What to Watch This Weekend - The Racer, Political Dramas and Documentaries, Antebellum, Spiral, The Social Dilemma

For the Sports Enthusiast - The Racer (Digital)

The Racer tells an honest sports story, with inspirational moments, plenty of interesting insights into conflicted athletes, and a story that paces itself nicely before a photo finish.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Political Scientist - All In: the Fight for Democracy (Amazon)

All In; The Fight for Democracy is an important film about modern voter suppression techniques, with poignant examples and valuable advice to ensure that all Americans are able to exercise their rights to vote.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Political Historian - The Way I See It (Theaters)

The Way I See It highlights the power of photography and the unprecedented access that Souza was given during the Obama presidency, and visually shows the stark differences between Reagan, Obama, and Trump.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Political Drama Fan - Les Sauvages (Topic)

Les Sauvages has an interesting cast of characters, complicated story, and plenty of drama in this French political thriller with parallels to events happening in America and on a global stage.  For more information, check out our review!

 

For the Fan of Stylized History - Antebellum (Theaters)

Antebellum is an imaginative mind game that explores the sins of the past and present through strong performances, a mysterious story, and some fantastic, dread-inducing music.  For more information, check out our review!

For the 90s Horror Fan - Spiral (Shudder)

Spiral's attention to 90s detail and refreshingly diverse main characters help you lose yourself on this descent into madness and dread.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Drama Fan - I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)

Strong performances from Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons and good writing from Charlie Kaufman highlight this movie that has wide critical appeal but mixed audience reactions.  

For the Social Media Addict - The Social Dilemma (Netflix)

The Social Dilemma has universal praise and presents a sobering, clear look into our datamined world in a dramatic form that should appeal to all.  

For the Thriller Fan - The Invisible Man (HBO)

The Invisible Man is a new take on the classic film, with great, minimalist effects, wonderful tension, and an amazing performance by Elisabeth Moss.  For more information, check out our review! 

What to Watch This Weekend: May 29, 2020

Home Rental: The High Note
The High Note is a phenomenal feel good musical drama with fantastic characters, a story with plenty of surprises, and a soulful, wonderful soundtrack that will stay in your head long after the credits roll.  For more information, check out our review!

Redbox: The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man is a new take on the classic film, with great, minimalist effects, wonderful tension, and an amazing performance by Elisabeth Moss.  For more information, check out our review!

Digital: Raising Buchanan

Raising Buchanan's dry sense of humor, wonderful cast, and quirky premise will steal your heart as you enjoy this presidential crime caper.  For more information, check out our review!

Digital: I Will Make You Mine
I Will Make You Mine is a beautiful blend of art and music with a bold style, great characters, and an authentic realism to its music that must be heard to believe!  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Netflix): Space Force
Space Force has Steve Carell returning to his comedic roots, along with a fantastic cast and plenty of humor in this high flying, hilarious series.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Netflix): Betaal

Betaal is a Hindi zombie series with the production values you expect from Blumhouse, featuring good horror effects, a palatable sense of suspense, and a fantastic cast!  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Netflix): Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler's fantastic return to serious roles is a diamond in the rough!  Uncut Gems is complex, with enough facets to allow its fantastic characters to sparkle brightly.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Amazon): After We Leave

After We Leave is a fresh first effort from writer / director Aleem Hossain, with a minimalist style, fresh perspective, and amazing score that elevates this film.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (HBO): Happy Death Day 2U
The sequel to the surprisingly good horror / comedy original, Happy Death Day 2U follows the events of the first movie with another killer loop that gets even more ridiculous than the first.  Tree is forced to make some very difficult choices as she tries to stay alive long enough to solve yet another groundhog day death trap.

Streaming (HBO): Ready or Not
Ready or Not tells a twisted tale with plenty of dark humor.  The setting is fantastic, the imagery feels authentic, and the performances give this deadly game a unique charm that will make you want to play again.  For more information, check out our review!

Deal: Rent The Invisible Man, The Hunt, or Emma; free if you have Sprint Rewards!

Today is the day that Universal and Focus Feature's theatrical movies are available for digital rental.  And if you have Disney Movie Insider points, you can get a deal on renting these movies through FandangoNOW.  The rentals normally are $20, but if you have Sprint Rewards and have FandangoNOW rentals in your account, you can use them for a free SD rental!  This works on the SD rentals of The Invisible Man, The Hunt, or Emma!

Follow these steps to take advantage:

1. Make sure to check your Sprint Rewards app on your phone for FandangoNOW rentals. 
2. Redeem your FandangoNOW rental codes on FandangoNOW before going to checkout.  Redeem here.
3. You can check your rental promotions by going to FandangoNOW and clicking rewards.
4. Pick which movie you would like to see:
1. The Invisible Man
2. The Hunt
3. Emma  
5. Select the SD $19.99 rent option
6. The promo should automatically apply if you have selected SD.
7. Price becomes $0.00
8. Enjoy your movie tonight!

This is a glitch in FandangoNOW so it might be fixed at any time.  If you want to watch these movies, I suggest you rent quickly!

