Streaming Roulette, March: Drive my car by the west side, Peggy Sue

by Nathaniel R

Before we begin we should note that between HBOMax (Dune, King Richard, Drive My Car, West Side Story), Netflix (Power of the Dog, Don't Look Up), Hulu (Nightmare Alley), AppleTV+ (CODA) and VOD (Belfast, Licorice Pizza) all of the Best Picture nominees are or will be available to watch at home this month before the Oscars (March 27th). 

Okay, time for this month's streaming roulette. You know the rules. We highlight new-to-streaming titles by freezing them on the scroll bar at entirely random places and just sharing what pops up. No cheating*!

You must endure your sorrow.

DRIVE MY CAR (2021) - HBOMax
This image is from an audition sequence shortly after the opening credits (which arrive almost around 45 minutes into the movie!). A deaf actress is auditioning to be part of a lauded director's (Hidetoshi Nishijima) production of Uncle Vanya, his famous style being to combine multiple languages in each production. Amazing to have landed on this moment with a line that encapsulates so much of the theme...

Chris, do you know what 'carpe diem' is?

ROXANNE (1987) - Hulu
With Cyrano FINALLY in theaters, chase it with the most clever screen version of Cyrano de Bergerac, Steve Martin's Roxanne. He's pictured above with hunky Rick Rossovich (do my fellow 80s peeps remember him?) as the man he's helping to woo the beautiful Roxanne (Daryl Hannah) because he's too scared to go for it himself. "Carpe diem" sure did get a verbal work out in 80s films. Wonder when that phrase became such a popular culture thing since this film pre-dates Dead Poet's Society which made the phrase even more ubiquitous?

Sharks & Jets: We're gonna stop them once and for all
Sharks: The Sharks are gonna have their day
Maria & Tony: Oh moon grow bright
Sharks: The Sharks are gonna have their way
Maria & Tony: And make this endless day endless night
Sharks & Jets: We're gonna rock it tonight
Maria & Tony, Sharks & Jets, Anita: TONIIIIIIIIIGHT

WEST SIDE STORY (2021) - Disney+ / HBOMax
We landed on the end of "Tonight (Quintet)"  which is, via the 1961 version, is one of the greatest musical sequences of all time. It's one of the few numbers that Steven Spielberg's 2021 remake doesn't really attempt to rework (can't beat perfection) but just uses the same everybody-getting-ready or aggressively-walking in dynamic cross-cut fashion as the different parts of the song collide. DP Janusz Kaminski does love a lens flare, huh? Reminder that we're doing this film for Hit Me With Your Best Shot on Thursday March 10th so please consider joining us if you're watching it this week. Choose your own shot and let us know and we'll link up wherever you'd posted or discussed it. 

If I'd turned it down, they'd have given it to someone else.

THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET (1965) - Criterion Channel
From their new "Foreign Language Oscar Winners" collection. 31 Oscar winners. We haven't yet seen all of these but can hardily recommend so many including Bicycle Thieves, Rashomon, Black Orpheus, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Amour, and many many more. Featuring The Shop on Main Street in this roundup since we're still obsessed after our screening for the "One Inch Barrier" podcast in the fall. It was nominated for Best Actress and won Best Foreign Language Film but it should have been up for lots more Oscars. Just a riveting profound and entertaining motion picture about a clueless man assigned as the "Aryan Controller" of a Jewish widow's button store. 

I thought I heard you say you loved me. Did you?

BEACHES (1988) - Hulu
Isn't it amazing that Bette Midler, who is so self-possessed as a performer, is so good at showing emotional neediness and codependency? Love this movie... it has never gotten a fair shake being a "women's picture". Time for a rewatch? Daniel Walber did a popular episode of "The Furniture" on this film years ago.

[dance music playing]

KNIFE + HEART (2019) - Shudder
Have never seen this homage to 70s horror though it's been divisive. It's a film about actors being brutally murdered on the set of a gay porn film in Paris. It's part of the "New French Terror" collection which includes extremely violent films like High Tension, Irreversible, and  Martyrs, Claire Denis two most disturbing movies (Trouble Every Day and Bastards), and erotic thrillers like François Ozon's Double Lover.

