As you are likely aware, legendary actor Christopher Lee passed away at the age of 93. As a fan of both horror films and giant blockbuster franchises, he was one of my favorites. Perhaps it was the types of films he was most recognized for, but he’s one of the most under-appreciated, underrated stars of the screen. This is made even more apparent by the utter lack of his films available to stream. I was all set to blow out a number of streaming recommendations starring Lee… until I looked to see which of his 281 credits were on Netflix. You’re basically stuck with his small role in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, a 2013 film called Night Train to Lisbon, family comedy A Feast at Midnight, 1970’s adventure film Caravans, apparent knock-off The Tale of the Mummy, and The Bloody Judge (which, OK, I’m intrigued). Not exactly a showcase of his best work—Netflix doesn’t even throw us a bone with delightfully campy The Howling II: My Sister Is a Werewolf. So, instead of the perfect Christopher Lee streaming weekend, here are some other recommendations new to the usual streaming suspects.

Netflix

Orange Is the New Black (Season 3)

Netflix’s best original series to date is back with 13 new episodes from Litchfield Penitentiary. Like most quality television, we left off the season with many changing dynamics. Piper and Alex are on dicier terms then ever. Daya and Bennett’s relationship is starting to crumble. Red has hit rock bottom. Vee’s escape is bound to have serious repercussions on the remaining inmates. The emotional and dramatic stakes couldn’t be much higher for the start of season 3, which is sure to provide more shakeups, new characters, and more insight to the characters we already love. Orange Is the New Black was quick to becoming one of the best dramas AND comedies on television, and I doubt that’s going to change. If you somehow haven’t caught up, all three seasons are now streaming on Netflix.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
The Cobbler (Thomas McCarthy, 2014)
Happy Valley (Amir Bar-Lev, 2014)
Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)
Primer (Shane Carruth, 2004)
Rosewater (Jon Stewart, 2014)

Amazon Prime

The Island of Dr. Moreau (John Frankenheimer & Richard Stanley, 1996)

If you’ve been watching Orphan Black, you’ll know that H.G. Wells’s influential science fiction novel has played an integral part. There are probably better excuses to watch John Frankenheimer’s (slash Richard Stanley’s) trouble 1996 adaptation, but I’m going to run with that. When the film was released it was heavily panned and it’s reputation hasn’t exactly grown over time—but can we still hold out on a critical subculture rediscovery? The Island of Dr. Moreau is undoubtedly a messy film, but it is also weird enough be noticed. Featuring one of Marlon Brando’s last performances, well after he had reached his tipping point, the larger than life icon (and quite large at this point, too) has to be seen to be believed. You also have ultra-serious, ultra-crazy Val Kilmer. It killed the career of one director who was replaced by a well respected filmmaker trying to make a comeback. Oh, and half-human half-animal hybrid monsters. The cinematic car crash that became The Island of Dr. Moreau is well documented, but maybe worthy another look.

Other titles new to Amazon Prime this week:
Life of Crime (Daniel Schechter, 2013)
Murder of a Cat (Gillian Greene, 2014)
The Paper Chase (James Bridges, 1973)
Repo: The Genetic Opera (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2008)
Words and Pictures (Fred Schepisi, 2013)

Fandor

Alive Inside (Michael Rossato-Bennett, 2014)

Fandor has built its reputation on providing foreign and classic films with their partnership with the Criterion Collection, but this week I want to highlight some recent films that are new to the streaming service. Alive Inside is a emotionally captivating, under-seen doc from last year about a non-profit’s attempt to bring music to those who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Based on recent medical studies, music has shown to spark memory and reestablish identity, albeit briefly. In the film, a number of retirement home residents take part in the organization’s outreach, and the results are stunning. To see, time after time, men and women recapture something from their past from something so simple is extraordinary. Alive Inside shows the power of music as clearly as any film ever has, thus showing the great power of documentary film. Reading a study on this topic would be enlightening, but there is nothing like seeing the eyes of these individuals yourself.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
The Builder (Rick Alverson, 2010)
A Common Enemy (Jaime Otero Romani, 2013)
Concerning Violence (Göran Olsson, 2014)
Harmony and Me (Bob Byington, 2009)
Farewell, Herr Schwarz (Yael Reuveny, 2014)

