Top streams for the week
"Guava Island" (2019, not rated), a "tropical thriller" by way of a musical fable created by Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) and his "Atlanta" collaborators and costarring Rhianna, made its world premiere last week at Coachella. The hour-long production is fine for family viewing and is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
https://youtu.be/In0P55759jU
Keeping with the theme: the concert film "Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé" (2018, not rated), which presents the singer's 2018 Coachella performance, debuts exclusively on Netflix.
The miniseries "I Am the Night" (2019) reunites "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins and costars Chris Pine and Connie Nielsen for a crime thriller inspired by a true story. India Eisley costars as a teenager who travels to Los Angeles to find her identity and ends up in the midst of an unsolved murder. Streaming on Hulu.
https://youtu.be/KcknCCOlH-E
Stand-up comedian Ramy Youssef plays a first generation Egyptian American in New Jersey in "Ramy: Season 1," a Hulu original comedy based in part on Youssef's own experiences. 10 episodes streaming on Hulu.
https://youtu.be/N4Ek09B9YaY
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
- Night Shyamalan's "Glass" (2019, PG-13) brings together "Unbreakable" with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson and "Split" with James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. Also on DVD and at Redbox.
https://youtu.be/95ghQs5AmNk
"Mary Magdalene" (2018, R), starring Rooney Mara as Mary and Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus, arrives a week after its New York debut. Also new:
- adolescent Arthurian adventure "The Kid Who Would Be King" (2018, PG);
- documentaries "Pandas" (2018, G) and "Apollo 11" (2018, G).
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is Terry Gilliam's "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" (2018, not rated) with Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce.
Netflix
Gina Rodriguez stars in "Someone Great" (2019, not rated), a Netflix Original romantic comedy costarring DeWanda Wise and Brittany Snow as the best friends who take her on one last getaway.
Ken Loach's "I, Daniel Blake" (2016, R), a scathing social drama and a touching portrait of compassion in hardship, won the top prize at Cannes in 2016. Also new:
- historical romance "A Little Chaos" (2014, R) with Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alan Rickman as King Louis XIV;
- time-travelling romantic comedy "About Time" (2013, R) with Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams;
- action thriller "Wanted" (2008, R) with James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie.
Streaming TV: family sitcom "No Good Nick: Season 1" follows a teenage con artist (Siena Agudong) who scams a middle family by pretending to be a distant relative. Melissa Joan Hart and Sean Astin costar. 10 episodes streaming. Also new:
- "Lunatics," a ten-part mockumentary comedy with Australian comedian Chris Lilley playing six eccentric misfits;
- British sitcom "Cuckoo: Season 5" with Andie MacDowell joining series stars Greg Davies and Helen Baxendale;
- the fourth and final season of the musical comedy "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" from creator/star Rachel Bloom.
Foreign affairs: Bille August directs the sweeping historical drama "A Fortunate Man" (Denmark, 2018, with subtitles), based on the beloved Danish novel "Lucky Per." It makes its U.S. debut on Netflix. Also new:
- Mafia thriller "The Ruthless" (aka "Lo Spietato," Italy, 2019, not rated, with subtitles) starring Riccardo Scamarcio as real-life Milan mobster Santo Russo;
- Bollywood romantic drama "Music Teacher" (India, 2019, not rated, with subtitles).
Foreign language TV: the animated series "Rilakkuma and Kaoru: Season 1" (Japan, with subtitles) tells the story of a single working woman whose roommate is a cute, fuzzy, stuffed bear. Also new:
- young adult drama "My First First Love: Season 1" (South Korea, with subtitles);
- sitcom "Samantha!: Season 2" (Brazil, with subtitles).
Kid stuff: "Super Monsters: Furever Friends" is a new spinoff of the animated series for young kids.
Special: "Brené Brown: The Call to Courage" (2019, not rated) is a concert lecture from the self-help author.
Amazon Prime Video
Titus Welliver returns in "Bosch: Season 5," the Amazon Original crime drama adapted from the novels by Michael Connelly.
https://youtu.be/UnVtSOTfbEU
Actor/writer Jonah Hill makes his directorial debut with "Mid90s" (2018, R), a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama young teens in the skateboarding culture of the 1990s. Also new:
https://youtu.be/w9Rx6-GaSIE
- murder mystery "In the Electric Mist" (2009, R) with Tommy Lee Jones and John Goodman;
- Tom Stoppard's Shakespearean comedy "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (1991, PG) with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth;
- western "The Sons of Katie Elder" (1965, PG) with John Wayne and Dean Martin.
Prime Video and Hulu
Anna Faris is a single mom and Eugenio Derbez her spoiled, rich boss in "Overboard" (2018, PG-13), a remake of the 1980s amnesia comedy (Prime Video and Hulu).
Hulu
Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker, and Joan Plowright star in "Enchanted April" (1991, PG), a lovely romantic drama about four British women who rent a chalet in Italy for a getaway from 1930s London.
https://www.hulu.com/movie/enchanted-april-202ba27f-384b-4133-96dd-0eb9ba677ee0
True stories: "We Are Columbine" (2019, not rated) revisits the 1999 high school tragedy with four survivors and Alex Gibney directs "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine" (2015, R).
Foreign affairs: "The Quake" (Norway, 2018, PG-13, with subtitles), a sequel to the Norwegian disaster thriller "The Wave," targets the city of Oslo.
HBO Now
A Chinese-American professor (Constance Wu) collides with the culture of the ultra-rich in Singapore when she meets her boyfriend's family in "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018, PG-13), the hit romantic comedy based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Kevin Kwan. Henry Golding, Awkwafina, and Michelle Yeoh co-star.
Available Saturday night is Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" (2018, R), which earned Lee an Oscar (his first) for the screenplay.
Other streams
David Tennant and Jessica Hynes play the parents of a disabled nine-year-old girl in "There She Goes: Season 1," a British comedy-drama inspired by the experiences of series creator Shaun Pye. Streaming on Britbox.
https://youtu.be/zdmVnFs4rao
Also new this month on Britbox is the eighties crime drama "Taggart: Seasons 1-4" (1983-1988).
New on disc and available at Redbox this week:
"Glass," "The Kid Who Would Be King," "Replicas," "Pandas"
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at http://streamondemandathome.com.
