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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Stream on Demand: ‘Captain Marvel’ makes waves, and Ralph wrecks the internet

By Sean Axmaker For The Spokesman-Review

What’s new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other streaming services.

Top streams for the week

Brie Larson plays the first female superhero to headline a Marvel movie in “Captain Marvel” (2019, PG-13), which begins across the galaxy and lands in 1990s America. Larson’s chemistry with Samuel Jackson (as a pre-Avengers Nick Fury) and a cat named Goose carries the film between splashy action scenes. Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (making it the first Marvel superhero film from a woman filmmaker). On Cable On Demand, VOD, DVD, and at Redbox.

Christian Bale is Dick Cheney in “Vice” (2018, R), the satirical political biopic from “The Big Short” director Adam McKay that explores the transformation of executive power that Cheney oversaw as vice president. Costarring Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, and Sam Rockwell and George W. Bush, it was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won the Oscar for makeup. Streaming on Hulu.

The Oscar-nominated animated adventure “Ralph Breaks the Internet” (2018, PG) sends the misfit heroes of “Wreck-It Ralph” (voiced by John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman) into the world wide web, where even more chaos awaits them. Gal Gadot and Taraji P. Henson join the voice cast on this visually dense journey. Streaming on Netflix.

The sprawling documentary “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” looks back at Dylan’s legendary, improvised 1975 tour, which he embarked upon with Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, T-Bone Burnett, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and many others, with a mix of archival performance footage (much of it previously unseen) and recent interviews. On Netflix the same day as select theaters.

The third and final season of “Jessica Jones” pits the reluctant urban hero (played by Krysten Ritter) against a brilliant psychopath and brings the Marvel superhero universe to a close on Netflix. 13 episodes on Netflix.

Classic pick: Robert Redford is a brash, fiercely competitive skier in “Downhill Racer“ (1969, PG), a drama about the business of sports and the psychology of competition and fame. It was the first film that Redford developed for himself and the accomplished feature debut of director Michael Ritchie. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand

Matthias Schoenaerts is a violent convict whose life is turned around when he trains a wild horse in an experimental rehabilitation program in “The Mustang” (2019, R), a drama inspired by a true story. Also on DVD and at Redbox.

Available same day as select theaters nationwide is “Hampstead” (2017, PG-13), a comic drama starring Diane Keaton as an American in England and Brendan Gleeson as an Irish squatter she befriends. It’s inspired by a true story. Also new:

  • alien invasion drama “Captive State” (2019, PG-13) with John Goodman and Vera Farmiga;
  • teen romance “Five Feet Apart” (2019, PG-13) with Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse;
  • World War II tank drama “T-34” (Russia, 2018, not rated, with subtitles);
  • romantic comedy “Plus One” (2019, not rated) with Maya Erskine and Ed Begley, Jr.;
  • family friendly adventure “Saving Flora” (2019, not rated);
  • Say My Name” (2019, not rated), a romantic comedy set on an island in Wales.

Netflix

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are an American couple in Europe caught up in a “Murder Mystery” (2019, PG-13) in the latest Netflix Original comedy from Sandler.

Berlin, I Love You” (2019, R, with subtitles) features Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Luke Wilson and Jim Sturgess in an anthology of ten short stories.

True stories: the short documentary “Life Overtakes Me” (2019, not rated) looks at traumatized refugee children in Sweden suffering from a coma-like illness. Also new is the nonfiction series “The Alcàsser Murders” (Spain, with subtitles) about the 1992 murders of three teens from that rocked the nation.

Foreign affairs: DJ Cinderella” (Brazil, 2019, not rated, with subtitles) reworks the classic fairy tale as a modern romantic comedy about a teen DJ and a pop superstar. Originally released to theaters as “Cinderella Pop.” Also new:

  • supernatural horror sequel “The 3rd Eye 2” (Indonesia, with subtitles, not rated);
  • erotic anthology drama “Immoral Tales” (France, 1974, not rated, with subtitles) from cult director Walerian Borowczyk.

Streaming TV: three misfit teenage girls connect when they are assigned to the same Shoplifters Anonymous group in the Netflix Original Series “Trinkets: Season 1.” Also new:

Foreign language TV: Charité at War: Season 1” (Germany, with subtitles) is a medical drama set at German hospital during World War I, the Hippocratic oath collides with Nazi ideology. Also new:

  • crime drama “Unité 42: Season 1” (Belgium, with subtitles) about a widower detective with three children who leads an elite cybercrime unit;
  • animated comedy “Aggretsuko: Season 2” (Japan) and gambling thriller “Kakegurui: Season 2 (Japan),” available in both English and Japanese languages (with subtitles).
  • science fiction drama “Leila: Season 1” (India, with subtitles) about a woman searching for a missing daughter in an oppressive future;
  • high school supernatural thriller “Jinn: Season 1” (Lebanon, with subtitles).

