Streaming guide: Watch to watch on Binge, Netflix, Google
A chilling tale of an American murder and the story of how McDonalds became a fast food titan are among the diverse options available on streaming platforms to help you survive lockdown fatigue this weekend. Leigh Paatsch looks at the best movies on Binge, Netflix and more.
Entertainment
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THE ONE WHERE THE EVIDENCE IS EVERYWHERE
AMERICAN MURDER: THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR (MA15+)
****
NETFLIX
A true-crime documentary far more chilling, yet also emotionally affecting than works of this type generally tend to be. In 2018, married mother Shannan Watts disappeared from her Colorado home, along with both of her infant daughters. I will spare you the horrifying details of what became of them. All you really need to know as American Murder begins is that the most likely suspect — husband and father Chris Watts — confessed to the crimes before too long. British filmmaker Jenny Popplewell resists indulging in the kind of exploitative reading of the case that has already spawned a Dr Phil special and a Lifetime feature movie. A persistent poster to social media, Shanann unwittingly left behind pieces of a puzzle that, when put together, revealed a marriage to a monster that was only ever going to end one way. Her many personal video confessionals and text message conversations are also blended with extraordinary body-cam and evidentiary footage collated by dogged investigators at the time this terrifying tragedy unfolded.
THE ONE WHERE AN EXPLOSIVE SECRET CAN NO LONGER BE KEPT
BOMBSHELL (M)
***
STREAM VIA AMAZON; RENT VIA GOOGLE, ITUNES, FOXTEL STORE
An interesting drama covering the controversial downfall of former Fox News chief Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). It is important to note Bombshell is not an Ailes biopic. We’ve already had one of those (an acclaimed mini-series The Loudest Voice, starring Russell Crowe). Instead, the movie keeps its focus on three women whose linked experiences working for Ailes traced a fault line that would crack open #MeToo into a fully-fledged movement. Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) was the first to dare take on Ailes in the middle of last decade, when the news chief’s reputation was at its most daunting. Destined to join Carlson on her earth-scorching crusade against sexual harassment are fellow broadcaster and rising network star Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), and ambitious production back-roomer Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie).
THE ONE WHERE SWORDS AND SORCERY ARE CHILD’S PLAY
THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING (PG)
***
STREAM VIA FOXTEL; OR RENT
A perfectly pleasant, if a touch innocuous rejigging of the Arthurian legend for a modern audience. The hopeful hero of the piece is a 12-year-old boy having a tough-ish time of it in his first year at high school. While taking flight from some schoolyard bullies, the nerd-ish Alex (played by Louis Ashbourne Serkis, son of mo-cap acting icon Andy Serkis from the Planet of the Apes series) finds the fabled sword of Excalibur sticking out of a concrete slab on a construction site. Together with his even geekier best friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo), Alex finds just the right mentor to guide him towards his destiny as an unlikely unifier of a divided, Brexit-broken Britain. The legendary ancient sorcerer Merlin guides Alex and Bedders towards an important mission - involving King Arthur’s evil sister Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) - that only their careful deployment of Excalibur can execute. This being Merlin, of course, means the wacky wizard won’t be taking the conventional route in training the novice knights. Co-stars Patrick Stewart.
THE ONE THAT UNWRAPS THE MACCAS
THE FOUNDER (M)
***
STREAM VIA AMAZON; OR RENT
This intriguing biopic tells the little-known story of how the McDonalds brand became a colossus in the world of fast food. It was all the doing of a business-savvy travelling salesman named Ray Kroc (masterfully played by Michael Keaton), who stumbled upon the McDonalds operation by chance in the mid-1950s, when it was just a single burger joint in small-town California. Hard-working brothers Dick and Mac McDonald (Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch) had no idea of the franchise goldmine they were sitting on. While they tinkered with radical experiments in swift food preparation, Kroc swooped in and literally stole the business from under their noses.
THE ONE WHICH HAS THE WRITE STUFF
COLETTE (M)
***1/2
STREAM VIA STAN; OR RENT
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.
THE ONE DRESSED FOR SUCCESS
HALSTON (M)
***
STREAM VIA DOCPLAY; OR RENT
An engrossing fashion doco for those yet to have had their fill of colourful tales of high-end clothes, high-life celebrities and high-flying designers who ascended too close to the sun. Our subject is America’s first famous outfitter to the hoi polloi, so famous in fact that he was know by the one name. Halston (born Roy Halston Frowick) was an Iowa lad who dreamed of “dressing everybody in America” and came mighty close to making that a reality before it all came crashing down. Halston got his start as a milliner (Jackie’s Kennedy’s iconic pillbox hat was a major career breakthrough) before transitioning to fully-fledged brand-name designer status in the 1970s. The excess of the 1980s put an end to Halston’s success - and put him on track for an early death from AIDS - but this doco restores context and lustre to both a comprehensive legacy and a sparkling, eventful life.
THE ONE WHERE THE PRESIDENT IS IN PERIL
ANGEL HAS FALLEN (MA15+)
**1/2
FOXTEL, AMAZON
Gerard Butler’s third aggressive action-adventure assignment for Secret Service strongman Mike Banning is as dumb as a pile of bricks, but still stacks up on pure adrenaline-extraction grounds. This time, Mike must do more than be willing to take a bullet for whoever happens to be US President (series regular Morgan Freeman now has the keys to the White House). To save American democracy from murderous mercenaries thought to be on the payroll of the Russians, Mike must allow himself to be framed for the brutal assassination attempt that has put his boss in a coma. Our hardline hero spends most of the movie on the run, reloading weapons, rearranging faces and resisting arrest with ludicrous ease. Oh, and you also get to meet Mike’s mystery-man dad (Nick Nolte), a wild and whiskery militiaman living off the grid and looking for trouble.