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 the interwebs. 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 Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (David Lowery)
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is a particular kind of film, one that was probably never destined to find a wide audience. While the basic story, about a jailed robber escaping prison to return to the love of his life and their child, may sound like a fairly rote plot, the earnestness and poeticism of the film could drive people away. But between the lovely cinematography, the deeply-felt performances, and the stirring narrative, this is a film that was unfairly overlooked on its release. Whether the simplicity or art house airs kept audiences away, this film deserves to be a classic. – Brian R.
Where to Stream: Netflix
The Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray)
Although it premiered 60 years ago this week at the Museum of Modern Art, Satyajit Ray‘s Pather Panchali remains among both the most accomplished of debuts and cinema’s most universally relatable experiences. Accentuating the basics of human emotions to result in the most complex of reactions, Ray’s subsequent trilogy of films follows the hardships of a Bengali boy as he passes into adulthood, a delicately powerful tale of transition that’s now been gloriously restored. – Jordan R. (full feature)
Where to Stream: Amazon
Bone Tomahawk (S. Craig Zahler)
Kurt Russell almost always elevates whatever movie he’s in, no matter the quality of the script or the other performances. With Bone Tomahawk this once again proves true as the charismatic icon significantly improves this sluggishly paced, stiff western. – Jack G. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
The End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt)
The last two trips director James Ponsoldt made to Sundance it was with two excellent dramas: Smashed and The Spectacular Now. This year, Ponsoldt returns with the often moving and consistently funny The End of the Tour. While the director’s latest may not be on par with his past two efforts, that’s not much of a problem considering the level of quality he achieves here. The End of the Tour follows a failed author, David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg), interviewing one of the most talked-about writers of the moment, David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), for Rolling Stone magazine in 1996. Lipsky spends time with Wallace on the final days of his book tour for Infinite Jest. For the most part, the two get off to a good start, in spite of Wallace hoping to maintain his privacy. Things get bumpy when Lipsky starts to wonder: how can someone so brilliant be so normal? Wallace is a guy who eats burgers at McDonalds, teaches at a college, and, despite his success, struggles with depression and everyday problems. Their time together ultimately becomes more than just another interview. – Jack G. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Hungry Hearts (Saverio Costanzo)
My only piece of advice: don’t watch the trailer. Such is the power of co-writer and director Saverio Costanzo’s work that those who go in knowing nothing are going in unprepared. Third-act issues notwithstanding, this is a terrifying, brutal film that aspires to the close-quarter tension of Polanski and, at certain turns, can consider itself worthy of such company. It’s also a great actor’s showcase — Adam Driver and Alba Rohrwacher, who are often the only people on-screen, won Venice’s prestigious Volpi Cup for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively — visually and structurally defined by dream- and nightmare-like ellipses, off-center angles, wide-angle lenses, and grainy 16mm stock. Hungry Hearts is a film that will be both remembered and discovered for years to come. – Nick N.
Where to Stream: Netflix
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I (Francis Lawrence)
At long last, revolution has finally come to Panem, the ruthless, tyrannical society at the heart of The Hunger Games franchise. As it turns out, that revolution doesn’t just apply to the efforts of rebel figurehead Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her cohorts, but to the very structure and nature of the series itself. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 employs the now popular conceit of splitting the final, epic chapter of a long-running series in half, using it to craft a story of a country and its people in the throes of a violent, transformative restoration. – Nathan B. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
Meadowland (Reed Morano)
Losing a child is an unimaginable fear, an event that brings upon insurmountable grief and anguish that seems irrevocable. Meadowland, the directorial debut of Frozen River and Kill Your Darlings cinematographer Reed Morano, attempts to capture the aftermath of such tragedy. With authentic performances from the ensemble, this process of healing (as destructive as it may be) effectively comes across, but as we dive deeper into the abyss of loss, the story strays from its grounded realism and becomes too contrived to fully convey its intended emotion. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Rebels of the Neon God (Tsai Ming-liang)
Before honing one of the most unsparing, unforgiving eyes in world cinema, Tsai Ming-liang produced this street-prowling and, yes, neon-soaked story of wayward youth in the city of Taipei. This is still a carefully measured bit of work by any standard, and thus remains a proper introduction, but it’s also a bit freer than, say, the hyper-austere Face in its willingness to indulge crime narrative – an “earlier, funnier one,” as some might say. Better yet that one can enter Rebels‘ intoxicating world in a new restoration, massively improving an experience that was often marked by ruddy DVD transfers. – Nick N.