[no dialogue]

FRENCH DISPATCH (2021) - HBOMax
Why is Tilda Swinton so perfect for Wes Anderson? It's hard to put a finger on but she is. In this sequence she's giving a lecture but in the moment of this freeze frame she's gone silent for dramatic effect or applause (which is, of course, comic in context). She's not saying anything at all but just does a self-conscious self-satisfied elbow pose... and look at that Milena Canonero designed costume! Tilda Swinton is perfect and this movie is such a pleasure. Zero Oscar nominations... not even Production Design or Score? Argh.

[no dialogue]

FREE GUY (2021) - Disney+
Surprisingly enough Free Guy is not the only movie this past year to feature a key sequence in which the lead is still moving while the world around them is frozen (the other is ...). This movie is a walking visual fx reel which led to a Best Visual Effects nomination at the Oscars. 

Ohhhh my baby sister!

PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (1986) - Hulu
Love this movie so much and was heartbroken when Kathleen Turner lost the Oscar. But I'll be honest. I had totally forgotten that Sofia Coppola plays Turner's baby sister in the 1960 set portion of the film (when Peggy Sue travels back in time). We did this for an episode of Hit Me With Your Best Shot years ago. Coppola's movies are often fascinating to rewatch so join us for a "Best Shot" episode about The Conversation tomorrow night. 

So what (else) is streaming in March? You know the drill by now. We pick a handful of titles and freeze them on the scroll bar at a random place (no cheating) and share what came up. Let's go...

MORE STREAMING TITLES FOLLOW... ANY REQUESTS FOR COVERAGE?

also streaming on Netflix

• 21
• 21 Bridges
• Against the Ice (Danish movie about a 1909 polar expedition to Greenland. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau stars)
• Battleship
• Christine
• Coach Carter
• Due Date
• Freddy vs Jason
• ★ Gattaca
• The Green Mile
• The Gift
• Guardians of Justice (Netflix superhero series)
• ★  My Best Friend's Wedding
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 and 2010 versions)
• Public Enemies
• Redemption
• The Replacements
• Richie Rich
• Savage Rhythms (Netflix series about dancers in Colombia) 
• ★  The Shawshank Redemption
• Shooter
• Shrek
• Shrek 2
• ★  Sorry to Bother You
• ★  Starship Troopers
• Texas Chainsaw 3D
• Top Gun
• V For Vendetta
• Worst Roommate Ever (Netflix Documentary)
• Zoolander

Later this Month (a sampling)

• 800 Meters (Spanish documentary about terrorist attacks)
• Tomorrow (South Korean fantasy series about grim reapers)
• The Bombardment (Danish movie about a WW II bombing) - March 9th
• Invisible Thread (Italian gay movie about a teenager with two fathers)
• Pieces of Her (new Toni Collette mystery series) - March 4th
• The Andy Warhol Diaries (new Netflix doc series) - March 9th
• ★  Dunkirk - March 12th
• Lee Daniel's The Butler - March 17th
• Human Resources (spin off of Big Mouth investigating the world of the Hormone Monsters) - March 18th
• Bridgerton (Season 2) - March 25th
• ★  Blade Runner 2049 - March 26th
• The Imitation Game - March 28th

 

★  COLLECTIONS streaming on Criterion Channel

• PRE-CODE PARAMOUNT (20 films including Design for Living, Trouble in Paradise, and Morocco)
• PIER PAOLO PASOLINI (11 films including Canterbury Tales, Arabian Nights, and Teorama)
• FOREIGN LANGUAGE OSCAR WINNERS (27 films including Babette's Feast, Rashomon, A Separation)
• LIVE IN CONCERT (13 films including Monterey Pop, Stop Making Sense and Sign O' the Time)
• QUEERSIGHTED STAGE TO SCREEN (8 films including Brief Encounter, Suddenly Last Summer)
• Eve's Bayou (1998) by Kasi Lemmons
• A Raisin in the Sun (1961) starring Sidney Poitier
• The Celebration (1998) by Thomas Vinterberg
• Bull Durham (1988) starring Susan Sarandon and Kevin Costner
• The Age of Innocence (1993) by Martin Scorsese

