Now Streaming: Movies and TV to Watch at Home This Weekend – May 29
With so many streaming services around these days, it’s tough to stand out. Some have to rely on a huge catalog, original programming, hard-to-see titles or a specific focus. Amazon Prime is trying something a little different, specifically catering to the company’s larger scope. Before Amazon went deep into the streaming game, the major benefits of its Prime service was free 2-day shipping on all its products. Now, residents of 14 metro areas who are members of the streaming service can get free same-day shipping on certain product orders over $35. It is an interesting perk that no other streaming platform could offer. So, while you non-Amazon Prime subscribers are waiting until Monday for your latest order to be delivered, check out what you can watch this weekend on various services.
Netflix
Hot Girls Wanted (Jill Bauer & Ronna Gradus, 2015)
Produced and narrated by Rashida Jones, Hot Girls Wanted is an original Netflix documentary that takes a full look at amateur online pornography and its appeal toward the “girl next door” woman. This material is in good hands with Bauer & Gradus, whose last film Sexy Baby looks at porn’s greater influence on mainstream society and how that affects young girls. Hot Girls Wanted profiles teenagers who have participated in this new industry at differing levels, some who see it as a better alternative than slinging fast food while others try to find an escape. While Netflix has gotten more attention for their original series, and will get even more for their original features in the coming months, their work acquiring interesting documentary films also needs recognition. In the past few years, Netflix became the exclusive home to Oscar nominees The Square and Virunga, let alone the platform the service provides to thousands of other true stories that are difficult to find in theaters.
Other titles new to Netflix this week:
Antarctica: A Year on Ice (Anthony Powell, 2013)
Before I Go to Sleep (Rowan Joffe, 2014)
Bill Nye the Science Guy (Series)
The Boxtrolls (Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi, 2014)
Graceland (Seasons 1 & 2)
Fandor
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
An absolute landmark film from the silent era, Dreyer’s masterwork is a stunning and horrific telling of the events leading to Joan of Arc’s execution. The film perfectly plays as a silent film (what some may see as a limitation) by capturing performance in closeups, with tragic film figure Maria Falconetti’s all-time great, groundbreaking turn in the foreground. Both emotionally raw and philosophically insightful, the film was among the first examples of the power of cinematic storytelling and remains so today. The Passion of Joan of Arc is in the pantheon of cinema, a must-see for all film fans. If you want to check out The Passion of Joan of Arc on Fandor, please remember that many of the site’s offerings are only available for a limited time – this masterpiece (as well as those listed below) will have to be seen by Sunday, June 7.
Other titles new to Fandor this week:
Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
Tokyo Story (Yasujirô Ozu, 1953)
Video On-Demand
Good Kill (Andrew Niccol, 2014)
Can we talk about Ethan Hawke for a second? Once set to be your typical handsome but disaffected movie star, the actor has made himself a fine career as one of the preeminent indie leading men. His work with Richard Linklater aside, the low-budget genre films he chooses to make have been increasingly interesting—from horror flicks Sinister and The Purge to one of this year’s weirdest films Predestination. He now re-teams with Andrew Niccol (Gattaca) in this look at drone warfare. In the film, Hawke stars as a drone “pilot” who begins to contemplate the ethics of his mission, whether he is doing necessary work or making the complicated issues even more complex. The stressful work ultimately creates even more problems with his wife and kids. You can stream Good Kill on VOD while it is in limited release.
Other titles new to VOD this week:
Barely Lethal (Kyle Newman 2015)
Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller, 2014)
The Loft (Erik Van Looy, 2014)
Results (Andrew Bujalski, 2015)
Catch ‘Em While You Can!
These titles will no longer be streaming on June 1:
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola, 1992)
Hatchet II (Adam Green, 2010)
Last Action Hero (John McTiernan, 1993)
Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988)
The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000)
Syriana (Stephen Gaghan, 2005)
Tank Girl (Rachel Talalay, 1995)
The Rocketeer (Joe Johnston, 1991)
The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003)
Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)