weekend watchlist: a bad guy and a worse guy walk into a jail...
plus a pensive ghost story, buddy cops, and Muppets
Don’t spend hours scrolling the menus at Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other movie services. I point you to the best new films and hidden gems to stream.
Movies included here may be available on services other than those mentioned, and in other regions, too. JustWatch and Reelgood are great for finding which films are on what streamers; you can customize each site so that it shows you only those services you have access to.
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both sides of the pond
Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler are dangerous guys locked in a rural police station somewhere in the American Southwest in Copshop. One is out to kill the other, and we’re not sure who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy for a long time… and maybe there’s only a bad guy and a worse guy. This absolutely bonkers flick winks at 1970s exploitation crime thrillers but is very much its own grimly delightful modern self with its witty amalgam of corrupt cops, decent villains, and wanton destruction. One of the unexpected pleasures of film year 2021, not least for the should-be starmaking turn by Alexis Louder as the cop babysitting the psychopaths.
Available for rent or purchase in the US on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
Available for rent or purchase in the UK on Amazon Prime (free for members) and Apple TV.
US
back on Netflix
If you’ve enjoyed writer-director Adam McKay’s Netflix satire Don’t Look Up, check out his 2010 action comedy The Other Guys, newly returned to Netflix. Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell star in this buddy-cop parody as two NYPD detectives always in the shadows of superstar hero cops (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) until circumstances allow them to snag a juicy case. This is just as audacious and overblown as Don’t Look Up, if in different ways, and there’s even some sneaky social-justice outrage, especially if you watch the end credits. (Read my review.) Streaming on Netflix, and also on Hulu. Also available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
documentary hidden gem
Meet eight-year-old Sasha, who lives in a small French town not too far outside Paris. She was born into a boy’s body, but as soon as she was able to articulate such notions — from the age of two-and-a-half or three, her mother says — she insisted she was a girl. Her family is totally okay with that… but her school, not so much. Lovely verité documentary Little Girl (Petite Fille) is an inspiring portrait of someone asking for so little: to be accepted for who she is. (Read my review.) Available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
UK
leaving BBC iPlayer soon
If you liked Kristen Stewart in Spencer, don’t miss her in the strange, lovely, melancholy ghost story Personal Shopper. Filmmaker Olivier Assayas wrote this disquieting portrait of grief specifically for Stewart, and her onscreen persona of restive reluctance has never been put to better use than in this genre-defying film. It’s part mystery, part drama, part thriller, part supernatural fantasy. It’s nothing you expect, and it challenges you at every turn. (Read my review.) Streaming on BBC iPlayer for 17 more days. Also available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
new on demand
We’re snarky, sarcastic, and meta. We’re simultaneously grounded and pragmatic and yet also a bunch of goofballs. If you’re looking to understand the cultural forces that shaped Generation X — or if, like me, you’re up for wallowing in some wonderful childhood memories — documentary Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street is a terrific start. As sweet, as smart, and as full of foolish exuberance as its subject, this is a deep dive into the formation of the groundbreaking show, and its invention of educational television that burst with carefully crafted chaos like nothing anyone had seen before. (Read my review.) Available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
find lots more movies to stream at Flick Filosopher
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