Stream on Demand: Films cut through family experiences, cultural divides
What’s new for home viewing on Video on Demand and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max and other streaming services.
Top streams for the week
A Korean family immigrates to rural Arkansas in “Minari” (2020, PG-13, with subtitles), a modest but rich drama from Korea-American filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung that takes a nuanced view of the immigrant experience and complicated family dynamics that cross cultures. Steven Yuen (“The Walking Dead”) and Yeri Han play the parents of two young kids straddling two cultures, and Will Patton is a local farmer and service veteran who befriends the family. It’s an American independent film largely spoken in Korean. (VOD and Cable on Demand)
Newcomer Andra Day plays legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (2021, not rated), which dramatizes her career against the backdrop of the FBI’s campaign of harassment and intimidation after she recorded and performed the powerful anti-lynching ballad “Strange Fruit.” Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lee Daniels (“Precious”), is costars Garrett Hedlund as the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Tyler James Williams as saxophone great Lester Young, as well as Trevante Rhodes, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Miss Lawrence. (Hulu)
The four-part documentary series “Allen v. Farrow” (TV-MA) takes a deep dive into the abuse allegation against Woody Allen made by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow and Allen’s efforts to discredit his accusers, featuring in-depth interviews with Dylan, Mia Farrow and Ronan Farrow (Allen declined to be interviewed for the documentary) and previously unseen case files from the original investigation. Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, who have a track record exploring sexual misconduct. New episodes each Sunday. (HBO Max and all HBO platforms)
“Ginny & Georgia: Season 1” (not rated) channels “Gilmore Girls” in its dramedy of a whipsmart teenager (Antonia Gentry) and her young widower mother (Brianne Howey) with a checkered past making a new start in a small Massachusetts town. But this pop culture-infused comedy is complicated with crime drama twists when mom’s checkered past comes back to haunt the family. (Netflix)
“Punky Brewster: Season 1” (TV-PG) revives the 1980s family sitcom with Soleil Moon Frye playing the adult Punky as a single mother of three who takes in an 8-year-old problem child (Quinn Copeland) from the foster system. Cherie Johnson also returns from the original series, and Freddie Prinze Jr. co-stars as Punky’s ex. The entire first season is now streaming. (Peacock)
The documentary “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” (2021, not rated) is an intimate portrait of the singer-songwriter who became a global superstar at the age of 17, directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler. (Apple TV+)
International pick: Akira Kurosawa’s epic historical drama “Ran” (Japan, 1985, R, with subtitles) is loosely inspired by “King Lear.”
News: CBS All Access officially becomes Paramount+ next week. Not simply a rebranding, it marks the expansion of the service (which is home to the new “Star Trek” shows) to include thousands of additional hours of movies and TV shows as well as a new slate of original shows. The streaming service promises an easy transition to the new app for current subscribers and a discount for new subscribers who sign up before March 4.
Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand
Roberto Benigni plays the woodcarver Geppetto in “Pinocchio” (Italy, 2019, PG-13, with subtitles), Matteo Garrone’s live-action version of the classic tale.
The supernatural horror film “The Vigil” (2020, PG-13) draws on ancient Jewish lore and demonology.
Netflix
The documentary “Pelé” (2021, not rated) profiles the superstar athlete (now 80 years old) who took home three world cups and is celebrated as the greatest soccer player of all time.
Oscar Isaac stars as a Mossad agent assigned to bring Adolph Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) to trial for war crimes in “Operation Finale” (2018, PG-13), based on a true story.
“Captain Fantastic” (2016, R) earned Viggo Mortensen an Oscar nomination as a devoted father raising a family off the grid and coming to grips with the world outside their little Walden.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play paranormal investigators in the horror films “The Conjuring” (2013, R) and “The Conjuring 2” (2016) from “Aquaman” director James Wan.
Streaming TV: Reality series “Canine Intervention: Season 1” (not rated) follows dog trainer Jas Leverette as he takes on problem pets in California.
International passport: A Korean-Italian mafia lawyer returns home in “Vincenzo: Season 1” (South Korea, with subtitles). New episodes each Saturday and Sunday.
Stand-up: “Brian Regan: On the Rocks” (2020, not rated)
Amazon Prime Video
A deep cover agent (Joel Kinnaman) gets himself incarcerated to infiltrate the mob at a maximum security prison in the crime thriller “The Informer” (2020, R), also starring Rosamund Pike, Common, Ana de Armas and Clive Owen.
The sports documentary “Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers” (TV-G), a limited series about a powerhouse high school basketball team, is an IMDb TV Original that plays with commercials.
True stories: “Saul and Ruby’s Holocaust Survivor Band” (2020) profiles a klezmer band formed by senior citizen Holocaust survivors who use music to celebrate life, and “How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (And Enjoy It)” (2005, not rated) surveys the life and career of novelist, Wall Street Trader and maverick filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles.
Hulu
Meryl Streep is the worst singer who ever performed to elite audiences in “Florence Foster Jenkins” (2016, PG-13), a comedy with a tender compassion based on a true story.
Streaming TV: The fourth season of “Snowfall” (TV-MA), the FX crime drama set in the drug trade in 1980s Los Angeles, begins with episodes each Thursday.
HBO Max
“Tom & Jerry” (2021, PG) drops the animated mouse-and-cat slapstick team in a live-action world when Jerry the cat is brought into a posh New York hotel to get rid of its new rodent resident. Chloë Grace Moretz and Michael Peña are the human stars of the comedy from director Tim Story (“Barbershop”), which streams for 31 days only.
“Blade Runner 2049” (2017, R), directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, accomplishes a near-impossible feat: it creates a world as visionary and visually entrancing as the original science fiction classic. (All HBO platforms) Make it a double feature with Ridley Scott’s original “Blade Runner: The Final Cut” (1982/2007, R).
Ben Affleck directs and stars in “Argo” (2012, R), an escape thriller based on a strange but true story, which earned three Oscars include best picture. HBO presents the “Extended Version” with additional scenes. (All HBO platforms)
Clive Owen plays a maverick doctor in the historical medical drama “The Knick: Complete Series” (2014-2015, TV-MA) from director Steven Soderbergh.
International passport: An act of violence rocks a small town in “Beartown: Season 1” (Sweden, TV-MA, with subtitles), a five-episode limited series from Sweden. New episodes each Monday.
Disney+
The animated short “Myth: A Frozen Tale” (2019, TV-G), a bedtime tale inspired by “Frozen 2,” makes its streaming debut.
Other streams
The three-part documentary “Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine” (2021, TV-14) looks at the rise of the hip-hop superstar. (Showtime Anytime)
“Silent Witness: Seasons 1-21” (1996-2018, TV-14), Britain’s longest running procedural, began with Amanda Burton as the head of the police pathology team, with Amelia Fox taking over after a few seasons. Along with the two most recent seasons currently available, it completes the series to date. (BritBox)
Criterion Channel concludes its “Black History Month” programming with the streaming premiere of the documentary “Nationtime” (1972, not rated), William Greaves’ report on the 1972 National Black Political Convention narrated by Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, and five films “Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun,” including the Cannes award-winning “A Screaming Man” (France, 2010, not rated, with subtitles) and “Grigris” (Chad, 2013, not rated, with subtitles), both set in his home country of Chad.
Sean Axmaker is a Seattle film critic and writer. His reviews of streaming movies and television can be found at streamondemandathome.com.