Video On-Demand

Hungry Hearts (Saverio Costanzo, 2014)

Starring Adam Driver and Alba Rohrwacher, Hungry Hearts is a psychological drama about a young couple’s emotional strain following the birth of their first child. Having a child is obviously one of the most wonderful moments in a parent’s life, but it is also one of the most stressful. Not only is there now a small thing that is set to dominate your life, each individual choice you make when raising this child could have incredible consequences. Hungry Hearts plays with this inherent suspense quite well with brilliant performances from its up-and-coming leads. When we reviewed the film earlier this month, we said it is “a harrowing and hard to watch film, but the sincerity of its performances and the tantalizing and rather unexplored content it delves into, make for the sort of film that is impossible to turn away from.” Hungry Hearts is available on VOD at the same time as its theatrical release.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
The DUFF (Ari Sandel, 2015)
Madame Bovery (Sophie Barthes, 2014)
Red Army (Gabe Polsky, 2014)
Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)
The Yes Men Are Revolting (Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno & Laura Nix, 2014)

Only in its second year, the Reel Indie Film Festival (or RIFF for short) is kicking things off with a nice selection of music videos, shorts and features for audiences in Toronto. RIFF is a recent offshoot of Indie Week, an independent music festival showcasing hundreds of acts over five days. The film festival naturally focuses on films dealing with, or about, music from around the world. Simply put, lovers of music and film will have plenty to enjoy at RIFF.

With 9 documentary features playing, the festival kicks things off with their opening night film Johnny Winter: Down & Dirty. The documentary premiered earlier this year, only months before Winter’s death in July. Director Greg Olliver follows Winter around his hometown of Beaumont, Texas, as well as on tour around the world. Interviews with Winter, his family, friends and admirers (including Aerosmith’s Joe Perry), Johnny Winter: Down & Dirty provides an entertaining and informative portrait of the legendary blues musician’s life.

Earlier this year we caught Alive Inside, the sleeper hit documentary wowing audiences and reducing them to tears. We were fans of the film, calling it “an emotional triumph”, so be sure to check out this huge crowd pleaser at the festival.

What might be considered the most cinematic film in the line-up, and also a must-see considering its lack of a release date, is The Possibilities are Endless. Edward Lovelace and James Hall’s gorgeous and unconventional doc looks at Edwyn Collins, most famously known for his hit song “A Girl Like You.” Collins suffered two major strokes in 2005, and the film tries to represent Collins’ experience, from losing his ability to speak or move to slowly regaining his strength to perform again. The film starts out jumping all over the place, representing Collins’ state of mind after suffering his first stroke, before slowly turning into a more familiar documentary format as Collins, through narration, describes his recovery. It’s bold filmmaking, and with the help of amazing cinematography and music (the score was composed by Collins himself), The Possibilities are Endless demands to be seen in theatres.

Depending on your interests musically, RIFF has plenty of other films to offer as well. Like heavy metal? Go see March of the Gods: Botswana Metalheads, a documentary following the band Wrust as well as the heavy metal scene in Botswana. It’s the kind of documentary that helps illuminate a little-known, fascinating story. And if you can’t make it to the screening but still want to see it, you can purchase the film.

Other films playing include: Folk, following three musicians as they try to succeed in a genre that’s seen a bit of a resurgence over the recent years; No Land’s Song, the audience award winner for Best Documentary at the Montreal World Film Festival; and the North American premiere of A Curious Life, a look at the band The Levellers and their surprisingly large following.

There are plenty more films, shorts and music videos playing at RIFF over the coming week, so head on down to Toronto’s Royal Cinema if you can and enjoy what’s playing. If you want to see the full line-up, as well as buy tickets, go to http://www.reelindiefilmfest.com/

If you listen to enough random music on the radio or the internet, you are likely to hear a song you haven’t heard in a long time. The opening strains or rousing chorus of a tune that moved you in your youth can suddenly move you again, sometimes in a way you haven’t felt since oh-so long ago. Surely you have at least one song or one artist that takes you back to a happy place.

