Stream On Demand: ‘Solo’ flies onto home screens
What’s new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and other streaming services.
Top streams for the week
Alden Ehrenreich as a young Han Solo who teams up with Chewbacca for the first time in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (2018, PG-13), a prequel from a galaxy far, far away. As much galactic heist adventure as space opera, it co-stars Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, and Donald Glover as young Lando Calrissian, and it shows how Han won his pride and joy: The Millennium Falcon. Cable On Demand and VOD, also on DVD and at Redbox.
Anthony Hopkins plays “King Lear” in the Amazon Prime Original miniseries co-starring Emily Watson, Emma Thompson, and Florence Pugh as his three daughters. Award winner film and stage director Richard Eyre helms this co-production with BBC.
Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling star with newcomer Storm Reid in “A Wrinkle in Time” (2018, PG), Disney’s ambitious adaptation of the classic young adult novel directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay. Now on Netflix.
“Hold the Dark” (2018, not rated), a mystery turned survival thriller set in the Alaskan wilderness starring Jeffrey Wright, Riley Keough, and Alexander Skarsgård, comes direct to Netflix from the Toronto International Film Festival.
Classic pick: Spencer Tracy headlines the star-studded cast of “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” (1963, G), an epic comedy about a wacky race across America for a fortune in hidden gold. Streaming on Prime Video.
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
Annette Bening, Elisabeth Moss, and Saoirse Ronan star in “The Seagull” (2018, PG-13), a new screen version of the Chekhov play. Also on DVD.
Also new: indie comedy “Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town” (2018, not rated) with Mackenzie Davis and Carrie Coon, romantic drama “The Song of Sway Lake” (2018, R) with Rory Culkin, and sexy romantic comedy “One Wild Moment” (France, 2015, not rated, with subtitles), a remake of Claude Berri’s 1977 film with Vincent Cassel and François Cluzet.
Netflix
Natalie Dormer is a blind musician in London who hears a murder in a neighboring apartment in “In Darkness” (2018, not rated), a thriller she wrote with director Anthony Byrne. Also new:
science fiction thriller “The Endless” (2017, not rated) with Lola Kirke and Zoe Kravitz:
caper thriller “The Hurricane Heist” (2018, PG-13) with Toby Kebbell and Maggie Grace.
Johnny Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003, PG-13), the first and the best film in Disney’s high seas franchise.
True stories: “20 Feet From Stardom” (2013, PG-13) tells the stories of back-up singers to the greatest rock and R&B acts who perform just outside of the spotlight. Also new:
the short documentary “Lessons From A School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane” (2018, not rated);
“Two Catalonias” (Spain, not rated, with subtitles), which looks at conflicts in the Catalonia independence movement.
Foreign affairs: Mike Tyson and Steven Seagal co-star in the international thriller “China Salesman” (China, 2017, not rated, with subtitles). Also new is “The 3rd Eye” (Indonesia, 2017, not rated, with subtitles), a horror film originally titled “Mata Batin” making its US debut on Netflix.
Streaming TV: “The Walking Dead: Season 8” is available mere weeks before the ninth season debuts. Also new are nonfiction shows “Chef’s Table: Volume 5” and “Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father: Season 2.”
Foreign language TV: “El Marginal: Season 2” (Argentina, with subtitles) continues the prison drama of an undercover agent investigating a kidnapping behind bars. Also new:
Viking comedy “Norsemen: Season 2” (Norway, with subtitles)
reality show “Made in Mexico: Season 1” (Mexico, with subtitles) following the socialites of Mexico City;
animated fantasies “Forest of Piano: Season 1” (Japan, with subtitles) and “Lost Song: Season 1” (Japan, with subtitles).
Kid stuff: live-action sci-fi adventures “Reboot: The Guardian Code: Season 2” and “Skylanders Academy: Season 3.”
Amazon Prime Video
Matthew Macfadyen and Hayley Atwell star in “Howard’s End” (2018), a miniseries adapted from the E.M Forster novel by Oscar-winner Kenneth Lonergan for Starz.
Frank Langella is a retired jewel thief who goes back in action with a new partner in the delightful “Robot and Frank” (2012, PG-13), a crime comedy with a science fiction twist.
Michael Powell’s “Age of Consent” (1969, R) stars James Mason as an artist in Australia and a young Helen Mirren as his muse.
The swashbuckling fantasy “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958) with Kerwin Mathews is a family friendly adventure with imaginative old-school special effects by Ray Harryhausen.
