February 27th, 2024

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM - Max

According to Wikipedia, this is the 15th and final installment in the DC Extended Universe. We’re not good a keeping track of these things, so we’ll take their word for it. James Wan’s sequel to his 2018 Aquaman was not as beloved as the original, but it certainly didn’t tank like many predicted it would. We admit we prefer Wan when he’s a bit unhinged. Still waiting on that Malignant sequel! Anyway, Warner Bros is fast-tracking this title to Max, where it arrives a mere two months after its US theatrical premiere. It’s a rare Tuesday launch, which we’re guessing is meant to avoid competing with Dune: Part Two’s debut in theaters.

LISA FRANKENSTEIN - $29.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

The latest from Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), this teen horror comedy is directed by Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams. Kids of the 80s will recognize the title is a play on Lisa Frank, a company whose colorful, day-glo aesthetic was ubiquitous in the 80s and 90s (is it still? We’re old). Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse co-star, and we admit we still flashback to Friends anytime we see Sprouse in anything. He, of course, play Ross Geller’s son Ben (see below), though many probably remember him from Big Daddy (again, see below) with Adam Sandler, or his Disney Channel show The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (see below, Bieber hair era). Or maybe you know him from Riverdale? Anyway, the kid’s had a career! Lisa Frankenstein kinda tanked in theaters, here’s hoping it finds an audience on streaming.

MONSTER - $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest made a splash when it premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, winning both a screenwriting prize and the Queer Palm. The screenplay, which concerns a mother who confronts a teacher after noticing disturbing changes in her son's behavior, was written by Yuji Sakamoto, marking the first time since 1995’s Maborosi that Kore-eda directed a film he did not write himself. It also marks the last scoring project by legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died two months before the film’s release. Sakamoto’s unforgettable film scores include Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, The Sheltering Sky, The Revenant, and his Oscar-winning work for 1987’s The Last Emperor. Highly recommend this one.

POOR THINGS - TBD Sale-Only

The second collaboration between director Yorgos Lanthimos, screenwriter Tony McNamara, and actress Emma Stone, Poor Things has become the unlikeliest of arthouse blockbusters. As we’re writing this, it has just crossed $100M at the worldwide box-office. That’s incredibly impressive, especially since the film is deeply weird. But like their previous project, 2018’s The Favourite, it has ridden a wave of critical support and awards success to attract an adult audience that’s been hard coax to theaters. It’s up for a whopping 11 Oscars, though it’s in danger of walking away empty-handed. Stone feels like its best shot, and a Production Design win would not surprise. We’ll have to see if Oppenheimer steamrolls. In the meantime, the streaming release this Tuesday should raise its profile right in the middle of the Oscar voting period, which runs from February 22nd to February 27th.

THE SWEET EAST - $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Sean Price Williams made a name for himself in the indie world as a cinematographer, working with the Safdie Brothers (Good Time) and Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip, Her Smell). So when he was seeking funding for his directorial debut, Perry stepped up and used his agency connections to secure an impressive cast to gain financing. The result is The Sweet East, and it indeed does have an impressive lineup of up-and-coming and established talent: Ayo Edibiri, Jacob Elordi, Jeremy O. Harris, Simon Rex, and lead Talia Ryder, who was so impressive in 2020’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always. It sounds like The Sweet East is an ambitious swing: A high school senior's class trip to Washington, D.C. is abruptly interrupted when she is separated from her classmates during a pizzeria shooting. She then embarks on a picaresque journey across the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Granted access to a variety of strange sects and cults, she encounters gatekeepers eager to win her over. Can’t wait!

February 28th, 2024

CODE 8: PART II - Netflix

We have to admit, the first Code 8 movie flew under our radar. It was financed through crowdfunding and released theatrically in December of 2019 through distributor XYZ Films. It then made its way to Netflix in April, 2020. Not a great time in our history, but a great time for a movie to be released on Netflix! We were watching everything! Apparently the film was a big enough hit for the streamer that they commissioned a sequel, and so this week we’re getting Code 8: Part II. Real life brothers Robbie Amell and Stephen Amell reprise their roles as Connor Reed and Garrett Kelton from the original film, with Sirena Gulamgaus, Altair Vincent, Alex Mallari Jr., Moe Jeudy-Lamour, Aaron Abrams, and Jean Yoon co-starring. Part III has been teased, and we’re hoping they can make it all the way to Code 8: Part VIII.

March 1st, 2024

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE - AMC+

Nicole Newnham’s acclaimed film follows the life of American-born German sex educator and feminist Shere Hite, whose work built upon biological studies of sex by Masters and Johnson and by Alfred Kinsey and was the author of The Hite Report on Female Sexuality. It remains one of the best selling non-fiction books of all time, but has virtually no present day cultural awareness. Newnham’s previous film, which she co-directed with James LeBrecht, was the Oscar-nominated doc Crip Camp. Dakota Johnson both narrates and executive produces Shere Hite, and we imagine she has her sights set on a juicy biopic. We can’t wait to catch up with this one.

DREAMIN’ WILD - Hulu

A music biopic that follows the lives of singer-musician brothers Donnie and Joe Emerson, Dreamin’ Wild is directed by producer turned director Bill Pohlad, who previously helmed The Brian Wilson/Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy. Pohlad is the son of late billionaire Carl Pohlad, who owned the Minnesota Twins until his death in 2009. Bill Pohlad has produced such films as Brokeback Mountain, The Tree of Life, 12 Years a Slave, and Wild, so it’s nice when children of billionaires use their money to make great art! Dreamin’ Wild might not quite be great art, but it got generally positive reviews and has a talented cast. Well worth checking out now that it’s coming to Hulu.

NAPOLEON - Apple TV+

Ridley’s Scott’s historical epic performed decently at the US box-office (~$61M), but it really killed internationally, where it made $156M. That’s all cushion change for Apple, of course, but it demonstrates how much money companies like Netflix are leaving on the table by cutting out theatrical. Napoleon hit PVOD after a 48-day exclusive theatrical window, which is in line with what they did with Killers of the Flower Moon. Its Apple TV+ launch comes 52 days after its digital debut, which is a bit longer than KOTFM. No word yet on a director’s cut release. Apple will likely exhaust all revenue streams for the theatrical cut before they put out any other versions.

SPACEMAN - Netflix

The new Netflix film Spaceman is based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař, and stars Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini, and Paul Dano. Its plot follows an astronaut sent on a mission to the edge of the solar system who encounters a creature that helps him put his earthly problems back together. Sounds intriguing! We love when Adam Sandler stretches, and director Johan Renck is always interesting. So it was disappointing to see the mixed reviews coming out of the film’s premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. We’ll hope for the best, of course. And if nothing else, we’ll look forward to another score from Max Richter.

Happy Streaming Everyone!

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