If our calculations are correct, you’re probably going to need some good Thanksgiving weekend movies to help digest all that tofurkey. The best movies on Amazon Prime Video aren’t always that easy to find, but its vast library is full of gems from all genres — from action, horror, and dramas to comedies, documentaries, and thrillers — and is worth sticking with, especially when you’ve got us sifting through it all for you. November saw some great titles, including Stephen King horror flick Cujo, John Cusack’s cult classic High Fidelity, and winding down the month is the inspiring doc Good Night Oppy, the story of the cutest Mars rover you ever saw. There is, of course, much more below to help with your digestion, and we curate and update this list weekly to help you cut to the chase and find something to watch — fast. Happy Thanksgiving.
We’ve also put together guides to the best shows on Prime Video, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Netflix, the best new movies to stream, and the best movies on Disney+.
Recently added to Amazon Prime Video
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Good Night Oppy2022 -
Cujo1983
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Road to Perdition2002
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Fruitvale Station2013
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High Fidelity2000
105m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Angela Bassett, Steve Squyres, Jennifer Trosper
Directed by
Ryan White
In the same way that audiences fell in love with Pixar’s cute Wall•E, watching Good Night Oppy elicits a similar response, drawing you into the gushy human emotion surrounding a robot roaming Mars 50 million miles away. But that’s because this documentary is as much about the people at NASA that made the Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover mission possible as it is about the rover itself. Narrated by Angela Basset, Good Night Oppy tells the inspiring story of Opportunity, a six-wheeled, solar-powered vehicle that touched down on the Red Planet in January of 2004 and was supposed to roam and explore the landscape for a pre-determined 90 days. But beyond anyone’s expectations, Oppy’s mission endured for nearly 15 years before going dark. Told through interviews with many of the scientists and engineers on the project, as well as archival footage, this is a feel-good doc not to be missed.
93m
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Stars
Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly
Directed by
Lewis Teague
Much the same way that a whole generation of people grew up terrified that a ravenous Great White was going to attack them in their bathtubs, Stephen King’s Cujo turned a slobbering breed of cuddly, dopey-eyed dogs into killers in the mid-’80s. In the small, fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her young son, Tad (a pre-Who’s the Boss Danny Pintauro), take their clunky Ford Pinto to the home of rural mechanic Joe Camber (Ed Lauter), where they find the place deserted, except for the Cambers’ suck of a dog, Cujo. But little do they know that it’s been a few days since the pooch was bitten on the nose by a rabid bat and has turned mean … real mean. Cujo’s attacks have Donna and Tad trapped in the Pinto in the blistering heat, and Donna must act fast to save them both without getting torn to shreds by the beast.
117m
Genre
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Newman
Directed by
Sam Mendes
Director Sam Mendes was strong out of the gate with his first feature film, American Beauty (also on Prime Video right now), which won five Oscars in 1999, including Best Director for him and Best Cinematography for the brilliant Conrad L. Hall. And while Road to Perdition didn’t net as much hardware (Hall did, again, for Perdition, though), the film was another critical and box office hit. Gritty and rain-soaked, Road to Perdition is a gangster movie set during the Great Depression, but instead of the usual blazing guns mob flick, it tells the story of hitman Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), who’s betrayed by Irish boss John Rooney (Paul Newman) and his son Connor (Daniel Craig) who put a hit out on Sullivan’s wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and youngest son. Sullivan and his eldest son, Michael Jr. (Superman & Lois‘ Tyler Hoechlin), go on the run as Sullivan plots his revenge against the corrupt Connor.
116m
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction
Stars
Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum
Directed by
Philip Kaufman
With Thanksgiving around the corner, you might want to keep this movie in mind as you’re looking across the table, past the turkey, mashed potatoes, and candied yams, at uncle Dave. Is he acting strange(er than normal)? Vacant maybe? Now consider that perhaps he’s been — dum-dum-dumm — duplicated and replaced by an intelligent alien species in gelatinous spore form, and they won’t stop until the human race is completely replaced!! Heh, don’t be silly, uncle Dave’s just drunk. But to see how the rest of this terrifying horror classic (a remake of the 1956 horror classic, based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Jack Finney) pans out, it’s streaming on Prime Video right now. Starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, and Jeff Goldblum, this remake trades in the fictional town of Santa Mira, California, for San Francisco, adding a greater sense of “could it happen here?” as a group of friends try to avoid the Pod People duplicates and escape before being snatched themselves.
82m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer
Directed by
Ryan Coogler
When you find something (or someone) that you just gel with, you stick with them. That’s precisely what writer-director Ryan Coogler has done with actor Michael B. Jordan. Fruitvale Station was Coogler’s feature film debut and he has since gone on to also direct Jordan in two Creed films and Black Panther, and is slated to work with him on a couple more recently announced upcoming projects. But back to the beginning of their dance. Fruitvale Station is the real-life story of 22-year-old Oscar Grant (Jordan), who was shot and killed by an officer of the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Police Department at Oakland’s Fruitvale Station in the early morning hours after New Year’s Eve 2009. The film replays Grant’s final day leading up to the fateful tragedy, depicting a young man grappling with his past mistakes and his struggles to course-correct his life, which revolves around his 4-year-old daughter, his mother (Octavia Spencer), and his girlfriend (Melonie Diaz).
113m
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Music
Stars
John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso
Directed by
Stephen Frears
Honest, I didn’t pick this movie because I write about record players and vinyl stuff for my other job. OK, maybe it had a little to do with it. Based on the popular 1995 novel of the same name by British author Nick Hornby, High Fidelity is a brilliant comedy-drama about break-ups, heartbreak, hang-ups, and how to move on, set against the backdrop of a local vinyl record shop in Chicago in the late ’90s/early 2000s. John Cusack plays hopeless romantic Rob Gordon, the owner of Championship Vinyl, who’s just broken up with his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle). And he’s not taking it well. Obsessed with making Top 5 lists, Rob narrates his own story as he counts down the worst breakups of his life and tries to sort out why he’s failed again with Laura. All the while, Rob hangs out at work with his two unpaid employees, Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black), playing records and snobbing out on anyone not as cool as they are. I challenge you to throw on The Beta Band’s The Three E.P.’s and not love it.
117m
Genre
Drama, Crime, Documentary
Stars
Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner
Directed by
Bart Layton
You know a movie’s gonna be good when it’s based on a true story and it’s as crazy as this. Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) and Evan Peters (American Horror Story, WandaVision) star as Spencer Reinhard and Warren Lipka, two students in Kentucky who get the idea of stealing a handful of rare, valuable books from the Transylvania University library, including a first edition of James Audubon’s Birds of America, which would sell for millions if they were to snag it. Together with their friends Eric Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson) and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner), they hatch an insane plan involving dressing up like elderly businessmen and restraining the librarian to make off with the books. The fact that a movie was made about it perhaps gives some insight into whether they were successful or not, but it happened, it’s bananas, and we’re all delightfully entertained by it.
