Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to the worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch.
This week true life, TV and books leap onto the big screen with tales of racial injustice, teen love triangles and bumbling bombers/bank robbers. What’s that? You want more capering criminal comedies, striking segregation sagas and gleeful teen musicals? Oh, we got you covered. We’ve got the a bevy of movies you can watch online now!
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30 Minutes or Less
Jesse Eisenberg reunites with Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer in an action-comedy about a pizza delivery boy and his friend (Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari) who are forced to rob a bank after two-bit criminals strap a bomb to his chest. Danny McBride co-stars.
If you like your capers criminally comical, try this trio:
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) This slick heist flick centers on four friends caught up in a world of East End’s criminal underground after a poker game sends them down the river. Beyond being director Guy Ritchie’s smashing debut, Lock Stock also introduced future action stars Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones.
Plunkett & Macleane (1999) In this heist-centered buddy comedy, classes collide when the lowly Plunkett (Robert Carlyle) and the status-aspiring Macleane (Johnny Lee Miller) team up to commit highway robbery with a gentlemanly flare. Think Guy Ritchie flick set in 18th-century England. Liv Tyler and Alan Cumming co-star.
Hudson Hawk (1991) Bruce Willis stars in this deeply bizarre action-comedy that follows a cat burglar with penchant for timing his heists to the tunes of Broadway. You’d be hard-pressed to find an entry in this sub-genre that is both this weird yet this undeniably entertaining. Andie MacDowell, James Coburn and Sandra Bernhard co-star.
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The Help
Emma Stone stars in the adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s adored novel about a college educated woman who returns to her home in 1960s Mississippi to write a shocking exposes about the racial prejudices of her community and secret lives of the oppressed black women who work for uppity white women of privilege. Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Octavia Spencer co-star.
Craving more stirring yet inspiring tales about racial injustice? Try these acclaimed dramas:
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) Adapted from Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, this Oscar-winning drama also centers on the strained racial relations in the Jim Crow South. Here a shrew of an old woman (Jessica Tandy) forms an unexpectedly tight-knight bond with the wizened black chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) she hires in 1940s Atlanta. Dan Aykroyd co-stars.
A Soldier’s Story (1984) Another shocking tale out of the times of segregation, this adaptation of Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and it’s easy to see why. This military mystery follows Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) – a black man who has reached the ranks of Captain in a still segregated military – as he investigates the suspicious death of black sergeant posted in a military base in Southern town overrun with the KKK. Denzel Washington co-stars; Norman Jewison directs.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) And now for something moving, but decidedly lighter. Iconic Hollywood lovebirds Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn star (in Tracy’s last film) as a pair of parents who find their progressive political beliefs put to the test when their lovely young daughter brings home a black fiancé (another icon Sidney Poitier). Made in 1967 when it was still illegal for interracial couple to marry in 17 states within the U.S., Guess serves as a shocking reminder and a touching portrait of a not so distant time that still seems worlds away.
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Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
This concert doc will take Gleeks behind the scenes of Glee’s Live touring show. Lea Michele, Heather Morris and Chris Colfer co-star.
Don’t stop believin’. Want to hang on to that feelin’? Try these musically inclined teen tales:
Glee (2009) Season 1 is currently streaming, so grab a blue slushie, put on your favorite track suit and revisit McKinley High, where humble Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) is reinvigorated when he takes on Glee club duties – much to the chagrin of Cheerios task master Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). As the two exchange barbs, the kids often burst into songs – many of which are available on i-Tunes.
Fame (1980) Long before there was Glee, there was Fame! This TV series based on the popular movie musical of the same name is set in New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts, where a plethora of talented teens tackle tricky dance numbers and plenty of angst-driven drama. The first two seasons are currently streaming. (Also available on streaming – the 2009 remake.)
High School Musical (2006) For singing teens minus the angst (and sex), sing-along with Disney’s squeaky clean musical that spawned a tween-maddening phenomenon. Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron co-star as a brain and jock that shock the whole school when they try out for the drama club’s musical!
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Wild Card Pick
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Home Movies (1999) The action in this daffy cartoon centers on the adventures of 8-year-old auteur Brendon Small (voiced by none other than Brendon Small), who with the help of his smirking single-mom (Paula Poundstone), his super-smart Girl Friday Melissa (Melissa Bardin Galsky), his chubby candy-crazed buddy Jason and his oft-enraged and always inappropriate soccer coach McGuirk (both played by voice actor extraordinaire H. Jon Benjamin) is ever crafting his next homemade cinematic masterpieces. The set-up allows for a wide variety of parodies from Amelie to Tommy to Memento. This meta cartoon series was originally made for UPN, which wasn’t cool enough to keep it. So – after 5 episodes the show got sold to Adult Swim, which made it a solid part of its Sunday night lineup. Crafted by some of the Dr. Katz crew, the first season shares some of the squiggle vision aesthetic but thankfully drops it after that and becomes a smoother and funnier venture for it. If you somehow missed out on this quirky comedy, you can screen all four seasons now on Instant Watch.