Yes, it’s the weekend again, and time to review the new movies and TV shows added to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. There’s some good stuff out there, so let’s get right to it!
HULU
Hulu has added a lot of horror this week, including the newest episode from their Into the Dark series, All That We Destroy. This is the tale of a mother played by Samantha Mathis, who happens to have perfected cloning, and so, develops clone after clone for her psychopathic son,played by Israel Broussard, to murder, or hopefully not murder. The clone is played by Aurora Perrineau. The cast also includes Dora Madison and Frank Whaley. I would not recommend this movie, the amount of violence against women is just astounding, but it also has not gotten good reviews, it got 1&½ stars from rogerebert.com’s Brian Tallerico, he also adds “it’s not scary or thrilling in the slightest.” There are no other ratings available, as it was just released. Hulu has also added The Clovehitch Killer, a 2018 horror movie starring Dylan McDermott. In this, a boy, played by Charlie Plummer, begins to suspect his father(McDermott) of the unsolved murders occurring in his Kentucky hometown. The movie also stars Samantha Mathis(yes the same one as above), Madisen Beatty, Breanna Sherman and Lance Chantiles-Wertz and it’s directed by Duncan Skiles. Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times says “McDermott is admirably unsettling, and Luke McCoubrey’s artfully sterile cinematography adds an air of suffocating wholesomeness that can make you squirm.” And it gets a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.5/10 on IMDb. Don’t watch it alone. Also new on Hulu is Welcome to Mercy, a 2018 horror thriller. This one is a tale of a young mother(Kristen Ruhlin) who is stricken with a stigmata, and is sent to a remote convent. Her best friend and aide in this situation is played by Lily Newmark, and the cast is rounded out by Andrey Yahimovich, Ieva Seglina and Sophia Massa. The movie gets a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes and Simon Abrams of rogerebert.com gives it 3&½ stars(out of four)and says “A rare horror movie whose creators seriously represent both sides of a dilemma, and is therefore more mature than it seems at first glance.” And, finally, Hulu offers Painkillers, a 2018 horror movie.In this film a father(played by Adam Huss) suffers incredible physical pain and guilt, after his son(Tate Birchmore) is killed in a car crash where Clarke was driving and finds his only relief from that pain is brought by the taste of human blood. The movie also stars Madeline Zima, Debra Wilson, Grant Bowler, Mischa Barton and Maria Olson. And it gets an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
NETFLIX
Netflix has some good additions this week, including Dead to Me, a 2019 dark comedy series starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. the pair play two suburban women who meet in a grief support group. The series also stars James Marsden, Suzzy Nakamura, Diana Maria Riva,Max Jenkins, Sam McCarthy,Luke Roessler and Ed Asner(!) and it’s executive producers include Will Farrell and Adam McKay. And it gets am amazing 8.5/10 on IMDb. Netflix had also added Tuca & Bertie, an 2019 adult animated comedy series. In this one, Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong star as two thirty something bird women who are best friends, in a fantastical universe with anthropomorphic characters and caterpillar subways. It also stars Steven Yuan, Nicole Byer, Reggie Watt, John Early and Lisa Hanawalt, who is also the producer and creator of Bojack Horseman. But this is not Bojack Horseman, it’s a new and different series that’s more chaotic and definitely pro-woman. The Daily Beast says “Tuca & Bertie’ Is Netflix’s next great animated series,” and It gets a 6.9/10 on IMDb. I’m definitely watching. Also, new on Netflix is Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile, a 2019 thriller. This is yet another retelling of Ted Bundy and his murder spree, this one told from the point of view of his long time girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, played by Lily Collins and based loosely on Kloepfer’s memoir. Ted Bundy is portrayed by, surprisingly, Zac Efron, as an emotionless amoral character, as Kloepfer starts to become suspicious about whether he is involved in the murders. The movie also stars John Malkovich, Haley Joel Osment Jr. and Kaya Scodelario and the director is Joe Berlinger. I don’t particularly want to watch another movie, especially one about a mass murderer already so often portrayed in movies and TV, and the movie gets a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, but a 7.4/10 on IMDb. So, you decide. Netflix also has All in My Family , a 2019 documentary from filmmaker Hao Wu. Here, Wu tries to reconcile his gay identity and same-sex marriage in this country, with his deeply traditional Chinese family members. This is a really interesting look into how gayness is viewed in other cultures than our own, and how hard it is to break with tradition. And it gets a 6.9/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Netflix has John and Yoko: Above Us Only Sky, the 2018 documentary about their making of the 1971 classic album Imagine. This doc, directed by Emmy Award winner Michael Epstein, tells that story wonderfully, with never-before heard audio from the first demo of the song, and unseen before interviews with Yoko Ono, Julian Lennon, John Dunbar, Dan Richter and Eddie Veale. And it gets a 7.5/10 on IMDb.
AMAZON PRIME
Amazon‘s biggest add this week has to be Suspiria, the 2018 remake of the 1977 classic horror film. This one stars Dakota Johnson as a woman who enrolls in a Berlin dance company, only to find it’s a coven of witches. Tilda Swinton plays three roles in this, a female choreographer, and a male psychotherapist, and even the original’s star Jessica Harper has a cameo featured. It also stars Mia Goth, Elena Fokina, Chloë Grace Moretz,Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Sylvie Testud and Renée Soutendijk, and it’s directed by Luca Guadagnino(I Am Love). But it didn’t get the greatest reviews, Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times calls it “ambitious, grandiose, occasionally compelling but far more often irritating and laughable.” And it gets a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.8/10 on IMDb. Amazon also has The Yellow Handkerchief, a 2008 drama starring William Hurt. This is a remake of a Japanese classic of the same name(again from 1977!) about an ex-con on a road trip to reconnect with his ex-wife, and the people he connects with on the way, two hitchhikers he picks up, played by Eddie Redmayne and Kristen Stewart. It also stars Kaori Momoi and Ashlynn Ross, and it’s directed by Udayan Prasad(My Son the Fanatic). It’s not a real upper of a movie, but it has a great cast, and it gets a 6.9/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Amazon has added The Hole in the Ground, the 2019 horror film from director Lee Cronin. This movie created a lot of buzz at Sundance earlier this year, as this year’s Hereditary. It’s about a single Mom, played by Seána Kerslake, who moves to new rural area with a huge mysterious sinkhole, with her son, played by James Quinn Markey. but she begins to question whether her son is still her son, after he disappears and then reappears. This creepy movie also stars James Cosmo, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall and Katie Outinen. The trailer for this movie was way too scary for me to make it through, but Rotten Tomatoes give it an 88% and The Los Angeles Times says “[T]his is an impressive feature debut for a filmmaker with more in mind than just monsters and jump-scares.”
So relax and enjoy your weekend, binging on classics new and old, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 