Streaming Roulette, April: The Blazing Perks of Molly's Xanadu

by Nathaniel R

If you're new to the site this is how we share new streaming offerings for the month. We select a handful or two of titles and just randomly hit a place on the scroll bar to see what the film looks like - no cheating.  Ready? Let's play...

VO: And since I heard that having a girlfriend makes you happy I tried hard to love her like I love Sam.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) on Netflix
Sweet movie. Remember Logan Lerman? We had such a good interview with him for this movie. Sad that he's trapped on a tv series with bad reviews at the moment (Hunters). 

VO: When I lost the LA game, I told myself it was no big deal.

Molly's Game (2017) on Netflix
Remember this Aaron Sorkin drama? She was good in but Sorkin shouldn't direct his own material. In my memory banks this one sometimes blurs together with Miss Sloane (close proximity in release and Chastain playing a badass in both) but the latter is so much better for the way it embraces its own slightly over-the-top DRAMA and doesn't take itself too (perhaps because it's fictional?) 

-When are you gonna have it finished?
-I say probably it will be done when it's done.

Xanadu (1980) on HBO
Why was the male lead written so annoying? Jobs have deadlines. Figure it out! You're getting paid... but I was so obsessed with this painting of Olivia as a little kid and always wished it were the actual album cover of Xanadu. But that would have been too meta for 1980. 

-Are we awake?
-We are not sure. Are we... black?
-Yes wee are.
-Then we're awake. But we're very puzzled.

Blazing Saddles (1974) on Hulu
This movie sure does get a lot of streaming deals. Would that all 70s movies had such luck.

After that in Warsaw, I had a lover who was very very good to me.

Sophie's Choice (1982) on HBO
God, that face. One of the most transporting closeups in cinema. This is directly after the scene, I think. 

Got a half-buck?

Hud (1963) on Hulu
The best movie of 1963. Periodt. Should've won Paul Newman his first Oscar.

[chewing]

The Platform (2020) on Netflix
Saw this at Toronto last September and it is very compelling if a bit blunt about its political messaging. Now, given how the world is spiralling and we've got leaders in charge acting like the economy is more important than actual human lives, this will probably play a bit differently, or even more laser-focused on the evils of greed and capitalism. But be warned: brutal movie. 

ALSO STREAMING IN RIGHT NOW...

• Europa Europa (1990)
• Fly Away Home (1996)
• The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
• My Winnepeg (2007)
• The Night Porter (1974)
• On the Waterfront (1954)
• Toshiro Mifune Turns 100 (27 films)
• German Expressionism (10 films) 
• Starring Catherine Deneuve (16 films)

later this month - a selection

• Columbia Noir (25 films - April 8th)
• Raging Bull (April 3rd)
• Captains Courageous (April 4th)
• Pixote (April 6th)
• Starring Gary Cooper (19 films - April 12th)
• Starring Jean Arthur (16 films - April 26th)

newly streaming for March

• Cant Hardly Wait
• The Girl with all the Gifts
• Just Friends
• Kim's Convenience (Season 4)
• Lethal Weapon (4 films)
• Minority Report
• Molly's Game
• Mortal Kombat
• Mud
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• The Platform (2020)
• The Roommate
• Soul Plane
• Taxi Driver

later this month (selection)

• The Killing of a Sacred Deer (April 4th)
• The Florida Project (April 6th)
• The Artist (April 25th)
• Circus of Books (April 22nd)

newly streaming for April

• Ant Bully
• Bangkok Dangerous
• Bend it Like Beckham
• Blazing Saddles
• Book of Eli
• The Boost
• The Chumscrubber
• Diary of a Hitman
• Dr Seuss Horton Hears a Who
• Dr T and the Women
• The Eternal
• Free Birds
• Full Monty
• Fun in Acapulco
• Gator
• Get Smart
• Gods and Monsters
• Gorky Park
• Hud
• Kill Bill (both movies)
• League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• Let Me In
• The Mexican
• Misery
• Moll Flanders
• Phone Booth
• Repentance
• Risky Business
• Romancing the Stone (both movies)
• The Sender
• Shirley Valentine
• Spider-Man
• Zombieland 

later in the month (a selection)

• Parasite (April 8th)
• Little Joe (April 9th)
• Abominable (April 24th)

newly streaming for April - a selection only since they often shared titles with Hulu (so many of those are also here)

• A View to a Kill
• Birds of Paradise
• The Bodyguard
• The Boost
• Broken Blossoms
• Daniel Boone
• Dollface
• Drums in the Deep South
• I am Legend
• Mark of Zorro
• Making the Cut (S1)
• Son of Monte Cristo

later in the month - a selection

• Invisible Life (April 3rd)
• Les Miserables (April 10th)
• The Lighthouse (April 16th)

newly streaming for April

• Alpha and Omega
• American Pie (all thre movies)
• Becoming Jane
• Blinded by the Light
• Clockstoppers
• Daylight
• Die Hard (first three movies)
• Dragged Across Concrete
• Drop Dead Fred
• Family Stone
• The Flintstones (both movies)
• Galveston
• Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
• The Great Gilly Hopkins
• The Judge
• The Kids Are All Right
• Loving
• The Lovely Bones
• Monte Carlo
• The Nice Guys
• The Predator
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Something Wild
• Sophie's Choice
• Team America - World Police
• Ulee's Gold
• War Dogs
• Water for Elephants
• Xanadu

later in month -a selection

• It Chapter Two (4/11)
• Run (series premiere 4/12)
• Stuber (4/18)
• Bad Education (4/25)

Comments

[Amirfarhang]

I’m going to rewatch hud it’s one of my favorite films of all time! Neal ,douglas and also newman are all oscar worthy!

