This weekend the standalone follow-up to 2016’s Suicide Squad — The Suicide Squad — releases in theaters. If you don’t feel like going on to see it, you’re in luck; the film is also available to stream on HBO Max, along with a ton of our great films on video on demand. We’ve got Michael Sarnoski’s Pig starring Nicolas Cage, the animated musical comedy Vivo starring Lin-Manuel Miranda on Netflix, the Val Kilmer Documentary Val on Amazon Prime Video, along with several other new releases.
To help you get a handle on what’s new and available, here are the movies you can watch on video on demand and streaming this weekend.
The Suicide Squad
Where to watch: In theaters and available to stream on HBO Max
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn’s standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad features returning stars Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Joel Kinnaman (The Killing), Viola Davis (Widows), and Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys) joined by series newcomers Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), John Cena (F9: the Fast Saga), David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight), and a whole bunch of others. Set an indeterminate amount of time after the previous movie, the new Suicide Squad finds itself dispatched to the South American island of Corto Maltese on a covert mission to ensure national security to shave a few years off their prison sentences. A giant starfish may say otherwise. From our review,
Comparing The Suicide Squad to Guardians of the Galaxy is a bit hard to avoid, especially since Gunn has such a well-defined sensibility that has now been applied to make unlikely crowd-pleasers across two mega-franchises at competing studios. Mostly, as above, the comparison is favorable — but other times it isn’t. The Suicide Squad is at its best when it’s doing things that Marvel Studios will not: R-rated action comedy, setpieces that prioritize performers over computer effects, and a story that isn’t afraid to gesture at real-world geopolitical conflict. It’s at its weakest when it embraces a Marvel-style ending, filing away its rough edges to deliver a sentimental finish that leaves the status quo more or less intact for potential future projects.
Pig
Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon Prime Video, Apple, and Vudu
Nicolas Cage (Mandy) stars in Michael Sarnoski’s revenge drama Pig as Rob, a former chef-turned-reclusive truffle forager living deep in the forests of Oregon with his prize hog. When Rob is assaulted and his pig is stolen, he’ll have to embark on tense journey back to his past stomping grounds in order to retrieve. Though the casting of Cage alone and the premise alone may lead one to suspect that this is just the latest in a long string of John Wick riffs, the film turns out to be anything but. Based on our pals at Vulture’s review, Pig is a tense, soulful, drama following a man as he parses through the regrets of his past and cuts anyone standing in his way down to the bone with nothing save a word.
Vivo
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Hamilton producer Lin-Manuel Miranda stars in Sony Pictures Animation’s comedy Vivo as a lovable, music-obsessed kinkajou who forms a bond with the elderly Andrés. When tragedy befalls the duo, Vivo embarks on a quest to deliver a message to Andrés’ former partner Marta Sandoval; a love letter written to her in the form of a song. Features gorgeous settings and several new songs written by Miranda himself, Vivo looks like it’ll be a sincere feel-good time. From our review:
Miranda’s songwriting skills are still stellar, but the best part of Vivo happens when the music and animation work in tandem to elevate the story, playing with the visual style to highlight the music, so it all meshes together in a beautiful symphony. Andrés sings about his memories with Marta, and the movie shifts into a retro concert-poster style, with bright blocks of color and soft edges. When Gabi sings an anthem to being unapologetically weird, it becomes a neon techscape. These moments are transcendent, a testament to both the strength of the music and the creativity of the animation production design.
John and the Hole
Where to watch: In select theaters and available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon Prime Video; $6.99 on Apple, Vudu
Based on a short story by Birdman screenwriter Nicolás Giacobone, Pascual Sisto’s American psychological thriller John and the Hole stars Charlie Shotwell as a 13-year-old who traps his family in a mysterious hole buried near his home. The film co-stars Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty) as John’s parents Brad and Anna, as well as Taissa Farmiga (The Final Girls) as John’s older sister Laurie. From our review,
John and the Hole doesn’t hit like Lanthimos’ surrealist larks or Lynne Ramsay’s portrait of a school killer, We Need to Talk About Kevin, but it does ask provocative questions about modern children and their modern parents. (I guess what I’m saying is that it’s the good version of Modern Family.) Risks emerge as society becomes more attuned to the complexity of young people, and respects them as more adult than previous generations. Kids are still kids, and not every young person is on the same developmental track. Money, privilege, and personal philosophy all challenge the evolving norms. Why would a kid push their parents into a hole? Why wouldn’t they? Few movies ask the question, to be honest.
Val
Where to watch: Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
Featuring behind-the-scenes footage spanning Val Kilmer’s entire life shot by the actor himself, Leo Scott and Ting Poo’s documentary Val centers on the daily life of the actor through the trials and triumphs of his professional career, his personal life, his struggles with cancer, and his dedication to the craft of acting and storytelling. Val looks like it’ll shape up to be an exceptional and unique documentary of one of the most iconic screen presences of the late 20th century.
