Streaming guide: What to watch this weekend
Parents everywhere are either about to have the best long weekend of their lives filled with quiet, engrossed children or the worst three days filled with mind-numbing musical earworms on repeat - because Frozen 2 has dropped on streaming services.
Weekly Guide
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THE ONE COMING IN FOR THE CHILL AGAIN
FROZEN 2 (PG)
***
GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES
Back in 2013, the general consensus about the animated musical Frozen among those supposedly in the know was that it was a nice enough ‘toon that would soon be forgotten. Every little girl in the world not only knew better, they also knew a precious touchstone of their childhood had appeared before them. And with an irresistible array of earworms - no, make that ear-pythons - wriggling all over the soundtrack, there was no chance Frozen would ever be forgotten. So here it is, the follow-up most parents were secretly dreading, and the massive Frozen fanbase have openly embraced. Now officially the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, Frozen 2 doubles down on both the gleefully goofy antics and asides of Olaf (Josh Gad) and a fleet of fresh catchy compositions. The plotting is arguably too busy (and a mite too dark) for its own good, but sisters Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) still vividly embody the right kind of values and vitality that won everybody over the first time around.
THE ONE WHERE THE ACTION IS THE ATTRACTION
JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3 (MA15+)
***1/2
FOXTEL
The John Wick franchise will never be down for the count as long as it keeps upping the ante. Just as movie number two in the Keanu Reeves-starring series of revenge thrillers bested the original, number three takes higher aim than its predecessors and hits a bullseye. The new instalment picks up where we left off last time, with Mr Wick making the most of a one-hour head start he has been granted from a horde of contract assassins on his trail. Joyless Johnny violated a code of conduct so precious to his hitmen brethren that there is now a $14 million bounty on his head. What follows is yet another stunning collection of action set pieces for which the franchise has become renowned, every one of them intricately choreographed to the last millimetre. Some sequences are flat-out insane, such as an all-in brawl staged in Morocco where the most dangerous fighters turn out to be a pair of comically combative canines. The unworldly shot composition of unheralded director Chad Stahelski continues to astonish, too.
THE ONE WITH A LOT TO SLAY
KILLING THEM SOFTLY (MA15+)
****
FOXTEL, GOOGLE, ITUNES
A down’n’dirty American crime film, from an Australian writer-director who knows a thing or two about such things (Andrew Dominik of Chopper fame). On top of some intensely gritty (and often, physically punishing) performances from Brad Pitt, Ben Mendelsohn and a fine ensemble cast, the film boasts some incredibly well-written speeches that anticipate a fractured future where Donald Trump could become President. In particular, Pitt’s line delivery in his monologues is electrifying. One example: “I’m living in America, and in America, you’re on your own. America’s not a country. It’s just a business. Now pay me.”
THE ONE ABOUT A PAINTER WHO WON’T BE BRUSHED OFF
MR TURNER (M)
****
STAN
An engrossing biopic of the famous British artist JMW Turner (played by Timothy Spall). This leading light of 19th century painting was an intriguing mix of the contentious and the unpretentious, and it’s Spall’s decisive reading of both sides of the man that lifts a modest film to great heights. A long running time is a positive factor here, especially as Turner’s style begins to change radically in his later years. Yet another burst of organically grown cinematic goodness from UK filmmaker Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Another Year).
THE ONE THAT WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT FOREVER
DUEL (M)
****1/2
FOXTEL
One man. One car. One mad trucker. One hell of a chase across back-roads America. Welcome to Road Rage: The Early Days. Your guide is a young and hungry pre-Jaws Steven Spielberg, who directed this made-for-TV thriller like a Hitchcock on steroids. If you have never seen this classic chase flick, you are in for something seat-grippingly special. Has lost a drop of dread since it first saw the light of day back in 1971.
THE ONE GOING TO CHURCH, BUT NOT TO WORSHIP
GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY & THE PRISON OF BELIEF (M)
****
SBS ON DEMAND
After successfully tackling such slippery subjects as Julian Assange, Lance Armstrong and the Vatican, documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney takes on one of the most maligned and intimidating organisations on the planet: the Church of Scientology. In light of Scientology’s infamously aggressive stance towards coverage of its activities, a necessarily cautious approach has been taken. Nevertheless, Gibney’s determination to maintain a balanced, informative context for his work trumps all misgivings. Once Going Clear gets to Scientology leader David Miscavige - and his association with celebrity Scientologists like Tom Cruise and John Travolta - the film really enters dark and often disturbing territory.
THE ONE CAUSING COLLATERAL DAMAGE
COLLATERAL BEAUTY (M)
**
NETFLIX
The most iffy factor about this needlessly odd, unfashionably sentimental drama is a puzzling plot that hopes to make hearts sing, but can only make foreheads wrinkle. Will Smith plays Howard, an angst-ridden adman mourning the death of his daughter. Howard’s kooky coping mechanism of writing how-dare-you letters to metaphorical correspondents such as Death, Love and Time is not easing the pain. Neither are Howard’s business partners (led by Edward Norton and Kate Winslet) who think it’s a great idea to hire actors to pose as Death, Love and Time (Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jacob Latimore respectively). These desperate thesps pretend to be spectral apparitions that only an easily-fooled Howard can see. For the rest of the movie, the trio will dispense lengthy dollops of life advice, scripted by Howard’s workmates in an attempt to get him to stop missing his dead kid so much. Not only is this a strange way of supposedly helping a friend who is hurting. It is kind of cruel, as well.
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