Stream on Demand: Lady Gaga, Emma Watson and Gal Gadot come to home viewing
What’s new for home viewing on video-on-demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services.
Top streams for the week
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens are “Beauty and the Beast” (2017, PG) in Disney’s lavish live-action remake of their animated musical from filmmaker Bill Condon, no stranger to musicals (he adapted “Chicago” and directed “Dreamgirls”) or to big-budget fantasy spectacle (the final films in the “Twilight” saga).
The documentary “Gaga: Five Foot Two” (2016, not rated) goes behind the scenes for a candid look at Lady Gaga’s life during an eight-month period where she performed at the Super Bowl, released a new album, and acted in “American Horror Story.” Comes to Netflix after debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Pay-Per-View / Video-On-Demand
Gal Gadot is “Wonder Woman” (2017, PG-13), the original big screen super heroine, in the superhero hit of 2017. This one is set during World War I where Gadot’s Amazon warrior takes on the God of War to save the world with the help of American soldier Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Also on DVD and Blu-ray.
Kumail Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan star in “The Big Sick” (2017, R), the hit indie comedy by Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon based on the strange, true, and dramatic story of their courtship. Also on DVD and Blu-ray and at Redbox.
Also new: indie comedy “The Little Hours” (2017, R) with Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, and Dave Franco, based on the medieval stories of Giovanni Boccaccio, and drama “The Hero” (2017, R) starring Sam Elliott as an aging, ailing movie star.
Foreign films include “Footnotes” (France, not rated, with subtitles), a musical comedy about a labor issues in a shoe factory, and two Israeli productions: drama “Past Life” (Poland/Israel, not rated, with subtitles) and comedy “The Women’s Balcony” (Israel, not rated, with subtitles).
Available same day as select theaters nationwide is the action comedy “Killing Gunther” (2017, R) with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cobie Smulders.
Netflix
Todd Haynes directs “Carol” (2015, R), a love story between a society woman (Cate Blanchett) separated from her husband and a department store shopgirl and budding photographer (Rooney Mara) in 1950s New York City. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including acting nods for Blanchett and Mara, and it is a lovely evocation of the time and place and social fabric.
“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” (2007, R), a raw crime thriller of a heist gone bad, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, and Albert Finney. Ryan Gosling earned his first Oscar nomination for the tough indie drama “Half Nelson” (2006, R).
Juliette Binoche and Fabrice Luchini star in “Slack Bay” (France, 2016, not rated, with subtitles), a surreal comedy from Bruno Dumont.
Streaming TV: The British crime thriller “The Five: Season 1,” created by American author Harlan Coben, reunites four childhood friends to find a fifth friend who disappeared years ago. The ten-part series makes its stateside debut on Netflix.
“Fuller House: Season 3” continues the Netflix original reboot of the classic sitcom and the animated science fiction series “Neo Yokio: Season 1” debuts. Also new: supervillain series “Gotham: Season 3,” “Call the Midwife: Series 6” from Britain, and true crime thriller “Manhunt: Season 1” about the hunt for the Unabomber.
Stand-up: “Jerry Before Seinfeld” presents the comedian performing at The Comic Strip in New York City, the club where he began.
Amazon Prime Video
“Transparent: Season 4,” the Emmy-nominated comedy starring Jeffrey Tambor, arrives.
Dan Stevens stars in the science fiction thriller “Kill Switch” (2017, R), Michael Keaton directs and stars in “The Merry Gentleman” (2016, R) as a suicidal hitman, and “We Are What We Are” (2014, R) is a family drama in the form of an indie horror film.
Classics: William Powell and Carole Lombard star in the sparkling screwball comedy “My Man Godfrey” (1936). There are plenty of poor editions out there but Amazon is streaming the excellent studio print.
Amazon Prime and Hulu
The title speaks for itself in the comedy “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” (2009, PG-13) on Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Hulu
Thomas Vinterberg draws on his own life for “The Commune” (Denmark, 2016, not rated, with subtitles), the story of an experiment in communal living in 1970s Denmark.
Michelle Dockery leaves “Downton Abbey” far behind to play a con artist in the TNT crime thriller “Good Behavior: Complete Season 1,” where her behavior is anything but good.
True stories: “Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image” (2017, not rated) looks at unrealistic standards of beauty promoted in the media. “Kiki” (2017, not rated) profiles a group of LGBT youths who create their own safe gathering space and “Food Evolution” (2016, not rated) looks at the science and controversy over GMO foods.
The entire debut season of big Emmy winner “The Handmaid’s Tale” is available to stream.
HBO Now
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling romance one another in the modern Hollywood musical “La La Land” (2016, PG-13).
The second and final season of the dark comedy “Vice Principals” with Danny McBride and Walton Goggins is now underway.
HBO won big at the Emmys for “Big Little Lies,” “
Arriving Saturday night is video-game adaptation “Assassin’s Creed” (2016, PG-13) with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.
Showtime Anytime
The new documentary series “American Under Fire” examines the phenomenon of mass shootings with in-depth investigations. New episodes debut Friday nights.
FilmStruck / Criterion Channel
FilmStruck celebrates director of the week Jean-Luc Godard with 18 features, short films, and documentaries, from his innovative feature debut “Breathless” (France, 1960) through “Weekend” (France, 1967), his blast across the bow of a consumer culture eating itself alive, to “Film Socialisme” (France, 2010), all unrated and with subtitles.
Debuting on Criterion Channel this week: Philip Kaufman’s recently-restored “The Wanderers” (1979, R), Stephen Frears’ neo-noir “The Hit” (1984, R) with John Hurt and Terence Stamp, and documentary “Tabloid” (2010, R) from Errol Morris,
Acorn TV
“19-2: Season 4” – Acorn presents the American debut of the final season of the award-winning police drama about uniformed officers on the streets of Montreal.
Amanda Burton stars in the British cop drama “The Commander: Series 1-5,” created by Lynda LaPlante (“Prime Suspect”).
At Redbox: “The Big Sick,” “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie,” “Big Little Lies,” “The Hero”
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and TV can be found at http://streamondemandathome.com.
Copyright © 2017 by Sean Axmaker