Top streams for the week
HBO launches "The Outsider," a murder mystery with a supernatural twist, adapted from the Stephen King novel by Richard Price and starring Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo. Two episodes now available, new episodes Sunday nights. Also new is "The New Pope," a mini-series follow-up to "The Young Pope" with Jude Law and John Malkovich; new episodes arrive Monday nights.
https://youtu.be/eNDKWr3Xmjk
Four foster children join an extraterrestrial on a mission to save near-extinct species from Earth and elsewhere in "Endlings" (2020, not rated) the science fiction adventures series with a conservation theme made for kids, teens, and tweens. All 12 episodes of the Canadian TV coproduction streaming on Hulu.
https://youtu.be/k6FnECkFj0c
"Little America," an anthology series of immigrant stories Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, begins on Apple TV+. New episodes each Friday, a second season is already been announced.
The sixth season of the hit Netflix comedy "Grace and Frankie" with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and the second season of "Sex Education," a high school comedy about sex and love starring Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson, are now streaming on Netflix.
https://youtu.be/useJWxOqbJI
"Troop Zero" (2019, PG) stars Mckenna Grace as a science-minded schoolgirl who forms a Birdie Scout group with other misfits in 1977 Georgia to compete for the opportunity to put a message on the Golden Record on NASA's Voyager probe. Allison Janney and Viola Davis costar in the underdog comedy that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on Amazon Prime.
https://youtu.be/Gi4C6GncmQ4
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning reunite for "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" (2019, PG), with Michelle Pfeiffer joining the cast as the film's icy villain. Also on DVD and at Redbox. Also new:
- sci-fi action thriller "Gemini Man" (2019, PG-13), which uses sophisticated digital effects to pit Will Smith against a younger version of himself;
- "Jexi" (2019, R), a comedy about a smartphone operating system who makes life miserable for its user (Adam Devine);
- "Give Me Liberty" (2019, not rated), a comedy about a very chaotic day for a medical transport driver and his senior citizen passengers.
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is "The Wave" (2019, R), a comedy starring Justin Long as a corporate lawyer on a surreal odyssey fueled by a hallucinogenic drug.
Netflix
Tyler Perry writes and directs "A Fall from Grace" (2020, not rated) starring Crystal Fox as a woman on trial for murder after her life unravels. Phylicia Rashad, Mehcad Brooks, and Cicely Tyson costar in the Netflix Original feature.
https://youtu.be/KxLb3aLb5j4
Michael Fassbender is "Steve Jobs" (2015, R) in the Oscar-nominated drama written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Danny Boyle. Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Katherine Waterston costar.
A kid with social anxiety disorder starts middle school with an emotional support dog in the family comedy "The Healing Powers of Dude: Season 1."
International affairs: An ambitious college student discovers that school's elite secret society is built on demonic secrets in "Ares: Season 1" (Netherlands, with subtitles), the first Dutch original series from Netflix. Also new:
- comedy "Live Twice, Love Once" (aka "Vivir dos veces") (Spain, 2020, not rated, with subtitles), about a man with Alzheimer's taking one last road trip to find his childhood love;
- thriller "An Eye for an Eye" (aka "Quien a hierro mata") (Spain, 2019, not rated, with subtitles), starring Luis Tosar as a nurse out for vengeance against the drug lord in his care.
True stories: "Betty White: First Lady of Television" (2018, TV-14) profiles the beloved actress whose career spans over 60 years.
Animation: high school kids go on a magical fantasy quest in the feature film "NiNoKuni" (Japan, 2019, not rated, with subtitles). Also new is the kid-friendly fantasy series "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Season 1," based on the comic books by Radford Sechrist.
Joaquin Phoenix, the Oscar-nominated star of "Joker," is an unstable World War II veteran in the thrall of a self-possessed guru (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" (2012, R).
Sam Raimi made his feature debut with the clever and visually inventive "The Evil Dead" (1981, not rated), a low-budget horror film that also launched cult actor Bruce Campbell.
