PlayStation Network targets gamers with comic-based ‘Powers’
What’s new to watch this week on pay-per-view and streaming services:
The PlayStation Network is now in the original programming game, and it launched its first series this week. Based on a comic book, “Powers” is a superhero series as seen through the eyes of the cops who police the superpowered beings, and it is aimed specifically at gamers. You can see the first episode on YouTube, but you need a PSP and a PlayStation subscription to watch the rest of the series. New episodes debut each Tuesday through April.
Netflix and Amazon
The following films are now available on both Netflix and Amazon.
“Cesar Chavez,” the story of the Mexican-American union activist, stars Michael Pena, America Ferrara and Rosario Dawson. Robin Williams is “The Angriest Man in Brooklyn” in his final screen appearance, a dark comedy co-starring Mila Kunis (rated R), and Tyler Perry directs “The Single Moms Club,” a comic drama without the filmmaker’s signature Madea character (PG-13).
Johnny Depp is in fine form in these films, made before the “Pirates” series turned him into a superstar. He plays an undercover FBI agent opposite low-level mobster Al Pacino in “Donnie Brasco” (1997), a film that brings out the best in both actors (rated R), and he’s playwright James M. Barrie in “Finding Neverland” (2004) a gentle story of how a friendship with the sons of a young widow (Kate Winslet) inspired him to write “ Peter Pan” (PG).
Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” (1976) is a landmark of the ’70s with a timeless power. It is intense and violent and most assuredly rated R.
Netflix
The animated “How to Train Your Dragon 2” lost out on the Oscar for best animated feature this year, but many thought it superior to the winning film, “Big Hero 6.” This colorful adventure has exhilarating flying sequences and adorable animated dragons and it is a family-friendly PG.
Pay-per-view / video on demand
“Cymbeline” updates one of Shakespeare’s less familiar works as a modern-day war between an outlaw biker gang and corrupt cops. Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich, and “50 Shades” star Dakota Johnson speak Shakespeare’s lines in black leather. It debuts on video on demand the same day it opens in select theaters and is rated R.
Also arriving same day as theaters is the fantasy comedy “The Cobbler” starring Adam Sandler as a New York shoe repairer who transforms into his customers when he walks in their shoes. This PG-13 comedy was poorly received when it debuted at the Toronto Film Festival.