Yes, it’s time to talk about the new movies and TV shows added to the line-ups of Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. So lets get started!
HULU
Hulu has added some good movies this week, including All Square, a 2018 comedy from director John Hyams. It stars Michael Kelly as a broke bookie, trying to recoup money owed to him, who seizes an opportunity by taking bets on youth baseball, using his ex-girlfriend’s son for inside information. The movie also stars Josh Lucas, Jesse Ray Sheps, Harris Yulin and Pamela Adlon and premiered at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. And it gets a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hulu has also added Whitney, the 2018 documentary about Whitney Houston. Directed by Oscar winner Kevin MacDonald(Last King of Scotland, Touching The Void), this movie won lots of buzz last year, and has some pretty shocking claims about the abuse in Houston’s life, but it’s not sensationalized, it just presents it’s heartbreaking story. There is a lot of never-before -seen footage here, and a lot of great music, but there’s some sad truths shared as well. Wesley Morris of the New York Times said called it ” too funereal to be a party, too sad, strange and dismaying to cheer. Yet, in its grim, guilt-inducing way, the film works, even on the occasions when it’s working against itself. ” And Whitney gets an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2/10 on IMDb. Hulu has also added The Forest of the Lost Souls, a 2017 horror movie from director José Pedro Lopes. Two suicidal people meet in a fictional forest between Spain and Portugal, planning to end their life, only to find one of them is a killer. It star Daniela Love, Jorge Mota, Mafalda Banquart, Ligia Roque and Lília Lopes and is beautifully filed in black and white. But it’s a slasher movie, despite it’s beauty, Variety says it’s “a nasty and impressive little thriller that goes about its business with ruthless cinematic efficiency.” And it gets a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m not watching that one. And, starting Feb. 17, tomorrow, Hulu will have The Party, a 2017 dark comedy starring Kristen Scott Thomas and Patricia Clarkson. Scott Thomas stars as a politician, hosting a small party, of close friends, only to have it go terribly wrong(of course). It’s got a wonderful cast, with Cherry Jones, Timothy Spall, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy and Bruno Ganz, and it’s written and directed by Sally Potter. It may not be a perfect movie, but the cast packs a punch you don’t want to miss. And The Party gets an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes.And, don’t forget, February 18th, Monday, The Sisters Brothers comes to Hulu, according to the Hulu Blog. This violent western about two assasin brothers, played by John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix, directed by Jacques Audiard, was an unexpected hit with critics and audiences alike, and gets an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. More on Monday.
NETFLIX
The biggest add on Netflix this week is The Umbrella Academy, a 10 part Netflix original series. It’s based on a comic book of the same name, and focuses on a disparate family of children, who all have the same father and also have superpowers. Oh, and they have to save the world. It stars Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman, David Castañeda, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton and
Colm Feore as the father. It has wonderful special effects, cool villains and amazing sword fights. And it gets an 8.7/10 on IMDb. And, if you’re tired of all the sappy romances aired for Valentine’s Day, Netflix has The Breaker Uppers, a 2018 comedy from New Zealand. It stars Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek as a pair of friends who run a breaking up service, i.e., they break up with your significant other for you and, of course, things don’t always go as planned. It also stars James Rolleston, Celia Pacquola, Ana Scotney and Cohen Holloway and Sami and Beek also wrote and directed this film. And it gets an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix also has Period.End of Sentence, the Indian documentary about, well, periods. But in India, women’s menstrual cycles are even more taboo than in the States, and poor women often had no choice, but to stay at home during that time. This Academy-Award nominated short covers how people are trying to change that situation, with a sanitary pad vending machine, invented by Arunachalam Muruganantham. It is directed by Rayka Zehtabchi and it won numerous awards, including the Audience Award at the AFI Fest. It’s a thrilling film and it gets a 7.3/10 on IMDb. Netflix also offers Yucatan, a 2018 Spanish comedy. This movie takes place on a cruise ship, from Spain to Mexico, where a number of con en and women, try to fleece a baker out of at least some of his 160 million euros he won in the lottery. It stars Luis Tosar, Rodrigo de la Serna, Joan Pera, Stephanie Cayo, Gloria Muñoz andAlicia Fernández and is directed by Daniel Monzón. It’s a fun movie, with lots of swindling taking place, and it finished number 1 in Spain on it’s opening weekend. And it gets a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.3/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Netflix has Flavorful Origins, a 2019 Netflix original from China. This series is all about Chaoshan food, and are in Mandarin, so turn on your subtitles! And it gets a 6.9/10 on IMDb. Oh, and get ready to order some Chinese food afterward, because this show will make you hungry!
AMAZON
Amazon’s most notable addition this week has to be Lorena, the four part series about 90‘s news sensation Lorena Bobbitt. This series is produced by Jordan Peele and tells a much different tale of the woman who castrated her husband , than the lurid one told in the 1993, including the lengthy record of abuse and sexual assault the woman endured at the hands of her husband. The series is narrated by Peele and directed by Joshua Rofé. The most alarming thing about this series is how much the male-dominated press of the 1990′s omitted in their tale of the crime, and it gets a 6/10 on IMDb. Everyone should see it. Also, new on Amazon, is The Third Murder, by master director Hirokazu Kore-eda(After the Storm). This 2018 drama stars Masaharu Fukuyama as an veteran attorney, defending a man who freely admits a murder, but as the case goes on, leaves the lawyer wondering what really happened. It also stars Suzu Hirose,Kōji Yakusho, Yuki Saito,Kōtarō Yoshida and Shinnosuke Mitsushima and won numerous awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Suzu Hirose. And it gets an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m definitely watching. And, finally Amazon has added Papillon, the 2018 version of Henri Charrière‘s autobiography of the same name. It tells the tale of Charrière‘s time served at Devil’s Island, the notorious French penal colony, in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana. Charrière is played by Charlie Hunnam and his sidekick, Louis Dega, is played by Rami Malek. The cast also includes Roland Møller, Tommy Flanagan and Eve Hewson, and the film is directed by Michael Noer. But this version was not terribly popular, Rotten Tomatoes gives it just a 52%, I would recommend getting a seven day trial of Starz on Amazon Prime, and watch the 1973 Papillon, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. It gets a 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8/10 on IMDb.
So relax indoors this holiday weekend and enjoy classics, new and old, on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. Enjoy!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 