89m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter, Jimmy Vivino
Directed by
Rodman Flender
If you’re a fan of comedy legend Conan O’Brien, then this is the documentary you never knew you needed. And whether you’re a fan of the redheaded giant or not, you’re probably aware of the controversial 2010 Tonight Show conflict where O’Brien, after briefly taking over hosting duties from Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, was double-crossed by the network and rescheduled to a later time slot so Leno could reclaim the Tonight Show desk. Well, O’Brien wouldn’t do it and instead agreed to walk away (to the tune of $45 million) while also agreeing to a seven-month ban on making any television appearances. Hence the focus of this documentary: The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, a 32-city comedy show throughout the U.S. and Canada, which was lovingly captured by O’Brien’s friend and filmmaker Rodman Flender. The doc is a hilarious and often emotional look behind the scenes of the tour and features tons of friends of the comedian, including Jon Hamm, Jack Black, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Eddie Vedder, and Jack White. If you’re a fan of Conan’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, you’ll appreciate the constant companionship and banter of O’Brien’s longtime assistant, Sona Movsesian.
111m
Genre
Crime, Drama, Action
Stars
Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman
Directed by
Luc Besson
French writer-director Luc Besson’s career has delivered some of the most iconic action, adventure, and sci-fi movies and characters of the last 30-plus years, including La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element, Taken, Lucy, and Valerian and the City of Tomorrow. But one of the first to put Besson (and the film’s young star) on the map was 1994’s The Professional (aka Léon in Besson’s native France), a gritty action-thriller about Léon (Jean Reno), a hardened hitman living in New York who reluctantly takes in an orphaned 12-year-old girl, Mathilda (Portman, in her very first film), after her family is murdered by corrupt DEA agents. Gary Oldman is perfectly sleazy as coke-head agent Norman Stansfield, the target of Mathilda’s revenge plot for what he did. At the risk of exposing his hitman anonymity, Léon begins to care for Mathilda, and her for him, and decides to school the young girl in the ways of the assassin to help her take revenge.
138m
Genre
Action, Crime, Science Fiction, Thriller
Stars
John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen
Directed by
John Woo
FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) wants to take down his nemesis, criminal mastermind Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage), so bad that he’ll do just about anything. See, Troy’s responsible for the death of Archer’s son and has a plan in the works to subject Los Angeles to a biological bomb planted somewhere in the city. When the FBI finally catches Troy, he won’t talk, and time is ticking, so what’s the next best solution? How about the old switcheroo? In a complex surgery, Troy’s face is implanted on Archer so he can get to Troy’s brother in prison — and he knows where the bomb is. Things get complicated when the faceless Troy wakes up and forces a doctor to give him Archer’s face. From there, Archer and Troy, er, face off in a fierce grudge match filled with explosions, gun battles, and clever quips that only Cage and Travolta could pull off.
96m
Genre
Drama
Stars
John Hawkes, Logan Lerman, Sarah Bolger
Directed by
Elfar Adalsteins
Driven by powerful performances from its young cast, and led by the seasoned chops of Deadwood‘s formidable John Hawkes, End of Sentence is a road-trip drama that’ll give you all the feels. Sean (Logan Lerman) is a young man trying to start over after a stint in prison. Upon his release, he’s met by his estranged father Frank (Hawkes), who informs him that his mother has died, and even though they can’t stand each other, it was her dying wish that the pair travel to her homeland in Ireland to scatter her ashes in a place special to her. Sean reluctantly agrees, but the journey across the green Irish countryside draws the warring father and son together — the presence of a beautiful hitchhiker (Sarah Bolger) isn’t hurting either, and as Sean falls for her he starts to see a path to redemption and reconciliation.
97m
Genre
Horror, Thriller, Music
Stars
Katey Sagal, Abby Quinn, Alexxis Lemire
Directed by
Brea Grant
Early Rotten Tomatoes critics’ reviews bode well for this haunting horror-thriller starring Katey Sagal who is terrifying as reclusive Nashville country icon Harper Dutch. Young, up-and-coming country duo Jordan Wilder (Abby Quinn) and Leigh Blackhouse (Alexxis Lemire) are paying their dues in Nashville bars when they get the chance to meet Harper and record a song with her at her decrepit mansion (which should have been the first sign). They say you should never meet your idols, which is the understatement of the year as the girls are drawn into Harper’s twisted nightmare — kind of like if Dolly Parton went all Jack Torrance. One respite from all the thrills is Torn Hearts‘ music: there are some truly great vocal numbers sung by Sagal herself.
137m
Genre
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Stars
Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang
Directed by
Robert Eggers
The Northman is nothing short of brutal. That’s not a critique of the film (it has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 89%) — by that, we mean that The Northman is a dark and vicious Viking revenge tale that makes shows like Vikings and Vikings: Valhalla look like episodes of Sesame Street. Directed by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse), Northman tells the Viking legend of prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård), whose father, King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke), is murdered by his own brother, Fjolnir (Claes Bang), who assumes rule and takes Aurvandill’s wife (Nicole Kidman) as his own. Young Amleth flees by boat, narrowly escaping death, and spends the following years preparing and plotting his revenge. And boy, does he get it. Now a grown man and a trained berserker, Amleth tracks a usurped Fjolnir down in Iceland, where he’s living a much more modest life as a farmer. With the help of a young slave woman (Anya Taylor-Joy), all Viking hell is set to break loose.
108m
Genre
Adventure, Comedy
Stars
Bella Ramsey, Billie Piper, Andrew Scott
Directed by
Lena Dunham
If you like sassy, era-crossing period content such as Netflix’s Enola Holmes and Apple TV Plus’ Dickinson, then this adventure comedy from Girls‘ Lena Dunham might be perfect for you. Based on the 1994 novel of the same name by Karen Cushman, this passion project for Dunham stars Game of Thrones‘ Bella Ramsay (who’s also starring as Ellie in the upcoming The Last of Us series), who became a fan favorite for her depiction of feisty Lyanna Mormont, as the titular Lady Catherine, aka “Birdy,” a teenager in Medieval England. When her father, Lord Rollo (Andrew Scott), tries to marry her off to a long list of suitors to prevent the family’s financial ruin, Birdy uses her wit and cunning to stave them off in a battle for her independence.
94m
Genre
Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery
Stars
Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga
Directed by
Duncan Jones
Before Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt lived, died, and repeated in 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan did it in Source Code, one of the best time-loop movies ever. Gyllenhaal stars as U.S. Army pilot Captain Colter Stevens, who finds himself a part of a mysterious mission simulation where he inhabits the body of a passenger on a commuter train for eight minutes before the train explodes in a bomb attack. Colter’s mission is to identify the bomber and report back, but after several rounds of boom-and-repeat, he soon suspects that the mission isn’t a simulation at all and that he can save the lives of the people on the train as well as Christina (Monaghan), a woman he’s met and fallen for. Is it real? Is there more to Colter’s role in all of this?
102m
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson
Directed by
Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno isn’t an Oscar-winning film, but this low-brow comedy-romance manages some hilariously quotable sight gags with some genuinely touching moments. (Reading back that last sentence is making me question my life choices.) Regardless, the film stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, the titular Zack and Miri, plutonic best friends and roommates since high school who find themselves broke, unable to pay their bills, and with their power and water just turned off. The obvious thing to do? Make an adult film to raise some money. Assembling a colorful cast of budding pornstars played by Jason Mewes, Justin Long, Brandon Routh, Craig Robinson, and real-life adult film star Traci Lords, Zack and Miri discover that their steamy chemistry might extend beyond the screen.
