Yes, it’s the weekend again, and time to review the new movies and television shows newly available this week on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. So let’s get right to it!
HULUA.J. Bowen and
Hulu doesn’t have any big adds this week, but they do have some less well known movies added you might like, especially if you’re a horror fan. First is I Trapped The Devil, a 2019 American flick. It stars A.J. Bowen and Susan Burke as a couple who unexpectedly visit his brother(Scott Poythress) for Christmas, only to find he has a man locked in his basement, who he claims is the devil. Is he right or just terribly paranoid? It also stars Joeclin Donahue, Chris Sullivan and Victoria Smith and is a great debut for director Josh Lobo. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com calls it a “promising debut” and it gets a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hulu also has added The Field Guide to Evil, a 2018 horror anthology film. This is a compendium of eight tales from the folklore of eight different countries, including Austria, Hungary, Turkey, Greece and the U.S. The actors include Birgit Minichmayr, Claude Duhamel, Jilon VanOver, Fatma Mohammed and Niharika Singh. Anton Bitel of SciFiNow calls it “‘ folk horror’ par excellence,” and it, too, gets a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hulu has also added Time Freak, a 2018 scifi teen romcom from 2018. It stars Asa Butterfield as a guy who’s heartbroken by his break-up with a girlfriend played by GOT’s Sophie Turner, who builds a time machine to put things right. Skylar Gisondo, Mary Elizabeth Boylan and Aubrey Reynolds also star and the director here is Andrew Bowler. It’s a whimsical little movie, aided by stars Butterfield and Turner, and it gets a 5.8/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Hulu offers When Jeff Tried to Save the World, a 2018 comedy starring Jon Heder. Here, Heder stars as the devoted manager of Winky’s World, an aging in McHenry, Illinois, who must face it’s imminent shut down and sale. Of course, he sets out to save it, with the help of his wife(Maya Erskine of Pen15), and to the amazement of his sister(Anna Konkle, also of Pen15). The supporting cast is wonderful here, with Jim O’Heir(Parks and Recreation), Elizabeth Laidlaw, Candi Milo and Steve Berg and this is the amazing debut for director Kendall Goldberg. And it gets 3/4 stars on rogerebert.com and a 7.6/10 on IMDb.
NETFLIX
Unlike Hulu, Netflix has a lot of big adds this week, including The Son, a 2019 Argentine thriller. The story features a famous painter and father, played by Joaquín Furriel, who becomes determined that his infant son has been replaced with an impostor. His wife is a biologist, played by Heidi Toini, who was incredibly secretive before and after the birth, and as Furriel is diagnosed with Cagras Syndrome, his only aid is a former lover(Martina Gusman), who may help him prove he’s right. The movie also stars Luciano Cacares and Regina Lamm, and is masterfully directed Sebastian Schindel. Diego Battle of Otrocines.com calls it “an uncomfortable but terrifying film,” and it gets an amazing 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.2/10 on IMDb. Watch if you dare. Netflix has also added Another Life, a 2019 American scifi series.It stars Katie Sackhoff(Battlestar Gallactica), Justin Chatwin, Samuel Anderson, Elizabeth Ludlow(The Walking Dead) and Blu Hunt as members of an intergallactic mission to investigate an alien artifact which mysteriously appeared on Earth. It also stars Selma Blair, A.J. Rivera, Jake Abel, Alex Ozerov and Barbara Williams. And though it sounds like it’s ripping off other movies, like Contact, 2001, Arrival, Star Trek, etc., it’s called an homage. But Vulture calls it a “clumsy muddle,” Mashable calls it “unhinged,” and it gets an unbelievable 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. Better to watch one of the original movies that inspired it. Netflix also offers Eerie, a 2019 Filipino Horror flick. this one focuses on a Catholic girl’s school, where a girl’s supposed suicide causes unrest, so a clairvoyant guidance counselor, with the help of a ghost, looks for answers. It stars Bea Alonzo, Charo Santos-Concio, Maxine Magalona, Jake Cuenca and Mary Joy Apostol and is directed by Mikhail Red(Birdshot). And it gets a 6.1/10 on IMDb. Netflix also offers The Great Hack, a 2019 documentary about the Cambridge Analytica data manipulation which influenced of the 2016 presidential election. It’s a frightening picture by Jehane Noujaim(Control Room), well documented with reputable sources, especially David Carroll, a media design professor at Parsons and Brittany Kaiser, a former Cambridge Analytica exec. It an impressive, horrifying picture about how our data is being misused by Facebook, Twitter, etc, and how we as voters are being manipulated as a result. David Fear of Rolling Stone says of it ” you leave with a very clear sense of how one company aided and abetted the selling of democracy down the river…” And it gets an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.1/10 on IMDb. Watch it now. And, finally, Netflix has added Sleepless Society: Nyctophobia, a 2019 thriller series from Thailand.It tells the story of a mother, Meena(Laila Boonsayak) who is afraid of the night, since her young son died, and is suddenly consoled by a young boy at night, who claims to be a reincarnation of that son. It also stars Nattapat Nimjirawat, Jason Young, Matthew Deane Chanthavanij and Inthira Charoenpura. The director is Pantham Thongsang. There is very little other information about this series thus far, but it gets a 7/10 on mydramalist.
amazon
Amazon‘s biggest addition this week has to be The Boys, their 2019 American anti-super hero comedy series. Taking place in a world where superheros are celebrities, who have become corrupted by their fame and run amok, causing widespread loss of life and disaster, and the gang of vigilantes, the boys, who fight to right their wrongs and nail the corrupt ones. It stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Karen Fukuhara, Laz Alonzo and Tomer Kapon, and is based on the dark comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It also has guest stars like Elizabeth Shue, Anthony Starr and Erin Moriarty. It is super funny, but it is also ultraviolent with lots of expletives, so don’t let the kiddos watch. And it gets an almost unheard of 9.1/10 on IMDb. Amazon also offers Seconds, the 1966 scifi thriller starring Rock Hudson. He stars here as a middle-aged banker, who has the opportunity to become ‘another ‘ person, where his death is faked and he is given a new face, a new name and a new life. Which, of course, doesn’t turn out so well. It also stars Salome Jens, Robert Wesley Addy, John Randolph, Will Geer(!), Elizabeth Fraser and Murray Hamilton and is directed by the great John Frankenheimer(The Birdman of Alcatraz, The Manchurian Candidate). And it gets a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7/10 on IMDb. And, finally, Amazon offers Back Roads, a 2018 American drama. This stars Alex Pettyfer as a young man caring for his younger sisters, played by Hala Finley, Nicola Peltz and Chiara Aurelia, after their mother(played by Juliette Lewis!) is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. The film also stars Jennifer Morrison and June Carryl and is also directed by Pettyfer. And it gets a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7/10 on IMDb.
So sit back, veg out and binge on classics new and old, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Enjoy!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 