That concept — music tapping into something sudden and emotional, something visceral and positive — is being applied to elderly Alzheimer’s and dementia patients with startling results. How this came to be, and the path it has taken, is the subject of the 2014 Sundance Audience Prize winner for Best Documentary, Michael Rossato-Bennett’s Alive Inside.

The story begins as many of these things do — by chance. When social worker Dan Cohen placed headphones on elderly Henry and played Henry’s favorite music from his youth, Dan noticed a miraculous change. Henry, who was once slouched in his seat, chronically lethargic, and completely disengaged from those around him, perked up. He changed his posture, danced in his seat, and even sang along to the music. This prompted Dan to invite Rossato-Bennett to spend the day with him and film Henry. Rossato-Bennett stuck around for three years. Over the course of that time, countless patients responded the way Henry did — with newfound energy and long-lost focus.

Alive Inside is an emotional triumph. From the first time Henry’s eyes grow wide as Cab Calloway wails through his headphones, and through the course of the film’s lean 73-minute running time, smiling is inevitable. Smiling at Bill, who is frustrated by his own inability to express the anger he feels inside, yet who is instantly soothed by The Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” Smiling at Denise, a bipolar schizophrenic who demands Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” yet who abandons her walker when music with a Latin flair plays.  The names and faces and music change, but the smiles never end.

The film is rich with people like this, and while you might not know them personally, you know them for who they represent: your parents and your grandparents and your great-grandparents. And to see a spark in their eyes — a spark that hasn’t been seen there in years (if not decades) — is something joyful to behold again and again.

Yet for as much as Alive Inside tells this glorious tale of these once-lively people with spirit thought lost forever, only to be born again by the power of music, it is still a documentary, and as documentaries go, it’s a flawed victim of its own vagueness.

It offers little-to-no background information on its subjects, specifically when it comes to the music that stimulates them. Beyond basic information like favorite artist or favorite song, there is no understanding of why such a strong connection is made, or why these people react the way they do, to a particular song/artist. Cohen and Rossato-Bennett go to lengths to illustrate that playlists are customized, but with no understanding of why.

The film is also light on the bigger picture. Mental afflictions are explained, the reasons why music can have this effect are spoken to, and medical talking heads talk, but the subjects in the doc are only ever viewed in the moment. There is no long-game here, no consideration of what extended exposure to music can do for these people. There’s even a golden opportunity to understand the pros and cons of a long game when Rossato-Bennett presents a couple – Norman and Nell – who have lived happily in their own home for 10 years with Nell’s condition because of external stimulation like music. Nothing about them is deeply explored; they are merely poster examples. Ultimately, Rossato-Bennett and Cohen were at this for three years and yet nothing is known about the patients over that length of time other than their immediate responses.

Fundraising efforts and political actions are briefly covered, but there is nothing in-depth enough to fully appreciate the struggle Cohen endures to get music into nursing homes. Statistics of how many homes have a music program are presented at the end of the film, but entirely without context of effort .

What Alive Inside has plenty of, though, are barbs hurled at assisted living facilities, the hospital model they follow, and the medicine they practice, all without significant substantiation.  There’s an argument to be made that the current model can be improved or that “just give them drugs” isn’t necessarily the best treatment approach, but rather than look at intricacies, Rossato-Bennett instead frames The System as the boogeyman – that thing responsible for the plight of these people he is rescuing. With only 73 minutes on film, Alive Inside would benefit from some extra time to make a better argument instead of making accusations.

Michael Rossato-Bennett is a first time documentarian and it shows. But what he lacks in filmmaking acumen, he more than makes up for in the wonder he has captured on film. He might not be deft enough to make a clearer case, but he’s smart enough to know what works on film. Watching parents and grandparents and great-grandparents so viscerally respond to music is like watching children discover a bounty under the tree on Christmas morning, and it is just as glorious. These scenes alone – scenes that are plentiful and demand your widest smiles – are worth the price of admission.

Alive Inside trailer