| USA TODAY
Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson take a mental trip in Amazon Prime’s ‘Bliss’ science fiction
Owen Wilson plays a divorced and unemployed man and Salma Hayek is the mysterious woman who tells him that they live in a simulation in the science fiction film ‘Bliss’.
USA TODAY
New streaming movies are coming to entertain you and your family in times of social detachment.
This weekend, Zendaya and John David Washington head a Netflix movie made during the early days of the pandemic, Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson team up for an Amazon science fiction film, Viggo Mortensen stars and directs a film on dementia, and director Neil Marshall directs a period horror film about female empowerment.
if that’s not enough for you to go online and watch movies, there are two new documentaries for different fan bases. Fans of “Cobra Kai” and “Karate Kid” will want to take a look at “More than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story”, which chronicles the life, work and struggles of the beloved actor and cinematic sensei of “Happy Days” , and “A Glitch in the Matrix” postulates the theory that, yes, maybe we are all existing in a video game simulation.
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Here is a summary of the new films arriving on the streaming and on-demand platforms this week, for all cinematic tastes.
If you want to see talented movie stars arguing for two hours: ‘Malcolm & Marie’
Washington is a filmmaker who has just released his newest film, Zendaya is the girlfriend he always takes for granted. The black-and-white drama by writer / director (and creator of “Euphoria”) Sam Levinson captures a night of resentment and pent-up resentment that arises when they play and scream at each other. Both actors work hard (especially Zendaya), but neither character is especially pleasant and the whole thing gets annoying fast.
Where to watch: Netflix
If you are ready for a trip upside down from reality: ‘Bliss’
Okay, so it’s not the best weekend for dual star vehicles. Owen Wilson stars as an unlucky guy who got divorced and fired in quick succession, and he meets a strange woman (Salma Hayek) with a bomb of truth for him: they are living in a large-scale simulation and special “stones” can help them discover what is really real. Mike Cahill’s science fiction drama has an interesting premise – alternate realities as a metaphor for escaping addiction – but it is poorly performed.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
If you could use a good father and son story: ‘Fall’
In his poignant directorial debut, which deftly takes on family drama and deals with a loved one struggling with dementia, Viggo Mortensen also stars as the gay son of a politically incorrect and stubborn 80-year-old farmer (Lance Henriksen) who takes on a role extra responsibilities of caring due to the diminished health of the old man. Henriksen’s excellent navigation through his father’s ever-changing moods and unpredictable mental state, and Mortensen’s excellent level as a man who desperately tries to keep his head above water.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Voodoo, Fandango Now
If you are looking for a fascinating horror film: ‘The Reckoning’
Bloody, scary, slightly crazy and even a little adventurous, Marshall’s horror fantasy takes the audience back to 1666 and the Great Plague in England. After her husband falls ill and hangs himself, a widowed mother (Charlotte Kirk) is accused of being a witch (mainly because she refuses the advances of a wild squire) and faces a torturous witch hunter (Sean Pertwee) from her past. But even this competent heroine doesn’t know what to do when she has an intimate encounter with the devil himself.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Voodoo, Fandango Now
If you are not tired of pandemics: ‘Goldfish’
Less a response to our current COVID situation and more of a very moving metaphor about Alzheimer’s, the moving sci-fi drama / love story imagines a world in which a mysterious affliction is taking place where people lose their memories, gradually or at once. Olivia Cooke (“Sound of Metal”) and Jack O’Connell play a young couple at the beginning of their relationship who have to leave post-its and revisit how and why they fell in love when this strange disease strikes them.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Voodoo, Google Play
If you want a little social justice: ‘Son of the South’
Based on the autobiography of activist Bob Zellner, the civil rights drama produced by Spike Lee revisits the early 1960s, when Zellner (played by Lucas Till), a white university student from Alabama, rejected his family’s legacy with Ku Klux Klan and supported the Freedom Riders and black icons of the time. The intentions of the film are better than its quality and the white characters are the least interesting in the film directed by Oscar-nominated editor (and Lee’s longtime collaborator) Barry Alexander Brown, but at least we are a bit behind schedule, great Brian Dennehy.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Voodoo, Fandango Now
If you need your mind blown: ‘The Wanting Mare’
The thrilling independent sci-fi fantasy epic, directed by visual effects artist Nicholas Ashe Bateman, doesn’t star in anyone you’ve heard of, but, man, it’s so cool. Filmed inside a warehouse in New Jersey, the film features a mesmerizing and digitally crafted dystopian landscape, where horses are the most valuable commodity, shipped around the city once a year. A young woman (Jordan Monaghan) dreams of escaping the oppressed and gloomy city of Whithren during the annual trade show. Although the fable’s narrative is not as strong as the construction of a world, it is still unlike anything around.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Voodoo, Fandango Now