By SEAN AXMAKER
Top streams for the week
Pixar's family-friendly superhero adventure/comedy "Incredibles 2" (2018, PG) features zippy action, goofy gags, and a baby that can teleport, catch fire, and shoot lasers from his eyes. The Oscar-nominated animated film is now streaming on Netflix.
https://youtu.be/i5qOzqD9Rms
"Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018, PG-13) lightens the apocalyptic tone of Marvel's big screen comic book universe with a comic adventure that puts Evangeline Lilly in the shrinking suit to partner with Paul Rudd's disaster-prone superhero. Director Peyton Reed has a lot of fun with the incredible shrinking (and growing) spectacle and balances the heroics with deft character humor and visual gags. On Netflix.
https://youtu.be/UUkn-enk2RU
"Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders" stars John Malkovich as an aging Hercule Poirot in a new take Christie's murder mystery set in the hostile 1930s culture of nationalism in England. A co-production between BBC and Amazon Studios, the three-part miniseries makes its U.S. debut on Amazon Prime Video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwh09s7xLVg
"Folklore" (with subtitles), a six-part anthology series from HBO Asia, presents horror stories rooted in the myths and superstitions of Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. New episodes every Friday on HBO cable and streaming services.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars in "Velvet Buzzsaw" (2019, not rated), a supernatural thriller set in the mercenary world of high art from "Nightcrawler" director Dan Gilroy. The satire of greed in the culture of art and commerce comes direct to Netflix after premiering at Sundance.
Luca Guadagnino's "Suspiria" (2018, R) is less a remake than a reimagining of Dario Argento's cult horror movie about a dance school run by a coven of witches. Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton star in this elegant art-house version of a horror movie. On Cable On Demand and VOD, also on disc and at Redbox.
https://youtu.be/BY6QKRl56Ok
Classic pick: Dorothy Arzner, a rare career woman director in the Hollywood’s early sound era, directs "Merrily We Go To Hell" (1932), a sassy pre-code drama starring Fredric March as a lush of a newspaperman and Sylvia Sidney as his society wife. A dapper young Cary Grant is quite debonair in an early supporting performance in this portrait of New York society decadence. Amazon Prime Video.
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
"Boy Erased" (2018, R) stars Lucas Hedges as a teenage boy sent to a gay conversion program by his religious parents (Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe). Also new:
https://youtu.be/-B71eyB_Onw
- action thriller "Hunter Killer" (2018, R) with Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman;
- World War II supernatural horror "Overlord" (2018, R) from producer J.J. Abrams;
- ballet fantasy "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" (2018, PG-13);
- psychological crime thriller "Who Killed Cock Robin?" (Taiwan, 2017, not rated, with subtitles);
- dark comedy "Driving While Black" (2016, not rated).
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is "Piercing" (2019, R), a darkly comic thriller starring Mia Wasikowska.
Netflix
Kristen Stewart is an American "Personal Shopper" (France, 2016, R, with subtitles) to a French celebrity in Paris in the enigmatic ghost story/murder mystery from filmmaker Olivier Assayas.
Hailee Steinfeld is a teenage mess in "The Edge of Seventeen" (2016, R), a perceptive and sympathetic coming-of-age comedy about the emotional turmoil of growing up out of step. Woody Harrelson costars as her sardonic but supportive history teacher.
Foreign affairs: a teenage boy navigates the conflicts between his mother and his father's gay lover in after his father dies and his secret life is revealed in "Dear Ex" (Taiwan, 2018, not rated, with subtitles).
Streaming TV: Natasha Lyonne is a party girl who keeps dying and reliving the same day over and over again in "Russian Doll," a twist on "Groundhog Day" with a gallows humor and a metaphysical mystery. Eight episodes.
Also new: the fifth and final season of "Z Nation," the zombie series shot in Eastern Washington.
Foreign language TV: "Kingdom: Season 1" (South Korea, with subtitles) is an historical costume drama turned supernatural thriller with a zombie twist. Also new:
- "A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities: Season 1" (Taiwan, with subtitles), a drama about a Taipei doctor and a San Francisco engineer who swap homes;
- "Siempre bruja: Season 1" (Spain, with subtitles), a supernatural fantasy about a 17th century witch who time travels to present day Cartagena.
Stand-up: "Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias: One Show Fits All"
- Older films cycling through the library this month include "About a Boy" (2002, PG-13) with Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult;
- inspirational British drama "Billy Elliot" (2000, R);
- teen sex comedy "American Pie" (1999, R);
- Oscar winning romantic comedy "As Good as It Gets" (1997, PG-13) with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt;
- Steven Spielberg's original summer blockbuster "Jaws" (1975, PG).
Amazon Prime Video
Michelle Williams delivers a powerfully unadorned performance in "Wendy and Lucy" (2008, R), Kelly Reichert's quietly intimate drama shot in and around Portland, Oregon.
Albert Finney is a small time Liverpool entertainer who plays private detective and lands in the midst of a dangerous case in the playful mystery "Gumshoe" (1972, rated GP), the feature debut of director Stephen Frears.
Mackenzie Davis and Carrie Coon star in the indie comedy "Izzy Gets the F Across Town" (2018, not rated).
Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux star in "Beauty and the Beast" (France, 2016, PG-13), an English language version of the French fantasy directed by Christophe Gans.
