Stream on Demand: Ethan Hawke stars in Michael Almereyda’s ‘Tesla’
What’s new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO and other streaming services.
Top streams for the week
Ethan Hawke plays Nikola Tesla, the electrical engineer and pioneering inventor, in Michael Almereyda’s unconventional biographical drama “Tesla” (2020, PG-13), which mixes history, commentary and invented scenes. (Cable on Demand and VOD)
Lili Reinhart developed and stars in the romantic drama “Chemical Hearts” (2020, R) as an enigmatic transfer student who finds a home at her new high school newspaper where her co-editor (Austin Abrams) becomes drawn to her. (Amazon Prime Video)
“Lovecraft Country,” (TV-MA) which debuted last week, takes on the cosmic horror and blatant racism of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories with the story of a Black man (Jonathan Majors) searching for his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams) in 1950s America. New episodes Sundays. (All HBO platforms)
The documentary limited series “High Score” (2020, not rated) looks back at the golden age of video games and spotlights some of the iconic games and forgotten pioneers of the gaming industry, from the first arcade hits to the modern home gaming systems. (Netflix)
International pick: A small backcountry town is visited by strange and violent phenomenon after the death of its eldest citizen in “Bacurau” (Brazil, 2019, not rated, with subtitles), a mix of science fiction, folklore and social politics. (Criterion Channel)
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
“Emperor” (2020, PG-13) is inspired by the legend of Shields Green (Dayo Okeniyi), an enslaved man descended from African kings who joined John Brown on the raid on Harper’s Ferry.
Oscar-winning screenwriter Kevin Willmott directs “The 24th” (2020, not rated), based on the story of the all-Black U.S. Infantry Regiment and the Houston Riot of 1917.
Netflix
Two suburban kids rescue their mom (Malin Akerman) when they discover she is a former burglar forced into one last heist in the family-friendly adventure “The Sleepover” (2020, not rated).
The animated comedy “Hoops: Season 1” (TV-MA) features Jake Johnson as a foul-mouthed coach of a hopeless high school basketball team.
“Les Misérables” (2012, PG-13), the big-screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway, won three Academy Awards, including one for Hathaway.
Amazon Prime Video
Dustin Hoffman stars as a “Little Big Man” (1970, PG-13) in Arthur Penn’s offbeat take on the American western.
The hilarious Australian action spoof “Danger 5: Complete Series” (2011-2015, TV-14) lampoons action TV shows of the 1970s and ’80s.
Hulu
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon travel in the footsteps of Odysseus in “The Trip to Greece” (2020, not rated), their fourth road movie comedy with director Michael Winterbottom. The first three trips in the series also are on Hulu.
HBO Max
“Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” (2020, R) stars Margot Robbie as comic book supervillain turned quasi-hero Harley Quinn. (All HBO platforms)
Other streams
Jeanne Balibar directs and stars in “Wonders in the Suburbs” (France, 2019, not rated, with subtitles), a comedy of small-town politics. (Mubi)
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens are “Beauty and the Beast” (2017, PG) in Disney’s lavish live-action remake of the animated musical from filmmaker Bill Condon. Luke Evans co-stars as Gaston, and Josh Gad is LeFou. (Disney+)
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at streamondemandathome.com.