★  Later this Month a Sampling

• I Was a Simple Man (2021) - March 3rd
• Boys Dont Cry (1999) - March 9th
• Arrebatto (1979) -  March 17th
• DIRECTED BY RADU JUDE (5 films) - March 10th

also streaming 

• Rich Man, Poor Woman: Complete Season 1
• 2 Days In The Valley (1996)
• 8mm (1999)
• A Madea Christmas (2013)
• Another Earth (2011)
• Baby Mama (2008)
• The Banger Sisters (2002)
• ★  Beaches (1988)
• Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
• ★  Benny & Joon (1993)
• The Big Scary S Word (2020)
• Blue Chips (1994)
• ★  Blue Velvet (1986)
• Bringing Down the House (2003)
• Brothers (2009)
• Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
• Casualties of War (1989)
• Center Stage (2000)
• Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)
• The Choice (2016)
• Crash (2005)
• Dance Flick (2009)
• Dangerous Beauty (1998)
• Deficit (2007)
• Demolition Man (1993)
• The Descendants (2011)
• Deuces Wild (2002)
• Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
• Disaster Movie (2008)
• Downhill Racer (1969)
• Drinking Buddies (2013)
• The Edge (1997)
• ★  Edward Scissorhands (1990)
• Evan Almighty (2007)
• Feel the Noise (2007)
• The Firm (1993)
• Flatliners (1990)
• Forever My Girl (2018)
• Freedomland (2006)
• Fright Night (1985)
• G (2005)
• Garden State (2004)
• Ghoulies (1985)
• The Gift (2000)
• Gigli (2003)
• Glory (1989)
• The Golden Child (1986)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Green Zone (2010)
• Guarding Tess (1994)
• Guess Who (2005)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
• Hardball (2001)
• ★  Heaven Can Wait (1978)
• Here Comes the Boom (2012)
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
• ★  The Insider (1999)
• ★  Juno (2007)
• Kiss the Girls (1997)
• ★  L.A. Confidential (1997)
• Land of the Dead (2005)
• The Last Waltz (1978)
• Lawless (2012)
• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
• Look Who’s Talking (1989)
• Margin Call (2011)
• The Meddler (2015)
• Moby Doc (2021)
• My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
• No Exit (Hulu Original)
• The Omen (1976)
• People Like Us (2012)
• The Perfect Holiday (2007)
• Platoon Leader (1988)
• Predators (2010)
• ★  The Princess Bride (1987)
• The Raid 2 (2014)
• ★  Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)
• ★  The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
• Sahara (2005)
• The Saint (1997)
• Savior for Sale (2021)
• Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017)
• ★  Sense and Sensibility (1995)
• Shanghai Noon (2000)
• Shine a Light (2008)
• Shit & Champagne (2020)
• Show Me the Picture (2019)
• Single White Female (1992)
• Spaced Invaders (1990)
• The Square (2017)
• ★  St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
• Starship Troopers (1997)
• The Tailor of Panama (2001)
• ★  The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
• The Terminal (2004)
• ★  Three Identical Strangers
• Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005)
• ★  To Catch a Thief (1955)
• Transcendence (2014)
• Trapped (2002)
• Unstoppable (2010)
• Vertical Limit (2000)
• ★  The Virgin Suicides (2000)
• The Woman in Black (2002)

later this month -a  sampling

• Atlanta SEASONE 3 - March 25th
• Bad luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) - March 17th
• ★  Before Midnight (2013) - March 3rd
• Deep Water (2022) - Adrian Lyne's new erotic thriller - March 18th
• ★  Benedetta - Paul Verhoeven's lesbian nun period drama - March 4th
• Fresh (Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar Jones star in this thriller) - March 4th
• Stronger (2017)

also streaming on Prime...

