Streaming Roulette, April 2018
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at 10:15AM
NATHANIEL R in Amazon, Cold Mountain, Drugstore Cowboy, Ice Mother, Jane Krakowski, Little Women, Matt Dillon, Netflix, Renée Zellweger, Speed Racer, streaming

Can you believe it's April already! If only the weather here in NYC would commit to springtime (Sigh). A new month means new availabilty of streaming titles which means it's time for our streaming roulette. We spin (figuratively... it's really scrolling) and wherever the cursor lands we share that moment of the film. Do any of these screengrabs make you want to see the picture (or see it again)?

Drugstore Cowboy (1989) on Amazon Prime


Holy shit!

Holy shit is right. This is the first moment of a quadruple dissolve with a really strange comic tone. Gus Van Sant just can't help his inner cinema geek sometimes (See also Psycho, 1998). I don't remember this well (only saw it once) but was absolutely convinced at the time that Matt Dillon should have landed his first Oscar-nomination with ease. He had to make do with that year's Best Actor prize at the Independent Spirit Awards and wait another 17 years for the Oscar nomination (via Crash). Kelly Lynch is also excellent as his girlfriend (she had a brief heyday in the late 80s and early 90s but was never properly appreciated despite more than one strong performance).

Six more films after the jump starting with  Little Women (1994) on Netflix...

What happened between you and John?

Little Kiki as Amy is such a gossip-in-training. Look at how Eric Stoltz is giving you Too Cocky in the background despite being completely out-of-focus. ACTING!

Mortal Kombat (1995) on Netflix


[back cracking sound]

This masked dude is about to be beheaded with a "special move" before he's even had a chance to land a punch or kick. Video games turned movies have such a bad history.

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) on Netflix


This is my new best friend, Betty. She's been very good to me.

um...uh... (awkward pause) what is happening, here? No, forget I asked. I don't want to know. I had totally forgotten that they made a sequel to The Flintstones only changed the entire cast -- that's my beloved Jane Krakowski as Betty post Ally McBeal but before TV and Broadway figured out what to do with her!

Cold Mountain (2003) on Netflix


IT'S A MAN! RIGHT IN OUR CORN CRIB. Got 'im in a trap. THAT'S HIM YELPIN'!!!

Good lord, Renée Zellweger even overdoes it in long shots. She can be seen ACTING from several states away, let alone within the confines of Ada's humble farm in North Carolina.  

Speed Racer (2008) on Netflix


[Blur of colors and movement that went on for ages until I was able to capture something legible]

This movie about finishing races first is somehow nearly two and a half hours long! No wonder the Wachowski sisters ended up at Netflix series where they can stretch their narratives out for hours. (Not that we're complaining about Sense8 which is maybe the best thing they ever did barring Bound in 1996)

Ice Mother (2017) on Amazon Prime


-Why didn't you heat it up? Everything was ready!
-Eat without you? Have we gone that far?

You guys this movie is worth a watch. It was the Czech Republic's Oscar submission this past season. It's about a widowed grandmother who spontaneously takes up ice swimming as a hobby with a local senior citizen group and her hateful family suddenly resents her for having an actual life outside of catering to their every need and whim. Very good performances, especially from the oldest and youngest cast member (the grandmother and grandson pictured here). In this scene she's being chastised for not being home for dinner despite making them dinner even though she wasn't going to be there to eat.

Also on NETFLIX in April

Also on AMAZON PRIME in April

Which, if any, of these titles would you love us to write about? 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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