99m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Venus Williams, Serena Williams
Directed by
Maiken Baird, Michelle Major
A decade before the Will Smith-driven drama King Richard hit theaters, fans of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams would have turned to this well-delivered documentary for a chronicling of the lives and careers of two of the world’s most famous sisters. Told through the lens of a single year in their lives, Venus and Serena uses a mixture of old footage and new interviews with the girls and their now-famous parents, Richard Williams and Oracene Price, to paint a thorough image of life as a Williams sister as they battle through injury, personal struggles, and the pressure to be the best in the world.
105m
Genre
Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Stars
Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest
Directed by
Tim Burton
This dark and weird Tim Burton-directed fantasy from 1990 stars Johnny Depp, at the height of his career, as Edward, a sentient humanoid being with a heart of gold. The problem is, Edward was created with a series of sharp scissors for hands that make it difficult for him to get close to anyone. This is a tragedy, because when the quiet old scientist (Vincent Price) who created Edward passes away, all Edward wants is to love and be loved by the kind family that discovers him alone in the scientist’s old mansion at the end of their idyllic suburban block — especially Kim (Winona Ryder), a teenager whom Edward has fallen in love with. Will the perfect town accept the naive Edward for who he is, or will they fear the misunderstood blade-fingered creature?
103m
Genre
Comedy, Crime
Stars
Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty
Directed by
Michael Lehmann
In the ’80s and ’90s, no one did “rebellious teen” like Christian Slater and Winona Ryder, and their dark-as-hell 1988 black comedy Heathers is exhibit A. The antithesis of John Hughes’ cheerier fare, Heathers turns the high-school clique trope on its head. Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) is part of her Ohio school’s popular crew, along with the Heathers three: Duke (Shannen Doherty), McNamara (Lisanne Falk), and clique leader, Chandler (Kim Walker). Veronica has had it with the mean-girls act, but when she falls hard for the broody new kid, J.D. (Slater), she learns just how dark and rebellious he can be when the Heathers start turning up dead.
118m
Genre
Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction, Action
Stars
Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok
Directed by
Yeon Sang-ho
Zombie apocalypse movies and TV shows come and go (and some stay way, way too long — The Walking Dead, we’re looking at you), but some are so good and unique that they linger in your psyche. South Korea’s Train to Busan is one such memorable film. It tells the story of divorced father Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), whose work-obsessed lifestyle is taking its toll on his young daughter, Su-an (Su-an Kim), so the pair board a train from Seoul to Busan to visit Su-an’s mother. But wouldn’t you know it, all hell breaks loose when a strange virus suddenly grips the country, turning everyone infected into frenzied, blood-hungry zombies … and it’s found its way onto the train. With some absolutely stunning action sequences, Train to Busan not only explores the chaos of everyone-for-themselves mass hysteria but also how humans band together when in need.
115m
Genre
Horror, Drama
Stars
Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
Directed by
Tomas Alfredson
Based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Swedish horror author John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In is one of the most unique vampire movies ever made. It’s a dark story of love and acceptance under macabre circumstances, but it’s oddly touching nonetheless. Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a 12-year-old boy who is bullied relentlessly at school. He lives with his mother in a duplex in suburban Sweden. Eli (Lina Leandersson) is a pale, peculiar girl who only visits Oskar at night, and the pair develop a close bond. While Oskar plots his revenge on his classmates, strange, gruesome murders start happening in the neighborhood, which Eli, who is much more than she appears to be, may have something to do with. This film is in Swedish with English subtitles.
97m
Genre
Horror, Comedy
Stars
David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne
Directed by
John Landis
If you had to choose one werewolf movie to watch in your entire life, it’s this one. A horror cult classic, legendary writer-director John Landis (Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Coming to America) used some of the era’s best makeup and special effects artists to bring to life this story of American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), who are traveling the English countryside when they’re attacked by a wolf-like creature in the night. Jack is killed, but David survives, only to discover that he is turning into a vicious lycanthrope that will unleash unspeakable horrors come the next full moon. Jack, who appears to David in visions as a decayed corpse, tells David that he must die to end the werewolf cycle, but David’s fallen in love with Alex (Jenny Agutter) and must find another way to break the curse — and stop killing basically everyone he comes across in London.
102m
Genre
Drama, Crime
Stars
Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow
Directed by
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson’s feature film directorial debut is one of those dark and mounting crime dramas where you know something bad is hiding in plain sight, but you’re not quite sure what it is. An expansion of Anderson’s Cigarettes and Coffee short film, the late Philip Baker Hall (who passed away earlier this summer) stars as Sydney, a seasoned professional gambler who has raised John (John C. Reilly) up from homelessness to become his protégé in Reno. Things go off the rails when John impulsively marries Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), a prostitute, and the pair find themselves in trouble after one of Clementine’s clients doesn’t pay up. Samuel L. Jackson costars as John’s friend Jimmy, who knows some of Sydney’s dark secrets.
96m
Genre
Comedy, Romance
Stars
Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Matthew Davis
Directed by
Robert Luketic
Don’t make the mistake of underestimating Legally Blonde like the classmates, and even the faculty, of Harvard Law School did with Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) in this genre-defining comedy. The sorority girl and fashionista appears, on the outside, to be nothing more than a stereotypical blonde bimbo. But when Elle follows her aspiring politician ex-boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis), to the prestigious school to prove to him that she has the smarts to be with him, she not only proves to everyone that looks can be deceiving but happens to find her true calling in the world of law along the way. Luke Wilson and Jennifer Coolidge also star in this 2001 classic, as well as the 2003 sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, which is also streaming on Prime Video.
119m
Genre
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Directed by
Jonathan Demme
In 1992, The Silence of the Lambs was it, the biggest movie of the year, sweeping all the major categories at the Academy Awards, including Best Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay, and Picture, setting up jokes about fava beans and chianti till the end of time. Directed by Jonathan Demme and based on the chilling novel by Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs shadows soon-to-be FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she is yanked from the academy to interview former psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Sir Anthony Hopkins), a convicted serial killer and cannibal who is locked up at a Baltimore hospital for the criminally insane. A trainee in the behavioral science unit, the FBI hopes Clarice can convince Lecter to help them find and capture Buffalo Bill, a serial killer on the loose who’s been abducting young women. But Lecter’s quid-pro-quo mind games with Clarice press the young agent to give up her innermost secrets in return.
97m
Genre
Comedy, Crime
Stars
Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart
Directed by
Ted Kotcheff
Sure, actors like Brando, Denzel, Pacino, and Day-Lewis are thespians of the highest order, commanding audiences with nuclear-strength dramatic skill. It is known. But no one, I mean no one, plays dead like Terry Kiser. In this classic ’80s comedy, Larry (Andrew McCarthy) and Richard (Jonathan Silverman) are two corporate-climbing financial bros desperate to impress their boss, Bernie Lomax (Kiser). When Bernie invites them to his swanky Hamptons beach house for the weekend, the boys see it as their big chance. But things get, um, weird when Larry and Richard arrive to find Bernie dead, the apparent victim of a mob hit. In an attempt to not let Bernie’s rigor mortis stand in the way of their good time (and not be suspected of his killing), the guys throw a hat and sunglasses on the corpse in a hilariously-morbid marionette act to buy them some time to figure things out. To say that Kiser’s performance is stiff is an understatement, but in the best possible way.