[jules]

Really excited for the Jean Arthur collection on Criterion Collection. I'm currently making my way through March's Rita Hayworth collection, and it's fab. She reminds me a little bit of Julia Roberts in her lighter films, even though Julia wasn't a musical star (no wonder Richard Curtis had Julia reference her in Notting Hill). They both have the same sparkle. You Were Never Lovelier is especially a treat.

[Lynn Lee]

Hud really is underrated among the classics. I watched it for the first time some years back and was astonished at how great it was.

RE: Logan Lerman, if they ever make a movie about Pete Buttigieg, I think Lerman should play him.

[Nathaniel (ka)R(ma)]

Just your daily (sporadic) reminder that Renée Zellweger is a two-time Academy Award winning Actress.

[James]

Also on Netflix this month is the 2002 gangster flick The Road to Perdition. Cinematographer Conrad Hall won his third Oscar for this exquisite effort. The visuals are magical. The images make me shiver with the cold.

[FrenchToast]

I also discovered Hud a couple of years ago and was blown away by Newman's portrayal of the title character. I couldn't believe how well the movie stood the test of time!

I share your opinion on the difficulty to distinguish Molly's Game from Miss Sloane. I remember enjoying both, though.

I was a little hesitant about The Platform but you convinced me to give it a try. Thanks!

I've been going through the Netflix movie catalogue for the past two weeks or so and realized that I mostly use it to watch series. I watch so many movies at the theatre that I've either seen the ones that are interesting or have absolutely no interest in watching those I haven't seen... I know that they don't pick older movies because it might not be attractive to their target YA audience but some of their obscure choices look beyond appalling. What's wrong with a good classic?

[Biggs]

Perks of Being a Wallflower is a lovely movie and Lerman’s performance is what makes it work. Took me back to my high school days. I tried watching Hunters but couldn’t get through the first episode. It thinks it’s a Tarantino movie but it’s really just unpleasant.

I watched Xanadu a thousand times on cable as a kid. I didn’t know what a bad movie it was. You’re right about the male lead being terribly written. Olivia should have ended up with Gene Kelly. They had better chemistry.

Patricia O’Neal in Hud is one of my favorite performances ever.

[markgordonuk]

I disagree on Molly's Game,Miss Sloane is a better film and she gives a better performance.

[Jonathan]

HUD is obviously brilliant, but calling it the "definitive" best of 1963 is really pushing it when the year also includes 8 1/2, THE SILENCE, WINTER LIGHT, HIGH AND LOW, THE LEOPARD, THE SERVANT, LES CARABINIERS, CONTEMPT, THE BIG CITY, etc. I mean, HOW do you choose?

Also, to Lynn Lee: Patrick Fugit would be a better choice.

[NATHANIEL R]

mark -- but that's what i was saying!

biggs - -that's exactly what i heard about Hunters. Didnt' creatives learn from the late 90s and early 00s that imitating Tarantino well is next to impossible?

Lynn -- are you wishing this movie existed?

[Owen]

Jessica Chastain is fantastic in Molly's Game but the writing is horrible. That completely ridiculous, nonsensical scene where the father somehow runs into her in the middle of Central Park and suddenly has a heart to heart. Ugh.

[B.J.]

@Lynn: Nooo...don't wish that for my boy Logan. He was such a revelation in Perks of a Wallflower and then...nothing. He deserved a Timothee post-CMBYN-esque stratospheric rise after that. Plus they've already remade The Manchurian Candidate once :)

[brookesboy]

Chastain's Oscar snub for Molly's Game still hurts. My God, she narrates, explains poker, gets beat up and puts on her makeup. What else should she have to do to win an Oscar.

[thevoid99]

Xanadu... despite the music and Gene Kelly, it's still a bad movie as it was clear that a lot of cocaine was used during the production.

[markgordonuk]

Oh yes Nat I misread it.

[Arkaan]

Nathaniel, who would you vote for in 1959 and 1961? Because Newman in The Hustler is my choice and the only reason I dont vote for him in 1958 is ahistorical.

[Lynn Lee]

Nathaniel: Not especially, or at least not yet - I don't think Pete's really done enough yet to merit a movie. (or the Presidency, for that matter, though that's water under the bridge.) But there's a decent chance he might some day - he's an exceptionally bright and ambitious guy - and if/when he does, Lerman will be about the right age to play him. He's got the right combo of boyishness and gravitas, too.

Jonathan: Patrick Fugit would be the right person to play him if they made a movie about him right now. But like I said, I don't think it's time yet for that.

[Jonathan]

B.J.: Check out INDIGNATION (2016). It might be Lerman's best performance. And it is insanely, insanely underrated.

[huh]

Logan Lerman is good in that "bad TV show" which is actually just an "ok TV show" by the way. But he's pretty compelling in it.

Molly's game sucked. Miss Sloan was so much better

[SFOTroy]

Wait— did I miss the discussion of “Only Angels Have Wing’s”??

[Penelope]

Nathaniel, your only homeruns for a long time have been the Reader's Choice pieces so I'm also eagerly awaiting the next one. We can't all bat 100 like Claudio, playing towards the writers strengths (including yourself) is the smartest move. Maybe Murtz can have a break to regain his fire and passion?

[NATHANIEL R]

Penelope - Ever heard the saying: If you don't have anything nice to say...

SFOTroy - No. working on it now. I'll explain why it's so late in the piece.

[Thoptv for android]

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