Streaming guide: What you need to watch this weekend

Rocky fans are in for a treat with the entire movie collection available for streaming, along with an Expendables for the thinking man movie and an exquisitely composed period romantic drama that’s a must-see.

Rocky fans are in for a treat with the entire collection available for streaming, along with an Expendables for the thinking man movie and an exquisitely composed period romantic drama.

Here’s what to watch, and where, this weekend.

READ MORE:

TRIPLE FRONTIER MORE THAN A GUN-AND-STUN

FIVE KIDMAN MOVIES WORTH ANOTHER WATCH

LEGO MOVIE 2 LESS MEMORABLE THAT THE FIRST

Amy Schumer’s Netflix special is a solid return to form.

THE ONE THAT’S PREGNANT WITHOUT A PAUSE

AMY SCHUMER: GROWING (M)

***

NETFLIX

It ain’t easy being Amy Schumer. We know because she tells us this repeatedly. It is not that Schumer wants an audience’s pity. Being one of the most polarising names in comedy is a crucial part of her brand. Schumer is at her best when it is simply her versus the world. Nevertheless, this new Netflix concert special finds Schumer not as sure-footed as she once was at the very height of her fame as a stand-up about five years ago. Two dud movies in a row (Snatched, I Feel Pretty) and a steady stream of damaging personal controversies are stumbles from which Schumer is looking to recover from ASAP. While Growing will not go down as Schumer’s finest hour on stage, there is a fire to her delivery that few of today’s stand-ups can muster. The all-new material tried out here is definitely more hit than miss, particularly when Schumer talks of her own life (particularly her current pregnancy and recent marriage) instead of lecturing us about ours. If nothing else, a solid return to form, with more yet to come.

Tag is based on a real life story about a group of friends who played the same game of “You’re It!” for 30 years.

THE ONE THAT’S ALWAYS ON THE RUN

TAG (M)

**1/2

FOXTEL NOW, NETFLIX

Until it finally runs out of gas, Tag proves to be a comedy worth catching. Mainly because the way in which it revels in its dumb premise is so darn infectious. A skittish script is inspired by a true-ish newspaper story about five male friends who have been kept playing the same game of “you’re it!” since they started primary school. Among those letting their inner child govern their adult idiocy are comedians Ed Helms (Vacation), Hannibal Buress (TV’s Broad City), Jake Johnson (The Mummy) and ex-Mad Men icon Jon Hamm. However, MVP honours go to Jeremy Renner and his very funny, laser-focused portrayal of the LeBron James of the sport of tag, a dude who has never once been caught in 30 years.

All of the Rocky movies are available to stream on Foxtel Now.

THE ONE THAT’S ALWAYS IN THE RING

THE ROCKY COLLECTION (M)

****

FOXTEL NOW

Those who have always wanted to binge on all things Rocky Balboa have been royally sorted out by Foxtel, who have rounded up all the Rocky movies in the one place for the first time on a streaming platform. The 1976 original remains a stone-cold classic of course, all the more miraculous when you consider Sly Stallone was persona non grata in Hollywood when he first pitched this shaggy underdog flick. The results are mixed (yet trashily enjoyable) across subsequent instalments. Nevertheless, throughout it all, ol’ Rocky remains a loyal friend to unwanted pets, dowdy women and pot-bellied Italian men everywhere.

An all-star ensemble cast in Triple Frontier: Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal. Picture: Netflix

THE ONE WHERE WAR IS A HELL OF A PAYOUT

TRIPLE FRONTIER (MA15+)

***1/2

NETFLIX

War-movie fans will want to right across this deep-thinking, deep-digging run-gun-and-stun affair, based on a story penned by ace scripter Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker). Santiago (Oscar Isaac) has the deal of a lifetime on the table, a lucrative ambush-extraction op deep in the jungle somewhere in South America. There’s just one hitch. Santiago doesn’t have a team in place, and time is of the essence. Which is why he is offering a small fortune to ex-military burnouts like Tom (Ben Affleck) who need the cash. This is a nifty little set-up, staged as more of an Expendables for the thinking man, rather than a blam-blam-blam action picture. Though Triple Frontier takes a while to reach the right heightened levels of tension, confusion and aggression promised by Santiago’s semi-suicide mission, it does indeed get there in the end. Co-stars Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Garret Hedlund (TRON: Legacy) and Pedro Pascal (Narcos).

Lily Collins (second from left) stars in Warren Beatty's romantic drama Rules Don't Apply.

THE ONE THAT’S AN OLD-FASHIONED LOVE STORY

RULES DON’T APPLY (M)

***

NETFLIX

A pleasing, if inconsequential trifle of a romance. In 1958 Los Angeles, Hollywood newcomer Marla (Lily Collins) is being guided around town by Frank (Alden Ehrenreich), a young driver on the payroll of eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes. There is an attraction between the pair, which is strictly forbidden inside the Hughes enclave. There is also a shared ambition to get ahead in life, which is covertly encouraged by the oddball millionaire himself. This messy, yet consistently engaging movie (a passion project for Warren Beatty as writer-director) gets by fusing simple nostalgia with clever insights about impressionable young people learning how to make an impression. Co-stars Annette Bening.

Cate Blanchett in Carol.

THE ONE THAT’S A (NOT-SO) OLD-FASHIONED LOVE STORY

CAROL (M)

****1/2

SBS ON DEMAND

First comes the falling in love. Then comes the fallout. So it goes in this exquisitely composed and deeply felt romantic drama. This will speak to anyone who has ever lost their heart, or lost their way living in fear of the consequences. Cate Blanchett excels as always in the title role, a 1950s wife and mother unable to suppress an instant and intense same-sex attraction to a young aspiring photographer (Rooney Mara). The mere fact a relationship will take hold (and then, take over) the lives of two women may seem rather ho-hum by 2019 standards. However, writer-director Todd Haynes keeps his film anchored by the heavy moral suppression that underpinned American life in the 1950s.

Angus Sampson and Hugo Weaving star in The Mule, now streaming on Google Play and iTunes. Picture: Andrew Tauber

THE ONE THAT HAS A STRANGE GUT FEELING

THE MULE (MA15+)

***1/2

GOOGLE PLAY, ITUNES

The year is 1983. An Australian tourist returning a footy trip in Thailand has been detained by security officials at Tullamarine. There is reason to believe that the burly gentleman with the pants around his ankles and a torchlight illuminating his posterior might be carrying drugs of some kind. As it turns out, Ray Jenkins (played by Angus Sampson) is indeed transgressing the law. Lodged in his stomach a kilo of pure heroin. According to the legal fine print of the era, if the drugs leave Ray’s person within 7 days, it is jail time for a long time to come. But if Ray can stay in a state of suspended self-constipation for a full week, the fuzz have to let him go. Though there is a decidedly comic angle to this surreal standoff, The Mule is really a whip-smart crime film with an air of menace and a sly take on suburban Australian life that demands to be taken seriously. Co-stars Hugo Weaving, Ewen Leslie, Noni Hazlehurst.

Originally published as Streaming guide: What you need to watch this weekend