What to stream on Netflix, Stan, Foxtel now

A DOCUMENTARY wrestling with the life and legacy of Andre the Giant, a gritty hip-hop classic and one for the romantics. There’s a movie for every taste in this week’s streaming guide.

DOCUMENTARY lovers should book an appointment with the fascinating Andre the Giant while it sits on SBS On Demand for free until the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Foxtel Now has two new releases of the highest calibre: Coco, and Call Me By Your Name.

Whatever your taste in movies, there’s plenty on offer on streaming platforms this weekend.

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN A FAMILY DELIGHT

THE BEST MOVIES OF 2018

The one that goes big and just gets better

ANDRE THE GIANT (M) ****

SBS ON DEMAND

This wonderful HBO production was recently broadcast on SBS, and now sits in the Documentary section of their On Demand platform until Christmas.

That gives you plenty of time to engross yourself in the unusual and remarkable life story of a Frenchman named Andre Rene Roussimoff. Most remember him under the nom de plume that brought Roussimoff fame as a pro wrestler: Andre the Giant.

The doco celebrates the myth of Andre the Giant, as well as his quiet, sensitive side. Picture: Supplied

At the peak of his powers, Andre stood 2.25 metres tall and weighed 230 kilograms, and continually cast an imposing, yet endearing shadow in and out of the “squared circle”.

While the doco celebrates the myth of the man, it also crafts a portrait of a rather solitary figure whose gregarious personality masked a quieter, more sensitive soul.

Some consistently colourful storytelling peaks with Andre’s momentous showdown with Hulk Hogan (a vocal interviewee here) at WrestleMania III, before tapering down to Andre’s premature passing at the age of 46.

The one that gets animated and got itself an Oscar

COCO (PG) ****

FOXTEL NOW

Just ahead of the school holidays, this year’s winner of the Best Animated Feature Oscar makes a timely bow on the streaming scene. The vivid setting — further enhanced by the production genius of Pixar — is Mexico’s famous Day of the Dead Festival.

It is here we meet aspiring mariachi Miguel (voiced by newcomer Anthony Gonzalez), a 12-year-old guitar prodigy straining against his family’s blanket ban on music.

On the eve of festivities in his village, Miguel finds himself transported to the afterlife, where he will search for his great-great-grandfather Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). The netherworld into Miguel and his adorable canine sidekick Dante must journey is pure Pixar creativity at its eye-popping best.

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The one for hopeless romantics … and nostalgics

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (M) ****1/2

FOXTEL NOW

The time and place vividly conjured here is a 1980s summer in northern Italy.

However, once the story kicks in, the overwhelming beauty of the movie does not seem to matter as much. What comes to the fore even more powerfully is a certain state of mind captured in fine detail.

Anyone who can remember what it was like to fall in love for the first time — that moment where the here and now were all that mattered, and the how and why could wait forever — will recognise the aching accuracy of what this captivating movie conveys.

Elio (Timothée Chalamet) is 17 years of age, the only child of an American father (Michael Stuhlbarg) and French mother (Amira Casar), living an idyllic year-round existence in the Italian countryside.

Upon the arrival of a visitor from America for an extended stay — Oliver (Armie Hammer), a graduate student in his mid-twenties — Elio finds himself drawn to the good-looking guest in ways he cannot fully understand. Or, for that matter, hide.

Armie Hammer in Call Me By Your Name. Picture: Supplied

The one that hits the right notes modestly

BEGIN AGAIN (M) ***

STAN

There two morals to the story here. Never sell out. Never give in. Got that? Good. Keira Knightley plays Gretta, a talented and unknown British singer-songwriter stranded in the US after her boyfriend dumps her.

A troubled talent scout (Mark Ruffalo) steps in to save the day, and soon Gretta is recording tracks for her debut album all over New York City.

Begin Again is the work of Irish filmmaker John Carney, whose gentle, grassroots style of meshing music and romance was firmly established with the surprise 2007 hit Once. While lightning doesn’t quite strike twice here — cynical types won’t be enamoured of Carney’s love of the sincerely soppy — this remains a pleasant effort throughout.

Eminem topped the box office as well as the charts with 8 Mile. Picture: AP

T he one that’s a classic hip-hop blast from the past

8 MILE (M) ***1/2

NETFLIX

The former chart-topping hellraiser Eminem acquits himself very well in this pseudo-autobiographical take on his early days as a wannabe rapper from the wrong side of the tracks.

The classy direction of Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential) filters elements of Rocky, Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain through the Eminem’s own mythical public image for an authentically gritty result.

To be admired rather than enjoyed, but a considerable achievement nonetheless. If you’re wondering, the title refers to an actual stretch of road that separates the affluent suburbs of Detroit from their poorer neighbours.

The one that parks itself comfortably in your affections

THE LADY IN THE VAN (M) ***1/2

NETFLIX

This delightful comedy-drama tells the true story of someone who didn’t know how, or when, to say goodbye. Mary Shepherd (Maggie Smith) pulled into the suburban London driveway of acclaimed British writer Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) in 1974.

Fifteen years later, she was still there. Bennett can sense there is a past to Miss Shepherd that defies the stereotype of the near-homeless bag lady so many believe her to be. It takes a long time — and some trying times — for Bennett to piece together just a few small areas of the mysterious jigsaw that is Mary’s life history.

Broadly appealing performances from Smith (in a different mode from Downton Abbey) and the unheralded Jennings fit the bill aptly here.

Aaron Eckhart and Gerard Butler in London Has Fallen. Picture: AP

The one that doubles down on deranged, dumb fun

LONDON HAS FALLEN (MA15+) **1/2

STAN

A plain-wrapped, blood-soaked guilty pleasure from beginning to end, this sequel to the unlikely 2013 action hit Olympus Has Fallen delivers exactly what its target audience wants.

Flagrantly macho, flamboyantly stupid and yet somehow consistently entertaining, London Has Fallen charts the ongoing alpha-male adventures of Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler).

Though Mike and his missus (Radha Mitchell) are expecting their first child, don’t go assuming this screw-loose protector of the US President (Aaron Eckhart) has tightened up his act in the years he’s been away. Nope, once he joins the Prez on a terrorist-riddled state visit to Great Britain, Banning proves to be as crabby and stabby as he ever was.

Originally published as What to stream on Netflix, Stan, Foxtel now