With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta)
If you could sit face-to-face with Donald Trump, what would you say? Beatriz at Dinner doesn’t imagine exactly that, but the scenario it presents is undeniably analogous, even if the character crafted in POTUS’ likeness is far less insecure and destructive to humanity. Presenting a clash of socio-economic classes and the ensuing discourse of morals and politics, the latest dramedy from Miguel Arteta is an observant, but not entirely successful outcry for the agency of the under-represented. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)
There’s a sentiment expressed early on in Black Panther that just because something works doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. It’s a fitting ethos for the 18th film in Marvel Studios’ ten-year assembly line of blockbusters. However same-ish or fatigued some of the cinematic universe might feel, on the balance sheet, they work. While Ryan Coogler’s deep dive into the titular character’s Wakandan homeworld keeps the assembly line working, it heralds not only an improvement on the MCU, but a striking and grandiose fantasy in its own right. – Conor O. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan)
In the hours since viewing Dunkirk – the newest film from surprisingly divisive blockbuster director Christopher Nolan – one sensory recollection has stuck out above all others. Every time that British spitfire pilot Farrier (Tom Hardy) accelerates or banks his plane, the soundtrack fills with the noise of metallic rattling, an uncomfortable chorus of knocks and pings that lets you know exactly how much stress and force are working on the riveted metal of the aircraft. It is enough to make the audience member grip his or her armrest and go tense, holding their breath lest their exhalation somehow force the machine apart. On the screen, the yolk trembles and the canopy trembles, and all the while that sound lets you know that these are not tricks of the eye. This is very much a device built by human hands, piloted by a man who depends on it to live, and who is operating it at his own tremendous peril. – Brian R. (full review)
Where to Stream: HBO Go
Faces Places (Agnès Varda and JR)
An irrepressible, freewheeling collaboration, Faces Places uses a simple concept – following legendary filmmaker Agnès Varda and the pseudonymous street artist JR as they travel the French countryside and put up large-scale photographs of its inhabitants – in order to explore an extraordinary range of humanity and emotion. Light-hearted and substantial, its prosaic method of presentation only enlivens the pairing of the octogenarian and the young raconteur, culminating in a beautiful moment of pure emotion that reflects its central aims: revelation via documentation. – Ryan S.
Where to Stream: Netflix
The Image You Missed (Donal Foreman)
A few minutes into Donal Foreman’s The Image You Missed, a voice-over comes to an abrupt stop: “each film is a mission impossible, but this one here, it was the most…” It’s a truncated snippet from an interview given in French by Foreman’s father, Arthur “Art” MacCaig, the late Irish-American director who raised to fame after his resolutely partisan documentary on Ireland’s Troubles, The Patriot Game (1979), and who here acts as the epicenter of a deeply personal and powerfully moving documentary-essay that weaves together an estranged parent-son relationship with a two-handed portrait of a country the two both filmed and experienced – in markedly different ways. – Leonardo G. (full review)
Where to Stream: MUBI (free for 30 days)
On the Beach at Night Alone (Hong Sang-soo)
The immensely prolific and consistent master Hong Sang-soo had a breakthrough year, premiering three features to wide acclaim. The only one of these released in the same year, On the Beach at Night Alone, is also the most personal his work has ever been. Featuring professional and personal partner Kim Min-hee as an actress in seclusion after her affair with a well-known director, it is a simmering yet often gentle examination of the ways in which love can both unite and irreparably break. For someone that regards Hong as one of the great filmmakers of our time, it is gratifying, surprising, and immensely assured in so many undefinable, moving ways. – Ryan S.
Where to Stream: iTunes
The Party (Sally Potter)
Liberalism will eat itself! At least according to The Party, that is, and we’re not just speaking figuratively. Indeed, at one point in Sally Potter’s new film — a riotous, if undeniably stagey black-and-white mid-length feature — a central character (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) decides, however subconsciously, to chew her own arm instead of sensibly taking out her anger on her unfaithful husband. “But I don’t believe in revenge,” she cries out. You can tell even she is having a hard time believing it. This poor soul — the main host of the titular gathering – – has just learned that her husband, Bill (Timothy Spall), is not only dying of cancer, but has chosen to live out his remaining days with the younger woman with whom he has been having an affair for the previous two years. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
The Sacrifice and Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky)
After a gorgeous restoration of his landmark existential sci-f film Stalker earlier last year, another Andrei Tarkovsky masterpiece has been remastered and is now streaming following a theatrical and Blu-ray release. The director’s brilliantly suffocating final film, The Sacrifice, follows an upper-class family who learns World War III is upon them. Also available to stream is his prior feature Nostalghia.
Where to Stream: Amazon (The Sacrifice) and MUBI (Nostalghia)
Also New to Streaming
Amazon
Dark Crimes
Early Man
Red Sparrow
Revenge
Tehran Taboo
FilmStruck
The Black Case
Petulia
Je t’aime, je t’aime
Black Jesus
Toby Dammit
Baal
The Burden
HBO Go
MUBI (free 30-day trial)
Blue is the Warmest Color
This Is Not A Film
Fish Tank
Winter Sleep
Gomorrah
Lamb
The Bridges of Sarajevo
Brightness
A Self-Made Hero
Wild Relatives
Baronesa
Fail to Appear
The Trial
A Wonderful Cloud
Netflix