143m
Genre
Action, Adventure, Thriller
Stars
Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem
Directed by
Sam Mendes
2012’s Skyfall kicks things off with one hell of an opening action sequence, complete with helicopters, dirt bikes, and a crazy train-top fight through the mountain passes of Istanbul in which our hero, secret agent James Bond (Daniel Craig), is seemingly killed. Whew. One of the best of Craig’s 007 tenure, Skyfall pretty much keeps this pace throughout, as the past mistakes of MI6 director M (Judi Dench) catch up with her, compromising agents and the entire organization. With a new intelligence head installed (Ralph Fiennes) and M banished, she turns to Bond, Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), and the gadgetry of Q (Ben Whishaw) to help get to the bottom of things, which leads them to the sinister Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), who has a dark past of his own.
139m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter
Directed by
David Fincher
When David Fincher’s Fight Club punched its way into the mainstream at the turn of the millennium, it fed directly into the psyche of post-’90s dudes still raging against the machine and grappling with their life choices to sit in a cubicle for eight hours a day. Edward Norton’s narrator is one such minion, stuck in a dead-end job with a boss he hates and so broken that he becomes a support-group tourist just to treat his unrelenting insomnia. Until he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a slightly unhinged soap salesman who teaches our unnamed narrator how to break free of the corporate machine, shed his capitalistic belongings, and feel again. How do they achieve this enlightenment? We can’t really talk about it, but it involves angsty men beating each other bloody in the basement of a bar. This organized underground club for fighting that the pair creates spreads like wildfire across the country and quickly spirals out of control as Tyler’s anarchist agenda threatens to go too far.
112m
Genre
Drama, Music, Romance
Stars
Jeff Bridges, Colin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Directed by
Scott Cooper
Jeff Bridges snagged his one and only Oscar win (among seven noms) for his performance in this 2009 drama as Otis “Bad” Blake, a washed-up country music star in the twilight of his life living at the bottom of a bottle. When a young music journalist named Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) arrives on the scene to interview Blake, it sparks a romance that inspires him to clean up his act and start writing music again. Colin Farrell is also impressive as Tommy Sweet, a country singer and former pupil of Blake’s whose star is on the rise and who gives Blake chance to write for him. But old habits die hard for the weathered troubadour in this booze- and ballad-soaked tear-jerker of a film about the hard road to redemption.
179m
Genre
Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Stars
Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen
Directed by
Peter Jackson
Prepare yourself for Amazon’s new original Tolkien series The Rings of Power by reminding yourself how epic Peter Jackson’s trilogy from 2001 to 2003 was, all of which are streaming on Prime Video right now. The journey kicks off with The Fellowship of the Ring, in which young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is entrusted with the mysterious One Ring, an all-powerful ring that, if it returns to its evil owner, Sauron, he’ll use it to usher Middle Earth into an era of darkness and destruction. Frodo’s got some backup on his journey to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom, though, not just from his hobbit friends, but from a fellowship of protectors from across the land, including the ranger Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas the elf (Orlando Bloom), Gimli the dwarf (John Rhys-Davies), and the wizard Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen). Follow this up with The Two Towers and The Return of the King and consider your oath fulfilled.
111m
Genre
Drama, Romance
Stars
Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, Julian Sands
Directed by
Mike Figgis
If your only point of reference to Nicolas Cage is Andy Samberg’s hilarious impersonation on SNL, the National Treasure films, or even Cage’s own sendup of himself in the excellent The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, then get ready to have that notion destroyed. Cage deservedly won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as alcoholic screenwriter Ben Sanderson, whose life and career are at rock bottom, so he heads to Las Vegas to literally drink himself to death. There he meets a beautiful prostitute, Sera (Elisabeth Shue), and the two enter into a unique agreement to not judge or interfere with each other’s life choices. But Ben’s dark downward spiral proves even too dark for Sera as she struggles with her respect for his wishes and her growing feelings for him. Shue also received a Best Actress nod from the Academy for her superb performance, as did director/screenwriter Mike Figgis.
147m
Genre
Drama, Thriller
Stars
Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton
Directed by
Ron Howard
After practice on June 23, 2018, 12 boys aged 11 to 16, teammates of the Thai junior football team Wild Boars, and their assistant coach, went in to the scenic Tham Luang Nang Non cave in northern Thailand and were trapped after heavy rain flooded the caves. The massive rescue effort drew worldwide attention, as a team of international divers traversed several kilometers to bring the boys out. Thirteen Lives tells this intense, nail-biting story, with Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton playing three of the heroic divers who risked their lives to bring the team and their coach to safety.
112m
Genre
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Stars
Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe
Directed by
Adam Nee, Aaron Nee
The Lost City is a throwback to a genre of cheesy ’80s adventure rom-coms that are easy to watch, full of beautiful locales, and feature movie stars who are easy on the eyes. Taking more than a few cues from the Kathleen Turner/Michael Douglas romp Romancing the Stone, Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum embody this film’s main characters as famous romance-adventure novelist Loretta Sage and her Fabio-like cover hunk Alan Caprison. But there’s more to Loretta’s writing than steamy love scenes, as her books may contain some real clues to the whereabouts of a priceless archaeological treasure, one that the sinister collector Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) will stop at nothing to find, including kidnapping Loretta to help him.
133m
Genre
Drama, Comedy
Stars
Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn
Directed by
Paul Thomas Anderson
The fact that this is a Paul Thomas Anderson film should really tell you all you need to know (just watch it), but here goes: In this Oscar-nominated, coming-of-age comedic drama, Alana Haim (of American indie rockers Haim, who’ve had several music videos directed by Anderson) makes her film debut as Alana Kane, a young woman who finds herself reluctantly falling in love with the much younger Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, whom Anderson worked with on several films), a 15-year-old actor. In true PTA fashion, the film is full of delightfully funny and quirky moments and characters as Alana and Gary traipse around the San Fernando Valley flirting, trying to make each other jealous, starting businesses together, and interacting with an ensemble cast of characters played by Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, Tom Waits, and others — you know, normal Paul Thomas Anderson stuff.
99m
Genre
Documentary, Music
Stars
Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ben Keith
Directed by
Jonathan Demme
As a feature filmmaker, Jonathan Demme is more widely known for his huge blockbuster hits, such as Philadelphia and The Silence of the Lambs (for which he won a Best Director Oscar). But Demme’s career is also full of short films and documentaries about a wide range of bands and musicians, ranging from Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads to UB40, New Order, and Bruce Springsteen. In 2006, Demme went at it again, this time documenting legendary Canadian-American musician Neil Young during a two-night stint at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Largely a beautifully-shot concert film in which Young performs some of his greatest hits, like Harvest Moon, Far From Home, and Heart of Gold, the film also mixes in some fascinating interview footage with Young and his band as well as some rare performances.
