Yes, it’s that time again, the weekend, and time to review the best new movies and television shows added online this week, to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. And there are some exciting new adds this week, so let’s get started.
HULU
There’s an epic add on Hulu this week with Faraway Downs, the 2023 epic limited series from Baz Luhrman(!). This follows Lady Sarah Ashley, an English aristocrat, to travels halfway around the world to find her husband, only to find the vast million-acre ranch he bought, that she wants to sell. Of course, that’s easier said than done in 1939, and so she grudgingly decides to run it herself, as her drover, uh, Drover, played by Hugh Jackman, looks on incredulously. She also has the help of Nullah, played by Brandon Walters, an aboriginal child, and the villainous rival ranch owner, King Carney(Bryan Brown) eyeing her ranch greedily. David Wenham,David Gulpilil, David Ngoombujarra, Jacek Koman and Essie Davis(!) also star, and there are 6 episodes available now. But there’s a tired, rerun quality to this series, so it gets only a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes and Phil Harrison of the Guardian says it “feels baggy, bloated, lacking in emotional or historical nuance and tonally confused. It’s The African Queen meets Crocodile Dundee.” I agree, I’m not watching. Luckily , Hulu has just added a more exciting Australian series, The Artful Dodger, a 2023 historical drama series. This takes place 15 years after the events of Oliver Twist, in 1850s Australia, where Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, has finagled his way into becoming a surgeon or doctor, in Port Victory. As he is enjoying his somewhat honorable position, he is unfortunately discovered by Fagin(David Thewlis), who, of course, pressures him to become involved in one final sting. Which, of course, leads to more trouble. Maia Mitchell, Damien Garvey, Tom Budge, Tim Minchin and Miranda Tapsell also star, and there are 8 absorbing episodes available for bingeing now. And this series gets an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Maggie Lovitt of the Collider calls it “a must-watch for anyone who loves Dickens, historical dramas, and has a stomach for the woefully horrific surgical practices of yesteryear.” Count me in.Hulu also offers Cobweb, the 2023 horror flick. This finds 8 year-old Peter(Woody Norman) plagued by a constant, eerie tapping in his bedroom wall, while his parents, (Lizzy Caplan! and Antony Starr), assure him everything is fine. which is odd, given that their own bizarre behavior includes locking him in the cellar and making cryptic statements about their creepy existence. But as the household descends into chaos, Peter gains the support of his teacher, Miss Devine(Cleopatra Coleman), who may be the key to his survival. Ellen Dubin, Debora Zhecheva, Luke Samson Busey and Stephanie Sampson also star, while Samuel Bodin directs. But this movie gets a mere 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Sergio Burstein of the L.A. Times said “the script by Chris Thomas Devlin succeeds in maintaining us in suspense and includes plenty of brutal moments.” But you know it’s way too scary for me. And, finally, Hulu has added The Lions of Sicily, a 2023 Italian historical drama Disney+ series. This tells the story of the Florio family , beginning with Paolo Florio(Vincenzo Marchioni), who leaves Bagnara Calabra for Sicily in after a violent earthquake, and opens a store, which proves to be successful enough to create an empire. And so Paolo‘s descendants endure decades of political upheaval, plague and other horrors, as we the viewers gets an intriguing view of recent Italian history. Michele Riondino, Miriam Leone, Vinicio Marchioni, Eduardo Scarpetta also star, and there are 8 episodes available now. And this series gets an impressive 7.1/10 on IMDb, and Federica Marcucci of Screen World Italy writes the “series with attention to detail and in which the performers really immersed themselves in.” And I’m watching.