• The Widow SEASON 1 (Kate Beckinsale stars as a woman investigating her husband's death)
• A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof (E per tetto un cielo di stelle) (1968)
• A Woman Possessed (1958)
• Abduction (2017)
• Amelia's 25th (2013)
• The American (2010)
• ★  American Beauty (1999)
• The Apple (1980)
• Baba Yaga (1973)
• The Bank Job (2008)
• Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
• ★  Big Night (1996)
• Black Cat (Gatto nero) (1981)
• Black Sheep (1996)
• Boomerang (1992)
• Carpool (1996)
• The Chumscrubber (2005)
• City of the Living Dead (Paura nella città dei morti viventi) (1980)
• The Crazies (1973)
• The Dead and the Damned (2011)
• Death at a Funeral (2007)
• Deep Red (Profondo rosso) (1975)
• Double Jeopardy (1999)
• Dude, Where's My Dog?! (2014)
• Enter the Invincible Hero (Heugpyobigaeg) (1977)
• The Four of the Apocalypse (I quattro dell'apocalisse) (1975)
• From Beneath (2012)
• The Invincible Armour (Ying zhao tie bu shan) (1977)
• Jig (2011)
• Karl Rove, I Love You (2007)
• La clave (2008)
• Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (No profanar el sueño de los muertos) (1974)
• Lone and Angry Man (Una bara per lo sceriffo) (1965)
• Chinese Hercules (Ma tou da jue dou) (1973)
• Major Payne (1995)
• A Man Called Blade (Mannaja) (1977)
• Mary Loss of Soul (2014)
• The Mighty Quinn (1989)
• Murimgori (1982)
• Nacho Libre (2006)
• The New York Ripper (Lo squartatore di New York) (1982)
• Overkill (1987)
• P.O.E.: Project of Evil (2012)
• Prison Girls (1972)
• The Protege (2021)
• Rambo III (1988)
• Ride Out for Revenge (1957)
• Setup (2011)
• So Young So Bad (1950)
• Still Waiting... (2009)
• Tapeheads (1988)
• UFO (2018)
• Us and the Game Industry (2014)
• Valerie (1957)
• Vice Squad (1982)
• Waiting... (2005)
• Woman Avenger (Shi mei chu ma) (1980)
• Xue lian huan (1977)
• Yin yang xie di zi (1977)
• You Did This to Me (2016)
• Boston Legal (Seasons 1-5)
• Little House on the Prairie (Seasons 1-9)
• The Practice (Seasons 1-9)
• The Unit (Seasons 1-4)

later this month - a  ★ sampling

• Catastrophe SEASON 4 -March 15th
• Colette (Keira Knightley movie) - March 12th
• ★  Cold War - (The Polish Oscar nominated romantic drama) - March 22nd
• Hannah SEASON 1 (Prime series based on the Saoirse Ronan assassin movie) - March 29th
• I Can Only Imagine (faithbased movie starring Dennis Quaid - March 8th
• Tin Star SEASON 2 (Tim Roth stars) - March 7th

also streaming on Disney+

• The Proud Family SEASON 1

later this month - a sampling

• Turning Red (2022) - March 11th
• Moon Knight SEASON 1 - March 30th

also streaming on Apple TV+

• Severance SEASON 1 

later this month - a sampling

• Dear SEASON 2 - March 4th
• The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (Samuel L Jackson stars as a 93 year old man with dementia) - March 11th
• We Crashed MINISERIES (Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto star) - March 18th
• Pachinko SEASON 1 (In Korean, Japanese, and English) - March 25th

also streaming

• NEW FRENCH TERROR (COLLECTION) - several films including High Tension, Irreversible, Bastards, Trouble Every Day, Martyrs, Knife + Heart, Let the Corpses Tan, Zombi Child, and more...
• Dark Man (1990) and its sequels
• Detention (2019) Taiwanese thriller which won 5 prizes including Best New Director at the Golden Horse Awards
• Death Drop Gorgeous (2020) - gay horror
• The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014)

later this month - a sampling

• Lucky (2020) 
• The Scary of Sixty-First (2021) - March 3rd
• Memory: The Origins of Alien - documentary on Alien - March 7th
• The Spine of Night (2021) ultra violent animated film - March 24th