119m
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd
Directed by
Adam McKay
You really can’t go wrong when the top-billed cast of the comedy you’re watching is Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner. In this sequel to 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Ron (Ferrell) and his dimwitted news team are back in the spotlight after making a splash on New York’s first 24-hour news channel, GNN. But Ron’s got problems: His marriage to Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) is on the rocks after she, again, one-ups him for a prestigious anchor position on the nightly news, and his ego is so bruised he’s neglecting their son; he’s got stiff competition from the dashing Jack Lime (James Marsden) — and he goes blind. All in a day’s work for Ron Burgundy.
163m
Genre
Adventure, Action, Thriller
Stars
Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Rami Malek
Directed by
Cary Joji Fukunaga
It seemed as though Daniel Craig’s final romp as the world’s most famous secret agent would never arrive after being delayed by the pandemic. And while it isn’t the best of Craig’s five films, it is a satisfying denouement for fans of the franchise. After the events of Spectre, Bond has retired from the double-o life in Jamaica, until his old CIA pal Felix (Jeffrey Wright) drags him back into the life, which puts him up against his old MI6 associates, including the new 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). Of course, their investigation uncovers a nefarious plan by a sinister villain (Rami Malik), and along the way, some secrets about Bond’s lover, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), including one that will drastically change Bond’s priorities forever.
105m
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Donald Watkins, RJ Cyler, Sebastian Chacon
Directed by
Carey Williams
Sadly, in our racially-inequitable society, the truth often takes a back seat to the way things look, and for college students Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins), his best friend, Sean (RJ Cyler), and their roommate Carlos (Sebastian Chacon), things look bad. During a night of epic Spring Break partying, Kunle and Sean return to their room to find a drunk, semi-conscious white girl on their living room floor, while an oblivious Carlos is in his room gaming. Do they call the police? As Sean astutely points out, “they’re just going to see three brown guys hanging over this little white girl.” What follows is a darkly funny and suspenseful string of events as the boys try to get the girl to the hospital. [/dt_media
85m
Genre
Drama, Horror, Mystery
Stars
Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Frazer
Directed by
Rose Glass
Save this one for a weekend night without the kids. Welsh newcomer Morfyyd Clark is chilling as Maud, a young nurse with a dark past and an unsettling devotion to God. When Maud takes a job as a hospice nurse to Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a once vibrant and celebrated dancer dying from cancer, Maud takes it upon herself to save Amanda’s soul. The reclusive and defiant Amanda isn’t having any of Maud’s religious nonsense, which might just be Amanda’s undoing as Maud descends further into Exorcist-level madness. A remarkable first feature for writer-director Rose Glass, Saint Maud has garnered rave reviews, netting two BAFTA award nominations and two Independent Film Awards wins in 2021.
103m
Genre
Fantasy, Horror
Stars
Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Johanna Mørck
Directed by
André Øvredal
Trolls are real! At least that is what a group of Volda University student filmmakers (Thomas, Johanna, and cameraman Kalle) discover when they venture into the wilds of Norway to investigate some recent bear poachings. There, they meet the mysterious Hans (Otto Jespersen), who turns out to have a very specific set of skills — he’s a troll hunter, employed by a clandestine Norwegian government agency to hunt down the very real mythical giants and three-headed monsters. Cleverly presented as a Blair Witch-style found-footage documentary, the English-subtitled Troll Hunter is “pieced together” in a “rough cut” of a film that documents the three filmmakers’ journey. It’s a delightfully scary, and oftentimes funny, horror full of jumpy camera footage, terrifying night vision scenes, and some amazing digitally created creatures.
102m
Genre
Thriller, Action
Stars
Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Jonathan Pryce
Directed by
Janus Metz Pedersen
Chris Pine and Thandie Newton steam things up in this spy thriller about two CIA operatives who meet again years after the events of a job they did together in Vienna, where they were not only colleagues but lovers as well. Some new information about a potential mole in the operation, which surrounds the events of a terrorist hijacking, materializes, and Henry (Pine) and Celia (Newton) are forced to recount the operation, as well as their love affair, to get to the truth about both. Told in flashback scenes and filled with all the intense spy stuff you’d expect from bestselling espionage novelist Olen Steinhauer (The Tourist, Berlin Station), we’re along for the ride as we try to figure out for ourselves who the mole is — is it Celia? Is it Henry? Were they playing each other the whole time, or was it real? All the Old Knives also stars the excellent Laurence Fishburne and Jonathan Pryce.
91m
Genre
Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller
Stars
Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Bruce Davis
Directed by
Andrew Patterson
This nostalgic throwback to classic sci-fi thrillers follows a young switchboard operator and a radio DJ whose discovery of a mysterious audio frequency sets off a series of discoveries that lead them deep into the unknown. The Amazon Studios film is the directorial debut of Andrew Patterson and has earned high praise from critics and streaming audiences alike for its suspenseful, low-budget spin on the genre.
99m
Genre
Horror, Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Stars
Regina Hall, Zoe Renee, Talia Ryder
Directed by
Mariama Diallo
Regina Hall (Nine Perfect Strangers, Insecure) stars in this social thriller/horror about an elite New England university that’s as old as the country itself and has just as many dark secrets. Hall plays Gail Bishop, the school’s new headmaster and the first Black person to hold the position. A Black student, Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee), arrives as a freshman and is soon subjected to anonymous racist attacks that she is convinced are being done by an ancient presence from the school’s past — turns out the school was built on the site of some Salem-era witch trials. As Gail and Jasmine learn to navigate the school’s elite politics and privilege, they uncover the truth about the school and just how tied to its past it really is.
102m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Lucie Arnaz
Directed by
Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler’s stunning love letter to legendary television power couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz digs deep with Poehler gaining access to some never-before-seen footage of the pair to help tell the incredible story of their rise to entertainment royalty. Poehler’s documentary feels as though it’s being narrated by Lucy and Desi themselves, with the help of rare home movies and cassette audiotapes the couple made over the years, and insightful and touching interviews with, among others, their daughter Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, Desi Arnaz Jr., Norman Lear, Carol Burnett, Charo, and Bette Midler. Lucy and Desi is a timeline of a remarkable legacy that spans from their early days in show business and their marriage, through the transition from radio to TV, the creation and explosive success of I Love Lucy and their production company, Desilu, to their eventual divorce. It even touches on the difficult period in Lucy’s life when she was accused of being a member of the Communist party. And if Poehler’s superb film isn’t enough Lucy and Desi for you, Amazon is also home to Aaron Sorkin’s excellent dramatized film Being the Ricardos, starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem.
111m
Genre
Comedy, Romance
Stars
Jenny Slate, Charlie Day, Scott Eastwood
Directed by
Jason Orley
Sometimes a good romantic comedy is just the kind of light fare you need for a chill weekend evening. I Want You Back is a new Amazon Original that checks all the rom-com boxes. Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) are heartbroken strangers who meet when they’ve both just been dumped by their respective partners who have moved on. Down in the dumps, Peter and Emma become friends and commiserate over drinks, which, in pure rom-com fashion, hatches into a scheme to infiltrate and break up their exes’ new relationships and win them back. I Want You Back is a fun, edgy-at-times rom-com of “the love you’re looking for is right in front of your face” variety, but Day and Slate have great on-screen chemistry, and the film’s supporting cast, including Gina Rodriguez, Scott Eastwood, and Pete Davidson, make for a fun ride.
