Kneel Before VOD: September 5th
The Big Sick
The summer's best reviewed movie of the summer and one of the year's biggest hits, The Big Sick hits Amazon and iTunes this week. The film is based on the real life story of comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon, who both co-wrote the script. Kumail is a struggling Chicago standup who falls for Emily (Zoe Kazan), a psychotherapy student. The two hookup for a while but never get into anything serious. Shortly after they break up, Emily goes into a coma and Kumail stays by her side. Nanjiani and Kazan are great, but it's the parents of each lead, played by Ray Romano, Holly Hunter, Anupam Kher, and Zenobia Shroff, that bring this heartfelt and often funny film to life. Read Manish's take on The Big Sick.
Netflix: Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece (one of them, anyway) that completely changed the face of indie film and still has a rabid cult following is now available on Netflix. The 1994 film's split narrative follows hitmen Vincent and Jules (John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson respectively) as they cross paths with a prize-fighter named Butch (Bruce Willis), their boss Marsellus (Ving Rhames) and his wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) and more on an eventful day. Often imitated but never duplicated, Pulp Fiction remains a sexy, funny, exciting crime film.
Also Streaming: Vincent N Roxxy, Jaws, Mulan, Dead Poets Society, Little Evil, Hercules, City of God, Deep Blue Sea, Gangs of New York, Requiem For a Dream, Margot at the Wedding, Gone Baby Gone, The Village, She's Gotta Have It, The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg
Amazon Prime: Wedding Crashers
This 2005 comedy stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as two guys that spend their time, as the title might have tipped you off to, crashing weddings to party and hit on women. They hear tell of an extra extravagant wedding of a powerful man's daughter, Claire (Rachel McAdams) and vow to break in, a plan that would be fine if one of them didn't have strong feelings for the bride. Vaughn was riding high off Old School, and this only cemented him as one of the biggest comedy stars of the 2000s. The movie aims to do very little more than provide dumb fun, and for the most part it succeeds.
Also Streaming: Ben-Hur (2016), The Golden Child, Lars and the Real Girl, Bio-Dome, Down to Earth, Pumpkinhead, Absentia, The Innkeepers
HBO Go: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
It seems that Guillermo del Toro's version of Mike Mignola's evil fighting half-demon has come to an end, with an unrelated reboot coming from Neil Marshall in 2018. That's a damn shame, because Del Toro's films are an absolute delight. The second entry sees Hellboy and company attempting to stop Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) and his army from letting dangerous creatures fill the earth. Ron Perlman has the role of his career as the cigar-chomping lovable brute. Unfortunately, HBO doesn't have the first Hellboy, but If you have access, you can watch it over at Netflix.
Also Streaming: Scarface, Dumb and Dumber, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Amityville Horror (2005), Body of Lies, Fried Green Tomatoes, Orange County, Maximum Overdrive, Kinsey
Hulu Plus: No Country For Old Men
The Coen brothers' 2007 Best Picture-winning western will be ten years old in November, so if it's been awhile or you've never seen it, there's no better time. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is out on the hunt when he stumbles across a bloody scene. Amidst the bodies he finds a briefcase full of money and runs away with it. Hunted by a dangerous killer (Javier Bardem) and an on-his-way-out sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones), Llewelyn has to get out of Dodge fast. Bardem cuts a terrifying figure in this dark movie with stark imagery and a harsh tone, in his Best Supporting Actor-winning role.
Also Streaming: Reservoir Dogs, The Silence of the Lambs, Amelie, RoboCop, Secretary, An Inconvenient Truth, Nacho Libre
FilmStruck: Following
Christopher Nolan's debut film may not be as sprawling in scope or ambitious as his biggest epics, but it's enthralling just the same. A struggling writer (Jeremy Theobald) takes to following around strangers for inspiration. His sneaking leads him to a thief (Alex Haw), who he helps with a few break-ins. The black-and-white film is quite visually interesting despite being made on a mere $6,000 budget. It's a little wandering, though, and gets much too convoluted for its own good, something Nolan would later go on to master.
Also Streaming: Chance of a Lifetime, This is Spinal Tap, Bottle Rocket, Norma Rae, The Pride of the Yankees, Kitty Foyle
Also!
Showtime Anytime: Twin Peaks: The Return
We were first introduced to the small, mountainous town of Twin Peaks just over 25 years ago, and, after all this time, hasn't lost any of its luster. When we last saw him, Agent Dale Cooper was trapped in the Black Lodge while an evil doppelgänger was inhabiting his body in the real world. It's now time for Cooper to come back, and he's going to have to go through hell to do so. This show is as David Lynch as it gets, equal parts beautiful, horrifying, hilarious, and strange. MacLachlan gives the performances of his career as the various incarnations of Agent Cooper. The show just wrapped, so there's no better time to sign up for Showtime and binge through the best thing to happen to TV in years. Make sure to follow along right with Andrew Ihla's recaps.
Also Streaming: Ray Donovan?
