Yes, it’s the weekend, again, and time to review the best new movies and TV shows added online, to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. There’s some good new stuff added this week so let’s get started!
HULU
The biggest add on Hulu this week has to be The Sound of Silence, the 2019 drama starring Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones. Here, Sarsgaard plays a “house tuner,” someone who checks the sounds of your house, looking to improve the sonic environment of your home, and perhaps your health, as well. Jones plays a client, always fatigued and looking for answers, though she may not be convinced about the sounds of her house causing her illness. Tony Revolori(The Grand Budapest Hotel), Austin Pendleton, Kate Lyn Sheil and Alex Karpovsky also star in this movie directed by Michael Tyburski. It’s a charming, off key movie that screened at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com calls it “[An] ambitious, tonally intriguing comedic drama.” And it gets a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hulu has also added Apple Tree Yard, a 2017 mini-series starring Emily Watson. In this four part series, Watson stars as a seemingly perfectly law-abiding geneticist, who begins an affair with a man she knows little of, with calamitous consequences. Ben Chaplin, Mark Bonnar(Shetland),Kezia Burrows, Steven Elder and Susan Lynch also star. There’s more involved here than just the average thriller, with plenty of twists and turns. And it gets a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hulu also newly offers Deranged, the 2019 horror movie from writer/director Larry Fessenden(Dementer). This is a modern retelling of the classic Frankenstein, with David Call playing a army medic with PTSD who hides away in his Brooklyn lab, trying to create a man from the body parts he manages to acquire. But when he succeeds, of course, that is only the beginning of his problems. Alex Breaux, Ana Kayne, Joshua Leonard and Maria Dizzia also star. Fessenden is an indie horror master, and Kimber Myers of the L.A. Times says, ‘ “Depraved” is smart in its commentary on everything from the evils of the pharmaceuticals industry to the terrors of PTSD, but there’s real heart and empathy here too.’ And it gets an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, finally, Hulu has added the classic doc Blackfish, from 2013. This tells the tragic story of Tillicum, a captive orca at Sea World, at the time, involved in the deaths of three people at the facility, but who had undergone extreme stress, first with his capture and then in captivity and undergoing training. Director Gabriella Cowperthwaite shows the cruelty involved in capturing, housing and then training of the complex and highly intelligent animals and the danger for both trainers and creatures associated with the highly lucrative sea-park industry. Jenny McCartney of the Daily Telegraph(UK) says, “Blackfish is a heartbreaking documentary, forensically constructed by Gabriella Cowperthwaite(Meagan Leavey), about the extreme psychological distress of killer whales kept in captivity and used to entertain crowds at venues such as SeaWorld in Orlando.” And it gets an amazing 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1/10 on IMDb. We all should watch.
NETFLIX
The biggest add on Netflix this week is 6 Underground, starring Ryan Reynolds. This follows 6 beautiful people, all presumed dead, who cross the globe, killing all the evil people that governments cannot get to. It also stars Mélanie Laurent,Manuel Garcia-Rulfo,Ben Hardy, Adria Arjona and Dave Franco, and is directed by Michael Bay, of the Transformers series. This is typical of other Bay movies with lots of action, but little good dialogue or substance. Mark Olson of the LA Times says, ‘after a strong start the movie steadily declines, one set piece after another, and there are many moments where the mind wanders and then asks: “Is this still going on?”‘ And it gets only a 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. Definitely not on my list. Better to watch Mortel, the 2019 fantasy series from France. here, two teens(played by Carl Malapa and Nemo Schiffman) make a deal with the Voodoo god Obe to receive special powers, so they can solve a murder. But the power may get the better of them, and destroy them. The series also stars Manon Bresch, Corentin Fila, Sami Outabali and Firmine Richard, and the series was created by Frederic Garcia. There are six episodes now on Netflix, and it gets a 6.3/10 on IMDb. I love scifi. Netflix also offers Broken, a 2019 documentary series. This compelling four-part series covers the many and varied ways consumers can get taken by different products, and even have their lives endangered by the stuff they buy. Each hour long show covers a different topic, like cosmetics, vaping products and recycling. It’s a fascinating look at how consumers are screwed every day, and though it has not ratings on IMDb yet, it’s an addictive, well made show no consumer should miss. Netflix has also added the 2019 Indian drama The Sky is Pink, This movie tells the 25 year love story of a couple, told by their daughter, diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, played by Zaira Wasim. Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar star as her parents and Rohit Suresh Saraf and Sammy John Heaney are also featured, with the award winning Sonali Bose directing. it premiered at the 44th Toronto Film Festival this year, and it gets a 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m watching. And, finally, Netflix has added Michelle Wolf Joke Show, the 2019 stand up performance. Comedian Wolf skewered President Trump and many other powerful figures and institutions last year,as is the tradition at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but, of course, it outraged of many. She was pretty much blacklisted and was on the receiving end of much hate mail and many threats, so in this show, she talks about outrage culture, along with childbirth, massage and many other topics. Wolf is always funny, and the show gets a 6.7/10 on IMDb. It’s on my list.
AMAZON
Amazon has only added two movies this week, the first being Light of My Life, the 2019 Casey Affleck movie. This takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where most of the female population has been wiped out by a virus, making any surviving female very valuable, and in danger. Affleck plays a father travelling with his daughter, played by Anna Pniowsky, whom his disguises as a boy and desperately tries to protect from any attacker. Elizabeth Moss also appears as the deceased Mom, and Tom Bower, Timothy Webber and Hrothgar Mathews also star. It gets an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Bilge Ebiri of the NY Times saying,”not original, but it is enlivened by some artful touches and two excellent performances.” It’s on my list. Amazon has also added Fast Color, a 2019 supernatural drama starring Gugu Mbatha Raw. Raw stars as a woman with supernatural powers she doesn’t understand or control, in a near-future dystopian America, gripped by drought. Pursued by a government agent, she returns home to her mother (Lorraine Touissant) and her daughter(Saniyya Sydney). David Straithern and Christopher Denham also star in this film directed by Julia Hart(Miss Stevens). Richard Brody of the New Yorker says, “it’s the rare superhero film that proceeds without a devotion to the spectacular that filters out, from the start, all the interest that’s generated from close attention to ordinary life.” And it gets an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m definitely watching. And, finally, Amazon has added The Inspector Vivaldi Mysteries, an 2005 Italian mystery series. Here, Inspector Federico Vivaldi, played by Lando Buzzanca, is an old world cop, trying to deal with his new world problems, like his son is gay and his wife has left him. And a murder mystery in Trieste he has to solve. It also stars Giovanni Scifoni, Sergio Sivori,Alessandra Celi and Morgana Forcella. There are eight episodes now available on Amazon and the show gets a 7.7/10 on IMDb. I love a mystery.
So sit back and relax this weekend and binge on classics new and old, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Enjoy!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 