Evans directs, stars in story of strangers
What’s new for home viewing on streaming services.
Pay-per-view / video on demand
Chris Evans makes his directorial debut with “Before We Go,” a romantic comedy with Evans and Alice Eve as uncommonly beautiful strangers who spend the night talking and walking through the streets of New York City. It’s PG-13 for language and suggestive scenes and arrives on VOD before theaters.
Much weirder is “Felt,” about an artist who battles her traumas by channeling her anger and confusion into art. On select cable systems and VOD services. Not rated but features adult material.
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is “Unexpected,” starring Cobie Smulders as a single high school teacher who discovers she’s pregnant. R for language.
Netflix
“ Scrotal Recall” is a terrible title for a sweet British sitcom, a romantic comedy starring Johnny Flynn as a hapless single tracking down former partners after he’s diagnosed with VD. It sounds crude, but he’s a romantic, and the flashbacks are glimpses into the bittersweet pleasures of dating, courtship, and the ways we touch one another’s lives even in brief encounters. Nothing explicit, but it’s definitely for adults.
“Glee: Season 6,” the final 13-episode season of the “hey kids, let’s put on a concert” of network TV, is available to both Netflix and Amazon Prime customers.
Have you seen the trailer for the “Rocky” spin-off “Creed” in theaters? Netflix has the Oscar-winning underdog drama “ Rocky” (1976) and its sequels, and the first four feature Creed’s daddy, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). It’s not necessary homework for “Creed,” just a little back story.
Amazon Instant Prime
Amazon adds another HBO show to its Prime service: Aaron Sorkin’s “ The Newsroom: The Complete Series,” his entertaining and often frustrating take on cable news featuring a cast of brilliant professionals who act like hormonal teenagers whenever emotion comes into the picture. It’s 25 episodes of top-rate actors delivering Sorkin’s brand of liberal idealism.
Dwayne Johnson is “ Hercules” in the 2014 film version of the ancient myth turned costume adventure, playing the muscleman hero as a sword for hire. It’s PG-13 for battle scenes and violence.
Hulu Plus
The BBC America “ Intruders: Season 1,” about a secret society that chases immortality through possessing the bodies of others, is the only season of the supernatural show.
All 23 episodes of “ Agatha Christie’s Marple: Seasons 1-6,” the BBC mystery series with Geraldine McEwan (and later Julia McKenzie) as the spinster sleuth, are also available to nonsubscribers.