88m
Genre
Animation, Family, Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure
Stars
Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kathryn Hahn
Directed by
Derek Drymon, Jennifer Kluska
If your kids are fans of the first three of Sony’s hugely popular Hotel Transylvania animated movies, then they’ll find this final installment, which has so far received mixed reviews, just as cute and fun as its predecessors. Originally set for a theatrical release in October of last year, Sony pulled the plug amidst rising COVID-19 cases and sold the distribution rights to Amazon. True to its pedigree of colorful animation, a thumping soundtrack, and punny monster sight gags, Transformania sees its main character, Drac (previously voiced by Adam Sandler, but here taken over by Brian Hull who does a solid impersonation), about to retire and leave the hotel to his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and her human hubby Johnny (Andy Samberg). Things go haywire when Johnny is transformed into a fire-breathing monster while Drac is zapped into human form, and the two must journey into the jungles of South America to find a special crystal to turn them back. As viewers have come to expect from the franchise, Transformania is laced with themes of acceptance and forgiveness in its world where monsters and humans live together despite their differences.
132m
Genre
Drama, History
Stars
Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons
Directed by
Aaron Sorkin
Lucille Ball remains one of the greatest comediennes of all time. Her sitcom, I Love Lucy, which she created and starred in with her husband Desi Arnaz, aired from 1951 to 1957 and is considered to be one of the most groundbreaking television shows to have ever aired, pioneering production and format techniques still in use today. But I Love Lucy wasn’t all grape-crushing, chocolate-eating gags and fun. In Aaron Sorkin’s week-in-the-life dramatized biopic, we go behind the scenes with Lucy (Nicole Kidman) and Desi (Javier Bardem), on set and in their personal lives, during the production week of an episode of the iconic sitcom as the couple’s personal and professional lives are put to the test, in front of a live studio audience.
106m
Genre
Drama, Crime, Thriller
Stars
Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey
Directed by
Bryan Singer
A film with one of the most compelling twists of all time, director Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects is the story of a group of hardened criminals, Hungarian mobsters, and a ghostly mastermind known as Keyser Soze, who may or may not exist. After a docked ship mysteriously explodes in San Pedro Bay killing 27 bad people, one of only two survivors, con artist Roger “Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey), recounts the entire story to U.S. Customs agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) in an LA police station. Told in flashbacks, Verbal’s story is tall, involves drugs and jewels, and includes his crew of five, including Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), and Hockney (Kevin Pollak). “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist,” Verbal tells Kujan. But who is Keyser Soze? Is he the Devil? The Usual Suspects will have you asking the same questions.
111m
Genre
Drama, History
Stars
Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Andrea Riseborough
Directed by
Will Sharpe
Based on the true story of turn-of-the-century English artist Louis Wain, whose paintings and illustrations of cats depicted our feline friends with psychedelic colors and imagery that no one had ever seen in the early 1900s, prompting many to believe that Wain suffered from schizophrenia. Benedict Cumberbatch depicts the eccentric artist with power and control, but by his side as Wain descends slowly into madness is the equally-powerful Claire Foy (The Crown) as Wain’s wife Emily. It’s their deep love for one another that helps keep Wain above water during a dark time in Wain’s, and the country’s, life. “How you’ve managed to conjure images of such delight in such a dark time, I don’t know,” Wain’s boss (Toby Jones) at the Illustrated London News tells him. While not a critical darling, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain will definitely add some color to your movie night.
130m
Genre
Drama, Family, Fantasy
Stars
James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Directed by
Frank Capra
A classic Christmas movie with an iconic James Stewart performance, It’s a Wonderful Life follows George Bailey (Stewart), a banker in the town of Bedford Falls who is preparing to throw himself off a bridge. An angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) appears to save George, and takes him on a journey through the most important moments in George’s life, showing him all the good things he’s done for other people despite the costs to himself. It’s a Wonderful Life is a charming story about perseverance in the face of an often cruel universe and the value of relationships.
Digital Trends streaming roundup
91m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Patricia Bell-Scott, Dolores Chandler, Brittney Cooper, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Directed by
Julie Cohen, Betsy West
From the same directing team behind 2018’s Oscar-nominated RBG, My Name Is Pauli Murray is the long-overdue telling of the life and influence of pioneering lawyer, civil and women’s rights activist, poet, and priest Pauli Murray. The film is a tribute to the largely unsung hero, the struggles they faced as a non-binary African American, and the legal contributions they made arguing for gender and race equality, most notably with the passing of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment in 1968, which outlawed discrimination based on sex. Murray’s influence on the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is highlighted throughout the documentary, which, like RGB, is destined for Oscar greatness.
121m
Genre
Drama, Thriller
Stars
Lou de Laâge, Mélanie Laurent, Emmanuelle Bercot
Directed by
Mélanie Laurent
The perfect dark and disturbing psychodrama thriller for the coming weather, The Mad Women’s Ball was adapted for the screen by French actress and director Mélanie Laurent, who most will remember as Shoshana, who takes her glorious revenge on the Nazis is Quentin Tarantino’s brilliant Inglorious Basterds. Based on Victoria Mas’s 1977 novel Le bal des folles, the film follows Eugénie (Lou de Laâge), a young woman who is committed to Paris’ Salpêtrière psychiatric hospital in the late 1800s because she can talk to the dead. Laurent plays Geneviève, the Salpêtrière’s head nurse, who bears witness to the dark and often barbaric “treatments” administered by head neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (Grégoire Bonnet), which include parading the asylum’s female patients out in front of the public in a grotesque “ball.” Luckily for Eugénie and the other “mad women,” Geneviève has different plans. Not for the faint of heart, The Mad Women’s Ball is a chilling but satisfying watch.
115m
Genre
Music, Drama, Comedy
Stars
Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel
Directed by
Jonathan Butterell
If you’re in need of a fun, fabulous, feel-good movie this weekend, this West End stage play-turned-feature film will likely have you not just off the couch, but setting up a runway in your living room. Originally based on Jenny Popplewell’s popular TV movie, Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, this Amazon Original Movie is an adaptation of the stage musical from the same team – director James Butterell, composer Dan Gillespie, and lyricist Tom McRae. Sixteen-year-old Sheffield high schooler Jamie New (Max Harwood) has big dreams of becoming a drag queen. And while his chosen path is unconventional and even frowned upon by his classmates, his own father (Ralph Ineson), and the locals, Jamie gets nothing but support from his loving mum (Sarah Lancashire), best friend, Pritti (Lauren Patel), and old drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant), who agrees to teach Jamie all he knows about drag. Full of big, bold, and colorful musical numbers (there’s a lot of dancing on desks going on), if Everybody’s Talking About Jamie doesn’t help you shake off the fall funk, you may want to check your pulse.
