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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Arnold’s back in brutal cop drama ‘Sabotage’

Sean Axmaker

This week’s new offerings On Demand and streaming:

Pay-Per-View

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in “Sabotage,” a gritty urban cop drama about a corrupt tactical unit that gets hunted down after they rob a drug lord of his stash. Don’t expect Arnold to drop his usual tongue-in-cheek one-liners; this one is brutal and rather unpleasant.

Johnny Depp is a computer scientist who uploads a dying mind to an experimental computer in “Transcendence,” a visually impressive production that could have used the same intelligence in the script.

Both are available on cable PPV same day as disc. Arriving on cable before disc is the comedy “Cuban Fury,” with Nick Frost romancing Rashida Jones through salsa dancing.

Also new this week on pay-per-view, disc and at Redbox: the Christian drama “Heaven is for Real” with Greg Kinnear, the biographical drama “Cesar Chavez” with Michael Peña as the civil rights activist, and “Tyler Perry’s The Single Mom’s Club.”

Comic-Con, the pop culture blowout of geeky delights, is underway in San Diego. Movies On Demand brings the superheroes to you in the “Comic-Con” folders, from “Batman Begins” to “Watchmen.” Most are priced between $3 and $5 a pop.

Movie mirror

As Scarlett Johansson goes all action hero this weekend in “Lucy,” you can revisit her turn as Black Widow in “The Avengers” at home. And with the new “Hercules” in theaters this weekend, some of you might get nostalgic for the good-natured 1990s TV series with Kevin Sorbo. Both are available to Netflix and Amazon Instant subscribers.

Netflix

“Out of the Furnace” (2013) is a rustbelt drama of hard lives in a dying mill town, starring Christian Bale as a troubled guy who comes out of prison to find his Iraq-vet brother (Casey Affleck) working as a bare-knuckle brawler in illegal fights for a dangerous crook (Woody Harrelson). It’s a tough but rewarding drama with a great cast. Less satisfying is “Homefront” (2013) with Jason Statham in a role that Sylvester Stallone originally wrote for himself, playing a former DEA agent who collides with a meth dealer (James Franco).

Hulu

Are you a fan of “The Artist,” that Oscar-winning tribute to silent moviemaking from 2011? The director and stars first collaborated on the hilarious spy movie spoof “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies.” It’s in French with subtitles and full of visual gags and clever comedy.

Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His work appears in Parallax View, Turner Classic Movies online and the “Today Show” website. Visit him online at seanax.com.