Streaming TV: "Endeavour: Season 5" presents six more mysteries starring Shaun Evans as young police constable Endeavour Morse in Oxford. Also new is "In Plain Sight: Complete Series" with Mary McCormack as a U.S. Marshall working for the Witness Protection Program.
Foreign affairs: Andy Lau and Shu Q are jewel thieves in "The Adventurers" (China, 2017, not rated, with subtitles), a heist drama co-starring Jean Reno.
True stories: "Generation Wealth" (2018, not rated) investigates how the obsession with wealth and status symbols have warped the American Dream.
Kid stuff: the teenage witches are back in "Just Add Magic: Season 3."
Older films cycling through the catalog include romantic drama "The Time Traveler’s Wife" (2009, PG-13) with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana;
- "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" (2001, PG-13) starring Angelina Jolie as the first big screen incarnation of the video game character;
- "The Matrix" (1999, R) and sequels "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003, R) and "The Matrix Revolutions" (2003, R) with Keanu Reeves;
- comedies "Wayne’s World" (1992, PG-13) and "Wayne’s World 2" (1993, PG-13)
- "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991, R) with Arnold Schwarzenegger;
- "The Blues Brothers" (1980, R) with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd;
- comedy "Kentucky Fried Movie" (1977, R) from director John Landis;
- cult movie "Cockfighter" (1974, R) with Warren Oates;
- "Bonjour Tristesse" (1958) with Deborah Kerr, David Niven, and Jean Seberg;
- Sam Fuller's edgy crime thriller "Underworld U.S.A." (1961) with Cliff Robertson;
- "The Ten Commandments" (1923), a new restoration of Cecil B. DeMille's original silent epic.
Prime Video and Hulu
Evan Rachel Wood is a sweet but vulnerable free spirit in the romantic drama "Barefoot" (2014, PG-13) with Scott Speedman and J.K. Simmons (Amazon Prime and Hulu). Also new this month:
- "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985, PG) (Amazon Prime and Hulu) and "Broadway Danny Rose" (1984, PG) (Amazon Prime and Hulu), two of Woody Allen's best films;
- conspiracy thriller "Marathon Man" (1976, R) with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier (Amazon Prime and Hulu).
Hulu
The TV musical "Rent: Live" (2019, TV-14) is available along with the big screen "Rent" (2005, PG-13) with members of the original Broadway cast.
"Into The Dark: Down," the fifth feature-length episode of the Hulu Original horror anthology, features Matt Lauria and Natalie Martinez as office workers trapped in an elevator of Valentine's Day weekend in a mash-up of romcom and horror conventions.
Also new to Hulu in February is Guillermo Del Toro's "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (2008, PG-13) with Ron Perlman;
- underwater thriller "Deep Blue Sea" (1999, R) with Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, and genius sharks;
- cult comedy "The Big Lebowski" (1998, R) with Jeff Bridges as The Dude;
- Richard Linklater's high school classic "Dazed and Confused" (1993, R);
- John Waters' original "Hairspray" (1988) with Rikki Lake and Divine;
HBO Now
Ed Helms, Jeremy Renner, and Jon Hamm star as grown men who still behave like boys in the bro comedy "Tag" (2018, R).
True stories: "Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists" (2018, not rated) celebrates the work and legacy of New York newspaper columnists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill.
Standup: "Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin’."
Older titles cycling back through the HBO library this month include Danny Boyle's science fiction thriller "Sunshine" (2007, R) with Michelle Yeoh and Cillian Murphy;
- Michael Mann's action thriller "Collateral" (2004, R) with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx;
- Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity" (2002, PG-13) and "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004, PG-13);
- Stephen King thriller "Secret Window" (2004, PG-13) with Johnny Depp.
Available Saturday night is "Uncle Drew" (2018, PG-13), a movie inspired by a series of Pepsi commercials starring NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving.
Showtime Anytime
Elle Fanning is "Mary Shelley" (2018, PG-13) in the drama about the author of the novel "Frankenstein."
Peter Stormare stars in coming of age drama "Age of Summer" (2018, not rated), set in the surfing culture of 1986.
Also new for February are "The Road" (2009, R) with Viggo Mortensen, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy;
- Oscar-nominated drama "21 Grams" (2003) with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts;
- "Something's Gotta Give" (2003, PG-13) with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton;
- Oscar-winner "The Hours" (2002, PG-13) with Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman;
- Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" (2001, R) with Josh Hartnett and Ewan McGregor;
- Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (1994, R) and "Jackie Brown" (1997, R);
- action comedy "Midnight Run" (1988, R) with Robert De Niro.
Other streams
"Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate," the third feature-length mystery starring Ashley Jensen as the urban profession turned amateur sleuth in rural England, is now streaming on Acorn.
The first three seasons of the medical drama "The Royal," a spinoff of the sixties-set British drama "Heartbeat," are now streaming on BritBox.
Foreign language TV: "Captain Marleau" (France, with subtitles), a murder mystery starring Corinne Masiero as an eccentric detective, was the most watched television show in France in 2017. It's new to MHz along with "Welcome to Hindafing" (Germany, with subtitles), a social satire set in a small Bavarian town. New episodes arrive Tuesdays.
New on disc this week:
"Suspiria," "Boy Erased," "Hunter Killer," "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms," "Overlord"
Now available at Redbox:
"Suspiria," "Boy Erased," "The Wife," "Hunter Killer," "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,"
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at http://streamondemandathome.com.
