Pay-Per-View / Video-On-Demand
Matthew McConaughey strikes Gold as entrepreneur Kenny Wells in this tale of American adventurism inspired by a true story that became an international financial scandal. Edgar Ramirez, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Corey Stoll co-star (R). Also on DVD and Blu-ray and at Redbox.
Asghar Farhadi’s Iranian drama The Salesman, which won the Oscar for foreign language feature, explores a provocative story of violence, trauma, and vengeance around a stage production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” (PG-13, with subtitles).
The documentary I Am Not Your Negro, about the life and career of James Baldwin, earned an Oscar nomination (PG-13).
Also new:
- the family drama A Dog’s Purpose with Dennis Quaid (PG)
- horror movie sequel Rings with Johnny Galecki (PG-13)
- The Comedian with Robert De Niro as an aging insult comic (R)
- animated fable The Red Turtle (PG)
- Christian family drama The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (PG)
- Science fiction thriller Mindgamers from Austria (R)
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is supernatural comedy Another Evil with Steve Zissis (not rated) and the French-Chinese time-travel adventure Enter the Warriors Gate (PG-13).
Netflix
The comedy Don’t Think Twice (2016), about an improv comedy group moving on after a decade together, stars Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs, and writer/director Mike Birbiglia (R). Reviewed on Stream On Demand here.
Parker Sawyers is young Barack Obama and Tika Sumpter is Michelle Robinson in the romantic drama Southside with You (2016, PG-13).
Netflix debuts The Mars Generation, a nonfiction series about teens training to be the vanguard taking the human race to Mars, and the second season of the heady Sense8, plus the original comedy feature Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie from director/actor Jeff Garlin (not rated).
Pretty Little Liars: Season 7 (2016) is also the final season of the hit teen melodrama with Ashley Benson and Lucy Hale on cable channel Freeform.
More streaming TV: British historical drama The Last Kingdom: Season 2 and Sniffer: Seasons 1-2 (Ukraine, 2013-2016), a crime drama about a detective with superhuman olfactory senses from Ukraine.
Also new to Netflix for May:
- comedy sequel Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016) with Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth (R)
- Australian drama The Daughter (2015) with Geoffrey Rush and Paul Schneider (not rated)
- A Kind of Murder (2016), adapted from the Patricia Highsmith novel and starring Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel (R)
- romantic drama Two Lovers and a Bear (2016) with Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan at the North Pole (R)
- comedy Silver Skies (2016) with George Hamilton and Valerie Perrine as retirees in revolt (not rated)
- World War II homefront drama Sophie and the Rising Sun (2016) with Julianne Nicholson (R)
- animated Nerdland (2016) with the voices of Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt (nor rated, for adults)
Foreign affairs: Mia Hansen-Løve directs Things to Come (France, 2016) with Isabelle Huppert is a philosophy professor navigating turbulent life changes and Mathieu Amalric is a paralyzed artist in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France, 2007), based on a true story (both PG-13, with subtitles)
Also new (all with subtitles):
- thriller In the Shadow of Iris (2016) and comedy He Even Has Your Eyes (2016), both from France (not rated, with subtitles)
- mystery thriller The Next Skin (2016) from Spain (not rated, with subtitles)
- the anthology film Bombay Talkies (2013) from India
True stories (all not rated):
- Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War (2016) from Ken Burns
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution (2015)
- Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise (2016)
- Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
- American Experience: The Boys of ’36 (2017), about University of Washington rowing team that as the 1936 Olympics
Foodie films (all not rated):
- In Defense of Food (2015) from the book by Michael Pollan
- Decanted. (2016), about Napa Valley’s vineyards
- Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table (2016), about the New Orleans restaurateur
Kid stuff:
- Spirit: Riding Free: Season 1 a new Netflix original animated series
- animated shows Kazoops!: Season 3 and Sofia the First: Season 3 (2015)
- Oscar-winning animated feature Happy Feet (2006, PG)
Stand-up: Maria Bamford: Old Baby and Simplemente: Manu NNa.
Amazon Prime
Manchester by the Sea (2016), a powerful and moving drama of loss and grief and family, earned six Academy Award nominations and won for Casey Affleck performance and filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan’s original screenplay (R). Reviewed on Stream On Demand here.
Meryl Streep is the worst singer who ever lived in Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), a comedy with a tender compassion based on a true story (PG-13). Reviewed on Stream On Demand here.
Denial (2016) dramatizes the true story of historian Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz), who was sued for libel by Holocaust denier David Irving (Timothy Spall) in the British courts (PG-13).
