Streaming Roulette April: The Dirt, Monster House, and Now Apocalypse
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 7:00AM
NATHANIEL R in Amazon Prime, Gregg Araki, HBO, Hulu, Mamma Mia!, Monster House, Netflix, Now Apocalypse, Sunshine Cleaning, Ultraman, biopics, streaming

As is our practice we've selected a couple handful of titles and frozen the films at utterly random moments without cheating (whatever comes up comes up!) for this quick preview. At the bottom of the page, check out full listings for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and HBO for April 2019. And please do let us know if you're dying to discuss any of the films. Maybe we'll select one to write up? Okay, let's go...

Holy shit. Barnabas!

Now Apocalypse, Season 1 (2019) on Hulu (with Starz add-on)
Pictured there are the four leads of Now Apocalypse all of them gorgeous / funny / frequently naked in the first TV series from Gregg Araki of 1990s new queer cinema fame. Araki's preoccupations haven't changed much (or at all!)  since the 1990s. A twinkish lead with floppy dark hair? Check. Constant drug use? Sex. Filthy language and explicitly sexual humor? Check. A preoccupation with supernatural kinds of rape? Check. A dumb but impossibly sweet and sincere straight hunk? Check. Impossibly hip but somewhat chilly woman with black hair? Check. Sexual fluidity for every character even those with a pronounced label or gay or straight? Check. Slutty female best friend with most of the best lines? Check. End of the world fantasies and paranoia? Check. Older predatory queers in abundance? Check. Aliens or supernatural occurences? Of course! The show is way too repetitive in the early episodes (lots of flashbacks to previous episodes which is weird for streaming shows since you've literally usually just been watching what you're now flashing back to) but about halfway into the season the short episodes start  to come together in fun ways, including a hilarious and much smarter way of folding back in on itself with an in-series webseries, wherein the characters are reenacting the early episodes and playing themselves badly or being played unflatteringly by actors hired to play them. 

She never blinked during the interview.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019) on HBO GO
The latest from Oscar winning documentarian Alex Gibney about Elizabeth Holmes and her scam company Theranos. Abe reviewed this for us at Sundance. 

The Teamsters are not going to back down.

Hoffa (1992) on HBO GO
Jack Nicholson played Jimmy Hoffa in this 1992 biopic directed by Danny DeVito which was not a hit (only 2 nominations for Makeup and Cinematography despite being a prestige biopic with a high profile.) But it might be worth checking out given that Martin Scorsese's The Irishman is on its way soon and will share at least a couple of the same characters. Al Pacino plays Hoffa in the new film. Contrast and compare!

 

I only wanted a little love affair
Now I can see you are beginning to care
But baby. Believe me
It's better to forget me 🎵
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) on HBO GO
This movie was cute. I only just realized yesterday that the director Ol Parker is married to Thandie Newton and I found this out because Murtada told me on the podcast (coming soon) that the little girl who stars in Dumbo is their daughter! You learn something new every day. But now I can't help but superimpose Thandie Newton into the Mamma Mia! sequel. She looks great dancing around in the sunshine in 70s clothes.
 

 

[pained grunt]

Ultraman Season 1 (2019) on Netflix
Apparently, like multiple franchises right now, this new series is a "legacy" project in that its not pretending to "reboot" but merely renew the Ultraman story (with the hero being the son of the older man who once merged with Ultraman) or something like that. Does anyone remember the syndicated Ultraman tv series? 

GROSS!

The Dirt (2019) on Netflix
A biopic of Mötley Crüe starring Douglas Booth as Nikki Sixx and Colson Baker as Tommy Lee. That's Tony Cavalero as Ozzy Osbourne, flashing the band. (No. we did not cheat. In streaming roulette, whatever comes up, comes up! That's the rule.)

This is no dragon. This is Lucifer.

Dragonslayer (1981) on Hulu and Prime
Remember this movie? Anyone? Peter MacNichol was always such a strange choice for attempted leading man status.  (Two Oscar nominations for Visual Effects and Original Score)

Constance! Her whole body is buried in cement.

Monster House (2006) on Netflix
Oh Constance 💔 Was this Kathleen Turner's last great movie role? Love this toon so much but it's a lonely feeling. Shoulda won the Animated Feature Oscar in its year since it's better than Happy Feet or Cars, its competition that year as there were only 3 nominees.

- How long you gals been doing this kind of work?
-A while. 

Sunshine Cleaning (2009) on Hulu
Remember this one with Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, and Alan Arkin? A strangely prestige-free entry at this point in everyone's careers shortly after a second Oscar nomination, a breakthrough, and an Oscar win, respectively speaking. But not every movie can be a winner or a big hit.

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