October 17th, 2023

THE MIRACLE CLUB - $14.99 Sale / $5.99 Rental

One of the depressing things about the state of moviegoing these days is the demise of the hat movie. Hat movies usually starred Judi Dench, or Maggie Smith, or Vanessa Redgrave, or some other Dame. They were the kind of movies that would have packed matinees, but near empty evening showings. And they would easily make $10M in the US just by attracting the 60+ crowd. But sadly, those days are over. And no film is more indicative of that reality than The Miracle Club. It’s got hats. It’s got Maggie Smith. And while Sony Classics tried their hardest, practically no one showed up. The olds now know how to stream. Here’s hoping it finds its audience on VOD.

THE RETIREMENT PLAN - $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Nicolas Cage’s fifth(!) movie of the year is probably his most under the radar, but it also has the distinction of being Cage’s worst wide release opening weekend. The film was handled by fledgling distributor Falling Forward Films, which is not a great name for a distributor, but still not the worst. That distinction goes to Ketchup Entertainment (a real thing). Reviews for The Retirement Plan were decent, so this sounds like a must-see for Cage-completists, and a serviceable action movie for everyone else. And we still have two more Cage movies to go in 2023!

October 20th, 2023

COBWEB - Hulu

After a brief limited release in theaters in July, Lionsgate quickly shifted Cobweb to PVOD in early August. It performed well, staying in the iTunes Top 10 Movies for a few weeks. It was surprising to hear the film would land on Hulu, not Starz, which is where Lionsgate titles usually end up. The move will likely give the film a much higher profile and larger audience. And it deserves it. While not perfect, it’s filled with good performances and creepy imagery. And Woody Norman, after his terrific performance in C’mon C’mon, again proves his mastery of the American accent. The kid is British! Amazing!

OLD DADS - Netflix

Comedian Bill Burr makes his directorial debut with the story of three men who become fathers relatively late in life, and how they navigate being out of step with the modern world of parenting. Will it be 90 minutes of Millennial bashing? We’ll see! We’re not familiar with Burr’s stand-up, but can imagine this is the perfect kind of story for his fans. And Bobby Cannavale is always fun when he does comedy.

THE PIGEON TUNNEL - Apple TV+

The legendary documentary filmmaker Errol Morris returns with a film that follows the life and career of author John le Carré, writer of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes. And he was a British Spy! You know who else would be a great British spy? Woody Norman (accent expert).

RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN - Peacock

It’s extremely rare for an animated movie to flop hard. Parents are desperately looking for a way to keep their kids entertained, and going to the movies is a great way to get them out of the house and occupied. So while not every animated film becomes a blockbuster, they usually do some business. Poor Ruby Gillman is one of those exceptions. Kids looked at that title…that poster…that trailer… and said: No. It wasn’t a Mars Needs Moms-level box-office bomb, but it lost the studio a ton of money, and led to layoffs at Dreamworks Animation. Let’s hope the film can entertain some bored children who subscribe to Peacock!

SAW X - $24.99 Sale/ $19.99 Rental

We’re including Saw X in our weekly preview, even though we haven’t been able to 100% confirm its digital launch yet. But we’re confident it’ll happen, so here we are. The tenth in the Saw franchise, this one got some of the best reviews in the series. And we love that it’s the third sequel after 2010’s Saw: The Final Chapter. Words mean nothing! Saw X technically takes place right after the original Saw movie, so we’ll give them credit for that. And did you know it’s technically a Christmas movie if you watch it upside down?

Sorry…dumb joke.

SILVER DOLLAR ROAD - Prime Video

Silver Dollar Road is a documentary written, directed and co-produced by the great filmmaker Raoul Peck, who previously brought us the 2016 Oscar-nominated doc I Am Not Your Negro. This one is based on the ProPublica (in collaboration with The New Yorker) article "Kicked Off The Land" by Lizzie Presser and follows a waterfront property passed through generations in the Reels family, which becomes subject to harassment by land developers. Viola Davis serves as an executive producer. Looks like a must watch for doc lovers.

SURROUNDED - Prime Video

Westerns have not been burning up the box-office of late, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an appetite for the genre. It feels like television has been serving the audience all it needs, with Yellowstone and the entire Taylor Sheridan suite of shows pulling in big ratings. We’ll see if Kevin Costner can revive the movie western with next year’s Horizon double feature. In the meantime, there’s Surrounded, which came and went without much fanfare this summer. A shame, because this is the final screen appearance of actor Michael K. Williams, who died in 2021. A great actor who left us too soon. If you haven’t watched the Sundance TV series Hap and Leonard, it’s well worth your time (and can be streamed on AMC+).

October 22nd, 2023

NO HARD FEELINGS - Netflix

We finally caught up with No Hard Feelings when it came to PVOD, and loved it! While not a comedy masterpiece, it had solid jokes, terrific supporting performances, and Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic. It’s great that Netflix will elevate its profile in a big way when it arrives next week. The number of lame comedies Netflix releases every year is astounding. No Hard Feelings will look like gold next to this, this, and this.

Happy Streaming Everyone!

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