Weekend streaming guide: Best movies to watch this weekend
Mystery, animation, sport and biopics make up some of the many great movies available for streaming this weekend. So sit back and settle in for a film feast.
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THE ONE WHERE GENIUS RUNS IN THE FAMILY
ENOLA HOLMES (G)
***1/2
NETFLIX
Drawn from the popular series of YA mystery novels by Nancy Springer, this lively and engaging all-ages adventure charts the famous family tree of Sherlock Holmes from a distinctly fresh feminine perspective. As we all know, the shrewd and sharp Sherlock has long enjoyed a reputation as the world’s most dynamically deductive detective. Real fans will also be aware the iconic investigator has a comparatively mediocre and meddlesome brother named Mycroft. So where does Enola fit into all of this? Well, as posited by Springer, she is the (much) younger sister of the Holmes brothers. Precocious in all the ways that point to a future in superior sleuthing, Enola shares plenty in common with Sherlock, and nothing at all with Mycroft. Played most vividly by Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, Enola’s debut case involves the mysterious disappearance of her eccentric mother (Helena Bonham Carter). Our heroine must run away from her rural home all the way to London, where a not-so-warm welcome awaits the rookie sleuth.
THE ONE WITH A DEATH-WISH DISNEYLAND
CLASS ACTION PARK (M)
****
STREAM VIA FOXTEL; COMING SOON TO BINGE
A fascinating look back at what will go down as the most notorious theme park in outdoor entertainment history: Action Park. At the height of this maverick New Jersey operation’s popularity, a lot of people got hurt. And yet, the fun continued. Unsupervised. Unregulated. Uninsured. And unbelievably dangerous.In an alternately amusing and appalling new documentary, the inexplicable true story of how great fun and gross negligence collided head-on every day at Action Park is definitively told for the first time. Seriously, you just can’t make up the kind of stuff that went down here. Every morning, the gates were flung open to greet thousands of young thrill-seekers determined to spend the day sampling the park’s vast array of bruise-making, bone-breaking delights. While their parents hit the open bar, the kids literally ran wild all over a sprawling property (a ski resort in a previous life) where there were dodgily constructed, yet undeniably enticing rides and attractions as far as the eye could see.
THE ONE THAT GOES THE DISTANCE
DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT (MA15+)
***1/2
SBS ON DEMAND, AMAZON
Recovering from a traumatic event, and then rebuilding a life in the wake of it are two very different things indeed. Add some pressing needs for physical rehabilitation and personal redemption, and the road ahead could look too daunting for any one person. Such was the plight facing a man named John Callahan, after a drink-driving accident left him almost totally paralysed. Against all odds, Callahan navigated his way down an arduous path that eventually took him to his true calling in life: as one of America’s most unusual, irreverent and respected cartoonists. With his mercurial temperament and addictive personality, the combative, yet compassionate Callahan is an actor’s dream. A very well-cast Joaquin Phoenix makes surprisingly nimble work of a role weighted to provoke a reaction from even the most sedate viewers. An inspirational true story with a difference from veteran filmmaker Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk). Co-stars Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black.
THE ONE LANDING THE CORRECT VERDICT
JUST MERCY (M)
***1/2
STREAM VIA NETFLIX; OR RENT VIA VARIOUS PLATFORMS
A man sits on death-row. His execution is not considered a matter of if, just when. His guilt is not proven, by the way. What matters is that, as a man of colour, he conveniently fits the profile of someone who might have killed a young white woman in the southern US state of Alabama in the mid-1980s. Real-life cases like those of Walter McMillan (played by Jamie Foxx) have often been covered by Hollywood come Oscars time. Which is not to say there can ever be too many of them. Particularly if they are put together in a form as powerful, provocative and genuine inspiring as that of Just Mercy. Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther) co-stars as Bryan Stevenson, a young Harvard-educated lawyer who turns his back on a lucrative career to mount pro bono defences of lost causes like those of McMillan. The courtroom-drama component of this solid production arrives relatively late, but is well worth sticking around for simply due to the emotional crescendo struck.
THE ONE THAT DRIVES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
GO! (PG)
***
FOXTEL, AMAZON
The exciting grass-roots sport around which this likeable Australian production is framed - competition go-kart racing - is a definite plus. So too is the scrappy screenplay’s refreshing way of never taking itself too seriously. Newcomer William Lodder stars as Jack, a level-headed teen with a little bit of the rebel about him. A fateful first try at go-kart racing by Jack catches the eye of Patrick (Richard Roxburgh), a reclusive former racetrack ace who knows a maverick talent behind the wheel when he sees it. A Karate Kid-style relationship develops between the cheeky, has-an-answer-for-everything newbie and his grouchy, there’s-a-lesson-in-everything mentor. While not a classic by any stretch, the movie keeps up an energy and sense of humour that young audiences will find very easy to relate to.
THE ONE WHERE A WAY WITH WORDS IS THE ONLY WAY OUT
COLETTE (M)
***1/2
STREAM VIA STAN; OR RENT VIA APPLE, GOOGLE, FOXTEL STORE
The title character here is played by Keira Knightley, dipping into the rich reserves of angst, desire and defiance she seems to save exclusively for period dramas. She plays Colette, a legendary literary figure in France in the early part of the 20th century. Her salacious series of books known as the Claudine series was the talk of Paris in this era, with the heroine’s provocative love life often mirroring that of the author. Colette struggled to gain the recognition due her talent as sales boomed, largely because the novels were published under the name of her manipulative older husband (Dominic West). Much of the drama in this well-structured and balanced biopic stem from the martial tensions between this mismatched pair. However, it is when addressing Colette’s extra-marital adventures that Knightley’s nuanced and precisely emoted performance truly comes into its own. Not for all tastes, but will be relished by those who like a biopic with bite. Co-stars Denise Gough, Fiona Shaw. ***1/2