With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Diane (Kent Jones)
The narrative directorial debut of film scholar, curator, and documentary filmmaker Kent Jones elicits an awful lot of anticipation. Often, first features contain raw emotions and boundless pent-up ideas often toned down in future efforts. Diane, written and directed by Jones–known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, along with his previous theatrical feature which aimed to recapture the spirit of Hitchcock/Truffaut’s conversations by engaging with the best filmmakers working in contemporary cinema–is an observant and nuanced dramas which feels closer to the emotional truths of Kenneth Lonergan and Angus MacLachlan than the formal flair of Scorsese and Hitchcock. – John F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
Comparing a director’s latest film to his or her previous effort is almost always unwise, or at least, a bit foolish. When both films are extraordinary achievements, however, pondering the works in tandem seems fruitful. This is certainly true when looking at Barry Jenkins‘ If Beale Street Could Talk and his previous film Moonlight. The latter deservedly took home an Oscar for Best Picture, and heralded Jenkins as a filmmaker whose empathetic touch knows no bounds. Now comes his James Baldwin adaptation, which reaches the same magnificent emotional register as Moonlight. Jenkins has written and directed an exquisite, timeless film about a place and historical period—Harlem in the 1970s—that feels painfully connected to the present. It is a film both tender and tough, with a time, a place, and a story to lose oneself in. Sublime in its depiction of an emotional connection and subtle in its layers of systematic oppression, Beale Street is a major work from a filmmaker whose gifts are clearly boundless. – Chris S.
Where to Stream: Hulu
Something Wild (Jonathan Demme)
Upon his passing, we looked at a trio of Jonathan Demme films to coincide with BAMCinematek’s retrospective of the director, and now Amazon Prime is streaming another — and one of his best. Something Wild, starring Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, and Ray Liotta is a road movie of sorts with an abundance of personality and warmth, thanks to Demme’s singular tone. Also, keep your eyes peeled for appearances by John Sayles and John Waters. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
Welcome to Marwen (Robert Zemeckis)
In Welcome to Marwen, director Robert Zemeckis uses the real-life story of artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp as a fantastical canvas to interrogate his own career. Reckoning with one’s legacy is a move typical of an auteur operating in their “late period,” but Zemeckis doesn’t take a direct route to the self-critique. Instead, he papers it over a feature-length dramatic portrait of a subject who, like in his film The Walk, was previously the focus of an acclaimed documentary. Stilted and occasionally mawkish, Welcome to Marwen will likely be considered a failure by critics and audiences alike, which is a shame because, while certainly not a success, it represents a fascinating reflection on the double-edged value of escapism. – Vikram M. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Also New to Streaming
Amazon
Capernaum (review)
Perfect Blue
Stan & Ollie
HBO Go
Hulu
MUBI (free for 30 days)
Death Force
I Hope I’m Loud When I’m Dead
Flanders
Hadewijch
Blind Woman’s Curse
Reality
Chicks
Netflix