New to Streaming: First Cow, Palm Springs, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, Relic & More

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Beach House (Jeffrey A. Brown)

There’s a lot to like about Jeffrey A. Brown’s feature directorial debut The Beach House, from its gorgeous production design to its ruminations on mankind’s fragility when compared with Mother Nature’s hardier offerings (despite our penchant for believing we hold dominion over Her). It’s therefore easy to appreciate the reason Emily (Liana Liberato), Randall (Noah Le Gros), Mitch (Jake Weber), and Jane (Maryanne Nagel) have arrived at a site that may end up being their tomb because we’re quick to ignore the baked-in irony too. This was supposed to be an escape from life’s struggles—a place for quiet relaxation to say what needs to be said and appreciate what might be gone tomorrow. So when the opposite proves true, we understand the fear that inevitably takes over. – Jared M. (full review)

Where to Stream: Shudder

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Ross Brothers)

With their latest film Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, brothers Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross turn their lens on that warmly inviting, idyllically dingy, and endlessly lively microcosm of society: the dive bar. Premiering in the U.S. Documentary Competition section at Sundance, the filmmakers behind Western and Tchoupitoulas once again break the boundaries of such a programmatic box, using a casted ensemble, a scouted location, a vérité style, and the loosest of scripted ideas to explore community, pain, and regrets in America circa 2016—and particularly the unfiltered honesty in which these themes can be conveyed when a ceaseless stream of alcohol is involved. This collection of lost souls and inquiry into their perspective on life results in a tale of profound authenticity and devastating heartbreak. – Jordan R. (full review)

Where to Stream: Virtual Cinemas

Bonus: Two earlier films by the Ross brothers, Tchoupitoulas and Contemporary Color, are also now on The Criterion Channel.

First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)

In First Cow, Kelly Reichardt carves out space for friendship and generosity amidst an otherwise selfish landscape. Set in the 1820s Pacific Northwest, a familiar realm for the Oregon-loyal Reichardt, the film’s twin protagonists are atypically sensitive souls, both towards each other and their environments, and yet they remain hyper-conscious of the cruelty that enervates within their community. Reichardt probes at the limitations of self-preservation as a life philosophy, even though it’s basically required to survive such a hardscrabble existence. What’s the purpose of survival if life doesn’t incentivize assisting your fellow man? – Vikram M. (full review)

Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google

Guest of Honour (Atom Egoyan)

As a life-long appreciator of Atom Egoyan–trust me on this one–Guest of Honour is one of his stranger pictures veering occasionally into the territory of dark comedy. While his later works (especially Remember and Captive) have yet to reach a return to the emotional resonance of his back-to-back masterpieces Exotica and The Sweet Hererafter, his latest film is a scrappy Southern Ontario indie that actually harkens back to his earliest work that kicked off the so-called Toronto New Wave, including Next of Kin, The Adjuster, and Speaking Parts. The film itself is a mystery buried deeper than it ought to be in a confessional as Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira) sits down with Father Greg (Luke Wilson) to discuss the passing of her father Jim (David Thewlis). She notes his motivations were often very strange–as if we’d come to expect anything else in an Atom Egoyan picture. – John F. (full review)

Where to Stream: Virtual Cinemas

Mucho Mucho Amor (Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch)

A letter from Jose Solís to Walter Mercado: Although you’re gone from the physical realm where once we co-existed, I’m writing to thank you for leaving us behind so much of your knowledge, beauty, and grace in Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado, and for allowing directors Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch to distill your message of love and acceptance into a documentary that’s so entertaining, intimate, and enlightening. Continue reading here.

Where to Stream: Netflix

Palm Springs (Max Barbakow)

When Bill Murray repeatedly wakes up on the same morning in Groundhog Day, the radio blares Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe.” It’s a winking reminder of what’s missing in his life, an auditory motivation to change his circumstances and escape his cyclical prison. When Andy Samberg wakes up on the same morning in Palm Springs, it’s his cheating, airhead girlfriend Misty (Meredith Hagner) that forces his eyes open. She’s a cold reminder of the relationship he wants to leave—except in his time loop, he’s given up on escaping at all. – Jake K. (full review)

Where to Stream: Hulu

Relic (Natalie Erika James)

At the very core of Relic is an image of family as a myopia of terror. Perhaps more importantly, buried underneath, is compassion in the face of decay. Family is not just in the happy moments, but in the degeneration of bodies and minds, held tightly and, as best we can, lovingly all the same. There’s an intimacy to these elements in Natalie Erika James’ feature debut, which carries a burning sense of historicity and love that shines through underneath its ultimately rushed delivery. – Mike M. (full review)

Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google

To the Stars (Martha Stephens)

If today’s political landscape is any indication, much of the world is living in a conservative past, seething with disgust for another perspective they fail to empathize with, and emboldened by leadership that encourages such viewpoints. In her striking new drama To the Stars, Martha Stephens takes a character-focused look at such a small-town community full of repression, but rather than setting it in the present day, we’re placed in 1960s Oklahoma, a decision that speaks volumes for the ways we have and haven’t evolved as a country. – Jordan R. (full review)

Where to Stream: Hulu

We Are Little Zombies (Makoto Nagahisa)

The sheer amount of style that writer/director Makoto Nagahisa shows off in We Are Little Zombies is impressive. Aesthetically, there is a lot going on here. Four children–Hikari, Ikuko, Ishi, and Takemura–meet and befriend each other in the days after they’ve all been orphaned. In their grief and confusion, they form a rock band. They call themselves “Little Zombies” in reference to their collective inability to show much sadness given the circumstance. – Dan M. (full review)

Where to Stream: Virtual Cinemas

Western Noir

After launching their channel with a noir collection, as well as spotlighting some notable westerns in the past year-plus, The Criterion Channel is now specifically focusing on post-WWII western noirs for a new series. Featuring Blood on the Moon (Robert Wise, 1948), Station West (Sidney Lanfield, 1948), I Shot Jesse James (Samuel Fuller, 1949), Lust for Gold (S. Sylvan Simon, 1949), The Walking Hills (John Sturges, 1949), Devil’s Doorway (Anthony Mann, 1950), Rancho Notorious (Fritz Lang, 1952), The Naked Spur (Anthony Mann, 1953), Man with the Gun (Richard Wilson, 1955), The Violent Men (Rudolph Maté, 1955), Man of the West (Anthony Mann, 1958), and Day of the Outlaw (André De Toth, 1959), it makes for an essential marathon.