Here’s what’s new and ready to stream now on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Now, Showtime Anytime, FilmStruck, video-on-demand, and other streaming services …
A Chinese-American professor (Constance Wu) collides with the culture of the ultra-rich in Singapore when she meets her boyfriend’s family in Crazy Rich Asians (2018, PG-13), the hit romantic comedy based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Kevin Kwan. Henry Golding, Awkwafina, and Michelle Yeoh co-star. Now on Cable On Demand and VOD, also on DVD and at Redbox.
Ethan Hawke is a priest facing a spiritual crisis in the provocative First Reformed (2018, R), a personal drama from filmmaker Paul Schrader. Reviewed on Stream On Demand here. Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Sorry to Bother You (2018, R), the feature debut of hip-hop artist turned filmmaker Boots Riley, is a social satire as comic fantasy starring Lakeith Stanfield as a telemarketer who finds the secret to sales success and rises up the ladder of a soulless corporation. Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, and Armie Hammer co-star. Streaming on Hulu.
The British miniseries version of the classic Little Women, starring Emily Watson as the mother of four sisters, originally played on PBS in the U.S. and is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
For something a little less serious, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet offers more cheesy films for Jonah Ray and the bots on the Satellite of Love to heckle. Six new episodes on Netflix.
FilmStruck, the premiere streaming service for American and international classic movies, ends its service after two years on Thursday, November 29. Criterion has announced a plan to restart its own service in Spring 2019 and Warner Media (parent company of Turner Classic Movies) promises to bring back its classics in a new streaming service in a year, but until then this is the end. If you’re a subscriber, time to see those films on your watchlist or browse through the catalog one last chance to stream some of the greatest films ever made.
Pay-Per-View / Video-On-Demand
The American indie drama Blindspotting (2018, R) follows a man on the final days of probation as his best friend pulls him back into crime. Also new:
- sci-fi thriller Kin (2018, PG-13) with James Franco and Dennis Quaid;
- romantic comedy Dog Days (2018, PG) with Nina Dobrev and Vanessa Hudgens;
- Sundance award-winning drama We the Animals (2018, R);
- indie drama Skate Kitchen (2018, R) set in the skateboarding culture of teenaged girls in New York City;
- award-winning documentary Science Fair (2018, PG).
Netflix
Kurt Russell is Santa Claus in the Netflix Original family holiday film The Christmas Chronicles (2018, not rated).
Foreign affairs: in the comedy The Tribe (Spain, 2018, with subtitles) a CEO loses his fortune and his memory and is reunited with his biological mother, who leads a vocational dance troupe. Also new:
- horror film Sabrina (2018, Indonesia, not rated, with subtitles), about a demonic doll;
- Fugitiva: Season 1 (Spain, with subtitles), a crime thriller starring Paz Vega as a mother who takes drastic measures to protect her children from her husband’s enemies.
Rupert Grint and Nick Frost star in Sick Note: Seasons 1 & 2, a black comedy from Britain about a compulsive liar misdiagnosed with a fatal illness. Lindsay Lohan co-stars in the second season.
More streaming TV: the culinary competition show The Final Table: Season 1 pits the top chefs from around the world in a series of cook-offs. Also new:
- The Last Kingdom: Season 3, the drama about the birth of the British nation;
- Frontier: Season 3 from Canada with Aquaman star Jason Momoa.
Kid stuff: two new animated series begin – Kulipari – Dream Walker, a sequel to the adventure fantasy Kulipari – An Army of Frogs, and the music-centric Motown Magic: Season 1 for young viewers.
True stories: Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011, PG) profiles the legendary Tokyo sushi chef and The Pixar Story (2007, G) looks at the successful animation studio.
Stand-up: Trevor Noah: Son of Patricia presents the “Daily Show” host in a new stand-up special.
Amazon Prime Video
Javier Bardem is drug lord Pablo Escobar and Penélope Cruz is journalist Virginia Vallejo in Loving Pablo (2017, R), based on the true story of their romance.
