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.
Captain America: Civil War (Russos)
In seeking to create an expansive multi-film universe, Marvel has managed to both bless and curse each of its subsequent films. The blessing comes in the form of a character development that takes place over the course of films and phases instead of scenes and acts. Characters who we met eight years ago have grown and changed before our eyes, and the history we share with them allows for newer films to take narrative shortcuts when it comes to filling in their backstory. Lines of dialogue and certain actions can carry the weight of nearly a decade of audience knowledge and understanding. This near-serialization is a powerful narrative tool for directors and writers who know how to use it. The curse, however, stems from this same root issue: with so much history to the story, it can be hard for dilettantes or less-invested filmgoers to grasp the greater depth of what is going on in any given film. Television shows can prime an audience’s memory with “previously on” sections that air before an episode. A film, however, does not usually have such a luxury. – Brian R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Chimes at Midnight and The Immortal Story (Orson Welles)
The crowning achievement of Orson Welles’s extraordinary cinematic career, Chimes at Midnight was the culmination of the filmmaker’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare’s ultimate rapscallion, Sir John Falstaff. Usually a comic supporting figure, Falstaff—the loyal, often soused friend of King Henry IV’s wayward son Prince Hal—here becomes the focus: a robustly funny and ultimately tragic screen antihero played by Welles with looming, lumbering grace. Integrating elements from both Henry IV plays as well as Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor, Welles created a gritty and unorthodox Shakespeare film as a lament, he said, “for the death of Merrie England.” Poetic, philosophical, and visceral—with a kinetic centerpiece battle sequence that rivals anything in the director’s body of work—Chimes at Midnight is as monumental as the figure at its heart. – Criterion.com
Where to Stream: Amazon
Destiny (Fritz Lang)
It can be said with little hesitation, and without even looking at the slate of what’s to come, that the restoration of a Fritz Lang film will be among any year’s finest cinematic offerings. The Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation deserves real credit, then, for bringing us a new version of his 1921 epic Destiny, here presented in a recolored edition that reflects Lang’s original intentions and with a new score by Cornelius Schwehr. After a theatrical release, it’s now available to stream. – Nick N.
Where to Stream: Netflix
Heaven’s Gate (Michael Cimino)
With the news of Michael Cimino death came many expressions of love for an oeuvre that hadn’t been well-regarded, at least on any large scale, since the late ’70s. For many, Cimino’s output — and, well, all of New Hollywood — ends with Heaven’s Gate, a financial and critical debacle so large that, by now, you’re likely to know the basic story, including the fact that its helmer, just recently crowned a studio system darling, was so battered as to never again achieve remotely the same levels of success. – Nick N.
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
High-Rise (Ben Wheatley)
As soon as the voice of Tom Hiddleston‘s Dr. Robert Laing was heard speaking narration above his weathered and crazed visage manically moving from cluttered, dirty room to darkened feverish corner, my mind started racing. Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas popped into my consciousness and then his Brazil, after a quick title card shoves us back in time to watch as Laing enters his new concrete behemoth of a housing structure, oppressively standing above a vast and still parking lot. Add the clinical precision of Stanley Kubrick dolly shots and the chaotic, linear social ladder climb of Snowpiercer with a bitingly satirical wit replacing the high-octane action and you come close to describing the masterpiece that is Ben Wheatley‘s High-Rise. – Jared M. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Klown Forever (Mikkel Nørgaard)
Those familiar with the off-kilter comedic duo behind the Danish TV series Klown (or Klovn as it is known in Denmark) — which spurned one of the most hilarious and inappropriate feature films of recent years — will know exactly what type of humor to expect from their sequel Klovn Forever. Frank Hvam and Casper Christensen star essentially as parodies of themselves in this Curb Your Enthusiasm-style comedy, combining mundane issues from their personal lives with some extremely outlandish situations. They push the boundaries of what is considered appropriate with their off kilter brand of humor, falling into categories that are intentionally offensive — such as misogyny and even racism. But therein lies the appeal: in these playful antics, here considered nonchalant, do we as an audience find humor in how outrageous and disrespectful they can be. – Raffi A. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Maggie’s Plan (Rebecca Miller)
There is a moment early on in writer/director Rebecca Miller‘s Maggie’s Plan in which the titular Maggie (Greta Gerwig) and John (Ethan Hawke) trade their respective titles at New York City’s The New School, and proceed to describe what exactly they mean. It’s a scene full of big words and fast talking, most of it sounding a little ridiculous and plenty smug. These characters seem to half-understand how insulated their world is, and we’re meant to laugh both at, and sometimes with, them. – Dan M. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn)
The Neon Demon will eventually elicit some strong reaction from every viewer, and Nicolas Winding Refn has made clear that it shouldn’t be any other way. Our review was among the most negative we posted at Cannes, speaking for both its immediate grade and the force of its criticisms, and our own Brian Roan experienced something that, had it gone just a bit further, would be plastered across every one of the film’s TV spots and Blu-ray cases. – Nick N.