Stand-up:Jo Koy: Comin’ In Hot.”

Amazon Prime Video

Silent Witness: Seasons 1-21” (1996-2018) offers all but the most recent episodes of the long-running British forensic crime drama starring Amanda Burton in the first few seasons and Emilia Fox from season eight to the present.

Stana Katic returns in “Absentia: Season 2” as a traumatized FBI agent trying to fill in the missing gaps of her brutal abduction.

Foreign affairs: an overworked son strikes a deal for home care for his ailing mother in “Devil (India, 2018, not rated, with subtitles), an award-winning adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s “Le Diable.”

More streaming TV: Tom Selleck and Donny Wahlberg star in the generational cop drama “Blue Bloods: Seasons 1-6” (2010-2016), and Pauline Collins is “The Ambassador” (1998-1999) in the two-season British political drama.

Also new: crime thriller “Law Abiding Citizen” (2009, R) with Jamie Foxx and Gerald Butler, and urban crime drama “Juice” (1992, R) with Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur.

Prime Video and Hulu

Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher are friends with benefits in the romantic comedy “No Strings Attached” (2011, R) (Prime Video and Hulu).

HBO Now

Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born” (2018, R), the latest remake of the Hollywood classic with Lady Gaga in the starring role, earned eight Academy Award nominations and a win for Lady Gaga’s original song, “Shallow.”

Meryl Streep joins the cast of “Big Little Lies: Season 2,” which carries on the story begun in the Emmy-winning limited series starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz and Laura Dern. New episodes each Sunday night.

Fred Armisen stars in the bilingual supernatural comedy “Los Espookys” set in a dreamy Latin American country. New episodes each Friday night.

True stories:Ice on Fire” (2019, TV-PG) offers possible solutions to slowing the environmental crisis.

Available Saturday night is the indie drama “The Hate U Give” (2018, PG-13) starring Amandla Stenberg as black teenager who witnesses the shooting death of a childhood friend by a nervous young patrolman. Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby and Anthony Mackie costar.

And on Sunday night the HBO original series “Euphoria,” starring Zendaya as a high school kid navigating the world of anxiety, sexuality, identity, and social pressure with her peers, debuts.

Other streams

The Acorn TV original crime drama “Straight Forward” sends a Danish con-woman (Cecilie Stenspil) to New Zealand when the mob puts out a hit on her. Eight episodes streaming on Acorn TV.

Nele Neuhaus Mysteries” (Germany, with subtitles) stars Tim Bergmann and Felicitas Woll as investigators in Germany’s Taunus mountain region. Two episodes now streaming on MHz Choice, new episodes each Tuesday through June.

The Criterion Channel spotlights the films of acting great Alec Guinness, from “Kind Hearts and Coronets” (1949) to “Our Man in Havana,” (1959), and Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas with “Battle in Heaven” (2005) and “Silent Light” (2007) (both not rated, with subtitles).

Facebook Watch relaunches the young adult reality hit “MTV Real World” with seven strangers moving into an Atlanta house. New episodes each Thursday and new content streamed every day.

Free: Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo are reunited siblings in Kenneth Lonergan’s Oscar-nominated debut “You Can Count On Me” (2000, R), a gentle and generous drama that won two Film Independent Spirit Awards. It’s new to Kanopy this month, along with two offbeat comedies: Jaco Van Dormael’s “The Brand New Testament” (2015, Belgium, not rated, with subtitles) and “Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment” (1966) with David Warner and Vanessa Redgrave in an award-winning performance.

Free: Le Cinema Club, a global service that streams one film a week, relaunches with a new slate of new and archival films beginning with Claire Denis’ long unavailable “Keep It For Yourself” (1991), a short film made in New York City featuring Vincent Gallo. It streams through June 20.

New on disc this week: “Captain Marvel,” “The Mustang,” “Captive State,” “Five Feet Apart,” “I Am the Night

Now available at Redbox: “Captain Marvel,” “The Mustang,” “Captive State,” “Five Feet Apart,” “The Professor and the Madman

Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at http://streamondemandathome.com.