Stream on Demand: ‘Devotion’ tells real-life story of Navy’s first Black aviator

Fri., Jan. 13, 2023

Glen Powell as Tom Hudner and Jonathan Majors as Jesse Brown in “Devotion.” (Eli Adé/Sony Pictures/Paramount+)

By Sean Axmaker For The Spokesman-Review

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

Jonathan Majors plays Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in Navy history, in “Devotion” (2022, PG-13). Glen Powell costars as his fellow fighter pilot and the friend who had his back as Brown battled racism (institutional and personal) as the first African-American in the newly integrated service. Their friendship grounds Brown’s journey and the bravery that made them heroes of the Korean War in this drama based on a true story. (Paramount+)

A young couple (Anna Konkle and Jermaine Fowler) preparing to start their own family become pariahs when they accidentally drop their friend’s baby while at a tropical wedding in the comedy “The Drop” (2022, TV-MA). (Hulu)

“Mayfair Witches: Season 1” (TV-MA), based on Anne Rice’s best-selling “Lives of the Mayfair Witches,” stars Alexandra Daddario as a young neurosurgeon who discovers she is heir to a family of witches and traces her family tree back to New Orleans. This Gothic supernatural soap opera also stars Jack Huston, Tongayi Chirisa, and Harry Hamlin costar. New episodes on Sundays. (AMC+)

A prequel to the “Scooby Doo” series, the animated “Velma: Season 1” (TV-MA) explores the origins of Velma Dinkley (voiced by Mindy Kaling) and her crime-solving friends before a certain Great Dane joined the team. The humor is decidedly not for kids. New episodes on Thursdays. (HBO Max)

International TV: Award-winning filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda is producer, showrunner and co-writer of “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House: Season 1” (Japan, TV-14, with subtitles), adapted from a popular manga about two best friends whose dreams diverge as they navigate the Geisha world of Kyoto. (Netflix)

Classic pick: Henry Fonda stars as the lone holdout in a jury room in “12 Angry Men” (1957), Sidney Lumet’s film of the Emmy-winning television play that has been revived and reworked for decades on both stage and screen.

Netflix

Rob Lowe stars in “Dog Gone” (2023, TV-PG), a family-friendly adventure based on the true story of father and son’s search for a family dog lost on the Appalachian Trail.

Hulu

The animated comedy “Koala Man: Season 1” (TV-14) presents the adventures of one TV’s lesser superheroes. Features the voices of Sarah Snook, Hugh Jackman, and Jemaine Clement.

A bar hookup takes an unexpected turn in the satirical horror “House of Darkness” (2022, R) starring Justin Long and Kate Bosworth, from writer-director (and Spokane Valley native) Neil LaBute.

Amazon Prime Video

The second and final season of “Hunters” (2023, TV-MA) brings the odyssey of a group of Nazi hunters in the 1970s to a close.

Other streams

“Detectorists Special” (not rated) revives the easy-going, BAFTA-winning comedy series with a new expedition for the best friends (Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones). (Acorn TV)

“Pretty Problems” (not rated), a comedy about couple (Britt Rentschler and Michael Tennant) whose staid marriage gets a jolt during an unhinged weekend with the rich and reckless, won the Audience Award winner at the SXSW Film Festival. (AMC+)

Michelangelo Frammartino’s immersive “Il buco” (Italy, 2021, with subtitles) sends audiences on a nearly wordless journey into the deepest cave in Southern Italy. (Criterion Channel)