What to watch on Netflix, Foxtel Now, Stan and iTunes this week

WITH some questionable weather in Melbourne this week, why not curl up on the couch with a hot drink and catch up on some of the best movies on Foxtel Now, Netflix, Stan, SBS on Demand and Amazon Prime.

THIS week brings us a list of ‘favourite’ movies to binge on in front of the TV. The kids will enjoy watching a classic family-favourite E.T The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), while the adults can indulge in Academy Awards favourite Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

You should also add highly-commended Aussie flick Lion to your list.

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THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (MA15+)

THE ONE YOU JUST SHOULDN’T MISS

****1/2

FOXTEL NOW

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (2017).

Funny, sad, wildly unpredictable and shrewdly insightful, this gripping drama is a movie that defiantly marches to the beat of its own drum. Nevertheless, the performances are so emphatically strong — and the writing is so searingly sublime — that you will fall into line with its unusual rhythm without even realising it. Frances McDormand (a deserved Best actor Oscar winner for her work here) plays Mildred Hayes, an angry and determined woman frustrated by local police’s handling of the investigation of her daughter’s recent death. Taking matters into her hands, Mildred erects a trio of billboards taunting the cops to get off their butts and get busy. The radical gesture opens up cracks in Mildred’s tight-knit rural community that anyone could have seen coming, especially the beleaguered police chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and his redneck deputy Dixon (Sam Rockwell). The mercurial, unpredictable nature of the film is actually its secret weapon. You will be leaning forward intently to catch what’s coming next. Highly recommended.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (G)

THE ONE THAT FLIES HIGH, LANDS SMOOTHLY

*****

NETFLIX

In the Shadow of the Moon.

In the wake of the brilliant Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, Netflix have revived a superb documentary about how mankind made it to the moon for its direct streaming debut. British documentary filmmaker David Sington restores a lot of the faded shine of NASA’s finest hour simply by letting those who were there do all the talking. There is no narration, re-enactments or any other unnecessary diversions from the extraordinary tale being told here. Sington does little more than interview a cross-section of astronauts who participated in the Apollo program. Their words — expertly knitted together with some amazing archival footage from the NASA archives — paint a clear and powerful picture of a magic time in the planet’s history. Remember, it is now more than 40 years since we last went to the moon. Even if the decision was made tomorrow to go there again, it would take the best part of a decade for a mission to be adequately mounted. A captivating and revelatory experience from beginning to end.

DARKEST HOUR (M)

THE ONE THAT FIGHTS A WINNING BATTLE

***1/2

FOXTEL NOW

Kristin Scott Thomas, as Clementine Churchill, and Gary Oldman, as Winston Churchill, in a scene from film Darkest Hour. Credit: Jack English / Focus Features.

The true story of how British PM Winston Churchill became the crucial keeper of a flame of resistance that would ultimately repel an all-too-possible Nazi invasion. All it took was little unforeseen luck and a lot of intestinal fortitude. Not as easy as it sounds when you consider the disorganised mess in which Great Britain found itself in the opening years of WW2. Best Actor Oscar-winner Gary Oldman seizes upon his character’s many flaws and magically turns them into saving graces: Churchill’s rapid swings between self-confidence and self-doubt, his unbridled love of his own voice, his willingness to send himself up, and his stubborn refusal to yield any ground. Co-stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn.

E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)

THE ONE THAT REMAINS A FIVE-STAR FAMILY CLASSIC

*****

NETFLIX, AMAZON

"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

A stone-cold all-ages classic, in which a funny little being not from ‘round these parts expresses the desire to make a cross-galaxy phone call. While a jittery US government doesn’t like the sound of that, a child rescues the visitor in the basket of his bike and goes for a pedal across the night sky. Director Steven Spielberg knew we’d all fall in love with E.T. for one very good reason: he embodies what we hope all aliens will be like when they finally visit our planet.

LION (PG)

THE ONE THAT RESTORES YOUR FAITH IN AUSSIE MOVIES

****

SBS ON DEMAND

Dev Patel in a scene from the movie Lion.

One of the best Australian films of the last few years is the fascinating tale of a lost orphan, his near-impossible quest to locate his family, and the ingenious method he used to search for them. It is not unfair to state the opening hour ascends to peaks the rest of the movie cannot quite reach. This superb first section is an extended hell-ride through India in the mid-1980s, navigated with great instinct and genuine innocence by a hopelessly lost 5-year-old boy named Saroo (an astonishing performance from rookie actor Sunny Pawar). The second half unfolds 20 years later, in Tasmania of all places. With the surprise assistance of a powerful new technology called Google Earth, the now-adult Saroo (Dev Patel) gradually moves closer to a home that was once a distant memory. Co-stars Nicole Kidman, David Wenham.

EDIE (M)

THE ONE THAT SHOWS ITS AGE PROUDLY

***

GOOGLE, ITUNES

A scene from the movie Edie.

Put yourself in the shoes of the title character. You are well into your eighties. The love of your life was not a perfect one, but he is now gone. Your daughter wants you banished to the nearest old folks’ home. So what is your next move? Well, if you are Edie (played with both great warmth and implacable resolve by Sheila Hancock), you drop everything to pick up a lifelong dream put on hold several decades ago. So Edie literally heads for the hills, trekking deep into the Scottish Highlands to take on the Suliven, a mountain scaled by her adventurous father so long ago. This light drama unfolds in a very simple, undemanding fashion. Best described as a gentle, coming-of-age (lessness) affair.

ASSASSIN’S CREED (M)

THE ONE THAT KILLS IN ALL THE WRONG WAYS

*1/2

NETFLIX

Assassin’s Creed: Origins.

Movies adapted from video games are about as much fun as head-to-toe acne. Here comes yet another game-to-greenscreen groaner. Michael Fassbender plays a convicted killer recruited by shady corporate scientists to assume the form of a distant ancestor in 15th century Spain. If he finds a magic apple, all mankind will be saved. This dour experience is like taking a family holiday in a WW2 artillery tank. It moves slowly, rattles a lot, and makes you gradually detest everyone on board.