Upstream: The ones to watch this long weekend
LONG weekend and the couch is calling your name? Bypass the dodgy flicks and shows as Leigh Paatsch reviews what’s streaming now on Netflix, Stan and Foxtel Now.
Leigh Paatsch
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SOMETIMES you just need three days of uninterrupted chill time. Don’t waste your long weekend on boring films and shows — here’s the ones you should watch, plus some stinkers to avoid.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY ... AND HAS NOW RETURNED
WIND RIVER (MA15+) Four and a half stars
FOXTEL NOW
Another hidden gem from 2017 that missed the wide acclaim it was sorely due. Much of Wind River takes place on the frigid snowscapes of a Native American reservation in Wyoming.
It is here that unprepared FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) has travelled to investigate a possible homicide.
Jane’s only guide through this ravaged region — where the social, economic and cultural devastation is so complete, it often feels like an abandoned planet — is hard-bitten local game tracker Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner).
The soulfully stilted repartee of Olsen and Renner slowly drags their characters from remote to relatable, and the wait is well worth it.
This (literally) chilly crime procedural is the work of actor-turned-screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, who before this penned two of the finest movies of the present decade in with Sicario and Hell or High Water.
This refined drama — which should have done Oscars biz in a few categories — isn’t far behind them.
THE ONE THAT TELLS YOU STORIES AND SINGS YOU SONGS
STEVE MARTIN & MARTIN SHORT: AN EVENING ... (M) — Three and a half stars
NETFLIX
The full title of this mostly wonderful new concert special deliberately and inaccurately reads as ‘An Evening You Will Forget For the Rest of Your Life’.
Veteran comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short have been close friends for a long time, and this live recording captured recently in South Carolina proves them to be quite a powerful live double act as well.
The main thrust of the show is centred on Martin and Short’s prodigious capabilities as both raconteurs (Steve’s story about meeting Elvis in Vegas in 1970 is a highlight) and improvisers (especially with off-the-cuff insults) are a sincere delight.
The only drawbacks here occur whenever Martin reaches for his banjo or Short leans on a piano. Neither are the greatest musical talents.
THE ONE THAT HAS A NICE LITTLE RED HOT GO
THAT’S NOT ME (MA15+) — Three stars
FOXTEL NOW
Most low-budget comedies made here in Australia die a deserved death. Not this one, which leaves nothing on the table when it comes to energy expended.
Alice Foulcher plays Polly Cuthbert, a low-ranking actor also working the ticket counter at her local cinema.
This should be no source of shame in itself. However, the twist here — and a plentiful source of multiple humiliations — is the fact Polly is one half of a set of identical twins.
Her sister Amy just happens to be one of the most popular stars on Australian television.
Though the movie has problems finding a satisfactory ending, its refreshingly relaxed feel and a fine performance by Foulcher in a deceptively demanding role ensures it never outstays its welcome.
THE ONE THAT IS JUST HANGIN’ OUT WITH THE GUYS
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! (MA15+) — Four stars
STAN
In late 2014, prolific American filmmaker Richard Linklater unveiled Boyhood, a gently epic dramatic portrait of the first 18 years of life.
A few years down the track, Linklater returned with a light and loose comedy mounted on a radically smaller scale than its predecessor. The time span covered here falls just short of four days.
However, Everybody Wants Some!! does have a significant link to Boyhood in that it shares the same relaxed, unhurried view of the world.
There is a natural flow of conversation and energy coursing between the featured characters of both films that is truly unique in today’s cinema.
The year is 1980. Jake (Blake Jenner) is a freshman student with designs on making the baseball squad at his new college home in Texas.
What follows is three days and nights of undistilled male bonding, conducted by young gents at a certain stage in life where they are no longer boys, but still some way off from becoming men.
The vividly evocative results that Linklater consistently achieves continue to speak for themselves.
THE ONE THAT IS JUST HANGIN’ OUT WITH THE SPIES
AMERICAN ASSASSIN (MA15+) — Two and a half stars
STAN
Say hello to Mitch Rapp, a can-do counter-terrorism operative rising through the ranks of the CIA.
The most popular creation of the late best-selling author Vince Flynn, Rapp (played by Maze Runner heart-throb Dylan O’Brien) needs an all-stops-out origin story to find quick traction with audiences.
This rudimentary run-and-gun action thriller does the job in largely workmanlike fashion, save for the surprise sighting of prestige actor Michael Keaton (Birdman, Spotlight) getting his kicks as Rapp’s tough old boot of a mentor.
THE ONE WHERE A WORLD WAR DOESN’T SPOIL A GOOD TIME
THEIR FINEST (M) — Three and a half stars
FOXTEL NOW
A sincerely endearing tale of quiet achievement and self-discovery, set in WWII London. Gemma Arterton plays an inexperienced copywriter who lands a plum job penning dialogue for British propaganda movies.
Combining just the right dashes of drama, comedy and romance, this calculated crowd-pleaser goes about its business amiably, but never aimlessly.
A delightfully motivated support cast (led by Bill Nighy as a faded film star looking for another shot at the big time) keep the good times on a roll.
THE ONE THEY NEVER SHOULD HAVE MADE ... AND YOU SHOULD NEVER WATCH
FLATLINERS (M) — one and a half stars
FOXTEL NOW
Inert remake of the trashy 1990 thriller about a bunch of med students experimenting with the act of temporarily dying to improve their quality of life.
Back then, it was a strong cast (Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland) that covered up the concept’s many weaknesses.
This time around, a pack of relative unknowns (of which Juno star Ellen Page is the only name of repute) stands no chance.
Unlike its protagonists, this movie expires early, and never once gives any sign it will be coming back from the dead.
The recurring presence of a cash-for-cameoing Kiefer Sutherland — who could not look more disinterested — says it all here.
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Originally published as Upstream: The ones to watch this long weekend
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