Stream on Demand: ‘Matilda’ and ‘White Noise,’ two book adaptations now streaming on Netflix
What’s new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services.
Top streams for the week
The animated adventure “Strange World” (2022, PG) sends a multigenerational family of explorers (along with their three-legged dog) into an weird and wonderful underground world that channels Jules Verne by way of Dr. Seuss. This odyssey from Disney also features an environmental message and a multicultural world along with the family drama and fantastical adventure. Features the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-Whit and Gabrielle Union. (Disney+)
Noah Baumbach tackles Don DeLillo’s dense 1985 satirical novel of academia, post-modernism, and consumerism in “White Noise” (2022, R). Adam Driver stars as college professor specializing in Hitler studies and Greta Gerwig is his suburban wife and mother of four, both struggling to hold it together when disaster strikes outside of their college town. It’s an absurdist portrait of America on the verge of self-destruction adapted from a novel considered unadaptable. (Netflix)
A bright, gifted young girl (Alisha Weir) takes on her cruel school headmistress (Emma Thompson) and her crooked parents (Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough) in “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical” (2022, PG). The screen adaptation of the hit stage musical celebrates imagination and compassion in a world that seems intent on crushing the spirit of youthful creativity. (Netflix)
Charlie Cox plays a high-ranking MI6 agent who gets tangled in a complex plot in the limited series “Treason” (TV-MA). Olga Kurylenko co-stars in the British spy thriller as a Russian assassin who has a history with our hero. (Netflix)
True stories: “Wildcat” (2022, R) follows the journey of a young, traumatized British Army veteran who finds purpose and healing helping a young woman run a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in the Amazon and raise an orphaned baby ocelot. (Prime Video)
Holiday highlights
On Saturday night, you can experience “Lizzo: Live in Concert” (2022, TV-MA) with special guests Cardi B, SZA and Missy Elliott. (HBO Max)
For the Saturday New Year’s Eve festivities you can stream “New Year’s Eve: Times Square Ball Drop 2022” live on Hulu, “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash” on Paramount+, and “Fireworks Around the World” on Peacock.
Netflix
Michelle Yeoh stars in “The Witcher: Blood Origin” (TV-MA), a limited series prequel set a thousand years before the events of the hit series starring Henry Cavill.
Hulu
A superstar cop (Charlie Hunnam) is lured out of retirement to solve a celebrity murder in the action comedy “Last Looks” (2021, R), co-starring Mel Gibson and Morena Baccarin.
Disney+
“Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl” (2022, not rated) reunites the original voice cast of the animated Disney musical for a live concert of the film’s original songs.
Apple TV+
Author and artist Charley Macksey co-directs “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse” (2022, TV-G), an animated short film adapted from his best-selling illustrated children’s book with hand-drawn animation.
Other streams
“Farewell Doc Martin” (2022, not rated) pays tribute to the beloved British series as the Christmas-themed finale brings the long-running show to its conclusion. (Acorn TV)
New on disc and at Redbox: “Halloween Ends,” “Lamborghini”
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at streamondemandathome.com.
© 2022 by Sean Axmaker