Streaming Roulette, June: Nezha, Lucy in the Sky, West Side Story

If you're new to the site this is how we share new streaming offerings for the month. We select a handful or two of titles and just randomly hit a place on the scroll bar to see what the film looks like - no cheating.  Ready? Let's play...

-Maid of Honor?
-Oh, that color is bad for Anita!

West Side Story (1961) on Netflix
Silly, Maria. Anita doesn't have bad colors --she's Rita Moreno!  ICYMI I hope you'll read our huge three part retrospective of West Side Story. It was a joy to write. Netflix so rarely has 20th century movies  that you should always stream them (even if you own the picture, just leave it running in the background) to remind them that first century of the artform they make their billions off of is kind of important. Just saying...

Sir, I never felt so alive.

Lucy in the Sky (2019) on HBO
What's going on with the aspect ratio in this shot? Hmmm. Remember how much critics (not just our own) hated this true story drama starring Natalie Portman. Now audiences can sample it at home and see for themselves. Bonus points: In this very scene one of our fav character actors, Colman Domingo is the "sir" to whom Natalie is speaking in her southern drawl. 

[Urinating]

Come to Daddy (2019) on Prime
Jason reviewed this for us. Elijah Wood sure likes to work doesn't he? He's always got some indie going, usually a genre indie like this horror thriller. 

-Why did he fire you?

-[SHOUTING]  'Total failure to achieve any of the objetions for which I was hired.' I told him he was being unreasonable after all I did get to dance with the President and ride in Air Force One a couple of times...

The American President (1995) on Hulu
Annette Bening has had terrible luck with Oscar hasn't she? In Bugsy and The American President she was was probably close -- Globe nominated in popular movies --  but the years were stacked with potent actressing. in 20th Century Women the poor release strategy and a late surge for Streep thanks to the Globes lifetime achievement derailed her. Plus she lost to a much-lesser actress, twice!  When will it be her turn? Or must we just wait around for an Honorary when she's 90? 

Terribly exciting!

Zardoz (1974) on Hulu
This movie is so strange. It has to be seen to be believed but if you like hirsute men, Sean Connery is in that red bikini for hours and that's not the only memorable visual.

And this is Boba Fett!

E.T. (1982) on Netflix
OMG, we'd totally forgotten that E.T. shills Star Wars fandom / action figures! Steve & George were tight.

-I'd be better off napping.
-Ne Zha, you can't fool me.

Ne Zha (2019) on Netflix
This is the top grossing animated film of all time in China -- they're making a live action movie about this legend right now -- and it was one of the main foreign flicks in the Best Animated Feature eligibility pool last year. Tim wrote about it for us. 

Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail

Don't Look Back (1957) on Criterion
D.A. Pennebaker's documentary on Bob Dylan if you wanna see what inspired both INXS music videos of the 1980s and Todd Haynes's avante garde bio I'm Not There in 2007.

[No dialogue]

Spiritual Kung Fu (1978) on Criterion
They have several of Jackie Chan's comic acrobatic movies if you  need movement and performative joy.

ALSO STREAMING  RIGHT NOW...

newly streaming

• 17 Films written by Frances Marion
• 3 Films by Diane Kurys 
• Zombi Child (2019)
• City Lights (1931)
• Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962)
• Black Girl (1966)
• Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
• Burden of Dreams (1982)
• And When I Die I Won't Stay Dead (2015)
• A Special Day (1977)

later this month (a selection) 

• The Watermelon Woman (1996) - June 3rd
• My Own Private Idaho (1991) - June 4th
• Spellbound - June 6th
• Directed by Chantal Akerman -several films on June 7th
• The Eyes of Orson Wells - June 8th
• Synonyms - June 9th
• Parting Glances (1986) - June 9th
• But I'm a Cheerleader - June 10th
• Husbands (1970) - June 11th
• In a Lonely Place - June 12th
• Original Cast Album: Company - June 15th
• Three Films by Gregg Araki - June 18th
• Directed by Mike Leigh - several films on June 21st
• Tarnation - June 22nd
• Death in Venice - June 22nd
• Czech New Wave - several films - June 28th

newly streaming

• Act of Valor
• All Dogs Go to Heaven
• Bad News Bears
• The Boy
• Cape Fear
• The Car
• Casper
• Clueless
• Cocomelon Season 1
• The Disaster Artist
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• The Healer 
• The Help
• Inside Man
• The Lakehouse
• The Lovebirds
• Lust, Caution
• Ne Zha
• Observe and Report
• Priest
• The Queen
• The Silence of the Lambs
• Starship Troopers
• Trumbo
• Twister
• V for Vendetta
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
• West Side Story
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan
• Zodiac

later this month (a selection)

