What’s Streaming This Week (8/11 - 8/18)
Tuesday, August 13th, 2024
THE FABULOUS FOUR - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental
What we like:
Four fantastic comedic actresses (Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, Sheryl Lee Ralph) in a Bridesmaids-style romp. Terrific summer counter-programming.
Australian director Jocelyn Moorhouse’s first feature since her underrated 2015 Kate Winslet vehicle The Dressmaker.
Also encouraging to see in the cast list: Michael Bolton as himself.
What we don’t like:
Reviews were mixed, though the film does have its defenders. Amy Nicholson’s review in the New York Times notes: ‘Slapdash but executed with gusto, “Fabulous Four” feels like it was made after guzzling three bottles of champagne — and honestly, that’s an apropos way to watch.’
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA - BLACK & CHROME EDITION - $19.99 Sale Only
What we like:
We’re big fans of George Miller’s epic prequel, and anything that helps the film make some of its money back gets a thumbs up from us.
We can’t wait to see what cinematographer Simon Duggan’s compositions look like in black and white.
What we don’t like:
Simon Duggan’s also shot 2024’s Russell Crowe demonic possession film The Exorcism. We somehow doubt that one’s getting a Black & Chrome Edition.
JUNE ZERO - $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental
What we like:
The 1961 preparations for the execution of Adolf Eichmann, a principal architect of the Holocaust, are revisited in this film by Jake Paltrow. Based on true accounts, it’s told from the perspectives of three distinct figures: Eichmann’s Jewish Moroccan prison guard, an Israeli police investigator who also happens to be a Holocaust survivor and a 13-year-old Libyan immigrant.
Paltrow shot the entire film in 16mm, giving the film a period-appropriate grainy look that’s much more immersive and evocative than digital would be.
What we don’t like:
Nepo Baby Discourse Alert! Paltrow is the son of actor Blythe Danner and director Bruce Paltrow. Refreshingly, he has not weighed in on the Nepo Baby Discourse, but don’t worry, his sister Gwyneth is on it.
MOTHERS’ INSTINCT - $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental
What we like:
Two actors (Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway) at the top of their game, in a 60s-set psychological thriller? Absolutely yes. We can’t wait.
Co-star Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World, Bergman Island) is a hottie and that’s the truth.
What we don’t like:
Why the delay? The film sat on the shelf for nearly two years, and was given a minimal theatrical release.
TWISTERS - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental
What we like:
As big fans of 1996’s Twister, we’re thrilled that this quasi-sequel hit big at the box-office. Honestly, we’d take one of these every few years.
Glen Powell solidifies his A-list bonafides here, with the one-two punch of Hit Man and Twisters making it the summer of Powell.
What we don’t like:
What happened to Universal’s 31-day window for titles that open over $50M? The studio likely moved the PVOD release date up a week to avoid going head-to-head with Inside Out 2, which will hit digital on 8/20.
WATCHMEN: CHAPTER 1 - $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental
What we like:
Based on the groundbreaking graphic novel series by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, Watchmen: Chapter 1 adapts the gritty, Cold War superhero saga that redefined comics back in the 1980s.
The voice cast is stacked with talented actors: Matthew Rhys, Katee Sackhoff, Titus Welliver, Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau (!), Corey Burton, and Michael Cerveris.
What we don’t like:
Warner Bros has yet to announce a release date for Watchmen: Chapter 2, though it sounds like it’s likely to arrive before the end of the year.
Wednesday, August 14th, 2024
DAUGHTERS - Netflix
What we like:
This doc from Natalie Rae and Angela Patton tells the story of four young girls preparing for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail.
The film won the US Documentary Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Can’t wait for this one.
What we don’t like:
The toxic and often cruel for-profit US prison system.
LA CHIMERA - Hulu
What we like:
Filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera was very well-received at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, and later was named one of the top 5 international films of the year by the National Board of Review.
If this summer was The Summer of Powell, then spring was The Spring of O’Connor, with La Chimera and Challengers minting a new star.
What we don’t like:
We don’t love that we had to wait almost a year after its Cannes debut to see this one in theaters.
THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER - Netflix
What we like:
From the creators of 2010’s Chico and Rita (which nabbed a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination), They Shot the Piano Player is described as an animated docudrama, which is a genre we don’t get enough of.
The film centers around the real-life disappearance and presumed murder of Brazilian pianist Francisco Tenório Júnior in 1976, and stars Jeff Goldblum as an American music journalist investigating Tenório's case.
What we don’t like:
Reviews were a bit mixed, but we’re very curious to check it out now that it’s hitting Netflix.
Thursday, August 15th, 2024
JACKPOT! - Prime Video
What we like:
This straight-to-streaming action comedy is stacked with talent: John Cena, Awkwafina, Sean William Scott, Dolly DeLeon. So many promising elements.
Paul Feig has directed three comedy classics in the 21st century: Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy. We don’t love A Simple Favor as much as others do, but we’re excited to see if he can deliver here.
Jackpot! has a great premise: In the near future, a ‘Grand Lottery’ has been established - the catch: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim their multi-billion dollar jackpot. Could work as a comedy and an action thriller.
What we don’t like:
The original title was Grand Death Lotto, WHICH IS AMAZING! Why do studios sand down these movies with the most generic titles possible? Sony retitling Horrorscope to Tarot was egregious, but this is probably worse. Grand Death Lotto is memorable and tells you exactly what the movie is about.
Friday, August 16th, 2024
IMMACULATE - Hulu
What we like:
In the spring, Immaculate became NEON’s fourth highest grossing film of all time, behind only Ferrari ($18.5M), I Tonya ($30M), and Parasite ($53M). It’s been leapfrogged by Longlegs, but any way you look at it, it’s been a huge year for the indie distributor.
Another success story for star Sydney Sweeney, who used her newly earned clout to produce the film. Sweeney had originally auditioned for a role the film in 2014, but it ended up in development hell and was put in to turnaround. In October 2022, it was announced that Sweeney had joined the cast of the film, with Michael Mohan directing, and with Sweeney serving as a producer under her Fifty-Fifty Films production banner.
What we don’t like:
Culture warriors who go after movies to raise their profiles. NEON brilliantly used this to their advantage in promoting Immaculate:
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA - Max
What we like:
79 year-old George Miller is still delivering muscular, exciting action filmmaking. Furiosa might not reach the heights of Fury Road (an impossible task), but it’s still a jaw-dropping spectacle that, we think, will stand the test of time.
The performances of Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, and Alyla Browne are all stellar. But a special shout-out to Tom Burke, who oozes charisma as Praetorian Jack. We can’t believe he’s the same actor who made our skin crawl in The Souvenir!
Although Furiosa has more CGI stunt effects than Fury Road, it still has a hell of a lot of practical stunt effects. Absolutely thrilling.
What we don’t like:
The film’s middling box-office performance likely means Miller will have trouble getting additional Mad Max sagas financed (at least at this scale).
NATIONAL ANTHEM - $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental
What we like:
The feature film debut of director Luke Gilford made a big splash when it premiered at last year’s SXSW. It’s based on his monograph titled National Anthem: America’s Queer Rodeo.
In the film, Charlie Plummer plays Dylan, a 21-year-old who lives in rural New Mexico and works as a construction worker to help support his little brother and alcoholic mother. He joins a community of queer ranchers and rodeo performers in search of their own version of the American dream.
What we don’t like:
The film didn’t make much noise at the box-office, earning less than $300k in the US. We hope it finds a larger audience when it hits streaming.
THE UNION - Netflix
What we like:
We’re big Halle Berry fans. Though the Oscar-winner rarely gets films that are worthy of her talent, she’s always watchable and entertaining. We’re actually quite excited for Never Let Go.
It’s an Oz reunion! J.K. Simmons and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje previously co-starred as antagonistic prison inmates on the HBO series.
What we don’t like:
Our eyes glaze over when reading the film’s premise: Mike, a down-to earth construction worker, is thrust into the world of super spies and secret agents when his high school sweetheart, Roxanne, recruits him on a high-stakes US intelligence mission. This ordinary-guy-becomes-spy trope must be stopped.
Happy Streaming Everyone!
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