NETFLIX
There’s a huge add on Netflix this week with May December, the 2023 drama. Here, an actor, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman!), travels to Savannah, Georgia to study the woman she is set to play in an upcoming movie, Gracie (Julianne Moore!). Gracie‘s notoriety comes from the affair she had with a 13 year-old boy, Joe, decades before, to whom she is now married and abiding with their 3 children. As Elizabeth watches the family in their lovely waterfront house, she is impressed with the sunny spin Gracie puts on her life , with romance winning out, but then it becomes clear that it’s a fantasy world that cannot hold much longer. Charles Melton plays the adult Joe, and Andrea Frankle, Chris Tenzis, Cory Michael Smith, Piper Curda, Gabriel Chung and Elizabeth Yu also star, while Todd Haynes(The Velvet Underground, I’m Not There!) directs. And this movie was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, and has won numerous awards already, like Best Supporting Actor for Melton at the Gotham Awards. And it looks to be nominated for more during the upcoming awards season, including the Oscars. And it gets a notable 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.4/10 on IMDb. Shirley Li of the Atlantic calls it ” a beautiful, terrible nesting doll of a story with a uniquely twisted core.” So you know I’m tuning in. Netflix has also added American Symphony, a 2023 musical documentary. This chronicles the past year and a half of musical phenomenon Jon Batiste’s life, going from Stephen Colbert’s musical host to being nominated for 11 Grammys for his album, We Are. During this glittering success, his partner (and now wife), writer Suleika Jaouad, author of Between Two Kingdoms, had her leukemia return. As she went into chemo, the Grammy nominations came out, and as the couple tried to survive their tenuous situation, Batiste began writing his American Symphony. While Batiste prepared for the Grammys and his symphony’s premiere at Carnegie Hall, Suleika underwent a painful bone marrow transplant, to save her life. Director Matthew Heineman doesn’t back away from showing the desperate situation faced by the couple, but neither does he miss the great beauty encountered in the music, love or scenery. Barack and Michelle Obama served as executive producers of this movie that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, and has already won Best Documentary Feature at the Woodstock Film Festival and the Philadelphia Film Festival, and, again, looks to be nominated during this winter’s awards season. And it gets an 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Johnny Loftus of the Decider said “rousing, emotional, and searching, American Symphony is a testament to the power of creativity as a driver in all of our lives, and as a steadying agent against that terrible instance when adversity inevitably creeps in.” And I’m definitely watching. Netflix also offers Season 2 of Fisk, an Australian comedy series. This tells the tale of Helen Tudor-Fisk, played by Kitty Flanagan, a high-priced contract lawyer, forced to move home after the humiliation of her husband’s affair, and hired by Melbourne‘s Gruber & Gruber to give their estate law firm some class. After all, she is the daughter of a Supreme Court justice, but it seems that everything isn’t genetic, and Fisk has difficulty fitting in, difficulty showing sympathy to her clients, etc. Julia Zemiro, Marty Sheargold, John Gaden, Aaron Chen and Glenn Butcher also star, and now, there are 2 seasons, with 12 episodes in all , available now for gorging. This series has won numerous awards in Australia, including Best Narrative Comedy Series and Best Comedy Performer for Flanagan at the 2021 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards. And it gets an incredible 7.8/10 on IMDb, and Paula Vázquez Prieto of La Nación wrote “Fisk delivers humor against the grain, sensitive and caustic, capable of observing contemporary life with amused disappointment.” And I’m definitely tuning in. Netflix also offers The Railway Men, a 2023 Indian limited drama series. This tells the story of the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster, with special attention paid to the valiant railway workers who saved many lives. Kay Kay Menon plays stationmaster, Iftekaar , who is training his new assistant , Imad (Babil Khan), who previously worked at the Union Carbide plant that was be responsible for the lethal leak. And as the pair try to tamp down the chaos that ensues with the poisonous gas, other train workers around the country help ship in help and provisions. Meanwhile, reporter Kumawat (Sunny Hinduja) is seeking to expose the horrible gaps in safety operations at Union Carbide that it was notorious for. Divyenndu, Babil Khan, Sunny Hinduja and Juhi Chawla Mehta also star, while Shiv Rawail directed all 4 episodes. And this series gets an incredible 8.6/10 on IMDb, and Nandini Ramnath of the Scroll India calls it a “compelling saga of ordinary heroism.” I’m definitely watching. And, finally, Netflix has added Ballerina, a 2023 South Korean action thriller. This finds ex-bodyguard Ok-ju(Jeon Jong-seo), bereft and heartbroken after the suicide of her best friend, Min-hee (Park Yu-rim), or Ballerina. Ok-ju knows the sex traffickers who victimized Ballerina were responsible for her torment, and with Ballerina‘s suicide note asking her to avenge her death, she is only too happy to oblige. But with her success, she draws the attention and wrath of the ring leader, Pro Choi(Kim Ji-hoon), and orders his thugs to take her alive, with undoubtedly sinister plans for her end in mind. Se-Hwi Shin, Mu-Yeol Kim, Yoon-ju Jang and Kim Young-ok also star, and Choi Ji-young directs. And Ballerina gets a stunning 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and Johnny Loftus of the Decider says to stream it , adding “there’s one thing going on here, and that’s revenge. But director Lee Chung-hyun draws a lot of style out of a nighttime city alive with danger, Jeon Jong-seo is an asskicker of few words, and the ultimate showdown isn’t any less satisfying just because you knew it was coming.”
