Quirky comedies join streaming circuit
What’s new to watch this week on pay-per-view and streaming services:
A new month means a new batch of movies available on the streaming sites. Both Netflix and Amazon Prime add a couple of oddball comedies with sweet undercurrents. In “Lars and the Real Girl” (2007), a shy Ryan Gosling falls in love with a life-sized inflatable doll, and the romantic caper comedy “The Brothers Bloom” (2008) stars Rachel Weisz in screwball heiress mode with Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo as con-man brothers.
Also new to both services: the indie dramas “Joe” (2013) with Nicolas Cage and “Ulee’s Gold” with Peter Fonda in his only Oscar-nominated role as a struggling widower and beekeeper in Florida.
Pay-per-view / video on demand
Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in “The Homesman,” a frontier drama about a journey across the plains to deliver three troubled women back to civilization. Not your usual kind of western, this one spotlights the woman’s experience as Jones directs Hilary Swank to a heartbreaking (and Oscar-worthy) performance.
Keanu Reeves stars in “John Wick,” a revenge thriller in a fantasy crime world highlighted by terrific action scenes. Less action and more drama can be found in “The Drop” (VOD), with Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini in his final screen performance.
Also new: the acclaimed drama “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” with Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, the comedy “Hector and the Search for Happiness” with Simon Pegg and Rosamund Pike, and the horror films “Dracula Untold,” “Ouija,” and, the same day as theaters, “The Voices.”
Netflix
TV binge watch: the first five seasons of TV sitcom juggernaut “M*A*S*H” are now available to stream. That takes the show into the Col. Potter and B.J. Hunnicut years and the last full season with Frank Burns.
Netflix also added two complete series from the Starz channel: “Spartacus,” the sexed-up and super-violent update of the gladiator classic, and “Magic City” with Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a hotel mogul fighting off the mob in late-1950s Miami.
Amazon Instant Prime
The cable mini-series “The White Queen,” based on the novels of Philippa Gregory, tells the War of the Roses from the point of view of the women. The Starz/BBC coproduction features a good cast, handsome production values, and a little ribald sexuality, so be warned.
Interested in a little retro superhero spectacle? Check out “Batman” (1989) and “Batman Returns” (1992), both directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton.