2018 – Stream On Demand

Blake Lively asks Anna Kendrick for ‘A Simple Favor’ on Prime Video and MGM+

!Featured, Amazon Prime Video, Blu-ray, Comedy, DVD, Have You Seen...?, MGM+, Mystery, neo-noir, Streaming Movies, suspense, SVOD, thriller 03/07/2023 Sean Axmaker

Paul Feig directs this tart little neo-noir of chirpy suburban warmth and optimism meeting cool sophistication covering cold-booded devisousness.

‘The Guilty’ – a rivetting Danish thriller on HBO Max

!Featured, Action, Blu-ray, DVD, Have You Seen...?, HBO Max, International Cinema, Mystery, Sundance Winner, suspense, SVOD, thriller 01/30/2023 Sean Axmaker

Actor Jakob Cedergren carries this drama about an Emergency Services operator who receives a call from a woman in trouble and has to solve a mystery with only a phone.

Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci in the film from Ian McEwan and Richard Eyre

Emma Thompson enforces ‘The Children Act’ on HBO Max

!Featured, based on a novel, Blu-ray, drama, DVD, Free, Have You Seen...?, HBO Max, Hoopla, Kanopy, literary adaptation, Streaming Movies, SVOD 01/17/2023 Sean Axmaker

Stanley Tucci costars in this British drama about a devoted judge who has disconnected from her emotions to take on cases in child law.

Ethan Hawke in the film by Paul Schrader

Paul Schrader’s ‘First Reformed’ on HBO Max and free on Kanopy

!Featured, American Independent Cinema, Blu-ray, drama, DVD, Free, HBO Max, Kanopy, religion, Streaming Movies, SVOD 12/13/2022 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

Ethan Hawke stars as a pastor whose search for spiritual meaning and redemption sends him into a spiral of despair and obsession in this late career masterpiece from Paul Schrader.

‘The Death of Superman’ – the animated movie on HBO Max

!Featured, Animation, based on a comic book, Blu-ray, DVD, HBO Max, superheroes, SVOD 07/19/2022 Sean Axmaker

This animated superhero film from the DCU Originals series adapts the landmark 1993 comic book and features Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn as Superman and Lois.

Marion Cotillard and Mathieu Amalric in the French drama by Arnaud Desplechin

‘Ismael’s Ghosts’ – Life, art, and love on Amazon Prime

!Featured, Amazon Prime Video, art and artists, drama, DVD, International Cinema, movies about movies, Romance, SVOD 02/06/2021 Sean Axmaker 1 Comment

French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin makes films about the messiness of families, lovers, and creative lives that can become quite messy in their telling. Ismael’s Ghosts (France, 2018) jumps abruptly back and forth in time and between biography and fiction and dreams, smudging the line between biography, fiction, and artistic imagination. Desplechin regular Mathieu Amalric is […]

‘Shoplifters’ – a family business on Hulu

!Featured, Academy Award nominee, Cannes winner, drama, DVD, Have You Seen...?, Hulu, International Cinema, socially aware cinema, SVOD 09/23/2020 Sean Axmaker

“What defines a family?” is a question that runs through many of the films of Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, from the heartbreaking abandoned children of Nobody Knows to the strained relations and recriminations of Still Walking to the loving embrace of Our Little Sister. Shoplifters (Japan, 2018) presents a family on the margins brought together by […]

‘Mirai’ – Oscar-nominated family fantasy on Netflix

!Featured, Academy Award nominee, Animation, Blu-ray, family friendly, fantasy, Have You Seen...?, Kid Stuff, Netflix, Streaming Movies, SVOD 07/16/2020 Sean Axmaker

A surprise Oscar nominee in the animated feature category, Mirai (Japan, 2018) is the sweet, imaginative tale of a four-year-old boy who becomes jealous of his newborn sister Mirai when she becomes the center of attention in the household while his parents grapple with new strains that the growing family puts on the household. Mother […]

‘Okko’s Inn’ – an orphaned girl finds purpose on Netflix

!Featured, Animation, based on a novel, Blu-ray, DVD, family friendly, fantasy, Have You Seen...?, Kid Stuff, Netflix, Streaming Movies, SVOD 07/08/2020 Sean Axmaker

An orphaned girl finds purpose when she goes to live with her grandmother, the aging innkeeper of a small spa in a country vacation town known for the healing waters of its natural springs, in the lively animated feature Okko’s Inn (Japan, 2018). Okko, an urban girl who loses her parents in a devastating car […]

Jafar Panahi’s ‘3 Faces’ free on Kanopy

!Featured, Blu-ray, Cannes winner, drama, DVD, Free, International Cinema, Kanopy, road movie, SVOD 08/19/2019 Sean Axmaker

In 2010, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was arrested and charged for “Propaganda against the Iranian government.” His sentence: he was forbidden to leave Iran or make any films for 20 years. 3 Faces (Iran, 2018) is the fourth feature he has made since the sentence was passed. And once again Panahi plays himself on screen, […]