Kneel Before VOD: February 14th
Welcome to Kneel Before VOD! Here, we recommend the latest, highlight-worthy films now on video-on-demand. We'll help you navigate through the thousands of options out there, on dozens of services, to the best in streaming this month!
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Live action anime films historically have been about as successful as video game adaptations, but like with the latter, they are starting to crack the code and Alita: Battle Angel is the first one to fully deliver on the goods. Based on the manga Battle Angel Alita and the anime Battle Angel, the movie follows Alita, a cyborg found in a literal trash pile, who is built from long lost tech. As she slowly learns about who she is, she also finds her way in the new world she has woken up in. With lavish and stylish production design and kinetic and inventive action sequences, Alita is a much welcomed return to form for director Robert Rodriguez and an absolutely explosive debut for star Rosa Salazar. It has ambitious, exciting, messy world building and if that’s what you’re into then run to catch up with Alita: Battle Angel.
Fighting With My Family (2019)
2019 was the year of Florence Pugh, as I’m sure you know, and it all began way back in January with the release of the British sports biopic Fighting With My Family. The film is based on Saraya Knight aka Paige and her journey to becoming a WWE Star, and is directed by the wonderful Stephen Merchant. Though the movie isn’t doing anything to reinvent the biopic wheel, Merchant’s comedic touch and incredibly sweet performances from Nick Frost, Lena Heady, Jack Lowden, and of course, Florence Pugh, elevate it to something much more endearing than its standard predecessors. We are all starved for more Pugh right now, so it’s the perfect time to give this a watch.
Toy Story 4 (2019)
The recently crowned “Best Animated Feature '' of 2019 is now streaming on Disney +. Look, no one was more skeptical of a fourth Toy Story than I was, but the bastards did it, they made me cry AGAIN. Every time I think they’ve closed the door on this story and there’s nothing left to tell they prove me wrong. Exploring Woody's unwillingness to let go through the eyes of a wild and free Bo Peep proved to be the perfect way to speak directly to a generation that often feels trapped by their perceived responsibilities. I know this is a franchise still made largely for young children but, I have a special respect for a franchise that intelligently ages with its audience and no franchise has done it better than this one. They made me love a toy made of literal trash more than I love most of my own family. What kind of sorcery and/or black magic are they performing at Pixar studios? Anyways, I look forward to getting angry about Toy Story 5 in ten years and then having a literal stroke in theaters from the emotional heartbreak.
Bliss (2019)
As you can see, now is the perfect time to catch up with all of the 2019 releases you missed and the most recent from writer/director Joe Begos should definitely be on your shortlist. Shot on 16mm with a shoestring budget, this is DIY filmmaking at its best. Follow Dezzy (Dora Madison) as she attempts to save her career and finish her first painting in months, what she will come to call her masterpiece. She’s got a creative block though, and quickly turns to the help of drugs, specifically a new drug called bliss which is a mixture of cocaine and DMT. As she parties and paints and generally spirals further down the rabbit hole the lines of reality begin to blur, and we begin to wonder, if this is all just the drugs or something much more sinister and supernatural. Go in knowing as little as possible, get yourself in the right headspace (if you know what I mean), turn out the lights, and crank the volume up to 11.
More Streaming Picks:
Netflix: Blade Runner (1982)
Amazon: Sleepy Hollow (1999), Hot Rod (2007)
Hulu: 28 Days Later (2002)
HBO: In a World...(2013)
