New Movies and TV to Stream, June 1

Yes, it’s a new month and time to review the new movies and television shows coming to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. So let’s get started!

HULU

The most notable new addition on Hulu is the 2018 horror series from AMC, The Terror. It’s a tale of two explorer ships( a fictionalized account of a real incident), looking for the Northwest Passage through impossible ice, who are crippled by an accident and find a menace hunting them as they try to survive. It stars Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies, Paul Ready, Adam Nagatis, Nive Nielsen and Greta Scacchi and it’s developed by David Kajganich. It was tremendously popular, with a second season, on a different subject, coming in August. Asher Elbein of the Atlantic says “through careful writing and by avoiding the genre’s more common pitfalls, The Terror offers what is perhaps television’s first good example of survival horror.” It gets a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1/10 on IMDb. Watch if you dare. Hulu also has Ask Dr. Ruth, the 2019 documentary about Dr. Ruth Westheimer. This tells of Dr Ruth’s life before becoming famous as a sex therapist, as a Holocaust survivor, sent to an orphanage, after Kristallnacht, going through three marriages, and eventually becoming a radio and TV host. Director Ryan White shows us an amazing woman of 90, still raring to go. It’s an uplifting story and it get’s an amazing 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.4/10 on IMDb. Also, new on Hulu is Cardinal, the 2017 mystery series from Canada. It stars Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse in the tale of two detectives in Algonquin Bay, based on novels by Giles Blunt. The show also stars Glen Gould, Eric Hicks, Kristen Thomson, Deborah Hay and Alanna Bale. All three seasons of the series is available and it gets a 7.7/10 on IMDb. I’m watching. And, finally, Hulu offers Sightseers, the 2013 British horror comedy. Yes, a horror comedy, starring Alice Lowe and Steve Oram(who also wrote it) as a seemingly normal pair who go on a holiday in their camper, only to go a little berserk. Any more info might spoil it for you. It also stars Eileen Davies,Tony Way,Monica Dolan and Richard Glover and was directed by Ben Wheatley. It screened in the Directors Fortnight at Cannes, and received seven BIFA Nominations, winning for Best Screenplay. And it gets an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.5/10 on IMDb. If you like dark comedy, this may be your ticket.

NETFLIX

Netflix has some great additions this week, but none more exciting than Ava Duvernay‘s limited series When They See Us. It stars Justin Cunningham, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Jharrel Jerome and Freddy Miyares as the five young men wrongfully accused and convicted for the rape of a young jogger in Central Park, in 1989. It also stars Asante Blackk, Kaleel Harris,Logan Marshall-Green, Blair Underwood, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo and Felicity Huffman(and I can’t list everyone in this great ensemble cast). In addition to directing, Ava Duvernay also co-wrote and created this important four episode series. Eric Deggans of NPR says “When They See Us achieves quite a lot, asking us all to consider exactly who in America really gets the presumption of innocence when accused of a crime, and it gets a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8/10 on IMDb. don’t miss it. Also, new on Netflix is How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), a 2019 German coming-of-age comedy series. It stars Maximilian Mundt and Danilo Kamperidis as two self proclaimed nerds, who start a website selling drugs, to regain a girl’s love and become popular. Of course, it doesn’t quite work out so well, but the results are always treated with humor. It also stars Anna Lena Klenke ,Damian Hardung, Luna Schaller and Bjarne Mädel. It gets a stunning 8.5/10 on IMDb, and there are 6 episodes available now. Netflix has also added Always Be My Maybe, a 2019 rom-com starring Ali Wong(Baby Cobra) and Randall Park(The Interview). The pair play a couple of childhood friends, who meet again, in San Francisco and fall in love. Not a new story, but it’s told with a very diverse cast, including James Saito, Michelle Buteau, Vivian Bang, Susan Park, Daniel Dae Kim, Susan Park and a special cameo by Keanu Reeves. Linda Holmes of NPR says “it’s a film that delivers on all its promises, gives a lot of funny people a chance to shine and – yes indeed – provides some much-needed representation, ” and I agree. And it gets a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.1/10 on IMDb. Netflix has also added the new South Korean fantasy and sci fi series Arthdal Chronicles. It tells the story of the Kingdom of Arth, and the city of Arthdal and it’s ruler and those who oppose him. It stars Song Joong-ki, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Ji-won and Kim Ok-vin, and has plenty of gorgeous epic scenes, courtesy of director Kim Won-seok. And it as no scores yet, on Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb, but rappler.com calls it “your next Netflix must-watch.” And, finally, Netflix offers Black Spot, a 2019 Belgian-French mystery/thriller series. It stars Suliane Brahim as an inspector for Villefranche, a small, isolated town, who finds a body hanging from a strange tree, one day, and the murder rate is up to 6 times the national average, with it’s population decreasing. It also stars Hubert Delattre, Laurent Capelluto, Samuel Jouy, Renaud Rutten,Tiphaine Daviot and Anne Suarez and there are 8 episodes now available. And it gets a 7.6/10 on IMDb.

AMAZON

Amazon‘s got a big new addition this week, with Good Omens, the series adapted from Neil Gaiman‘s and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel. It stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen as one devil, Crowley(Tennant), and one angel,Aziraphale(Sheen), who team up to save the Earth from the coming of the antichrist. It also stars Jon Hamm, Frances McDormand as God, Ned Dennehy, Michael McKean, Miranda Richardson, Sian Brooks and Nick Offerman, and is written by Gaiman, who also served as showrunner. It’s funny and edgy and gets an amazing 8.7/10 on IMDb. Amazon also offers 41, a 2014 Australian scifi movie about going back in time. A man, played by Chris Gibson, finds a hole in the floor of room 41 in a motel, leads to yesterday, where he believes he can saves the life of his girlfriend, played by Dafna Kronental. It also stars David Macrae, Shane Lee,Menik Gooneratne, Lauren Wade and Anne Cordiner and is written and directed by Glenn Triggs. It’s a sweet touching movie about the unexpected consequences of changing events in the past and time travel. And it gets a 6.7/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Amazon has added Ernest & Celestine, a 2014 animated French/Belgian comedy/drama. It’s the tale of an unlikely friendship between a bear and a mouse, which is forbidden by society, and their fight against that rule. The American voice-over stars Forest Whittaker, MacKenzie Foy, Lauren Bacall, William H. Macy and Megan Mullaly and this movie is from the creators of The Triplets of Belleville and A Town Called Panic. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the 86th Awards and won the Magritte Award for Best Film, a first. And it gets a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.9/10 on IMDb. It uses a water color technique you don’t want to miss and that makes it one of the best animated movies of the past decade.

So sit back and relax this weekend and binge on classics, new and old, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime! Enjoy!