• Baby Mama (June 16th)
• Frost/Nixon (June 16th)
• Hannibal (S1-S3) (June 5th)
• Lady Bird (June 3rd)
• Wasp Network (June 19th)

newly streaming

• 10 Year Plan (2014)
• 4th Man Out (2015)
• Above & Beyond (2014)
• Almost Adults (2016)
• Born to be Wild (2011)
• Casino (1995)
• Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
• Cliffhanger (1993)
• Constantine (2005)
• The Cookout (2004)
• Dave (1993)
• Digging for Fire (2015)
• Dirty Dancing (1987)
• Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
• Equilibrium (2002)
• Fair Game (2010)
• Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
• Futureworld (1976)
• Grown Ups (2010)
• Happily N'Ever After (2007)
• Happily N'Ever After 2 (2009)
• Honey (2003)
• Honey 2 (2011)
• I Am Legend (2007)
• I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)
• I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
• Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
• Joyride (1997)
• Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story (2014)
• Kingpin (1996)
• Losing Isaiah (1995)
• Meet Me In Montenegro (2014)
• Meet the Fockers (2004)
• Meet the Parents (2000)
• Mo' Money (1992)
• My Girl (1991)
• My Girl 2 (1994)
• Nate and Hayes (1983)
• October Sky (1999)
• The Pawnbroker (1964)
• Quigley Down Under (1990)
• Ramy (S2) 
• Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
• Rocketman (2019)
• The Scout (1994)
• Sex Drive (2008)
• Thelma & Louise (1991)
• Trade (2007)
• Treading Eater (2013)
• True Romance (1993 - director's cut)
• The Tuxedo (2002)
• Undertow (2004)
• Up in the Air (2009)
• Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2007)
• Women and Sometimes Men (2017)
• WristCutters: A Love Story (2004)
• The Wood (1999)
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
• The X-Files

later in the month (a selection)

• Awakenings (1990) on June 12th
• Clemency (2019) on June 22nd
• La Bamba (1987) on June 19th
• Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) on June 30th
• Natural Born Killers (1994) on June 19th
• Pan (2015) on June 15th
• Shirley (2020) on June 5th

newly streaming for May - a selection they usually offer the same films as Hulu (see above) plus a slew of older often B films

• The Cookout
• Dirty Dancing (1987)
• Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
• How To Train Your Dragon
• Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
• Joyride (1997)
• Nate and Hayes (1983)
• The Natural
• Shrek Forever After

later in the month (selection) 

• Equillibirum - June 7th
• Knives Out - June 12th
• Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - June 30th
• Spy Kids - June 30th
• Where the Wild Things Are - June 30th

newly streaming

• Fantastic Mr Fox
• Hello Dolly
• The Moon Spinners

later in the month a selection

• Artemis Fowl (2020) - on June 12th
• Percy Jackson and the Olypmians - June 26th
• Tarzan (1999) - June 26th

We usually list HBO but let's give them a moment to sort out their shit between HBO, HBO GO, HBO NOW, and HBO MAX all of which are different and the same depending on who you ask and which lists you look at and where your app is downloaded from and which device you're using, etcetera. CONFUSING. 

Comments

[RDF]

Thank you for posting.

[Jaragon]

"Zardoz" is crazy ambitious sexy sci-fi. Boorman is trying to be Kubrick and Ken Russell at the same time.

[Bushwick]

One of my favorite series that you do. And needed since I’m still furloughed! Thanks always!

[thevoid99]

Correction, Dont Look Back came out in 1967.

[Academy Member]

Lost to a lesser actress who was clearly better both times.

[Lola]

SWANK4EVA

[Volvagia]

Academy Member: Was Swank better both times? Kind of (no, there's not THAT much distance between Swank in Boys Don't Cry and Bening in American Beauty) and probably. Was she better enough the second time to justify a second? No. Swank's and Waltz's second wins are so bad as second wins that they make you wish for a reality where the Academy removed prior acting winners from the nomination roll after their win. And, yes, I've constructed what that reality plausibly looks like.

[jules]

I love Annette, but it would be really strange for Being Julia to be her Oscar win. If you want to complain about Swank beating someone that year, complain about her beating Imelda Staunton or Kate Winslet.

[/3rtful]

I love Annette, but it would be really strange for Being Julia to be her Oscar win.

Phoenix winning for Joker
Dern for Marriage Story
Streep for The Iron Lady

are more preposterous victories

[NATHANIEL R]

jules - what /3rtful said. I'd be fine with Being Julia being her Oscar win if meant she had a win. It's a great performance. so what if the movie is middling. But to lose to an inferior performance from someone who'd already won before. ARGH.

[W.J.]

Lucy in the Sky isn't a great film but it's an interesting one full of ideas and images and CHOICES! Some of Hawley's choices are questionable but at least he's making them.

[Stefano]

Annette should stop wasting her time with stuff like Life Itself (bleah) and Georgetown, make more with films with talented authors (I'd love to see her directed by someone like Greta Gerwig) and come out of her "comfort zone".

[Dildo-gia]

Volvagia it sounds like you have a Pandora's box of self indulgent pomposity there. Don't open it up, unless you ever do start that blog you talked up for years that you'd never follow through on. Better to word vomit an established comment thread than try to strike out on your own terms.

[/3rtful]

I saw Lucy in the Sky theatrically because the trailer was that impressive. I liked it despite comprehensible flaws.