140m
Genre
Drama, Romance, Music
Stars
Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg
Directed by
Leos Carax
If you’re among the multitude of people whining that everything’s been done before or that remakes and re-imaginings are all anyone does anymore, then for that reason alone, Annette is worth a try. We’re not saying you’re going to like it. The critics seem to be pretty divided on this one, with many praising it for its originality, while others call it too odd for its own good. But risky performances from two Hollywood greats, Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard and the twice-nominated Adam Driver, make Annette already worth the price of your Prime membership. With a story and original music (yes, it’s a rock opera with lots of singing, so buckle up) written by Ron and Russell Mael of the quirky ’80s pop band Sparks (who are kind of having a moment right now with the Edgar Wright documentary about them, The Sparks Brothers), Annette follows the love journey of a most unlikely couple, Henry (Driver), a harsh stand-up comedian, and Ann (Cotillard), a beautiful and world-famous opera singer, whose lives in the spotlight are rocked with the arrival of their daughter, Annette, who has mysterious abilities. Intrigued?
Image: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B093K9VTV5/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
109m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Val Kilmer, Jack Kilmer, Mercedes Kilmer
Directed by
Leo Scott, Ting Poo
Whether the Val Kilmer in your mind’s eye is him in some of his iconic roles like Top Gun‘s Iceman, The Doors‘ Jim Morrison, or Batman Forever‘s caped crusader, or you kept up with the ’80s heartthrob into his later, quieter career for films such as Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang and beyond, one thing is for sure — you’ve never seen Val Kilmer like this. Fascinating and often heart-wrenching, Val is an Amazon Original autobiographical documentary assembled by the actor and directors Leo Scott and Ting Poo from more than 40 years of home video recordings Kilmer obsessively took throughout his life and career — including behind-the-scenes footage with Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and more. Now in his ’60s and recovering from throat cancer surgery that has left him with the need to speak through a voice box on his trachea, Kilmer’s doc is a deep look inward at his life, his rise and fall from fame, his personal triumphs and failures, and, ultimately, his coming to terms with all of it.
138m
Genre
Action, Science Fiction, Adventure
Stars
Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons
Directed by
Chris McKay
In what should have brought audiences to the theater in droves, this end-of-the-world action-adventure from one of the guys behind The Lego Movie (Chris McKay) is getting the Amazon Original treatment because of that pandemic thing we’ve all been dealing with. But don’t let that fool you — there’s enough explosive action here to impress even in your living room. The Tomorrow War is kind of a Terminator in reverse, where instead of forces from a future war coming to battle it out in the present, this time, the good guys fighting an alien invasion in 2051 come back in time to recruit soldiers and civilians to join the fight in the future before humankind is wiped out. Chris Pratt stars as Dan Forester, a high school teacher with some serious gun skills who is among the recruits crossing time to save the world.
125m
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure, Drama
Stars
Federico Ielapi, Roberto Benigni, Marine Vacth
Directed by
Matteo Garrone
Italian author Carlo Collodi’s classic children’s story dates back to 1881, and since then, it’s been reimagined and adapted countless times in print, on television, for the stage, and in film — perhaps most notably in Disney’s 1940 animated movie. With this most recently released feature version, Italian filmmakers Matteo Garrone and Massimo Ceccherini use live-action, stunning CGI, and some pretty fantastic costumes and makeup to once again tell the tale of a lonely carpenter, Gepetto (Roberto Benigni), who creates a wooden boy puppet who magically comes to life. Pinocchio‘s universal themes of perseverance through adversity, honesty, and redemption ring true in Garrone’s adaptation as well, as the boy puppet heads out into the film’s bizarre world of animal tricksters, blue fairies, and gigantic fish to learn the lessons he needs to get back to Gepetto and realize his dream of becoming a real boy.
99m
Genre
Fantasy, Romance
Stars
Kathryn Newton, Kyle Allen, Jermaine Harris
Directed by
Ian Samuels
Heavily in line with the time-loop movies that this cute coming-of-age romantic comedy itself references, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is like Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow (without all the death and aliens) for a new generation. Mark (Kyle Allen) is your typical teenager trying to figure life out, except that he seems to be the only one aware that he’s living the same day over and over again — he argues with his dad over his future, plays video games with his clueless best friend, and, like Bill Murray’s Phil Connors, learns the routine so well he can do little things like rescue folks from their everyday annoyances. Mark seems content in his loop, and then he meets Margaret (Kathryn Newton), who, as if fate planned it, is also stuck in the same unremarkable day. Now with something more to live for, the pair revel in their predicament and, of course, fall for each other. Written by The Magicians author Lev Grossman, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a sweet exploration of youth and the fear that comes with taking that leap of faith to get out of our own ruts and move forward with life.
114m
Genre
Drama, Romance
Stars
Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Aja Naomi King
Directed by
Eugene Ashe
Can we all just agree that Tessa Thompson is great in just about everything she’s in? Alright, then. In this dreamy period melodrama by Eugene Ashe, Thompson plays Sylvie, an aspiring television producer in late ’50s-early ’60s New York. While working in her dad’s record shop, Sylvie meets Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha), a talented up-and-coming jazz saxophonist with big dreams of his own. Robert takes a job in the store and the two begin a friendship that blossoms into love, despite Sylvie having a fiancé who is away at war. But as Robert’s career begins to take off and Sylvie is torn between her own ambitions and obligations, the two go their separate ways … for a little while, anyway. The pair eventually meet again, with Sylvie, having overcome many of the struggles of the era’s racism and women’s rights obstacles to become a successful TV producer, and Robert’s career skyrocketing. Is the love still there? Can and will they pick up where they left off? Sylvie’s Love is a refreshing take on the over-done love-conquers-all trope and is a romantic must-watch.
114m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge
Directed by
Regina King
In actress Regina King’s excellent directorial debut, she takes Kemp Powers’ screenplay of his own stage play and turns it into a riveting drama. One Night in Miami is a fictionalized ponderance of a real-life meeting that happened in Miami Beach in 1964 in which famous friends Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), who earlier that night just beat Sonny Liston for the world championship, Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben -Adir), singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), and football star Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) gathered to enjoy each other’s company, debate, and discuss their roles in affecting change in Black America. Each star holds his own portraying such cultural heavyweights, and the film mixes beautifully shot sequences of their individual lives and achievements with fly-on-the-wall ensemble scenes that give you a sense of what it might have been like being in the room with these icons.
97m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Clare Dunne, Molly McCann, Ruby Rose O'Hara
Directed by
Phyllida Lloyd
Get ready for a tear-jerker of a drama that’s full of both pain and beautiful redemption in this Amazon Original film that won the Human Rights Film Award at last year’s Dublin International Film Festival. Actress Clare Dunne, who co-wrote the film with Shameless U.K. writer Malcolm Campbell, is Sandra, a mother of two in Dublin who, after escaping her abusive husband, finds herself on the cusp of homelessness. Told with care and often intense reality by The Iron Lady director Phyllida Lloyd, Sandra eschews Ireland’s bureaucratic social housing system and decides to try to build her own house DIY-style — all she needs is a bit of land. As Sandra’s friends and strangers alike pitch in to help rebuild (literally) her life, it’s hard not to get swept up in this touchingly unique story.