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Rams (Grímur Hákonarson)
Following his 2010 debut, Summerland, Rams marks the second feature film from Icelandic director Grimur Hakonarson. Premiering as part of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard line-up, the film chronicles the tale of two brothers, Gummi (Sigurdur Sigurjonsson) and Kiddi (Theodor Juliusson), in a rural Icelandic valley who both make a living as farmers raising sheep and rams. In fact, they are the sole two breeders of a special stock of rams that are renowned for their excellent and sought-after qualities. However, the two brothers are not on speaking terms, quite literally for the last forty years, due to a divisive incident in the past. A breakout of a degenerative neurological disease which affects sheep, scrapies, affects both brothers in the valley. The government decides that all the flocks in the affected valley must be culled in order to eradicate the outbreak. So begins the central story, as we see how the two brothers must learn to move on from the past in order to salvage whatever little remains of their future. – Raphael D. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Schneider vs. Bax (Alex van Warmerdam)
Hitman films tend to be action-packed and heavy with tropes familiar to that particular sub-genre of thrillers. Yet Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam hopes to subvert those expectations by crafting an almost absurdist, Beckett-style drama between two contract killers hired to take out the other. Such is the premise of Schneider vs Bax, where two seemingly normal individuals reveal their true colors when put to the test of trying to kill one another. Director van Warmerdam, who brought us the devilishly delightful Borgman a few years prior, also stars as one of the titular leads, Bax, adding a compelling layer of personal subtext to his conflicted on-screen persona. Yet despite being able to create an enticing mood with beautiful cinematography and a deliberately methodical pace, Schneider vs Bax does little to deliver on its auspicious prospects, and all that remains in the end are fragmented concepts that fall to the wayside. – Raffi A. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes
To the Wonder (Terrence Malick)
A Terrence Malick film is an event, no matter the time or the subject, but it is undeniable that there’s something markedly different and all-together special about To the Wonder. Perhaps it’s Malick’s transition from period pieces into the modern world, or the tight focus on people whose only extraordinary circumstance is their search for love. Either way — and for whatever reason — Malick has never felt more sentimental or raw than he does in this film. There is a reality to this film that even his other masterpieces shied from, and his unflinching gaze at the way in which love ebbs, flows, grows, and evolves lays bare the romantic lies in almost every other film ever made. This is to say nothing of his trademark visual style, which makes even bland suburbs and fast food restaurants looks hauntingly lovely. To the Wonder confused people when it first came out, but, as The Film Stage Show proved, with time and understanding, regard for this film can and does grow stronger. – Brian R.
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
Wiener-Dog (Todd Solondz)
As uncomfortable a viewing experience it may be, the best films from Todd Solondz slowly reveal themselves with their character intricacies and distinct touches, burrowing deep inside as they replay in one’s mind. In his latest feature, Wiener-Dog, he’s crafted a series of incisive, perceptive vignettes mutually connected by the shifting owners of his title character. Aptly described by Solondz as Au Hasard Balthazar meets Benji, there’s no denying it bears his brand of humor and heartbreak in every scene. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
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