Ingrid Bergman is a governess who falls for her boss in “Adam Had Four Sons” (1941), a romantic drama with Warner Baxter and Susan Hayward.
Also new: Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet stars in “Hot Summer Night” (2018, R), a coming of age tale set in 1980s Cape Cod;
“Hannah” (2017, not rated), a drama starring Charlotte Rampling as a woman grappling with her husband’s incarceration;
prison thriller “Escape Plan 2: Hades” (2018, R) with Sylvester Stallone and Dave Bautista.
“Golden Years” (2016), a lighthearted British TV movie about senior citizens who rob banks;
Spike Lee’s coming-of-age drama “Red Hook Summer” (2012, R) with Clarke Peters;
John Sayles’ intimate survival drama “Limbo” (1999, R) and sprawling ensemble piece “City of Hope” (1991, R).
Cult movies: Warren Beatty is a nightclub comic who goes on the run when the mob tries to kill him in “Mickey One” (1965), a psychodrama from director Arthur Penn. Also new:
the original “The Stepford Wives” (1975, PG) with Katharine Ross;
“The World’s Greatest Sinner” (1962) with Timothy Carey as an insurance man who transforms himself into a self-proclaimed messiah;
“Five” (1951), the original nuclear holocaust drama about the final humans on Earth.
Foreign affairs: a new mother abandons her family to “find herself” as a deep-sea diver in “
Streaming TV: “V: Complete Series” (2009-2011) presents all 22 action-packed episodes of the 21st century reboot of the 1980s alien invasion miniseries starring Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin.
Prime Video and Hulu
Matt Damon is a suburban dad with a dark side in “Suburbicon” (2017, R), a confused mix of social satire, crime thriller, and psychological drama from director George Clooney and screenwriters Joel and Ethan Coen (Prime Video and Hulu).
Hulu
Lola Kirke and Zoe Kravitz star in the neo-noir thriller “Gemini” (2017, R) from filmmaker Aaron Katz. Also new:
romantic drama “Love after Love” (2017, not rated) with Andie MacDowell and Chris O’Dowd;
romantic comedy “The Female Brain” (2017, not rated) from filmmaker and star Whitney Cummings;
“For Colored Girls” (2010), adapted from Ntozake’s Shange’s 1976 play by filmmaker Tyler Perry;
“Iris” (2001, R) with Dame Judy Dench and Jim Broadbent (who won an Oscar for his performance).
HBO Now
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cold War romantic fantasy “The Shape of Water” (2017, R) won four Oscars including best picture.
“Jane Fonda in Five Acts” (2018, not rated) profiles the acclaimed and often controversial actress and entrepreneur.
Arriving Saturday night is Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” (2017, R) starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville in Oscar-nominated performances.
FilmStruck
TCM Select Pick of the Week is “The Yearling” (1946) starring Gregory Peck as a frontier father raising a family (wife Jane Wyman and son Claude Jarman) in the wilderness. The tear-jerker of a story revolves around Jarman raising a small foal as a pet, which proceeds to eat the impoverished family’s crop as it grows up. Beautifully filmed by director Clarence Brown, this marvelous adaptation of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel is a gorgeous piece of MGM sentimentalism and rural innocence. Streaming through December 27
Star of the Week: Debbie Reynolds features a dozen films, from “Three Little Words” (1950), where she sings “I Wanna Be Loved by You,” and “The Tender Trap” (1955) with Frank Sinatra to her Oscar-nominated performance in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964) and “The Singing Nun” (1966).
Also new: Director of the Week: H.C. Potter spotlights nine classics including “The Shopworn Angel” (1938) Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan and “Mr. Lucky” (1943) and Cary Grant and “Nordic Noir” collects six dark Scandinavian crime dramas, from Lars Von Trier’s gloomy “The Element of Crime” (Denmark, 1984, with subtitles) to the original “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy (Sweden, 2009, R, with subtitles).
Other streams
A London stage production of the Broadway musical “An American in Paris,” recently shown in theaters in special screenings, is now streaming on BroadwayHD. Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope star in the Tony Award-winning show.
“You Kiddin’ Me?!,” a prank show from Kim Kardashian West, is now streaming on Facebook Watch with new episodes on Saturdays.
New on disc
“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “The Seagull,” “Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town,” “Uncle Drew,” “Occupation”
Now available at Redbox: “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Uncle Drew,” “Occupation,” “Gotti”
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at http://streamondemandathome.com.