‘Granite’ provides family-friendly fare

Fri., May 22, 2015

Sean Axmaker

What’s new to watch this week on pay-per-view and streaming services:

New to Netflix is the series “ Granite Flats .” Set in the Cold War tensions of the early 1960s and focused on three schoolkids investigating strange things brewing in their town, it’s a family-friendly drama originally produced for the Mormon-backed BYUtv. It features no swearing, drinking or smoking and, for all its values, no preaching. Cary Elwes, Parker Posey and Christopher Lloyd join the show in the later seasons. All three seasons are now available.

Pay-per-view / video on demand

“American Sniper,” the somewhat fictionalized story of Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), is two-time Oscar winner Clint Eastwood’s biggest hit ever. His clean, strong storytelling is perfect for the story, and conservative and liberal folks alike appreciated the film, though for different reasons. Rated R for violence and language. Also on Blu-ray and DVD.

Also new on Cable On Demand and digital VOD this week: the animated musical fantasy “Strange Magic” from producer George Lucas (PG), the live-action adventure fantasy “Seventh Son” with Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore (PG-13), and the Oscar-nominated drama “Leviathan” from Russia (R). All three also available on disc.

Netflix

Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) is a wild, violent pulp fiction World War II fantasy. Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and Michael Fassbender star in this “what if” war movie, and Christoph Waltz won an Oscar for his cool, cultured, deliciously devious SS officer Col. Hans Landa. Definitely R-rated.

“ In the Bedroom” (2001), starring Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson as parents who stop communicating after the violent death of their only son, is a quiet but powerful portrait of love, loss and vengeance.

Strictly for kids is “Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast,” which went straight to disc and VOD last year. Now on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Amazon Instant Prime

Set and shot in Seattle by Lynn Shelton, “ Laggies” (2013) is a comedy with Keira Knightly as a young adult who ducks adulthood by palling around with a high school girl (Chloe Grace Moretz).

If you liked the splendor of “The Great Gatsby” with Leonardo DiCaprio, you might enjoy Martin Scorsese’s “ The Aviator” (2004), a lavish, luscious biographical drama starring DiCaprio as Howard Hughes. It won five Oscars, including one for Cate Blanchett’s spitfire portrayal of Katherine Hepburn.

Hulu Plus

“ Tyrant: Season 1,” the FX series about the corrupt ruling family of an oppressive dictatorship in a fictional Middle East country, is now available in its entirety (nonsubscribers can see the first three episodes only). The second season begins on FX in June.

Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His work has appeared in Parallax View, Turner Classic Movies online and the “Today” show website. Visit him online at seanax.com.

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