Watch at home: Strange things to tell the bees during the Peterloo massacre
Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 2:50PM Nathaniel R giving you the heads up on what's newly available to screen at home.
DVD/Blu-Ray/Rental
• High Life - In which Dr Juliette Binoche gets nasty with her patients and Robert Pattinson mopes around in outer space while caring for an infant.
• Tell It to the Bees - In which Dr Anna Paquin seduces her new friend Holliday Grainger (fine performance!) in a small homophobic British town in the 1950s. But it's actually a sentimental family movie of sorts. Watch out for the unintentionally hilarious killer bees!
Also newish on blu-ray and/or DVD: Pet Sematary, The Best of Enemies, Little, After, Mojin: The Worm Valley, and Gotham (the complete series).
iTunes 99¢ Deals
Titles you can rent on the cheap this week include the orgiastic French film Climax, 2016's Best Picture winner Moonlight, 2017's very best film Lady Bird, the new horror classic The VVitch, Bong Joon-ho's popular South Korean monster movie The Host, and the charming Eighth Grade. They're also offering up Don Jon & Under the Skin in a stealth attempt to remind you of what a genre-hopping ridiculously talented and versatile actress Scarlett Johansson is. Be happy that she shakes off the Marvel shackles very soon (Black Widow is currently filming). Who knows what pleasures await when she can step out of that one genre and into all genres again!
Streaming this week
Starcourt Mall, the complete blueprints. So, this is us...
Stranger Things (Season 3) on Netflix
That's Maya Hawke pointing at the blueprints. I didn't realize it was her until I was looking away from the TV and heard THAT VOICE. She doesn't look like her but she sounds EXACTLY like her mom, Uma Thurman. Close your eyes and try it. It's uncanny. One thing more about this image. The Scoops Ahoy uniforms are a brilliant stroke because they give even tense scenes a comic edge because there just so silly. For what it's worth, season 3 is very good. Not quite finished so perhaps it doesn't stick the landing but currently confused at the naysayers as this is a marked improvement on Season 2. Also a bit surprised that the show -- which is definitely aimed at families despite the gorey violence -- appears to be fully aware that the character of Will (Noah Schnapp) reads as gay.
So, four years old. Yes, it's written here.
Woman at War (2018/2019) on Hulu
Iceland's most recent Oscar submission really should've been nominated last season (though it didn't open in the states until March). Benedikt Erlingsson is among the most exciting new directors on the planet and no sophomore slump for him; this one is even better than his mesmerizing debut Of Horses and Men. Jodie Foster has optioned the rights for an American remake so wish her luck. It will not be easy to do this one justice.
Nonsense. The bank is just around the corner and the children and I have plenty of legs to get us there.
Mary Poppins Returns (2018) on Netflix
We really didn't do this one enough justice when it opened here at TFE given its big Christmas musical status. That said, it was quite a fast fade wasn't it, despite strong moments? This was surely due to its attempt to basically remake the original albeit with a scene by scene similar plot. Too bad they weren't looser about the construction because the cast and the crew were there waiting to shine.
If you don't find it, you crack a few heads! [DOOR SLAMS]
Peterloo (2018/2019) on Amazon Prime
Mike Leigh's latest is surely better than its reputation since it got the cold shoulder everywhere -- it's even his lowest grosser ever in US theaters (just $151k when his movies usually gross around $3-4 million). But Leigh movies usually contain at least some brilliance. That said, after this screencap roulette moment you see above, I let the movie play on a bit and this scene was followed by not one but two consecutive scenes of old men reading dramatic things they'd just written aloud to hear how they sounded which is questionably anti-cinematic! Have any of you seen this yet?
also...
brand new to Netflix: Bangkok Love Stories, The Iron Lady, Kinky, The Last Czars, Siclian Ghost Story, The Good Witch (S4), Kakegurui (S2), In the Dark (S1), and Free Reign (S3)
brand new Hulu: The Brink, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Into the Dark, The Last Word, Phoenix, The Venture Bros (S7), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (S13), and Amazing World of Gumball (S6)
brand new Prime: Kung Fu Panda (S1B), Marshall, Phoenix, Witness Protection
brand new HBOGo: Bohemian Rhapsody, Divorce (S3), Thoroughbreds
Reader Comments (10)
"That's Maya Hawke pointing at the blueprints. I didn't realize it was her until I was looking away from the TV and heard THAT VOICE. She doesn't look like her but she sounds EXACTLY like her mom, Uma Thurman. Close your eyes and try it. It's uncanny. "
LOL I had the same exact reaction! I knew she seemed familiar when she showed up and it was driving me nuts, but as soon as I heard her talking while I wasn't looking at the screen UMA leapt out like she'd been hiding under my couch. I had the same reaction when I watched the Little Women miniseries that Maya was on last year -- I think I probably know her face well enough after watching both of these things that I won't not recognize her next time, but my god HER VOICE, it's insane.
I kind of have the exact same reaction with John David Washington, to be honest. He sounds JUST like Denzel.
Drop Dead Gorgeous was even funnier than I remembered!!!! So glad it’s finally available again.
When is the last call for the 1960 Smackdown?
I watched Peterloo in the cinema about 200 meters from the site of the massacre.
The craft work is excellent, and there are a couple of nice performances (Bryony Miller is excellent in a cameo role), but overall it feels more like a history lecture with bizarrely expositional speeches about the Corn Laws or the vagracy act inserted into scenes.
Disney has moved "Woman in the Window" to 2020. After test audiences found the film confusing, there's going to be changes, including reshooting scenes,
Drop Dead Gorgeous is an underrated comedy legend. It was a staple in the “mockumentary” filing technique. Totally ahead of its time.
I thought "Mary Poppins Returns" was very smartly attuned to its status as a sequel/"remake" and justified its existence by arguing for the necessity of Mary Poppins' eternal return. Plus, it's so beautiful on all crafts levels. I had a total blast seeing it with my mom! Would be interested in seeing how I felt watching again at home.
"Under the Skin" is just brilliant! I know we've discussed this before but... how can Scarlett Johansson not be an Academy Award nominee (at least)?!
I'll agree that ST3 is better overall. 5 primary reasons why - Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Robin, and Billy. I hope all of these actors get opportunities outside of this franchise - they're all stars in the making.
Peterloo is marvelous. I don't mind history, nor do I mind history lessons, not when Leigh's skill at cross-cutting has never been used to more shattering effect.