Two of the most iconic Hollywood classics of all time make their subscription streaming debut this week: the original The Wizard of Oz (1939) with Judy Garland skipping down the yellow brick road and Gone with the Wind (1939) with Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler (both not rated).
And in its own way, A Christmas Story (1983) has become a modern holiday classic (PG).
Animal Kingdom: Season 1 relocates the crime family drama of the Australian film to Southern California with Ellen Barkin as the matriarch ruling her four sons with an iron hand. 10 episodes.
Youth in Oregon (2016) is a road movie with Frank Langella and Billy Crudup (not rated).
Amazon Prime / Hulu
Winter’s Bone (2010), the film that launched Jennifer Lawrence, is a gritty coming-of-age survival story in the outlaw culture of the rural Ozark Mountains (R). Amazon and Hulu.
Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful (Italy, 1997) won three Oscars for its bittersweet comedy of a father shielding his young son from the horrors of the holocaust (PG-13, with subtitles). Amazon and Hulu.
A Fistful of Dollars (1967) kicked off the spaghetti western craze and made a movie star of TV actor Clint Eastwood (R). Amazon and Hulu.
Vikings: Season 4, Pt 2 continues the pillaging in the first dramatic series from The History Channel with 10 more episodes. Amazon and Hulu.
Also new:
- cop drama spoof The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988, PG-13) (Amazon and Hulu) and sequels The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991, PG-13) (Amazon and Hulu) and The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994, PG-13) (Amazon and Hulu), all starring Leslie Nielsen.
- thriller Bad Influence (1990) with James Spader and Rob Lowe (R) (Amazon and Hulu)
- cop drama Dark Blue (2003) with Kurt Russell (R) (Amazon and Hulu)
- original The Bad News Bears (1976) with Walter Matthau (PG) (Amazon and Hulu)
- John Waters’s Cecil B. Demented (2000) with Melanie Griffith (R) (Amazon and Hulu)
- the horror films Cabin Fever (2003, R) (Amazon and Hulu) and Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever” (2009, R) (Amazon and Hulu)
Hulu
Russell Crowe is the Gladiator (2000) of Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning historical drama of ancient Rome (R).
Streaming TV: Outsiders: Season 2 stars David Morse as the patriarch of a clan living off the grid in the hills of Appalachia.
Also new:
- 48 Hrs. (1982) and Another 48 Hrs. (1990) with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy (R)
- Ice Cube’s Barbershop (2002) and its sequel Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004) and spin-off Beauty Shop (2005) with Queen Latifah (PG-13)
- Tim Burton’s Big Fish (2003) with Ewan McGregor (PG-13)
HBO Now
The British gangster drama Legend (2015) stars Tom Hardy as Reggie and Ronald Kray, the identical twin gangsters who terrorized London in the 1960s (R) and Victor Frankenstein (2015) stars Daniel Radcliffe as Igor and James McAvoy as Dr. Frankenstein (PG-13).
Exclusive to HBO: the documentary Warning: This Drug May Kill You (not rated), 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and three HBO Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film Competition Winners.
Older title rotating back into the line-up:
- the western Appaloosa (2008) with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen (R)
- Oscar winners Good Will Hunting (1997, R) and Tender Mercies (1983, PG)
- Clint Eastwood classics The Beguiled (1971, R), Joe Kidd (1972, PG), High Plains Drifter (1973, R), and The Eiger Sanction (1975, R)
FilmStruck / Criterion Channel
FilmStruck presents Romanzo Criminale: Complete Series, a superb crime epic inspired by the true story of a Roman gang that rose to the top of the underworld and the most popular drama on Italian TV in years.
Brian De Palma’s Blow Out (1981) arrives on Criterion Channel with all the supplements of the special edition disc, including De Palma’s rare 1967 feature Murder à la Mod (R). Reviewed on Stream On Demand here.
Richard Burton stars in Bitter Victory (1957), Nicholas Ray’s World War II drama of courage, cowardice, and jealousy (not rated).
Acorn TV
Criminal Justice, the British crime drama that inspired the HBO miniseries “The Night Of,” makes its American debut on the streaming service. The first series follows Ben Wishaw through the justice system, Maxine Peake stars in the second series. 10 episodes now available.
Also new: the complete mini-series Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978) starring Edward Fox and Cynthia Harris.
Shudder
In the era of high concept horror films, Prevenge has one of the most creative concepts around: a pregnant women (Alice Lowe, also writer and director) goes on a serial killing rampage, steered by her unborn fetus to the people responsible for the death her husband (not rated). It comes direct to horror streaming service Shudder only a couple of months after playing theaters.
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