Movies and TV to Stream, Jan. 26

Yes, it’s the weekend, again, and time to discuss the new movies and television shows coming to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. So let’s get right to it!

HULU

Okay, Hulu hasn’t added a lot this week, but they have added The Pagan King, a Latvian movie from 2018. It’s a historical drama about a famous man, Namejs, of Semigallia, a region of Latvia, and his struggle to become and remain king. It stars Edvin Endre as Namjs, and also stars James Bloor, Aistė Diržiūtė, Ivo Martinsons, Andris Keišs and Artūrs Skrastiņš and the movie was directed by Aigars Grauba. And it gets a 6.5/10 on IMDb. Hulu has also added Walking with the Enemy, a 2013 American action/drama. This movie tells the tale of a young man, played by Jonas Armstrong, in Budapest, near the end of World War II, who poses as an SS officer, to find out what happened to his family and to save fellow Jews. It also stars Ben Kingsly, Simon Kuntz, Hannah Tointon and Simon Dutton. it gets a 6.3/10 on IMDb, but I’m watching because Ben Kingsley is in it! And, since you always need a a Horror movie, Hulu has added The Vatican Tapes, from 2015. this is an American production, from director Mark Neveldine, about yet another tale of possession and exorcism, this one involving a young woman played by Olivia Taylor Dudley. It also stars Kathleen Robertson, Michael Pena, Djimon Hounsou and Dougray Scott. Now, keep in mind, I’m not actually recommending this movie, it gets an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes! But if you need your fix of terrifying flicks, this one might do, in a pinch. And, finally, Hulu has added The German Doctor, an Argentinean thriller from 2013. It takes place in a mountain town in Argentina, in 1960,when a mysterious German doctor moves in, starts doing experiments. A woman investigates, when she becomes suspicious, and finds he is Joseph Mengele, a notorious Nazi, responsible for thousands of deaths. It stars Àlex Brendemühl, Florencia Bado, Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti, Elena Roger, and Guillermo Pfening and was directed, produced, and written by Lucía Puenzo. It was considered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, and entered as by Argentina in the Foreign Film category at the Academy Awards, for 2013. It’s a tense, intriguing and scary movie, with great performances, especially by the female protagonist, Florencia Bado. And it gets a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.8/10 on IMDb. I’m definitely watching.

NETFLIX

The most exciting addition on Netflix this week has to be Black Earth Rising, a 2018 series produced by Netflix and BBC Two. It stars Michaela Cole as a woman, orphaned by the Rwanda genocide, and a legal investigator, who starts to unravel the mystery surrounding her past and her adoptive mother’s part in it, and the West’s involvement in African politics, as well. This series has an amazing cast, too, with John Goodman, Harriet Walter,Tyrone Huggins, Lucian Msamati, Julian Glover and Danny Sapani and it’s written and directed by Hugo Blick. It’s an intriguing political thriller, and it gets an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix has also added Kingdom, a South Korean historical series. Taking place during the mysterious medieval Joseon period, Kingdom tells the tale of a prince who endeavors to solve the mystery of a plague attacking his country, which may involve zombies. It stars Ju Ji-hoon as the prince, and also features Ryu Seung-ryong, Bae Doo-na, Kim Sang-ho, Heo Joon-ho and Jeon Seok-ho. I could find no star ratings online for this show, but it has horrible monsters, flesh eating zombies and sword fights, too. I’m tuning in. Another new movie on Netflix is Mi Obra Maestra, a Argentinean movie from 2018. It stars Guillermo Francella and Luis Brandoni as two old friends, one a painter(Brandoni), the other an art dealer(Francella). Francella tries to bring the painter new publicity and business, which of course, is not appreciated. The movie also stars Maria Soldi, Raul Arevalo and Julio Marticorena and was co-directed by Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn. The Hollywood Reporter says of Brandoni’s and Francella’s performances are “glorious characterizations of ace veteran actors” and Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 86%. Definitely worth watching. If you need Horror on Netflix, give Animas a try. It’s a 2018 Spanish horror film about a couple of teens, played by Clare Durant and Ivan Pellicer, one of whom starts to have visions, and the deaths that begin to occur around them. It also stars Ángela Molina, Louis Bermejo, Liz Lobato and Chacha Huang. It premiered at Sitges Film Festival in Spain on October 4, 2018 and it gets a 5.1/10 on IMDb. And finally, Netflix has Innocent(Masum), a 2017 Turkish mystery series from 2017.This series is about the chief of homicide and his wife, who move to a quiet mountain village, only to find a murder mystery, of course. This series stars some great Turkish actors, including Haluk Bilginer, Nur Sürer and Ali Atay, plus Okan Yalabik,Serkan Keskin,Tülin Özen and Bartu Küçükçaglayan. This show is a production of the new Turkish streaming service, Blutv,and the series gets a stunning 8.9/10 on IMDb.

AMAZON

Amazon has added Four More Shots, Please!, an Amazon original series, to it’s lineup this week. This is a series about four young women, in Mumbai, trying to deal with modern issues- relationships, career, sex-in a country with strong traditional values. It stars Sayani Gupta, Maanvi Gagroo, Kirti Kulhari, Gurbani, Prateik and Lisa Ray and premiered simultaneously in the U.S. and India yesterday. As a result, there is very little information online about this show.
But IMDb give it a 5.1/10 and it has four strong female leads, so I’m tuning in. Also, new on Amazon, is Fahrenheit 11/9, Michael Moore‘s 2018 humorous look at the Trump era. It covers how w got to where we are now, in politics in America, mentioning the Flint water crisis, the Stoneman Douglas High School , and other recent crises, not just Trump. Rex Reed said of it, “it might not be Michael Moore‘s most cogent film, but Fahrenheit 11/9 is the inspired work of a true American purist, a cautionary warning about how to end a dictatorship and return America to the dream of patriotism.” And it gets an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, Amazon has The Death of Stalin, a 2017 satire from director Anthony Ianucci. This is a gem of a black comedy starring legions of great comedy actors, with Steve Buscemi,Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Anrea Riseborough and Jeffrey Tambor, and based on the French graphic novel, Le Mort de Staline. It considers the chaos that took place after the death of Stalin, and the power struggle that ensued. One caveat, this is on Showtime, on Amazon, but you get a seven day free-trial, easily enough time to catch this and a few other great shows only on Showtime, like Escape from Dannemora, with Patricia Arquette, and Black Monday, with Don Cheadle. But The Death of Stalin alone is a wonderful reward for your trial, and gets a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2/10 on IMDb.

So sit back and veg out, with classics, new and old, on Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu! Enjoy!