Yes, it’s the weekend again, and time to review the new movies and television coming to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. So lets get started!
HULU
There are some great new movies available on Hulu this week, the first of which is RBG, the 2018 biographical doc about that very popular supreme court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Directed and produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who were given unprecedented entree into Ginsburg’s life, RBG covers a lot, from her childhood in Brooklyn, study at Cornell and fighting as a lawyer against sex-based bias in court. At eighty-five, Ginsburg is an amazing woman, and this movie does her justice (no pun intended), getting a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. And Common Sense Media calls it ‘riveting, surprisingly touching cinema.” Also, new to Hulu, especially for Halloween, is Into the Dark: The Body. Into the Dark is a series, that has an issue each month, appropriate to that month, but all horror. The Body is the October episode, and stars Tom Bateman, Rebecca Rittenhouse and Dermot Mulroney, and features a hitman who likes to dress up for his work. Now, of course, this was too scary for me, I didn’t make it through the whole trailer, but the producers, Paul Davis and Paul Fischer, say it was inspired by Get Out and An American Werewolf in London. And it gets a 6/10 on IMDb. Hulu has also added Cinderella Man, the 2008 movie starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellwegger. This is about heavyweight champ James J. Braddock, of the Depression Era, and the challenges of his fighting career, quitting after he broke his hand. This movie also stars Paul Giamatti, Paddy Considine and Ron Canada and was directed by Ron Howard. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, including best Supporting Actor for Paul Giamatti. And it gets an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8/10 on IMDb. Hulu also has Dheepan, the 2015 French crime drama. the story of three Tamil refugees, who come to France in search of a new life, only to be confronted by a harrowing drug war, in their housing project. It stars Anthonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieswasi Srinavasan and Claudine Vinasithamby, and was directed by Jacques Audillard. Dheepan won the coveted Palme D’Or in Cannes, and gets an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, Hulu has The Gospel According to Andre, a 2017 documentary about fashion journalist, Andre Leon Talley. Directed by Kate Novack, this movie covers Talley‘s rise, as a black gay man in the South, to Paris and New York fashion shows, to become editor of Vogue. And it gets an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.
NETFLIX
Netflix, too, has some big titles to offer this week, including Chappaquiddick, starring Jason Clarke. Clarke stars as Ted Kennedy, of course, in a movie exploring his experience in the car accident, in 1969, that killed Mary Jo Kopechne. It also stars Kate Mara as Kopechne, Bruce Dern, Ed Helms, Jim Gaffigan and Olivia Thirlby, and is directed by John Curran. It gets an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.5/10 on IMDb. Also, new to Netflix, is Private Life, a 2018 comedy drama starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn. Hahn and Giamatti star as a couple in their 40’s, trying to conceive and have a child. It also stars Kayli Carter, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lunch and Desmin Borge and was directed by Tamara Jenkins. It comes to Netflix directly after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, and gets a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m watching. Netflix has also added The Black Prince, a historical drama from 2017. Directed by Ravi Kaz, this movie is about the last maharajah of the Sikh Empire, Duleep Singh and Queen Victoria. It stars Satinder Sartaz(Singh) and Amanda Root(Victoria) as well as Madhurima Tuli, Shabana Azmi, Ameet Chani and Jason Flemyng and gets a 7/10 on IMDb. A very interesting and tragic story. Netflix also has the 2016 Scottish comedy series, Still Game. It’s about a pair of pensioners whose outrageous antics still get them in trouble in Glasgow. It stars Ford Kiernan, Greg Hemphill, Jane McCarry and Sanjiv Kohli, has won numerous BAFTA Awards, and The Daily Record calls it one of the “greatest sitcoms ever.” And it gets an astounding 9/10 on IMDb. And, finally, if you must have horror, Netflix has added Malevolent, a silly 2018 horror flick. About a brother-sister duo, who decide to pose as real life ghost busters, to earn some cash, stars Florence Pugh, Ben Lloyd Hughes and Celia Imrie. Obviously the pair bite off ore than they can chew, but there are some scary moments in there, so if you’re desperate for thrills, this might do you. But it gets a 4.9/10 on IMDb.
AMAZON
There are some exciting new additions on Amazon, too, including Walk on Water, the 2004 Israeli movie. Starring Lior Ashkenazi, Knut Berger and Caroline Berger, this movie is about a homophobic Israeli agent, who is tasked with killing an ex Nazi, but befriends his grandchildren and because of that, has a crisis of faith. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, won several Israeli Academy Awards, and gets an 8.7/10 on IMDb. well worth seeing. Also, new to Amazon, is Age of Consent, a 1969 comedy drama with James Mason and Helen Mirren. In this movie, an aging artist(Mason) goes back to Australia to find his edge, and meets a very young Helen Mirren(her first major role, in fact), and the island community reacts accordingly. It also stars Jack MacGowan, Neva Carr Glyn and Clarissa Kaye and was the second to last film MIchael Powell directed. Originally, this film didn’t go over well in the States, but now it gets a 100%(!) on Rotten Tomatoes. Amazon also has Harry Brown, the 2009 Michael Caine crime drama. In this movie, Caine plays a former Royal Marine, turned vigilante, after his best friend is killed. Now this is not my favorite kind of movie, with lurid violence, but it has MIchael Caine, and a good cast otherwise, including Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed Miles and Klariza Clayton. It gets a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2/10 on IMDb. But be prepared for blood. And finally, Amazon offers Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the 1979 production! With an incredible cast, including Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy, this remake is set in ’70’s San Francisco, where two health department employees investigate some strange symptoms in some citizens. Pauline Kael said this film “may be the best film of its kind ever made”, and Variety said of it ” This new version of Don Siegel’s 1956 cult classic not only matches the original in horrific tone and effect, but exceeds it in both conception and execution.” And it gets a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (!) and a 7.4/10 on IMDb. And if you want more ’70’s scares, Amazon has The Stepford Wives, starring Katharine Ross,from 1975. Adapted from Ira Levin‘s hit novel, it’s about a young couple newly moved to a suburb, where the women are surprisingly perfect house wives. And things get creepier from there. It also stars Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Tina Louise and Patrick O’Neal and is terribly prescient right now. And it gets a 6.9/10 on IMDb.
So sit back and binge, this weekend on wonderful movies and TV shows, for less, on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 