Also new: thriller Siberia (2018, R) with Keanu Reeves;
- indie drama Madeline’s Madeline (2018, not rated) with Molly Parker and Miranda July;
- one-man show The Primary Instinct (2015, not rated) with Stephen Tobolowsky;
- animated drama Wrinkles (Spain, 2011, not rated) about a friendship in an elder care facility;
- Richard Linklater’s black comedy Bernie (2011, PG-13) with Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine;
- Oregon Trail frontier drama Meek’s Cutoff (2011, PG) with Michelle Williams;
- homefront war drama The Messenger (2009, R) with Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson;
- romantic comedy Party Girl (1995, R) with Parker Posey;
- Robert Altman’s Images (1972, R), a heady psychological thriller with Susannah York.
Streaming TV: Before he became The Doctor, Peter Capaldi was the ruthless political fixer Malcom Tucker in The Thick of It (2005-2012), the sharp British political satire from Armando Iannucci (creator of Veep). Prime Video has three seasons. Also new:
- Medieval mystery series Cadfael: Complete Series (1994-1998) starring Derek Jacobi as a crime-solving monk;
- the original, award-winning British miniseries Brideshead Revisited (1981) with Jeremy Irons, Anthony Edwards, and Laurence Olivier.
Foreign affairs: The Night Eats the World (France, 2018, not rated, with subtitles) is a zombie horror about the last human in Paris overrun with the undead. Also new:
- Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (France, 2018, not rated, with subtitles), an offbeat rock musical from Bruno Dumont;
- Fox and His Friends (Germany, 1975, with subtitles), one of the most personal films from the prolific Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Kid stuff: new special holiday episodes of the animated shows Creative Galaxy and Pete the Cat are now available. Also new: the natural history series Wild Kratts: Creatures of the Deep Sea (2016).
Amazon Prime / Hulu
John Turturro and Sam Rockwell star in Box of Moonlight (1996, R), a charming and warm tale of an uptight executive rediscovering wonder. Prime Video and Hulu.
Hulu
Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in the spy thriller Damascus Cover (2018, R) with Olivia Thirlby and John Hurt.
Jet Li takes up the sword to unite ancient China in Hero (China, 2002, PG-13, with subtitles), the Oscar-nominated action spectacle from director Zhang Yimou.
Streaming TV: The Emmy-winning comedy Baskets: Season 3 is now available.
HBO Now
John Boyega takes the pilot’s seat in the giant monster invasion sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018, PG-13) from producer Guillermo Del Toro.
The miniseries My Brilliant Friend (Italy, with subtitles) looks back on a lifelong friendship that began in 1950s Naples. New episodes arrive Sunday and Monday nights over the next few weeks.
Kid stuff: the new season of Sesame Street rolls out new episodes every Saturday morning.
Available Saturday night is Tomb Raider (2018, PG-13), the big screen reboot of the video game adventure franchise starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft.
Showtime Anytime
Enemies: The President, Justice & the FBI (2018) is a four-part documentary series from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney that looks at the tensions between the White House and the FBI. New episodes each Sunday.
FilmStruck
TCM Select Pick of the Week: It was a flop upon its release but Night of the Hunter (1955), Charles Laughton’s only film as a director, is today justly celebrated one of the most beautiful pastoral nightmares the cinema has seen. Robert Mitchum gives a fire and brimstone performance as a demonic con man in preacher man’s robes who stalks two children in search of treasure, and Lillian Gish is a tough but tender shepherd of lost sheep orphans. Part rural film noir and part expressionist parable, this is an American original boasting some of the most striking images to escape from Hollywood.
It’s part of the “One and Done” collection of films by directors who only made a single features. The selection includes Jean Vigo’s L’Atalante (France, 1934, with subtitles), the eerie indie horror film Carnival of Souls (1962), and David Byrne’s True Stories (1986, PG).
“Director of the Week: Charles Walters” puts the focus on the MGM musical specialist and “Star of the Week: Rudolph Valentino” presents 11 films starring the silent movie icon.
Acorn TV
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (2018), the first of three feature-length mysteries starring Ashley Jensen as the London public relations professional who develops a second career solving mysteries in rural England, debuts exclusively on Acorn TV. The next features debut in December and January.
BritBox
David Morrissey is a police detective in The City and the City (2018), the British TV mini-series adaptation of China Miéville’s acclaimed novel about a murder in a world where two cities co-exist in the same space. It makes its American debut on BritBox.
MHz
The Scandinavian crime drama Acquitted (Norway, with subtitles) begins on MHz.
Facebook Watch
Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a ruthless beauty pageant coach in Queen America, a new dark comedy series on Facebook Watch. Three episodes now available, new episodes each Sunday.
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