121m
Genre
Drama, Music
Stars
Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci
Directed by
Darius Marder
Sound of Metal doesn’t mess around, getting straight to the intense and terrifying moments that Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a drummer in a heavy metal duo with his girlfriend (the wonderful Olivia Cooke), starts to lose his hearing. It’s the little things we take for granted that director/screenwriter Darius Marder zeroes in on in the film’s opening minutes — the excruciating silence of a blender, the subtle drip of percolating coffee, or the shushing spray of a showerhead — all gone. But Sound of Metal isn’t about deafness, it’s a story about change and the journey we must take to embrace it, as Ruben enters a facility to help him learn to live with his deafness while also avoiding a relapse into his old life of drug abuse. It’s a beautiful film about life-changing loss and redemption and shouldn’t be missed.
120m
Genre
Drama, Crime
Stars
Rachel Brosnahan, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Arinzé Kene
Directed by
Julia Hart
Premiering in October at this year’s virtual edition of AFI Fest, this gritty 1970s-era crime drama features Mrs. Maisel as you’ve never seen her before. The marvelous Rachel Brosnahan trades swing dresses and handbags for bellbottoms and handguns in I’m Your Woman, playing Jean, the bored suburban housewife of Eddie (Bill Heck), a hustler and thief with some shady associates. Jean learns just how shady when Eddie shows up one night with an infant, declaring “he’s our baby,” and then disappears a couple of days later, triggering a series of events that has Jean terrified, confused, and on the run from gun-toting henchmen. Jean’s only respite from the madness is Cal (British-Nigerian actor Arinzé Kene), who shepherds Jean and baby to a safe house where his wife, Teri (Marsha Stephanie Blake), and father, Art (Frankie Faison), teach her how to navigate her new life on the lam. Dripping with ’70s style, loud wardrobe choices, boat-sized cars, and a groovy Motown soundtrack, I’m Your Woman is a great way to time-warp out of your daily grind.
96m
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Tom Hanks
Directed by
Jason Woliner
There are very few performers in the world who can switch gears so expertly as Sacha Baron Cohen. Comedian, actor, and activist, in the last two years, Cohen has navigated the roles of famous Israeli spy Eli Cohen in The Spy and American “Yippy” activist Abby Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7 (both on Netflix). But perhaps his greatest role of all is Borat. Cohen’s clueless reporter from Kazakhstan is back for another go at America in this sequel to 2006’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. After spending 14 years in prison, Borat is released not only to find that he has a daughter, Tutar (Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova), but that he must return to the U.S. to redeem the reputation of his homeland by gifting the feral Tutar to Mike Pence. Along the way, Cohen, of course, resumes his pranking of Trump-era America, but with his cover mostly blown from the first film, much of the task lands on the brilliant Bakalova, who delivers some bewilderingly-awkward situations and poignant political skewering.
127m
Genre
Drama, Crime, Comedy
Stars
Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes
Directed by
Spike Lee
Aristophanes’ classic Greek comedy Lysistrata gets a modern update in this 2015 film directed by Spike Lee. The film follows a group of women who decide to withhold sex from their partners until they agree to curb the gang violence plaguing their Chicago neighborhood. Told in a mixture of music and verse, the film stars Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Teyonah Parris, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, John Cusack, and Samuel L. Jackson.
94m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe
Directed by
Alma Har'el
Shia LaBeouf’s debut script is directed by Alma Har’el and follows the life of child actor Otis Lort as he rises through young success to self-destructive Hollywood star. Navigating fame and his abusive, alcoholic father proves to be next to impossible as their contentious relationship crumbles across the course of a decade. LaBeouf also stars in this semiautobiographical tale that draws from his experience with his father.
145m
Genre
Thriller, Drama, Romance
Stars
Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo
Directed by
Park Chan-wook
From Korean director Park Chan-wook, award-winning director of Oldboy, The Handmaiden is an intense, pulse-pounding crime drama set in the early 1900s during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The film follows two women — a young Japanese lady on a secluded estate, and the Korean woman who is hired as her new handmaiden. Little does the former know, though, that the latter is conspiring with a con man to defraud the woman out of her inheritance.
89m
Genre
Thriller, Drama
Stars
Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, Ekaterina Samsonov
Directed by
Lynne Ramsay
This Amazon Original was nominated for four 2019 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature and Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix). Phoenix stars as a traumatized veteran who harnesses his trauma into hunting down missing girls for a living. However, as his nightmares begin to overtake him and he continues to get in over his head, he begins to uncover a conspiracy that threatens to destroy or save him, depending on the paths he takes.
89m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc
Directed by
Pawel Pawlikowski
Paweł Pawlikowski’s gorgeous historical drama Cold War follows Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) and Zula (Joanna Kulig), a music director and singer respectively, who meet and fall in love in Poland after the end of World War II. As the years drag on and the Soviet grip over Eastern Europe tightens, the two drift across borders, in and out of each other’s lives. Their turbulent romance, set against a backdrop of paranoia and repression, is messy but moving. Filmed in stark black and white, Cold War is a beautiful film full of masterfully composed shots.
120m
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Stars
Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter
Directed by
Michael Showalter
Comedian Kumail Nanjiani and comedy writer Emily V. Gordon adapted their real-life love story for film in The Big Sick, a charming romantic comedy that was one of Digital Trends’ favorite movies of 2019 and helped score Nanjiani and Gordon their own Apple TV+ show. The movie begins with Kumail (playing a loosely fictionalized version of himself) struggling to build a stand-up career, mining his Pakistani background for material. After a run-in with a heckler named Emily (Zoe Kazan) turns into a one-night-stand and eventually a relationship, the two start to run into troubles. For starters, Kumail’s parents want him to settle down with a Pakistani woman, leading them to break up. Making things even more complicated, an infection leaves Emily in a coma. While visiting Emily in the hospital, Kumail meets her parents, Terry (Ray Romano) and Beth (Holly Hunter), learning more about them and Emily as he processes his own feelings.
90m
Genre
Drama, Mystery, Comedy
Stars
Morgan Saylor, Sophie Lowe, Margo Martindale
Directed by
Danielle Krudy, Bridget Savage Cole
Blow the Man Down is a dark comedy and a hidden gem that arrived on Amazon Prime under the radar earlier this year. Morgan Saylor and Sophie Lowe co-headline the film as feuding sisters Mary Beth and Priscilla Connolly, respectively. When Mary Beth kills a man who tried to harm her, Priscilla decides that blood is thicker than water and she helps her sister cover up the evidence. Unfortunately for the Connolly sisters, secrets are hard to keep in a small town, and they never quite know who they can trust. Margo Martindale also has a terrific supporting turn as Enid Nora Devlin, a local brothel owner who may know too much.
118m
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Stars
Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Barry Shabaka Henley
Directed by
Jim Jarmusch
The stakes aren’t particularly high for Paterson the film. But for Paterson himself, they’re everything. Adam Driver stars as the title character, a man who works as a bus driver. But in reality, Paterson is a poet who hasn’t learned to fully accept that aspect of himself. The entire movie takes place over the course of a week, and we see the daily routine of both Paterson and his wife, Laura (Golshifteh Farahani). But when the pattern breaks and misfortune strikes, it will take a minor miracle to get Paterson back on the right track.
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