Yes, it’s the weekend again, and time to look at the best new movies and television shows added online on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. So let’s get started!
HULU
Hulu has some good adds this week, including Looking For Alaska, the 2019 teen drama series. Based on the 2005 novel of the same name by John Green, this takes place at Culver Creek Academy where Miles Halter(Charlie Plummer) joins for adventure, and makes friends of his roommates, played by Denny Love and Jay Lee, and comes to know Alaska, a kind of “bad” girl played by Kristine Froseth. The cast also includes Ron Cephas Jones, Sofia Vassilieva and Timothy Simons and the series was produced, written and directed by Josh Schwartz, creator of the O.C. And it gets an 8.3/10 here, but I would really recommend it only for the younger crowd, or admirers of John Green. Hulu has also added Wounds, a 2019 horror movie from director Babak Anvari(Under the Shadow). It stars Armie Hammer as a bartender in New Orleans, who starts to experience strange things when he answers a phone call on a phone he finds at his bar. Soon, his girlfriend(Dakota Johnson) is drawn in by his troubled behavior and things degrade even more. The cast also includes Zazie Beetz, Brad William Henke and Kerry Cahill. It only gets a 4.5/10 on IMDb and a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Helen T. Verongos of the New York Times says of it “the movie more than fulfills its promise to unsettle and to incite shivers – and it doesn’t quit.” And it’s almost Halloween, so you might get desperate for horror. Hulu has also added Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, the 2019 documentary from director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. This award winning film gives us a tour of Morrison’s life with words and stories from her and her friends and admirers like Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz and Robert Gottlieb. It’s an intimate look at an extraordinary, Nobel-winning author with Moira MacDonald of the Seattle Times says “[W]hen it’s over, you feel like a beloved friend has left the room.” And it gets a stunning 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m watching. And, finally, Hulu has added Little Woods, a 2018 crime thriller. This stars Tessa Thompson as a young woman, Ollie, on probation, looking for a new life and trying to avoid trouble, when her sister,played by Lily James(Downton Abbey) finds herself in need of a safe legal abortion, which is too far away. In need of the money, Ollie goes back to illegal prescription drug peddling, and dangerous drug runs. The cast also includes Luke Kirby, James Badge Dale, Lance Reddick and Charlie Ray Reid and the director here is Nia DaCosta in her directorial debut. This, too, has won awards, including at the Denver International Film Festival and the Fargo Film Festival. And it gets an amazing 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Don’t miss it.
NETFLIX
The biggest add this week on Netflix has to be Living With Yourself, the new comedy series from creator Timothy Greenburg(the producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart). Here, Paul Rudd plays Miles, a married man with a copywriting job, who is unhappy with his life, and after going to a strip mall spa promising ” a better you,” only to find himself in a shallow grave and a better Miles taking over his life. Aisling Bea plays his wife and Alia Shawkat, Desmin Borges, Karen Pittman and Zoe Chao also star. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris(Little Miss Sunshine) direct. This is a really funny and perceptive show, and there are eight episodes available now on Netflix. And it gets a 7.9/10 on IMDb. It’s definitely on my list. Netflix has also added the Steven Soderbergh movie The Laundromat, starring Meryl Streep(!).This mainly is a series of vignettes, all of people affected by the companies involved in the Panama Papers, like, Streep playing a woman, Ellen Martin, whose husband is killed in a tour boat accident, but who can’t collect insurance because the company involved is owned by a shell company. Other stars include Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Sharon Stone(!), James Cromwell, Jeffrey Wright and Rosalind Chao. It’s a great explanation of the thievery involved in scandals like the Panama Papers, and how the rich get even richer. And it gets a 6.3/10 on IMDb. Don’t miss it. Also, new on Netflix is Eli, a 2019 horror film.Charlie Shotwell plays Eli, a boy with unknown disease with reactions to the outside world so extreme he has to wear a protective suit and live effectively in a bubble to stay alive. His desperate parents,played by Kelly Reilly and Max Martini, take him to a secluded gloomy treatment facility where he is treated by Dr. Isabella Horn, played by the wonderful Lili Taylor. The treatments are extremely painful and also lead to supernatural visions and other phenomena, and he meets a mysterious girl, who intimates danger lies in the facility. The cast also includes Sadie Sink, Deneen Tyler and Katia Gomez and the director of the film is Ciarán Foy(Sinister 2). It only gets a 5.9/10 on IMDb, and a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it is October, and Kristy Puchko of IGN Movies says “a promising premise sets a solid stage for terror.” So there you are. Another exceptional add on Netflix this week is Tell Me Who I Am, a 2019 British documentary from director Ed Perkins(Black Sheep). It tells the heartbreaking tale of the Marcus brothers, specifically, about Alex, who lost his memory in his teens in a motorcycle accident and depended upon his twin brother Marcus to inform him on his life, family and history. And, unfortunately, found it was all a lie. it gets a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7/10 on IMDb. David Erlich of Indiewire calls it “a documentary so harrowing and horrific that it can only bear to scratch at the surface of its remarkable story.” And, finally, Netflix has added Toon, a 2016 Dutch comedy series. This tells the story of the young man Toon(Joep Vermolen), who, though socially awkward and nerdy, dreams of a musical career. But he awkwardly plays the guitar one night at a party and surreptitiously filmed, finds himself an internet star. Now famous as the “uberloser,” he has to deal with his unwanted celebrity and maybe use it to his benefit. Amy van der Weerden, Loulou Hameleers, Robbert Bleij and Marijn Klaver also star in this super funny show. Vermolen is wonderful with his deadpan reactions to a shocking world of modern stardom. And the show gets an 8.2/10 on IMDb. It’s on my list.
Amazon
Amazon‘s best and most anticipated add this week is Modern Love, their new series based on the stories from the New York Times popular Sunday column of the same name. With different takes on love, how it affects people and their lives, it’s one of my favorite parts of the Sunday NY Times, and this series portrays some of the best and most unusual ones deftly, with stars like Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, Jane Alexander(!), Andy Garcia and Catherine Keener. The director and writer is John Carney(Once, Sing Street), and the results are excellent, mainly because of the exceptional cast. There are eight episodes now available and the show gets a 7.1/10 on IMDb.And, finally, Amazon has added Second Sight, a 2000 BBC crime drama series. It stars Clive Owen as a competitive detective who discovers he’s losing his sight, and swears his partner(Claire Skinner) to silence, as he struggle to solve a difficult murder and hide his problem, at the same time. Thomas Wheatley,Rebecca Egan, Akbar Kurtha, Selina Boyack and Rupert Holliday-Evans also star and Paula Milne(The Politician’s Wife) created the series. There are two seasons available on Amazon now, with ten episodes in all. And the show gets a 7.4/10 on IMDb. As you know, I love a mystery.
So sit back and binge this weekend on comedy classics and killer mysteries, on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. Enjoy!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 