Solaris – Way Too Indie

Now Streaming: Movies and TV to Watch This Weekend – October 16

Aaron Pinkston — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 14:30:04 +0000

You could probably make this case every week anymore, but this might be the most important week in the history of online streaming. Not only did we see Paul Thomas Anderson‘s newest film Junun released on its exclusive home MUBI, but Netflix’s first original feature film hits the streaming service today. Though the critical overjoy that Beasts of No Nation first received on the festival circuit has substantially cooled, the film is still Netflix’s first big awards contender. We’ve seen the company receive massive critical and awards success on the television side of things with multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and wins for Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards and even two Oscar nominations for documentaries, but an original film with the profile and star cred (Idris Elba and director Cary Joji Fukunaga) has been a bit of a white whale. Even if Beasts of No Nation isn’t represented at the next Academy Awards, there are major stakes in the success of its release—simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming platform. If it can be a profitable model for Netflix, we could easily see their presence increase. And as it did in the world of television, this could happen quickly.

Netflix

Beasts of No Nation (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2015)

As mentioned above, Beasts of No Nation is a landmark release for Netflix. The film stars Abraham Attah as a child from a small village in Africa who is forced to become a child soldier commanded by a terrifying leader (Idris Elba). Writer-director Fukunaga garnered incredible acclaim for his latest work, the first season of HBO’s True Detective, but has shown the ability to tell harrowing stories from the perspective of a young person with his previous films Jane Eyre and Sin Nombre. Beasts of No Nation is “surreal, powerful, and visually breathtaking and “showcases [Fukunaga]’s skills as both a writer and visual storyteller.” For more coverage of the film, check out our interview with Fukunaga, coming later today.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
Anthony Jeselnik: Thoughts and Prayers (Stand-Up Special, 2015)
Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno Live! (Jody Shapiro, 2015)
Jane the Virgin (Season 1)
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me (James Keach, 2014)
The Lazarus Effect (David Gelb, 2015)

Fandor

The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925)

Halloween is only two weeks away and Fandor is in the spirit with this classic silent horror masterpiece. Though it is taken from a popular French novel, it is safe to say that the dozens of adaptations we’ve seen since have a great deal to owe to Lon Chaney’s (The Man of a Thousand Faces) beautiful performance as the title villain. The final reveal of the Phantom’s ghoulish face is one of the landmark moments horror cinema history, but it is otherwise a quite touching tale of love and terror. Also available on Fandor this week is a series of the best from Russia, including films from Tarkovsky, Eisenstein and Shepitko. As with many of Fandor’s Criterion Picks, they are only available for a short time. If you are interested in any of the films listed below, you have to catch them before October 25.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957)
Ivan the Terrible: Part I & II (Sergei Eisenstein, 1945 & 1958)
Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
The Unbelievable Truth (Hal Hartley, 1989)
Wings (Larisa Shepitko, 1966)

MUBI

Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)

One of the new South Korean cinema’s most popular and crazy entries, Oldboy is a twisty tale of revenge. For those who haven’t seen it (or the Spike Lee remake, for that matter), Oldboy unfolds over the five days that Oh Dae-su has to figure out who imprisoned him for 15 years—and, perhaps more disturbingly, why they did it. It may be known as having one of the craziest twists in modern cinema, but Oldboy is so much more, with incredible action beats and a strange melancholy tone that pierces deeply into the psyche of its characters. You can check out Oldboy and the other new films listed below for a short time on MUBI.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
Almayer’s Folly (Chantal Akerman, 2011)
Black Sabbath (Mario Bava, 1963)
Blank City (Celine Danhier, 2010)

Video On-Demand

Tales of Halloween (Various, 2015)

Featuring ten spooky shorts over 90-minutes, Tales of Halloween is the latest of the newly popular but traditional horror anthology film. The film includes segments directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Repo! The Genetic Opera), Neil Marshall (The Descent), Lucky McKee (May, The Woman), and Andrew Kasch (Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy). An interesting twist to the anthology film is that all ten stories take place in the same suburban town, giving a real connection to each of the films that is sometimes lost in the genre. Tales of Halloween has been playing to rave reviews during its limited theatrical release and is now available to rent or own on VOD.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
Dope (Rick Famuyiwa, 2015)
Experimenter (Michael Almereyda, 2015)
Mississippi Grind (Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, 2015)
Tomorrowland (Brad Bird, 2015)

Now Streaming: Movies and TV to Watch at Home This Weekend – May 15

Aaron Pinkston — Fri, 15 May 2015 15:01:34 +0000

In a wildly unprecedented move, Netflix has decided to release its next original series one episode at a time, week-to-week. How cutting edge of them! It was announced this week that their series Between, a plague thriller where no one lives past the age of 21, would shun the network’s binge experience model for a more traditional release schedule. It remains to be seen if this opens more doors for Netflix to try out multiple release approaches concurrently (maybe not a bad idea given all the content they are putting out now), but if you are feeling a little anxious about an upcoming lack of binge-worthy films and TV, have no fear. Check out what’s new to all the streaming platforms below!

Netflix

Rabbit Hole (John Cameron Mitchell, 2010)

Starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as grieving parents, Rabbit Hole is one of the most devastating and emotionally complex American films in recent years. Coming off of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus (two very good films), director John Cameron Mitchell showed unequivocally that he could tell a mainstream drama with just as much care to character and theme. The film delicately grasps the inner struggle and effects on personal relationships after a tragic event. It never asks for melodramatic, cheap tears, instead relying on two intricate character portraits and very good performances to make you all weepy. Also, for fans of sudden star Miles Teller, he is featured in the first role that got him notice—as a teen partly responsible for the tragedy. It is a quiet and powerful performance from the young Teller, very different from the persona we now know, and the first step in his promising career. If you somehow have missed this wonderful film (or avoided it because of its heavy content), grab the tissues and watch it now on Netflix.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler, 2013)
Late Phases (Adrián García Bogliano, 2014)
The Liberator (Alberto Arvelo, 2013)
Maidan (Sergei Loznitsa, 2014)
Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation (Stefan Haupt, 2012)

Amazon Prime

Art and Craft (Sam Cullman & Jennifer Grausman, 2014)

One of the stranger doc profiles from last year, Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman’s Art and Craft is an intimate portrait of Mark A. Landis, possibly the most notorious art forger ever. The weird thing about Landis, though, is that he doesn’t rip off famous pieces of art for fortune, but much more complicated reasons. The doc gets a lot of access to Landis and his process, as well as the people he’s duped over the years. The film really challenges its viewer by presenting a very talented man who is using his gifts in ethically grey ways. Landis is also a very sad and perhaps sick man, adding more complex levels to this portrait and his actions. Ultimately, Art and Craft will make you reconsider questions around artistic license, forgery and intent. For more thoughts on the film, check out our review from earlier this year. Art and Craft is an Amazon Prime exclusive, so you won’t find it streaming anywhere else.

Other titles new to Amazon Prime this week:
Defiance (Season 2)
Slugterra: Slug Flu Showdown (Logan McPherson, 2014)
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas (Tyler Perry, 2014)

Fandor

Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)

With the 2015 Cannes Film Festival is full swing, Fandor is using its huge selection of Criterion Collection films to highlight past winners at the festival. Tarkovsky’s moody and striking Solaris is among them. The nearly three-hour epic is the story of a psychologist sent into space and the effects that loneliness, distance and timelessness have on his psyche. Often regarded as one of the greatest and most thoughtful science fiction films ever, Solaris won the Grand Jury prize and esteemed Palm d’or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. If you’re looking for a great double feature, it can be excellently paired with Christopher Nolan’s recent epic Interstellar, which is available for rent on VOD. Now my weekly reminder: many of Fandor’s selections are only available for a limited time, and Solaris will be streaming until May 24, so don’t wait around if you are interested in this one. Other selections in Fandor’s Cannes collection are Antonioni’s L’eclisse, underseen Lars von Trier Europa, and a few other titles listed below.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
The Double Life of Veronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)
Giuseppe Makes a Movie (Adam Rifkin, 2014)
Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964)
A Tale of Winter (Eric Rohmer, 1992)
Z (Costa-Gavras, 1969)

Video On-Demand

Slow West (John Maclean, 2015)

Released on VOD the same day as it hits theaters, John Maclean’s feature debut Slow West has garnered incredibly high praise from critics throughout its festival run. When we saw the Western throwback at Tribeca, we said “[Slow West] is the perfect example of a first time filmmaker who knows what he wants and how to invoke talent, making for a visionary and excellently executed film.” The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as a teenager travelling west in search of the woman he loves, accompanied by a mysterious man (Michael Fassbender). Now you have the chance to see what is bound to be one of the best indies of 2015 whether its playing in a theater near you or not.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
John Wick (Chad Stahelski & David Leitch, 2014)
Maggie (Henry Hobson, 2015)
Still Alice (Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland, 2014)