Stand-up: "Leslie Jones: Time Machine" (2020, TV-MA) is a concert special directed by "Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Amazon Prime Video
A suicidal man hires an assassin to finish the job, then changes his mind, in "Afsos: Season 1" (India, 2019, with subtitles), a dark comedy with a twist of divine intervention. 8 episodes now streaming.
https://youtu.be/YKh7LukVE1c
More streaming TV: "Just Add Magic: Mystery City: Season 1," a spin-off of the family friendly magic series;
- "Endeavour: Season 6" (2019), the "Inspector Morse" prequel starring Shaun Evans as the young Morse;
- mafia drama "The Octopus: Complete Series" (Italy, 1984-2001, with subtitles).
International affairs: French legend Catherine Deneuve stars in "The Midwife" (France, 2017, not rated, with subtitles) with Catherine Frot and Olivier Gourmet.
Ti West's old-school horror film "House of the Devil" (2010, R) is a simple but effective little thriller that favors mood and tension over spectacle.
Stand-up: "Russell Peters: Deported" (2020) and "Rob Delaney: Jackie" (2020).
Prime Video and Hulu
Hader and Kristen Wiig play estranged siblings reunited after a failed suicide attempt in "The Skeleton Twins" (2014, R), a family drama with a streak of dark comedy (Prime Video and Hulu).
Hulu
Ira Sachs directs the marvelous indie drama "Little Men" (2016, PG), a small, intimate film about two adolescent best friends (Theo Taplitz and Michael Barbieri) caught between a fight between their parents. Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Ehle, and Paulina García plays the adults.
Soccer moms go to war in the surreal suburban satire "Greener Grass" (2019, not rated).
Streaming TV: the second and, as of now, final season of the offbeat comedy series "Lodge 49" as now streaming.
HBO Now
"John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" (2019, R) expands the assassin universe once more as the titular hit man (played by Keanu Reeves) takes on hundreds of professional killers in what seems like a non-stop action spectacle.
Available Saturday night is "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" (2019, PG-13), which continues the American take on the Japanese giant monster franchise with battles against Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah, plus the new season of "Real Time With Bill Maher" begins, with episodes streaming on all HBO platforms the day after its Friday night cable premiere.
Other streams
CBS All Access launches new animated revivals of "Lassie" and comedies "George of the Jungle" and "Mr. Magoo" as part of their kids and family programming this week.
Andrew Davies, Britain's master of literary adaptations, brings Jane Austen's unfinished novel "Sanditon" to the small screen in a six-part series starring Rose Williams and Theo James. New episodes on PBS Masterpiece every Sunday, the same day it shows on PBS.
The sixth season of "The Brokenwood Mysteries," an offbeat mystery series set in North New Zealand, begins on Acorn TV with two episodes now available and new episodes each Monday. Also new is high school drama "Ackley Bridge: Series 3"; all episodes now available.
BritBox adds "Silent Witness: Season 23," the popular crime procedural from England, and miniseries "London Road" (2015, TV-14), a musical drama adapted from a hit stage production.
Criterion Channel presents "Songs My Brothers Taught Me" (2015, not rated), the award-winning feature debut of Chloé Zhao (director of "The Rider") shot with a cast of nonprofessionals on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
https://youtu.be/0VZK_4P33tA
Also on Criterion Channel: a "Poison Pens" double feature of noir melodrama "The Letter" (1940) with Better Davis and Henri-Georges Clouzot’s wartime noir "Le Corbeau" (France, 1943, with subtitles), and a 13-film celebration of the cinema of surrealist and social satirist Luis Buñuel, from the Salvador Dali collaboration "L'age d'or" (France, 1930, silent with music score) to Buñuel's final feature "That Obscure Object of Desire" (France, 1977, R, with subtitles), including the Criterion debuts of the rare "Death in the Garden" (Mexico, 1956) and the Oscar-nominated "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (France, 1972, PG, with subtitles).
New on disc and available at Redbox this week:
"Maleficent: Mistress of Evil," "Gemini Man," "Jexi"
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at http://streamondemandathome.com.