And here’s what dropped last Friday:
F9: The Fast Saga
Where to watch: In theaters and available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon Prime Video, Apple, and Vudu
F is for family that does stuff together! In F9: The Fast Saga, the (supposedly) penultimate chapter in the long-running Fast and Furious franchise, that “stuff” involves Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his ride-or-die crew of civilian stunt drivers turned clandestine super-spies being pitted in a race (pun intended) against time to stop a devastating super-weapon from falling into the wrong hands. Things get even more complicated when Dom’s estranged brother Jakob (John Cena) shows up to throw a wrench in the works, pitting the two Toretto siblings in a deadly battle of wills as they hash out their baggage. Oh yeah, Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) go to space in this one. From our review,
F9 counteracts any character development by devoting a grating amount of time to meta-commentary on its own ridiculousness. On this lap of the franchise, Roman confronts the existential nature of the family’s inability to be harmed. How do they never get shot? How do they survive every car crash? Have they been chosen? If these were the incoherent mutterings of a man in constant action, it might be the perfect seriousness-deflating banter to cap any given action set-piece. But there are entire dialogue-driven scenes unpacking the possible supernatural forces at work in the Fast franchise. If the asides are setup for the series’ eventual crossover with Diesel’s Last Witch Hunter universe (c’mon, it’s good!), then the film isn’t taking the magical element seriously enough. If it’s just comic relief, it’s padding that falls flat — but not as flat as the five-minute gag about which Star Wars character Charlize Theron’s villain Cipher would be, the moment F9 goes full cringe.
Jungle Cruise
Where to watch: In theaters and available to stream on Disney Plus Premier
Choo choo, all aboard the Jungle Cruise! The latest effort in Disney’s ongoing effort to spin every one of its notable theme-park rides into a sustainable theatrical franchise, Jungle Cruise stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Frank “Skipper” Wolff, a riverboat captain hired to transport Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) into the heart of the exotic jungle in search of the Tree of Life. It’s not exactly Fitzcarraldo or The Lost City of Z, but it does have zombie snake-men and CG-animated leopards, plus Jesse Plemons as a German aristocrat in a submarine. From our review,
Jungle Cruise is beholden not just to the antiquated tropes of archaeological adventure movies, but also the ride’s own problematic legacy. To their credit, the filmmakers do their best to subvert that legacy. The choice to have the coveted treasure be part of the natural world, instead of the ruins of an ancient civilization already helps. But the best adaptation is that the indigenous people of the jungle are civilized, and they’re Frank’s buddies — they only attack the tourists because they have an agreement where he pays them to scare the travelers for extra thrills. The leader of the tribe — the infamous Trader Sam, originally an outdated park character — is a woman in the movie. She doesn’t get a lot of screen time, and is more of an Easter Egg than a woman of color with a story of her own, but at least the filmmakers are acknowledging the ride’s past and considering how to modernize their thinking.
Twist
Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon Prime Video; $6.99 on Apple, Vudu
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. An action-packed crime-thriller remake of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist that reimagines the rosy-cheeked orphan with a heart of gold as a wayward teenage graffiti artist with a gift for parkour. No? Well, that’s what Martin Owen’s Twist is, in a nutshell. Rafferty Law (Repo Men) stars as Oliver Twist opposite Michael Caine (The Dark Knight) as his criminal mentor Fagin, with Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) rounding out the principal cast as Twist’s nemesis Sikes. Admittedly, this whole premise sounds odd and seems more than likely to fall flat, but at least it’s unique.
Enemies of the State
Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon Prime Video; $6.99 on Apple, Vudu
Matt DeHart, an Air National Guard veteran turned whistleblower, working with the online hacktivist group Anonymous, fled to Canada in 2013, alleging that he had inadvertently stumbled across information so sensitive that the FBI wanted him detained … or worse. The FBI paints a different story, alleging that DeHart was an online child predator and that he sought asylum to evade the consequences. Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary Enemies of the State delves into the labyrinthine drama implicating DeHart and his family, poring through reams of legal documents and interviewing agents and suspects connected to the case in order to unravel the truth and its possible implications.
Ride the Eagle
Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Vudu
Jake Johnson (New Girl, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse) stars in Trent O’Donnell’s Ride the Eagle as Leif, a pot-smoking conga-band drummer who leaves his life in the city to move out to a picturesque cabin in Northern California bequeathed to him by his estranged mother Honey (Susan Sarandon). Before he can actually move in, however, he’ll have to complete a to-do list left behind by his mom as a part of his conditional inheritance. So it’s like the 12 labors of Hercules, only instead of a quest to become a god, it’s about transferring real estate and growing into an emotionally mature, self-sufficient adult. Also, it’s a comedy!
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