Streaming guide: Watch to watch on Binge, Netflix, Google
Bikies, kids classics, documentaries and fast cars — there are plenty of options on streaming platforms to get you through another week of lockdown. Leigh Paatsch looks at the best movies on Binge, Netflix and more.
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The one that laps the rest
FORD V FERRARI (M)
****
STREAM via FOXTEL; or Rent via GOOGLE, APPLE TV, YOUTUBE
Its pacing is not exactly fast. Its temperament is nowhere near furious. Nevertheless, this is as fine a movie about cars, car racing and car drivers as you could ever hope to see in the present era. In fact, Ford V Ferrari is about a whole lot more than merely a life lived on four wheels. So much so that even non-petrolheads who’s rather watch a doco about public transport will likely find themselves both engrossed and entertained. Screenplay-wise, all roads lead towards the 1966 edition of the Le Mans 24-hour motor race, where American manufacturing giant Ford is looking to end the dominance of the event by Italian rivals Ferrari. However, the movie is equally about the wars waged inside Ford to create a car capable of conquering this bitumen battleground. It is here we find a well-matched Matt Damon (as gifted designer Carroll Shelby) and Christian Bale (as maverick driving ace Ken Miles) at the very top of their game. A movie that keeps giving a rush, even when it backs off the speed. Co-stars Josh Lucas, Tracy Letts.
The one that comes out to play ... for keeps
TOY STORY 4 (G)
****1/2
STREAM via DISNEY+; or Rent via GOOGLE, APPLE TV, YOUTUBE
The Toy Story trilogy continues to embody a precious and rare movie alchemy, a magical combination of real art and true heart that connects with viewers of all ages, backgrounds and mindsets. As for Toy Story 4, it pays its way as a respectful and highly satisfying addition to the canon, without once tainting the pure perfection of all that has gone before. Less of a sequel and more of a standalone adventure meeting the high standards of the trilogy, the screenplay integrates Sheriff Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) and our old faves with a new collection of characters worthy of admission to the Toy Story universe. Chief among them is the wonderful Forky (Tony Hale), a goofy hybrid of plastic cutlery and pipe-cleaners that usurps the regular toys to become their owner’s preferred plaything. Both entertaining and emotionally astute, this is simply wonderful stuff from beginning to end.
The one faithing up to a changing of the guard
THE TWO POPES (M)
****
NETFLIX
This true-ish story of two old Vatican bros whistling ABBA tunes, debating theology, cheering on their respective national soccer teams and rearranging the face of modern Catholicism just happens to be a ripping motion picture experience. It is a clever film that targets both the head and the heart, and won’t be missing either if its excellent lead actors Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce have any say in the matter. Hopkins plays German-born Pope Benedict XVI, a remote and archly conservative leader who senses his time in the job might be coming to an end. Enter Pryce as Argentinian Cardinal Bergoglio (the future Pope Francis), who also wants to get off the Vatican merry-go-round. This archetypal odd couple get talking, get over their mutual suspicions and prejudices, and get about making history. Can get a bit corny, but what it does right is done very well indeed.
The one bidding you a good Knightley
THE AFTERMATH
**1/2
STREAM via FOXTEL; or Rent via GOOGLE, APPLE TV, YOUTUBE
This one goes out to those who can’t get enough of Keira Knightley dressed to the period-era nines, slinking about well-appointed mansions while stealing well-rehearsed glances at well-built males. In a rickety romantic drama that often goes comically close to collapsing, Knightley plays Rachel, a British woman who has just moved into lavish new digs in the German city of Hamburg. The year is 1946, and Rachel’s army officer husband Lewis (Jason Clarke) has commandeered the swank premises while he works on fine-tuning the ongoing Allied occupation of the region. Fatefully, Lewis allows the former resident of his new home to go on living there. Stefan (Alexander Skarsgard) just happens to be the hunkiest widower in Hamburg, a fact not lost on Rachel whenever her spouse ain’t around. Bedroom eyelids will be batted. Shirts slowly unbuttoned. Longing looks will be deployed through windows and into fireplaces alike. Based on the novel by Rhidian Brook.
The one with a gang mentality
1% (MA15+)
**1/2
BINGE, FOXTEL
What we have here is a bunch of Aussie biker blokes going the biff, the bonk and the bloody well badly behaved. The hope seems to be that this yarn of inter-gang rivalries and intra-gang leadership tensions will land somewhere between the wounding malice of an Animal Kingdom and the punchy snap of TV’s Sons of Anarchy. Unfortunately, that never comes to pass, but there are occasional pulses of power connecting to what might have been. Ryan Corr stars as Paddo, the VP of a biker gang who has been serving as interim leader while the incumbent president is completing a three-year stretch in the slammer. However, now that brutish head honcho Knuck (Matt Nable) is released and ready to rumble, Paddo isn’t quite ready for the handover. The main problem is his skeezy dunce of a brother Skink (Josh McConville), who has forced Paddo to do a deal with an enemy gang that Knuck won’t like one little bit. Stylishly shot, but not always that convincing in the writing and acting departments. Just a note if you can’t find this on your streamer’s menus: try entering the title as ‘One Per Cent’.
The one that’s hard to pick that you should pick
DUPLICITY (PG)
****
BINGE, FOXTEL, AMAZON
A blast from the past well worth tracking down now it is back in wide circulation on home streaming. From the outset, this twisty, turny and openly deceitful spy mystery is determined to confound and confuse the viewer. If you are confident enough to stump up your best guess about what is going on, you will soon be proven wrong. Over and over again. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts play undercover spies who keep crossing paths in unusual circumstances as an elaborate corporate sting plays out. An intelligent and teasingly clever work from writer-director Tony Gilroy – whose 2007 debut Michael Clayton exhibited the same traits in darker circumstances. Highly recommended.
The one that won’t go out of fashion
WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST (M)
***
Stream via DOCPLAY; or Rent via FOXTEL STORE, GOOGLE, APPLE TV, YOUTUBE
Not content with being the centre piece of a documentary chronicling her equally vital and volatile life and times, veteran British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood thought she might file a definitive review of the production as well. Just ahead of its world premiere, Westwood jumped on Twitter to give it a right old slamming, declaring “the film is mediocre.” The doco does have its flaws – not the least of which is a lack of depth when it comes to establishing Westwood’s extensive legacy – but mediocre it is not. The spiky, casually curmudgeonly presence of Westwood herself sees to that. Though she does her best not to properly co-operate with the filmmakers, you do get a solid grip on the contrarian personality that took Westwood from unhappy housewife in the 1960s to fearless fashion visionary in the decades that followed. The doco arguably dwells a bit too long on Westwood’s role in London punk rock culture wars of the 1970s, but never bores for a moment.
Originally published as Streaming guide: Watch to watch on Binge, Netflix, Google