Kneel Before VOD: January 7th
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!
The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Would you like to see a movie where Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots do karate? Well, Riley Stearns has got you covered. His 2019 feature The Art of Self-Defense takes on toxic masculinity by way of dark comedy. When Casey (Eisenberg) is attacked on the street, he joins up with a local dojo to learn how to protect himself should it ever happen again. What he hopes will be a good way to learn self-defense ends up changing his life entirely when the mysterious Sensei (Alessandro Nivola) invites him to another level of the dojo. The movie shares significant DNA with Fight Club but approaches it on a much smaller scale and with more intimate characters.
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
One of Scorsese’s more overlooked flicks, Bringing Out the Dead follows a NYC ambulance paramedic played by Nicolas Cage as his mental state begins to deteriorate due to the enormous stress of the job. He’s haunted by all of the patients he couldn't save and the next few nights are going to push him as far as he can go. Scorsese is often at his best when doing some sort of character study and this no different. He has an appreciation for the working class American that few filmmakers have and that's what makes a film like this work so well. It's a thrilling, terrifying, endearing, and powerful look at New York City at night and Nicolas Cage gives one of his career best performances.
City of God (2002)
Follow Rocket and Li’l Ze as life in Cidade de Deus, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, sends them on opposing paths. Rocket wants to escape and become a photographer while Ze is destined to be a kingpin as crime is on the rise in their city. Watch as their once promising community transforms into a haven for violence from the 1960’s into the early 80’s. As Rocket is pursuing his dreams of photography and Ze murders his way to the top of the drug game, you wonder if anyone ever escapes this hell or if it consumes all that it touches. City of God is a gorgeous and harrowing look at life in the favelas of Rio and what it’s like to grow up in a community with no oversight and unchecked violence and crime.
More Streaming Picks:
Netflix: The Mask of Zorro (1998), The Natural (1984)
Amazon: Blue Velvet (1986)
