September 12, 2023

BARBIE - $29.99 Sale / $24.99 Rental

One-half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon hits home screens this week, and for those excited to revisit or watch for the first time, it isn’t going to be cheap. Priced at an ultra premium usually reserved for animated films, Barbie will cost nearly $30 to buy and $25 to rent. It’s a savvy move from Warner Bros, as they still have an IMAX run scheduled for the film on 9/22. It’ll cost Barbie fans a pretty penny either way.

FINAL CUT - $12.99 Sale / TBD Rental

The Oscar-winning director of THE ARTIST makes a zombie film! A French remake of the 2017 Japanese film ONE CUT OF THE DEAD, it stars Romain Duris and Bérénice Bejo and revolves around a crew remaking the film depicted in the original film. It opened the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was pretty much ignored in theaters here in the US.

THE HILL - TBD Sale / TBD Rental

Neither fish nor fowl, THE HILL was likely not church-y enough for the faith-based crowd, and too ‘inspirational’ for Joe Popcorn. The film opened to middling reviews and sluggish box-office, but might find an audience on home screens. It’s the final film of co-screenwriter Scott Marshall Smith (MEN OF HONOR, THE SCORE), who passed away from complications of a stroke in 2020.

JULES - $14.99 Sale Only

August’s other (after LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND) alien comedy also struggled to find an audience in theaters. And like that other movie, JULES is stacked with a talented cast: Ben Kingsley, Jane Curtin, Harriet Sansom Harris, Andy Daly. It got pretty good reviews as well, so hopefully it gets some traction on digital.

SHORTCOMINGS - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

It was a brutal summer at the arthouse. The only title that really broke out at the box-office was PAST LIVES, which had the advantage of an early June release (pre-Barbenheimer). SHORTCOMINGS, released in August, just couldn’t attract any significant attention. It stalled out with $660K total domestic. Sony Classics is fast-tracking it (by their standards) to PVOD in the hopes that Randall Park’s directorial debut gets some word-of-mouth business.

TALK TO ME - $19.99 Sale Only

If PAST LIVES was the arthouse hit of the summer, then TALK TO ME (along with another title coming out this week) was the indie hit of the summer. A24’s low-budget smash became the studio’s highest grossing horror film (besting HEREDITARY) and fourth highest grossing film overall. Ideally positioned to take advantage of the upcoming Halloween season, the movie should continue to be a cash-cow, as will the prequel and sequel (both already announced).

THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY - $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

A perfect opportunity to jump on the Lily Gladstone bandwagon, THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY gives the actress a terrific showcase before her high-profile turn in the upcoming KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Gladstone not only stars in the film, but also co-wrote the screenplay. An interesting mix of fact and fiction, this road movie is the debut feature from director Morrisa Maltz.

September 13, 2023

ELEMENTAL - Disney+

Arriving on Disney+ less than one month after its PVOD debut, ELEMENTAL’s quick SVOD pivot is likely due to Disney’s aggressive fall acquisition campaign. The company’s carriage dispute with Spectrum has resulted in a deeply discounted Hulu Live offer, while Disney+ is set to see a price increase in October. With THE LITTLE MERMAID launching last week, ELEMENTAL this week, and HAUNTED MANSION likely in October, Disney is stocking up on programming that they hope will keep customers from canceling.

September 14, 2023

THEATER CAMP - Hulu & PVOD (Price TBD)

Another Disney high-profile Disney/20th Century release in the midst of their fall acquisition campaign, THEATER CAMP didn’t exactly break-out in theaters. But much like theater campers…there is PASSION here. The people who have seen it, love it. The target audience will evangelize for it, and it should have a long life on Hulu.

September 15, 2023

EL CONDE - Netflix

Pablo Larrain’s black comedy horror film portrays Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire seeking death. It premiered last week at the Venice Film Festival and received mostly favorable reviews. It’s a Spanish-language film, so make sure your Netflix settings don’t default to some terrible English dub.

ELEVATOR GAME - Shudder, AMC+

Based on the online phenomenon of the same name, ELEVATOR GAME follows a socially awkward teenager who ingratiates himself into a group of recent high school graduates that run an online web series debunking urban legends. To play the game, you must ride the elevator in a specific sequence, invoking a supernatural creature called 'The 5th Floor Woman'. Sounds like a nightmare for anyone who lives in a building with kids playing this game. But maybe a good premise for a horror movie? We’ll see…

FAST X - Peacock

Is there anyone who rides for this film? Limping to Peacock nearly four months after its theatrical premiere, FAST X feels like it came out a year ago. At least Jason Momoa seems like he’s having fun. Still, the film’s worldwide box-office success ensures we’ll be getting at least two more Fast films.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 - Starz

Now here’s a franchise with some life. JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 became the most successful in the series, and also nabbed an MTV Movie & TV Awards nomination for Best Fight (Keanu Reeves Vs. Everyone). Sadly, Keanu lost the award to Courtney Cox Vs. Ghostface (for SCREAM VI). Our opinion: Keanu was robbed (especially when you see Ghostface’s lame acceptance speech:

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT - Netflix

Based on the 2011 novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT stars Haley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy, Dexter Fletcher, Rob Delaney, Sally Phillips and Jameela Jamil. Great cast! We’ll be checking it out.

A MILLION MILES AWAY - Prime Video

This Amazon Studios release follows Jose Hernandez, the first migrant farmworker to travel to space. And he’s played by Michael Pena, who doesn’t get nearly enough leading roles. The trailer makes the film look earnest and formulaic, but maybe that’s ok? Not every biopic needs to reinvent the wheel. Let’s get inspired!

MY ANIMAL - $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

A Canadian supernatural horror romance film directed by Jacqueline Castel, in her feature directorial debut. It stars Bobbi Salvör Menuez and Amandla Stenberg, and follows a woman who is forced by her overbearing parents to keep her lycanthropy (werewolf-ism) a secret, until she begins to fall in love with a figure skater. Werewolves? Figure skaters?! Legendary Canadian character actor Stephen McHattie?!! Yes, Yes, and YES!

RETRIBUTION - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

We’re still doing this? Look…we love Liam Neeson. We love a good Liam Neeson action movie. But good Liam Neeson action movies are becoming a rare beast. RETRIBUTION is the third remake of the 2015 Spanish film El desconocido, which follows a man (Neeson) who gets trapped in his car after receiving a threat that it will explode should he get out. Unfortunately, ‘third remake’ speaks volumes. Still…let’s be honest…we’ll give it a shot.

ROTTING IN THE SUN - MUBI / TBD Sale

This movie looks insane in the best way. Best to just quote the Wikipedia description of its production: ‘Sebastián Silva was approached by Jordan Firstman while in Mexico, finding him hilarious and wanted to make a satirical film. Silva previously approached Michael Cera to lead the film, but Cera declined due to the graphic sexual content. The film contains unsimulated sex scenes, with Silva stating: "The sex is so graphic that it's a double-edged sword. People, especially Americans, are so scared of genitals. I'm scared a little bit that a lot of people will center on the cocks and talking about cocks when it's just a trait of one of the characters.’

SOUND OF FREEDOM - $19.99 Sale Only

So…full disclosure…we’re not 100% sure SOUND OF FREEDOM is coming to PVOD on Friday. Our source (Redbox) has pulled the date on their listing, and no other digital retailer has announced. So like everything else surrounding this very unusual phenomenon, there’s a veil of mystery. Still, we’re keeping it on the calendar and in our preview. But maybe don’t plan your weekend around it just yet.

Happy streaming everyone!

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