, Suburbicon is a black comedy about a 1959 typical American neighborhood gone hysterical, when a new African American family moves in. This movie has a great cast, with Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac and Noah Jupe, and was developed with the help of the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan). It was a box office dud, but gets a 5.6/10 on IMDb. I’m watching. Also, newly added on Hulu, is Heist, the 2015 De Niro movie. Heist, yes, is a movie about a robbery, planned by a man needing money for his sick daughter, gone wrong, Now, I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone besides a Robert De Niro groupie, because it gets a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has a good cast, besides De Niro, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kate Bosworth, Morris Chestnut and D.B. Sweeney, but if you need your fix of blood and guts, with some mafia mixed in, this may be your answer. And, finally, Hulu has added Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much, a 2017 documentary. Directed by C.J. Wallis, The Perfect Bid is about a contestant on The Price is Right, a mathemetician from Texas, Ted Slauson. He memorized thousands of prices on goods, so as to win big on the show, only to have their rules changed in his honor. This movie won Best Documentary at the Orlando Film Festival, and it’s a funny look at an amazing man’s attempt to win it all on the classic games show. And it gets a 7.1/10 on IMDb.
NETFLIX
Netflix has added some big movies this week, the biggest being A Wrinkle in Time, from the classic novel by Madeleine L’Engle. Directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon, this movie is a sci-fi fantasy about a girl who goes to great lengths to find her missing father, and gets help from three astral travelers along the way. The New York Times calls is “gentle, thrilling and didactic, and I highly recommend it, despite it’s getting lower ratings on IMDb, at 4.3/10. Netflix also has In Darkness, a 2018 movie starring Natalie Dormer. About a blind woman who witnesses her neighbor’s murder, hearing a struggle, which pulls her into danger. It also stars Emily Ratajkowski, Ed Skrein, Joely Richardson and Jan Bijvoet, and is directed by Anthony Byrne and is written by Dormer and Byrne. A smart thriller, In Darkness gets a 5.7/10 on IMDb. Also new to Netflix is Hold The Dark, starring Jeffrey Wright. Wright plays a naturalist, invited to Alaska, to investigate the disappearance of three children, presumably killed by wolves.Needless to say, it isn’t that simple, and things get crazy pretty quickly. The movie also stars Alexander Skarsgard, Riley Keough and Julian Black Antelope and it gets a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. Animal World has also been added on Netflix, a Chinese movie with…..Michael Douglas! It stars Lin Yifeng as a youth who decides to compete in a rock-paper-scissors tournament, only to confront an evil genius! Michael Douglas plays an enigmatic American holding the tournament, and Zhou Dongyu and Cao Bingkun also star. It may sounds a little silly, but it gets a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.4/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Netflix offers Two Catalonias, the 2018 documentary about the controversy over Catalonia, in Spain. Directed by Alvaro Longeria and Gerardo Olivares, this movie is about last year’s election for Catalan independence, featuring over a hundred interviews with people from both sides. It’s an exciting and eye-opening movie and gets a 5.2/10 on IMDb.
AMAZON
Amazon, too, has some interesting additions this week, including Shakespeare‘s King Lear, the two-part movie starring Anthony Hopkins.Taking place in a fictional present, King Lear also stars Emma Thompson, Emily Watson, Florence Pugh and Jim Broadbent, to name just a few of the amazing actors in this movie. About a famous King dividing his kingdom among his three faithful, or not so faithful, daughters, it is directed by Richard Eyre, and gets an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Also new on Amazon is Howard’s End, another classic, this time from E.M. Forster’s classic of the same name. This is Starz‘ wonderful original production, from 2018, and stars Hayley Atwell and Phillipa Coulthard as the two Schlegel sisters in turn-of-the-century England. It also stars Matthew Macfadyen, Tracy Ullman and Julia Ormand, and has gotten rave reviews thus far. It gets an 89%(!) on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.3/10 on IMDb. Amazon has also newly added Hannah, the 2018 drama starring Charlotte Rampling. Catching a woman in the wake of her husband’s arrest, and apparently shocking crime, Hannah is an austerely beautiful movie. It also stars Andre Wilms, Stephanie Van Vyve and Luca Avallone and was directed by Andrea Pallaoro. Charlotte Rampling won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role here and the movie gets a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, Amazon has Robot and Frank, starring Frank Langella. Robot and Frank is about an ex burglar(Langella) whose son gifts him a robot, in a near future world, which may come in handy for future crimes. It also stars Susan Sarandon, Peter Sarsgard, James Marsden and Liv Tyler. Langella won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize for his role, at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and the movie gets an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So sit back, relax and binge this weekend on the classic movies, old and new, available online on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 