also streaming 

• ★  Euphoria SEASON 2 complete
• Free Guy (2021)
• The Righteous Gemstones SEASON 2 complete
• ★  Somebody Somewhere SEASON 1 complete
• ★  Adaptation, 2002
• All the Pretty Horses, 2000
• Are We Done Yet?, 2007
• Around the World in 80 Days, 1956
• ★  Blow Up of Blow-Up, Documentary
• ★  Boyz n the Hood, 1991
• ★  Cameraperson, Documentary
• Diner, 1982
• Fireboys, Documentary
• Fly Away Home, 1996
• Gigi, 1958
• Los Cronocrímenes (AKA Timecrimes), 2007 (HBO)
• Mogul Mowgli, 2020
• One Tree Hill, 2003
• Resident Evil (all films)
• Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, 2004
• Starship Troopers, 1997
• Starsky & Hutch, 1975
• The Larry David Story Part 1: American Jewboy, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
• The Larry David Story Part 2: The Jewish Fountainhead Documentary Premiere (HBO)
• The Two Mrs. Carrolls, 1947
• The World of Jacques Demy, Documentary
• The Young Girls Turn 25, Documentary
• Urban Legend, 1998
• Welcome Back (Aka Bienvenidos), 2019 (HBO)

later this month - a sampling

• ★  Dune (2021) - March 10th
• Halloween Kills (2021 extended version) March 18th
• ★  King Richard (2021) -  March 24th

* People never believe this but it's (mostly) true. The only exceptions are when the image is too fast to look good in still frame (we usually use a gif in those cases) or if it's too transitional (dissolves, fadeouts, etcetera) or an establishing shot of a building or something... the other secret to why the images are often good is that we just dont use that particular film if we land on something that's too dull. 

WHICH STREAMING TITLES WILL YOU BE WATCHING THIS MONTH? WHICH WOULD YOU LOVE TO SEE A POST ON?

Comments

[EricB]

i too agree with the consensus on CODA (sweet little afterschool-special movie, but that's it), and the SAG Award is the same as Hidden Figures (makes the actors feel good about themselves voting for it). it's so important to remember that the AFTRA merge added a lot of voters who aren't in the same voting block as the Academy voting pool, which bodes very well for Smit-McPhee.

i also am not going to be remotely surprised if/when Benedict Cumberbatch wins. the British voting block and the same voters who went for Hopkins last year have no big connection to Will Smith. it's at least much more of a race than folks are saying.

[Mr Ripley79]

EricB I agree,it seems Smith is going to be crowned more than just King Richard this season but many a frontrunner has fallen at the final hurdle before,the most recent ones being Glenn Close,Sylvester Stallone,Tommy Lee Jones and Chadwick Boseman and over 20 years ago Lauren Bacall,Kate Hudson,Ian McKellen and Judy Davis

[Chris Donovan]

Not a available from any streaming service, but LICORICE PIZZA is now available VOD for those not back to visiting theaters.

[NATHANIEL R]

Chris -- oh, i didn't know that. will add to post.

[Peggy Sue]

The things you do to write my name.

[Val]

I may have watched West Side Story at 3:00 AM this morning. Jolted me wide awake and features more than enough great things for me to recommend it and proclaim it is indeed a good film. However, for all of those virtues and for everything they do to make this one its own thing, it just paled in comparison to the 1961 version. It was already going to be an uphill climb because the '61 version is one of my all time favorites, but this new one didn't quite do enough justify a remake IMO, much less one that cost $100 million. Of the changes made, the one I loved most hands down was the addition of Valentina. What a lovely performance and full-circle moment for Rita Moreno.

While it won't replace the original film as a go to for me, I do imagine that the update will do amazing streaming numbers. I know Spielberg hasn't been a fan of releasing films purely via streaming platforms, but I think this could've been a bonafide Oscar juggernaut if maybe it had skipped the theatrical run completely.

[brookesboy]

Happy Birthday, Jennifer Jones!

[Gillo]

In Peggy Sue Got Married there is Jim Carrey and Joan Allen and Helen Hunt as well, unknown at that time... :)

[Pam]

JULIA will hit HBO Max on March 31, and already the "stans" are hitting the fans for what will be an inevitable online ultimate cage match between the Julia and Paul Child portrayals by Streep/Tucci vs Lancashire/Hyde Pierce. Loved the former, can't wait for the latter. My take is that Streep won an Oscar for playing Margaret Thatcher and Gillian Anderson won an Emmy doing the same. So why can't we have Streep's Oscar nom playing Julia Child, with Lancashire possibly being Emmy-nommed (as HBO's Casey Bloys is predicting)? In-fighting is why we can't have nice things.

[NATHANIEL R]

Pam -- haha it's true. infighting is kinda dumb. I mean i do it too on ocassion but mostly we should all just try to enjoy things!