Witherspoon, Vergara bring laughs in ‘Pursuit’
What’s new for home viewing on video on demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services.
Pay-per-view / video on demand
“Hot Pursuit,” an odd couple road comedy with Reese Witherspoon as a by-the-book cop and Sofia Vergara as a widowed drug dealer’s wife on the run from both cops and crooks, plays the situation for pratfalls and PG-13 gags (for some sexual and drug references). Also on Blu-ray and DVD.
In “The Hunting Ground,” documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick delves into rape on college campuses and the resistance from campus officials to investigate and prosecute these crimes. There’s no explicit imagery, but the PG-13 film features graphic descriptions of sexual assaults.
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is “Cop Car,” a thriller about two boys, a stolen police cruiser, a dead body in the trunk, and the corrupt sheriff (Kevin Bacon) on their trail, and “ Final Girl,” a horror film with Abigail Breslin. Both rated R.
The G-rated nature documentary “Enchanted Kingdom” is also currently in select theaters.
Netflix
Marion Cotillard earned an Oscar nomination for her intense performance as a woman struggling to save her job in the working class drama “Two Days, One Night” (2014) from Belgium’s Dardenne brothers. It’s in French with subtitles and is PG-13 for “mature themes.”
“Doctor Who: Season 8” introduces Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor. He faces Daleks, Cybermen, The Master and a robotic Robin Hood with his companion Clara (Jenna Coleman). It’s also on Hulu.
Kid stuff: the new Netflix original animated series “Dinotrux” is based on the storybooks by Chris Gall.
Amazon Instant Prime
Amazon presents the pilot episodes of two new series hopefuls: “Sneaky Pete,” created by David Shore (“House M.D.”) and starring Giovanni Ribisi as a con man posing as a bail bondsman, and “Casanova” from Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Amelie”), which reimagines the legendary lover (played by Diego Luna) as a royal spy. Free for all Amazon customers, not just Prime members.
The Israeli courtroom drama “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem” confronts the inequities of Israeli law for women. It won the Best Film Award of the Israeli Film Academy.
Hulu
“You’re the Worst: Season 1,” a sitcom starring Chris Geere and Aya Cash as self-destructive singles who fall for each other despite themselves, arrives a month before the second season begins on FX.
HBO Now
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” the third and final film in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s modest adventure, ends the tale with epic sweep and spectacle.