Where to Stream: iTunes
Results (Andrew Bujalski)
Certain movies coast by on the charm of their cast, and that’s pretty much the case with writer-director Andrew Bujalski‘s Results. That’s not to say the film completely rests on the shoulders of the talent assembled, but if there’s one major reason why the film ultimately succeeds, it’s because of this pack of reliable actors turning in entertaining performances. – Jack G. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Testament of Youth (James Kent)
If one wants to feel like they are slacking, just take a look at the career of rising star Alicia Vikander. One of around nine films coming this year, the WWI biographical drama Testament of Youth, follows her as Vera Brittain, a young Englishwoman who not only experienced World War I from the nurse’s perspective, but also chronicled those trials in her seminal memoir. Also starring Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Emily Watson, and Hayley Atwell, I found it to be a bit of a languid experience, but certainly a strong performance from Vikander. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Tokyo Tribe (Sion Sono)
Though a hip-hopera (the last film to earn that label possibly being R. Kelly’s everlasting epic, Trapped in the Closet), Sion Sono’s Tokyo Tribe puts itself in the company of the extreme Japanese genre cinema eaten up by festival audiences, given their brutal violence and flagrant weirdness. Those essential thrills notwithstanding, it becomes off-putting in how one must struggle to keep up with the film throughout — not just in the narrative terms of story and character, but also its extreme formalism. The camera is constantly roving to seemingly new characters, gangs, and raps almost every couple of minutes — even if, on the other hand, the beats seem very redundant. Yet what makes Tokyo Tribe ultimately unique, if still problematic in its sheer amount of chaos, are the underlying politics. – Ethan V. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Trainwreck (Judd Apatow)
To be upfront, the version of Trainwreck I saw at SXSW was, like Neighbors and Bridesmaids in previous years, a work-in-progress. It hasn’t been locked and small tweaks — or possibly big ones — could be coming, but if it’s similar to Universal’s aforementioned premieres, the film is likely near-finished. As it stands, Judd Apatow’s latest is a hilarious and seemingly perfectly timed picture that announces Amy Schumer as a force to be reckoned with in the comedy world for years to come. It seems only natural that this vehicle, which she headlines and wrote, would springboard her, but it is also the cast around her and Schumer’s willingness to be anything but politically correct that’s part of the charm and hilarity of Trainwreck. Clearly I wasn’t alone in missing several follow-up jokes throughout the film as laughter echoed through the Paramount Theater. It’s the kind of film that should only gain more traction on repeat viewings and, perhaps unlike other work from Apatow, the pacing is excellent. – Bill G. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Unexpected (Kris Swanberg)
Early on in Kris Swanberg‘s Unexpected, inner-city school teacher Samantha Abbott (Cobie Smulders) finds out that she’s pregnant. The timing’s off, as the Chicago public high school she works at is being shut down after graduation. At home, she’s got a loving boyfriend (Anders Holm) who is fully supportive of the situation, if a bit naive. The two are quickly married, much to the dismay of Samantha’s judgmental mother Carolyn (Elizabeth McGovern), and make a tentative decision for Samantha to stay at home with their baby once it’s born. Back at school, Samantha learns that Jasmine (Gail Bean), one of her most-promising students, is pregnant as well. – Dan M. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
While We’re Young (Noah Baumbach)
Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young is wise, funny, fiercely intelligent and always involving. It’s not just the director’s most complete film — it’s also his best, an even stronger, more ambitious creation than his last Toronto International Film Festival entry, Frances Ha. Here, aided by his most impressive cast to date — Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin, and Adam “Ad Rock” Horowitz (!) — Baumbach has pulled off something truly impressive. He has made a heartfelt comedy that is as humorous as it is emotionally relatable. – Chris S. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
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