AMAZON
Amazon has an interesting add this week with A Good Person, the 2023 drama. Florence Pugh(!) stars, here, as Allison Johnson, an aspiring musician, due to be married to her high school sweetheart, Nathan(Chinaza Uche).But when Allison is responsible for an accident that her future brother and sister-in-law Jesse and Molly, her life goes off the rails, and, as she descends in depression and drug addiction, she moves in with her mom, Diane(Molly Shannon!) . And on Allison‘s way to an AA meeting she bumps into ex-cop father Daniel(Morgan Freeman!), but instead of an ugly confrontation, she may have found the help she needs to pull herself from the anguish she feels. Celeste O’Connor, Zoe Lister-Jones, Toby Onwumere, Nichelle Hines and Ignacio Diaz-Silverio also star, and Zach Braff(!) directed and wrote the script, here. And this movie was nominated for Best Actor – Film at the Scottish BAFTAs for Uche, among other nominations. And though it gets only a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, it gets an amazing 7/10 on IMDb. And David Stratton of the Australian said “Pugh gives a mesmerising performance and Freeman, for once cast in a very substantial role, is better than he’s been in several years.” So it’s on my list. But Amazon also has Yosi, the Regretful Spy, a 2022 Argentinian thriller series. Based on the 2015 book of the same name and based on a true story, this tells of José Pérez, an Argentine Federal Police agent who is charged with infiltrating a Jewish community, in the hopes of stopping a terrorist attack. The terrorists have the Andinia Plan, which seeks to establish a Jewish state in Patagonia, which had perpetrated two terrorist attacks onwo soil, to achieve that goal. Gustavo Bassani plays José Pérez or Yosi, the Jewish guise he takes, led by his superior and only contact, Claudia(Natalia Oreiro).But both José and Claudia are anti-Semitic, typifying in the very right wing regime that rule Argentina at the time, and as Yosi is tailed by the Mossad agent Aaron (Daniel Kuzniecka), everyone’s motives are suspect . Alejandro Awada, Daniel Kuzniecka, Carla Quevedo, Minerva Casero, and Mercedes Morán also star, and there are 2 seasons, with 16 episodes total, available for bingeing now. And this series won the Silver Condor Awards for Best Drama Series, and Bassani for Best Leading Actor in Drama at the 2022 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards, among other awards. And this series gets a outstanding 7.7/10 on IMDb, and Diego Batlle of Otroscines calls it “a guaranteed game of cat and mouse.” And I’m tuning in. And, finally, Amazon has Deadly Tropics, a 2019 French mystery series. This takes place on the beautiful island of Martinique, where Parisian police transfer Captain Melissa Sainte-Rose (Sonia Rolland) has been banished because of the corruption offenses of her husband(and fellow police officer). There she is made the head of the major crimes unit, and partnered with reckless Capt. Gaelle Crivelli (Beatrice de la Boulaye). And together, they manage to solve some intriguing crimes. Sonia Rolland, Valentin Papoudof, Julien Beramis,Antoinette Giret and Stéphan Wojtowicz also star, and there are with 8 episodes from Season 1 available now. If you want to watch Seasons 2 and 3, you’ll have to sign up for MHZ Choice. And it gets a on 6.7/10 on IMDb, and Dennis Dermody of Original Cinemaniac writes ” the setting is extraordinary and the mysteries so far have been smart and fun so I’m grateful to wallow in paradise watching this enjoyable series.” And so I’m tuning in. But be sure to finish by December 31, because with the new year, Deadly Tropics vanishes back to MHZ Choice, only to be had for a premium price
So sit back and binge this weekend, on classics, old and new, on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Enjoy!
Grownups Guide to Streaming 