What to stream on Netflix, Stan, Foxtel Now this week
STUCK for ideas on what to watch this weekend? From killer sharks and fabled crime lords to a nightmare rom-com about being dumped at the altar, Leigh Paatsch has you covered.
Leigh Paatsch
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STUCK for ideas on what to watch this weekend? From killer sharks to a nightmare rom-com about being dumped at the alter, Leigh Paatsch has you covered.
Avoid the dreadful weather across Victoria and stay on the sofa this weekend with some of the best films to stream this week.
THE ONE WHICH FANGS YOU VERY MUCH
47 METRES DOWN (M) ***
GOOGLE, iTunes
Next week’s release of the Jason Statham marine thriller The Meg will once again make shark movies the flavour of the month.
If you need to put yourself in training to handle the stress, look no further than this sharp-toothed offering.
Mandy Moore and Claire Holt play sisters whose vacation sinks to unexpected depths when an underwater sightseeing mishap leaves them trapped inside a rusty cage on the ocean floor. Their oxygen tanks will soon run out.
Some humungous killer sharks will soon be closing in.
Though the heroines make some dumb moves in their bid to survive the ordeal, the script’s clever reminders about deep-sea dos and don’ts will keep viewers invested in ascertaining the final outcome.
With shark movies, it is all about when to unleash moments of desperate panic, and when to erase them with periods of calming clarity. 47 Metres Down gets it right most of the time, striking an effective balance between all the teasing and the teething crucial to the genre. Co-stars Matthew Modine.
THE ONE WHERE IT ALL COULD BE TUTU MUCH
FIRST POSITION (G) ****
ABC IVIEW
This compelling documentary look at a group of children rising through the ranks of competitive ballet is all about pressure. A lot of pressure.
To win one of the coveted prizes on offer during the annual Youth America Grand Prix competition, it takes a high degree of mental strength not always found in the very young.
The cameras of first-time filmmaker Bess Kargman are invariably present when each of her six subjects reach their individual moment of reckoning.
Some rise to the occasion. Some falter at the last hurdle. It is edge-of-the-seat stuff by the close of the film, and not just because of the high stakes in play for all involved.
Playing in the ABC iview documentary section until next Monday.
THE ONE THAT FORGETS ABOUT THE WEDDING, BUT STILL TAKES THE HONEYMOON
LIKE FATHER (M) ***
NETFLIX
With new releases in cinemas so thin on the ground at the moment — can happen when a Film Festival is on in town — this solid, if disposable lightweight rom-com on Netflix will definitely appeal to some this weekend.
Kristen Bell (fresh from some fine work on the acclaimed Netflix series The Good Place) stars as Rachel, an alpha-female ad exec who spends much of her life glued to her phone or camped in her office.
The snap-out-of-it moment you just know is coming does not take long to arrive.
Rachel is dumped at the altar by an exasperated fiancee, and after a few too many commiserating drinks, finds herself on the cruise ship that was supposed to host her dream honeymoon.
Except now it has the makings of a nightmare, as she will be sharing her suite with her estranged father Harry (Kelsey Grammer). Yes, this is familiar and predictable stuff for the most part, but it is well carried off for such undemanding fare (helped in no small part by Seth Rogen in a key supporting role).
THE ONE WHERE THE TRUTH IS SERVED COLD AND HARD
BEATRIZ AT DINNER (M) ****
FOXTEL NOW, STAN
Salma Hayek gives a career-best performance in the title role, a no-nonsense Mexican masseuse invited to attend a dinner party hosted by two rich clients.
Beatriz is the only person at the table that isn’t worth millions.
But that isn’t about to stop her calling out the indulgences, excesses and self-centred ways of her fellow guests.
Hayek’s intense verbal stoushes with John Lithgow (playing a cruel and calculating property tycoon) form a strong spine for a socially astute drama which won’t back off in its critique of modern selfishness and greed.
Such fiery, spirited stuff is particularly apt in an era where Donald Trump is the incumbent US President, and class divides are widening all over the globe.
THE ONE WHERE THE WAR IS OVER BUT THE BATTLE IS NOT
LAND OF MINE (MA15+) ***1/2
FOXTEL NOW, STAN
An overwhelmingly tense military drama (and 2016 Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee) based on a remarkable series of true events. During its WWII occupation by German forces, Denmark was studded with over two million landmines.
The unwanted clean-up job went to German POWs with no experience in the field of bomb defusal.
Filmmaker Martin Zandvliet zeros in on one common trait to each of the frazzled soldiers crawling along the beach and gingerly poking metal rods into the sand: they are all in their teens.
This stark, no-frills affair is guaranteed to put a viewer through the emotional wringer purely by virtue of its crushing subject matter.
THE ONE THAT JUST GETS BETTER WITH AGE
THE USUAL SUSPECTS (M) *****
NETFLIX
Time has not diminished the sheer excellence of this classic crime film.
After five small-time hoods (Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey and Benicio Del Toro) are wrongfully accused of a recent cash grab, they decide to band together to pull off a few jobs that will have the cops really scratching their heads.
However, along the way, the gang incur the wrath of a fabled international crime lord, who may or may not allow them to live after giving him back what they owe him.
Although the ending is given away at the very beginning, once you are immersed in the relentless interrogation of the brains of the outfit (a standout display by Spacey), it soon becomes clear that merely knowing the outcome is not enough.
A movie where the getting-there (and the getting-away-with-it) is everything.
THE ONE IT IS BEST NOT TO RSVP TO
LIFE OF THE PARTY (M) *1/2
GOOGLE, iTunes
Approximately 90 per cent of American comedian Melissa McCarthy’s screen output since her brilliant breakthrough in Bridesmaids many moons ago has stunk to high heaven.
While this isn’t the most pungent thing the star has done, it is consistently faintly on the nose throughout.
McCarthy plays Deanna, a frumpy, clingy, over-sharing mother who has decided it might be a great idea to enrol at the same college as her daughter.
FIVE TOM CRUISE MOVIES TO STREAM THIS WEEK
Originally published as What to stream on Netflix, Stan, Foxtel Now this week
Timely take on Munich Olympics terrorist crisis
The edge-of-your-seat factual drama September 5 takes viewers behind the scenes in one of the Olympic Games’ darkest hours with a message that still resonates today.
Companion’s a terrifically twisting thriller best seen spoiler-free
Companion is the kind of original and inventive thriller that comes around all too rarely – but the top-level twists hit hardest by going in spoiler-free, writes Leigh Paatsch.