More Streaming Options

If you're bored with your new choices on Netflix, thought we'd give a shout out to a few options for only 99¢ on iTunes at the moment. Stronger, with Jake Gyllenhaal (who won our Bronze for Best Actor for last season) is their movie of the week. But in their often changing "Movies You Might Have Missed" section, also 99¢, they're currently offering five Pedro Almodóvar movies (Volver, Women on the Verge, All About My Mother, I'm So Excited, and Kika), Meryl Streep in She-Devil (which the Month of Meryl column hits next Thursday), the Glenn Close classic Fatal Attraction, David Fincher's Se7en, and, um, a Chinese remake of the unimprovable 90s romcom My Best Friend's Wedding... but at least it stars Shu Qi so it *might* be worth 99¢

And still more streaming options if you're not in the mood for Dwayne Johnson's Rampage this weekend or you've already see the delightful / problematic / futureOscarnominee Isle of Dogs. Amazon Prime has added a 55 wide movie collection called Movies From OutFest which is LGBTQ titles from film festivals over the last several years including a movie I've had friends rave about (52 Tuesdays) but which I've managed to not see up til now and the new musical Hello Again with a cast stacked with NYC stage greats like Martha Plimpton, Audra McDonald, and Cheyenne Jackson which I haven't seen so I'll be queueing that right up.

Streaming Roulette, April 2018

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...

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One Season at a Time

Spread the good news, Netflix has renewed "One Day at a Time" for a third season! They made it official with this clever promo spot using one of Season 2's best jokes.

If you haven't been watching, you really should tune in and catch up. It can be a bit of an adjustment if you resist the traditional sitcom format (as I do) but it's worth the mental switch. The writing is incredibly strong (so many good jokes in every episode) and the characters are across the board endearing. If there's any justice in the world the legendary Rita Moreno will snag the Emmy nomination she was mysteriously denied last season for her even better work in season 2. 

Cry Baby Cry, Make the Devil Sigh

 By Salim Garami

What's good?

Yuasa Masaaki is going to have a really good 2018 year. Earlier last month, North American animation distributor GKIDS announced they had acquired distribution rights to his two works from 2017, Lu Over the Wall and The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl, as well as his 2004 cult hit Mind Game. The acquisitions can promise no less than a breakout in recognition in the U.S. for the 52-year-old animator and his studio Science Saru. And yet, it's only apparently going to be riding on the tail of Yuasa's latest release, the Netflix anime series Devilman Crybaby, inspired by Nagai Go's tragic action-horror manga series...

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Review: "Bright" on Netflix

by Ben Miller

Will Smith misses the good ole days.  He has been trying to reclaim his blockbuster status since 2008’s Hancock.  In between, Smith has been featured in a string of weird melodramatic dramas (Seven Pounds, Collateral Beauty), traditional action genre vehicles (Men in Black 3, After Earth, Suicide Squad) and films that sink or swim on the charisma of the stars (Focus, Concussion).  None of these have worked.

Reuniting with Suicide Squad director David Ayer, Smith tries to make it work again in action/sci-fi with Netflix’s Bright.  This also doesn’t really work...

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