By Sean Axmaker
What's new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and other streaming services.
Top streams for the week
Netflix remakes the campy 1960s space fantasy in more serious vein in "Lost in Space," a science fiction adventure about a family that goes off course en route to a space colony. Toby Stephens and Molly Parker are the parents and Parker Posey is the untrustworthy Dr. Smith. The 10-episode debut season now available to stream on Netflix.
https://youtu.be/fzmM0AB60QQ
"Bosch," adapted from the bestselling novels by Michael Connelly, is one of the only original shows in Amazon Prime Video you can call an unqualified hit. The fourth season of the smart, tough series starring Titus Welliver as the LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is now streaming.
https://youtu.be/GMcaRTwsx8M
Daniel Day-Lewis plays a perfectionist British clothing designer in "Phantom Thread" (2017, R) a quiet, exacting mix of "portrait of the artist" and psychological drama from Paul Thomas Anderson. Day-Lewis announced that this was his final screen performance and it earned him an Academy Award nomination, one of the film's six nominations (it won for costume design). Now available On Demand and on VOD, also on DVD and at Redbox.
https://youtu.be/xNsiQMeSvMk
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
Christopher Plummer stepped in to play J. Paul Getty weeks before the release of "All the Money in the World" (2017, R), replacing all of Kevin Spacey's scenes, and earned an Oscar nomination. Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg star in Ridley Scott's drama based on the true story of the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty's grandson. Also on DVD and at Redbox.
https://youtu.be/KXHrCBkIxQQ
Also new: Hugh Jackman is P.T. Barnum in the hit musical "The Greatest Showman" (2017, PG), Jessica Chastain stars in the based-on-a-true-story drama "Molly's Game" (2017, R), and Taraji P. Henson is a hitwoman in the action thriller "Proud Mary" (2018, R).
https://youtu.be/jr9QtXwC9vc
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is "Submergence" (2017, not rated), a thriller from director Wim Wenders starring Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy, and "An Ordinary Man" (2017, not rated) with Ben Kingsley as a war criminal in hiding.
Netflix
"Come Sunday" (2018, not rated), starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as a charismatic Evangelical pastor ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell, comes to Netflix from the Sundance Film Festival. Based on a true story explored in the radio show "This American Life," it co-stars Jason Segel, Lakeith Stanfield, Martin Sheen, and Danny Glover.
"The Tiger Hunter" (2016, not rated) is an indie comedy with Danny Pudi that presents the Indian immigrant experience in America with moments of comic fantasy and screwball coincidence.
Ethan Hawke is a hitman on a mission of vengeance in "24 Hours to Live" (2017, R).
Foreign affairs: "I Am Not An Easy Man" (France, 2018, not rated, with subtitles), a comedy about a chauvinist who wakes up in a world run by women, and crime drama "Pickpockets" (Colombia, 2018, not rated, with subtitles) from American filmmaker Peter Webber make their respective stateside debuts.
Streaming TV: The sixth season of the sitcom "New Girl" with Zooey Deschanel is available as the seventh and final season begins on Fox. Also new:
- "Chef's Table: Pastry," the new, dessert-heavy season of the Netflix foodie series;
- "AMO: Season 1" (Philippines, with subtitles), a crime drama about a high school meth dealer set in the brutality of Duterte's war on drugs and the first Netflix Original series from the Philippines.
Amazon Prime Video
James Franco is Allen Ginsberg in "Howl" (2010, R), a film that explores the landmark beat poem and the obscenity trial it sparked.
Streaming TV: Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton star in "Friday Night Lights: Complete Series" (2006-2011), the Emmy-winning family drama about life in a Texas town where high school football defines everything. More newly-added shows:
- "House: Complete Series" (2004-2012) with Hugh Laurie as TV's most famous misanthrope medical genius;
- the hilarious "Parks and Recreation: Complete Series" (2009-2015) with Amy Poehler as a devoted civil servant in a dysfunctional small-town bureaucracy;
- "Eureka: Complete Series" (2006-2012), a lighthearted show about a practical sheriff (Colin Ferguson) in a town of scientific geniuses.
Amazon Prime and Hulu
"Hours" (2013, PG-13), set in the midst of Hurricane Katrina, stars Paul Walker as a father fighting to save his infant daughter (Amazon Prime and Hulu).
"I Can Do Bad All by Myself" (2009, PG-13) is Tyler Perry's first film with Taraji P. Henson, currently starring in his new drama "Acrimony" (Amazon Prime and Hulu).
Hulu
The second season of "Preacher," about a reformed crook turned unconventional priest (Dominic Cooper) searching for God, is a violent, often grotesque show with a streak of dark comedy and Hulu offers material censored in its original AMC run
True stories: "Take My Nose…Please!" (2017, not rated) looks at the culture of women and plastic surgery.
HBO Now
The HBO original drama "Paterno" (2018, not rated) stars Al Pacino as Penn State coach Joe Paterno facing the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.
https://youtu.be/scI7dYdlzuY
The new series "Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas" follows the comedian across the country to confront issues facing Americans with a sense of humor. New episodes every Friday night.
True stories: "Andre the Giant" (2018, not rated) profiles the wrestling icon and actor.
"Elvis Presley: The Searcher" (2018, not rated), the two-part documentary on the musical evolution of Elvis throughout his career ,will be available on HBO Now and HBO On Demand on Sunday, after its Saturday night cable debut.
Showtime Anytime
Based on the acclaimed novel by Julian Barnes, "The Sense of an Ending" (2017, PG-13) stars Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling in a drama of memory and denial.
Nicole Kidman and James Franco star in "Queen of the Desert" (2015, PG-13), an historical drama directed by Werner Herzog.
FilmStruck
"The Thing" (1951), one of the great monster movies and smartest science fiction thrillers of classic Hollywood, is the TCM Select pick of the week. Available through October 5, 2018.
The great Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda is FilmStruck's Director of the Week, celebrated with seven films and a documentary, from his debut feature "A Generation" (Poland, 1955, with subtitles) to his devastating Holocaust drama "Korczak" (Poland, 1990, with subtitles), and Star of the Week: Leslie Caron is featured in eight films, including the classic musical "Gigi" (1958, G).
There's are also collections of movies about Cops Undercover, which includes the B-movie film noir classics "T-Men" (1948) and "The Narrow Margin" (1952) and the Hong Kong gangster hit "Infernal Affairs" (Hong Kong, 2002, R, with subtitles), which was remade by Martin Scorsese as "The Departed," and movies based on memoirs, including "I'll Cry Tomorrow" (1955) with Susan Hayward and the Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning "The Pianist" (2002, R, with subtitles) with Adrien Brody.
Acorn TV
New episodes of "The Good Karma Hospital: Series 2," the British medical drama set in rural India, arrive each Monday.
Sam Neill plays real-life World War I British spy Sidney Reilly in the classic British mini-series "Reilly, Ace of Spies" (1983).
"Interview with a Murderer" (2016) is a real-life crime drama, a three-part non-fiction program featuring Professor David Wilson grilling convicted killer Bert Spencer over an unsolved murder.
New on disc this week:
"Phantom Thread," "All the Money in the World," "The Greatest Showman," "Molly's Game," "Proud Mary"
Now available at Redbox:
"Phantom Thread," "All the Money in the World," "Molly's Game," "Proud Mary," "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay"
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at http://streamondemandathome.com.
