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.
A Most Violent Year (J.C. Chandor)
The Sidney Lumet talk is apt, as J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year certainly captures the scope and pulse of the late master’s dramas. But this is a dark-side-of-the-American-dream epic with a reach all its own. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain create the most compelling couple of the year, and by the time the credits role, the viewer feels as if they have just witnessed the most significant moments in the birth of a giant. – Chris S.
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
An energetic and invigorating exploration of the traps of art and commerce, Birdman connects in a way that Iñárritu’s previous films did not. There’s a playfulness and a passion in the one-take gimmick that draws the fraying edges of Michael Keaton’s Riggan Thompson together, and a previously absent wisdom in the way the marvelous supporting cast is used to populate the vibrating world that surrounds Birdman‘s harried actor. Much has been said about Keaton, and while it’s exciting to watch him stir to life, the film is nothing if not the sum of its parts, one of which is Emma Stone’s best performance to date. A beguiling treat that only grows with additional viewings, Birdman soars. – Nathan B.
Where to Stream: HBOGo
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
After years of Iraq war films that are mostly nothing but pandering messages, we got a film that adds something new to the genre. Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker is a tense action film that is subtle with its messages and themes. It’s a reminiscent of Black Hawk Down, a film that can be enjoyed from a storytelling standpoint and an action movie standpoint. – Jack G. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Kill Me Three Times (Kriv Stenders)
Director Kriv Stenders left the audience seated for his latest film Kill Me Three Times with the words, “I hope you have as much fun watching as we had making it.” I doubt I did, but I cannot deny it wasn’t the sort of entertaining romp that keeps you on your toes hypothesizing who—if anyone—survives. It seems such a small thing, but a movie with no fear in killing its characters is a lot more enjoyable than one forcing you to watch misfires and flesh wounds so the would-be victim can become the perpetrator later on. A few shots fired do miss their target here and the first did make me sigh as I incredulously thought, “Here’s another one.” Thankfully, however, the shooter rolls his eyes with an equal measure of frustration, retakes aim, and finishes the job. – Jared M. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
The Knick (Steven Soderbergh)
Since its premiere almost exactly a year ago, if you wanted to see Steven Soderbergh‘s magnificent new series The Knick and didn’t have Cinemax, you were out of luck. Now, ahead of the second season premiere on October 16th, it’s finally available to stream on other platforms. Taking place in the early 20th century, the story follows Dr. John W. Thackery (Clive Owen) and his staff dealing with the premature days of medicine and new techniques, among many other things. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Man From Reno (Dave Boyle)
A difficult genre to effectively nail in today’s age, the neo-noir proves to be alive and well with Dave Boyle‘s Man From Reno. Full of perfectly cast characters (including Steven Seagal‘s daughter Ayako Fujitani in the lead role), the low-budget drama feels greatly authentic in its tone and execution. While comparisons to films from the Coens and even Chinatown are warranted, Boyle’s take is fresh enough to create an original, gripping mystery. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: iTunes, Google
The Salvation (Kristian Levring)
Following up his Best Actor win at Cannes for The Hunt, Mads Mikkelsen returned to the festival in a far different genre. The western The Salvation, also starring Eva Green and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, appears to be a handsomely crafted period piece. As we said in our review, “Pulpy, violent, exploitative and trashy, The Salvation harkens back to the spaghetti Western era before the genre became introspective with the likes of Unforgiven or No Country For Old Men.” Following a theatrical release, it’s now available to stream. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google
Welcome to Me (Shira Piven)
There’s a great reference in Welcome to Me about Cindy Sherman that many may gloss over. Director Shira Piven and screenwriter Eliot Laurence made mention to Network and The Truman Show during their Q&A after my TIFF screening, but I don’t think such comparisons hold a candle to Sherman’s photography, challenging audiences with staged depictions of women in society and the media. In them the artist made herself up to be the subject rather than a model or community figure aligned with her concept. The film’s lead character Alice (Kristen Wiig) does a similar thing with mental illness. Throwing taboo to the wind for a portrayal both impossible to laugh at and easy to laugh with, Wiig gives us a sad, broken soul caught in the throes of an emotional tailspin on the cusp of crashing and burning. – Jared M. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (Kiah Roache-Turner)
Let’s face it, the world needs another zombie movie about as much as it needs another post-apocalyptic road movie. To their credit, Australian brothers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner realize that. With their anything-goes debut, Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, the audacious siblings have fastened sparkplugs on both of those sub-genres. They’ve laughed in the face of tempered expectations and covered its body in crimson-red goo. A horror-comedy with more energy than a kangaroo on uppers, Wyrmwood avoids falling into genre pastiche by never sitting still long enough to become one thing. The Roache-Turner brothers’ film’s manic nature has it volleying around back and forth between a living-dead thriller, a self-aware laugher, and the kind of overboard splatterfests Peter Jackson used to make. The combination of those genre elements delivers the most enjoyable zombie movie in years and the funniest the-world-is-over romp this side of This is the End. – Matt B. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Also New to Streaming
Netflix
Elizabethtown
Enemy at the Gates
Fletch
The Living
The Man From Nowhere
Starship Troopers
Three Kings
Windtalkers
What are you streaming this weekend?