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, and shoot over suggestions to @TheFilmStage
Frank (Lenny Abrahamson)
There’s no definitive path on the unwieldy journey that is the creative process. We’ve seen countless films tackle various approaches in an attempt to find an answer, but it’s never quite been done in the vein of Lenny Abrahamson‘s peculiar, occasionally aimless, and ultimately resonant Frank. While the initial draw is perhaps Michael Fassbender in the role of our strange title character, loosely based on the late Chris Sievey, our focal point is that of Jon (Domnhall Gleeson), whom we meet as an aspiring musician who can’t seem to conjure any worthwhile lyrics. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
God Help the Girl (Stuart Murdoch)
I imagine the reaction to the directorial debut of Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch will be divisive (just look at our Sundance review for proof). I found the story following a youthful band to be brimming with sincere energy and one that would make a great pairing with this year’s We Are the Best! (or even Not Fade Away, which was severely overlooked a few years back). Backed by an infectious soundtrack, it’s a deeply personal work that will hopefully find an audience as it rolls out on VOD and in theaters today. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: iTunes, Google
Jamie Marks is Dead (Carter Smith)
Jamie Marks is dead, we learn during the opening shots of the latest film from Carter Smith. Although some causes are hinted at, there’s no answer to the cause of the teenager’s death, but not many people in the town seem to care. In a classroom following his passing, not a single person can recall a memory with him, but there’s two schoolmates that find interest in this loss of life. Adapted from Christopher Barzak’s novel One for Sorrow, Jamie Marks is Dead takes a supernatural approach in dealing with the effect of one’s passing, as the afterlife and material world merge. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt)
Rather than the gear shift that was to be expected, Night Moves rather clearly offers a careful reconfiguring (but no sacrifice) of the idiosyncrasies, both formal and narrative, which have made Kelly Reichardt’s voice so important to the American cinema. A critical adherence notwithstanding, the new sense of ambition which Night Moves allows her to exhibit speaks volumes, posing the question of where, now, she might go. – Nick N.
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Whitewash (Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais)
The frozen, gray confines of a forest in Quebec become an unstable purgatory for hapless Thomas Haden Church in Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais‘ darkly comic Whitewash. Juxtaposed somewhere between the droll fatalism of the Coen bros and the survival drama of Jack London, Hoss-Desmarais‘ film makes great use of Church, who bolsters and solidifies what is often a one man show. Although it careens precariously from the present to the past, from apathetic, abiding sanity to determined, barking madness, Whitewash is that uncommon small-scale indie that grows larger the deeper it sinks into its hero’s troubled mind. – Nathan B. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Also New to Streaming
Vyer Films
Google Play
Netflix
Anaconda
All the Light in the Sky
Bloodsport
Chuck & Buck
Citizen Koch
Crocodile Dundee
Cool Runnings
Detention
The Elephant Man
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
Flubber
Girlfight
Good Morning, Vietnam
Grosse Point Blanke
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Jerry Maguire
Lords of Dogtown
School of Rock
A Simple Plan
Sling Blade
What are you streaming this weekend?