News: Universal Theatrical Movies to be Available to Stream on March 20

As everyone adjusts to the new Quarantine world, Universal Pictures has made the stunning move of offering some of their theatrical movies available to stream as soon as this Friday, March 20, including The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Focus Feature's Emma.  Today, NBCUniversal announced that movies under the Universal Pictures banner will be available on-demand on the date of the theatrical release, including the upcoming Trolls: World Tour on April 10.

This should not change the delays of some prominent films such as No Time to Die, A Quiet Place 2, Mulan, and Universal's own Fast 9, but it should provide another avenue for those looking to avoid theaters but still wanting to see the newest movies.  This should also provide a boost for the box office, which saw its worst weekend since 1995 as consumers stayed home rather than head to the theaters.

Although details are still being worked out, it looks like these new theatrical movies will be $20 for a 48-hour rental period, which is about in line with how film rentals work on streaming services.  The first movies to be available will be The Invisible Man, the Hunt, and Emma on March 20.

"Given the rapidly evolving and unprecedented changes to consumers’ daily lives during this difficult time, the company felt that now was the right time to provide this option in the home as well as in theaters. NBCUniversal will continue to evaluate the environment as conditions evolve and will determine the best distribution strategy in each market when the current unique situation changes," read the company's release.

“Universal Pictures has a broad and diverse range of movies with 2020 being no exception. Rather than delaying these films or releasing them into a challenged distribution landscape, we wanted to provide an option for people to view these titles in the home that is both accessible and affordable,” said NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell in the same statement. “We hope and believe that people will still go to the movies in theaters where available, but we understand that for people in different areas of the world that is increasingly becoming less possible.”

Expect more details as this evolves!

What to Watch This Weekend: February 28, 2020

In Theaters: Emma.

Emma brings the Jane Austin classic to life with a colorful style, a stellar cast, and an absolute charm that will capture you from the first scene.  For more information, check out our review!

In Theaters: The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man is a new take on the classic concept, with great, minimalist effects, wonderful tension, and an amazing performance by Elisabeth Moss..  For more information, check out our review!

At Redbox: Knives Out

Knives Out assembles a killer cast of characters and pairs it with Rian Johnson's amazing style and wonderful, witty writing to create a very entertaining whodunit.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Showtime): On The Basis Of Sex

The RBG biopic--helped by fantastic performances by Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer does a great job of highlighting the challenges that she encountered trying to practice law and fight against inequality in a male dominated profession and culture.

Streaming (Netflix): The Angry Birds Movie 2

The Angry Birds Movie 2 takes the unenviable task of following on to the unlikely movie based on the mobile game.  It is a fun adventure that is at times laugh out loud funny, but also a little too disjointed.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Amazon): Good Newwz
Good Newwz delivers some enjoyable characters, laugh out loud comedy, and tackles some important issues with surprisingly heartfelt dramatic moments in a film that will entertain you right from conception.  For more information, check out our review!

Review: The Invisible Man

Release date: February 28, 2020
Running time: 124 minutes
Starring:  Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer

Blumhouse continues its trend of remaking classic films / franchises with The Invisible Man, whose concept appears to be loosely based on the 1933 film.  In this one,  Cecilia Kass (Moss), escapes from an abusive relationship with brilliant but controlling optics specialist Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen).  However, almost immediately after she escapes him, she starts to feel like she is not quite alone: she feels a presence in the room, hears a sound that doesn't seem right, or something disappears or moves without her doing.  Cecilia's friendships and sanity are put to the ultimate test as she tracks down something that she cannot see and no one believes is there.

The Invisible Man is first and foremost a suspenseful thriller.  Having a movie about someone you can't see causes even the most mundane scenes to feel tense.  The camera scrolling to an empty room imparts a sense of dread as you never know if something is going to happen.  This stays true even after you know that there is an invisible being, and it really shows how far this simple concept can go.  And a lot of this is helped along by Moss's feature performance.  She has to carry a lot of the movie on her own, especially with an invisible co-star, and carries that burden easily.  Moss is emotional, believable, and deals with her character's ups and downs perfectly.  The rest of the cast are good in their roles, but Moss is the headliner and star of the film. 

Due to the relatively simple concept, it appears Blumhouse took a minimalist approach to this film, including in the effects department.  A sci-fi / horror film can live and die by its effects, and thankfully The Invisible Man does a great job with what it has.  The film is not heavy on CG and that is a great thing.  It makes the film all the more tense because it doesn't go overboard with the effects.  Even the scenes with the invisible co-star are well done and don't break your suspension of disbelief.  Additionally, the sounds are minimal and made to keep you guessing.  Little sounds you hear behind you keep you on edge; was that something behind you or is it normal creak of an old house.  The sound helps to keep you on edge and is another testament to seeing this film in theaters (or with a good home sound setup).  If there is one downside, it is the story.  It is not bad, but it makes some leaps that are not believable and the characters make some decisions that are questionable.  However, if you can put aside these minor issues, you get a very enjoyable thriller. 

The Invisible Man is a new take on the classic film, with great, minimalist effects, wonderful tension, and an amazing performance by Elisabeth Moss.

Watch It