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 platforms. 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, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson)
Charlie Kaufman, the writer behind Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, teams up with animator Duke Johnson to create a complex emotional drama starring lifelike puppets. The premise is riddled with existential dread of modern-day life, presented uniquely through Kaufman’s idiosyncratic point-of-view. For protagonist and self-help author Michael Stone (voiced soulfully by David Thewlis), everyone around him has the same voice (thanks to Tom Noonan) and nothing feels right. It isn’t until he meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) that all this changes, and the fleeting romance they engage in becomes one of the most heartfelt relationships of the year. Kaufman has a way of using the neurotic tendencies of his characters as a vehicle to expose deep philosophical quandaries of the mind and soul, a bit similar to Woody Allen in his prime. Add to that the brilliant stop-motion animation, which is so realistic and spectacular that you may forget what is real. For a film starring only puppets, Anomalisa is strangely more human than most from 2015. – Raffi A.
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (André Øvredal)
André Øvredal’s last feature, the monster mockumentary Trollhunter, was thrillingly irreverent — a cruelly funny movie that turned Norwegian mythology into a riotous adventure. That subversive streak heralds his English-language debut, a high-concept horror thriller set in a morgue where not all is as it seems. “Every body has a secret” says Brian Cox’s Austin as he digs into the mysterious new cadaver they’ve just been delivered. – Ed F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker)
Directed, written, produced by, and starring Nate Parker, the Nat Turner biopic The Birth of a Nation is an unflinching and hopeful call to action where the helmer’s passion can be felt in every frame. By nodding to D. W. Griffith’s controversial, formally groundbreaking 1915 film, Parker is forging a new cinematic history for one of America’s most shameful eras. What’s lacking in aesthetic cohesion, pacing, and subtlety is made up for in a powerful lead performance and an essential story with compelling religious undercurrents. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Café Society (Woody Allen)
Café Society is a quintessential later-period Woody Allen film. That is to say, it’s thoroughly mediocre. It’s by now a sad truism that the octogenarian auteur is more interested in maintaining his prodigious output of at least one feature per annum (he hasn’t missed a beat since 1982) than to strive for the supreme heights he reached time and again in his first three decades as a filmmaker. Nowadays, if one of Allen’s films happens to be above average, all the better. If not, who cares? It’ll make its money back on the strength of the director’s reputation and the bankability of an invariably star-studded ensemble, the Cannes Film Festival will, at the very least, include it in its Out of Competition program – hey, perhaps even grant Allen the opening slot (as just happened for the fourth time with Café Society) – and there’s always next year to give it another half-hearted go, anyway. – Giovanni M.C. (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
Deepwater Horizon (Peter Berg)
The 2010 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico was a disaster beyond belief, not only causing the deaths of workers, but ecologically setting our planet back with the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. Many still haven’t fully grasped what it must have been like to be on the ship at the time of the tragedy. Enter a Lone Survivor reunion for Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg with Deepwater Horizon, a well-made attempt at revisiting the tragedy, giving an action-oriented cinematic face to what actually happened on that fateful day. – Jordan Ruimy (full review)
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Disorder (Alice Winocour)
Disorder tackles the home-invasion thriller on an unusual front, emphasizing paranoia and uncertainty over any nightmare of intruders coming to get you; the home isn’t even invaded until rather late into the plot. Until then, it’s a character study of Vincent (Matthias Schoenaerts), a soldier who, despite being eager to get back to the front, knows he won’t be able to because of his hearing loss and PTSD. In need of work, he joins in on a buddy’s personal security company, and ends up assigned to be a bodyguard for Jessie (Diane Kruger) and her young son for 48 hours. Soon, though, it emerges that Jessie’s husband’s shady business dealings have put her in danger, and Vincent has to hold it together in order to protect her and her son. – Dan S. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (Werner Herzog)
From the grand, savage outdoors to the inner chambers of those awaiting certain death, Werner Herzog has gone to the ends of the Earth to capture our innermost dreams and fears in his documentaries. For his latest, Lo and Behold: Reveries of The Connected World, he looks to the unwieldy unknown of the Internet and how its evolution has immensely affected the way we communicate, for better or worse. Told in 10 distinct chapters, from “The Early Days” to “The Future,” each has enough intriguing substance to be the foundation of its own documentary, which makes Herzog’s latest a rapidly entertaining ride through the rise of technology where certain sections might feel thematically underdeveloped. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Midnight Special (Jeff Nichols)
Ambiguity might be the most useful item in the science fiction toolbox. Blade Runner’s mysteries still rob people of sleep, and you’d need a wall chart to work out Shane Carruth’s Primer. However, when used in rash abundance — as in this latest film from Mud and Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols — the results can leave the viewer in a rather less complimentary state of bafflement. The details in Midnight Special, Nichols’ homage-heavy sci-fi thriller set in his signature Deep South locale, are sometimes so scant as to be jarring. Yes, less is often more in Hollywood, but it can also be just plain less. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: HBO Go
Miss Stevens (Julia Hart)
When it comes to high school-set films, the majority prefer to take a perspective of the student, particularly as it pertains to the coming-of-age drama. For a budding teacher, though, the period can be a tumultuous one, and Julia Hart‘s debut is an evocative one as we follow Rachel Stevens (a fantastic Lily Rabe) as she deals with a personal emotional upheaval as well as the unspoken attraction from a student (Timothee Chalamet). By the finale, one may not feel entirely fulfilled by Miss Stevens, but the taboos it explores with a careful eye make it a more-than-worthy watch. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Netflix
Sense8 – A Christmas Special (Wachowskis)
As Netflix continues to increase the output of their original content, their finest drama remains the Wachowskis‘ ambitious Sense8. In terms of formal accomplishment and emotional connection, the first season was a joy to watch — and now, before a follow-up season, they have returned with a two-hour Christmas special. Featuring Toby Onwumere, Tina Desai, Miguel Angel Silvestre, Jamie Clayton, Tuppence Middleton, Doona Bae, Brian J. Smith, and Max Riemelt, it’s now available to stream. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Netflix
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