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This week, Top Gun: Maverick, Joseph Kosinski’s legacy sequel to the classic 1986 aerial action drama starring Tom Cruise, finally lands on VOD. That’s not the only tentpole feature soaring through the skies, though, as Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror thriller Nope also comes to VOD this weekend.
There’s plenty more new movies to choose from, with the release of the superhero drama Samaritan starring Sylvester Stallone on Prime Video, Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg’s Netflix buddy comedy Me Time, the streaming premiere of the serial killer thriller Watcher on Shudder, the animated superhero comedy DC League of Super-Pets on VOD, and many more.
Here’s everything new you can watch at home this weekend.
Top Gun: Maverick
Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
One of the best movies of the year, Top Gun: Maverick has been a smash box office success, with sustained interest in theatergoing audiences not seen in years. Director Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion, Tron: Legacy) teamed up with Tom Cruise to revitalize the old franchise, and made planes (and theatrical movies) cool again.
From our review:
The aerial action sequences, shot practically with real aircraft, are astounding. Kosinski lacks Tony Scott’s stylistic eye (though he can crib Scott’s sultry look well enough when he needs to), but he’s a formidable technician and a careful architect. The sheer veracity of the footage, much of it captured by the cast in-cockpit as they physically strain through high-G maneuvers, will — sorry, there’s no other way to put it — take your breath away. The compositions are sharp, the editing propulsive. The sound design and music (credited to the unimaginable power trio of Hans Zimmer, Harold Faltermeyer, and Lady Gaga, with Lorne Balfe on production) are huge. It’s overwhelming, immersive, thrilling action filmmaking.
Nope
Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Jordan Peele’s latest sci-fi horror mystery thriller stars returning collaborator Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) and Keke Palmer (Alice) as two siblings who, after discovering something miraculous and horrifying above the skies of their family’s California horse ranch, work together to capture bona fide proof of extraterrestrial life.
From our review:
It would be too much to call Nope a bad movie. Even in Peele’s lack of precision, plenty of good qualities lurk underneath the knottier shortcomings. But this horror flick doesn’t rise to the levels of Get Out or Us, either. It isn’t because in this case, Peele isn’t trying to teach white people to understand the full scope and feeling of racism. It’s because Nope is an idea more than a story. It’s a collection of individually captivating scenes, as opposed to an intriguing whole. It’s a handsome picture, but Peele is far too impressed with its handsomeness to work on populating it with fully felt characters. It might enthrall audiences, and it might frighten them, but it’ll struggle to stay with them after the credits start to roll.
Samaritan
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Sylvester Stallone stars in Overlord director Julius Avery’s 2022 superhero film Samaritan as Joe, a former superhero who lives in anonymity as a reclusive garbageman after faking his own death 25 year prior. When a young boy (Euphoria’s Javon Walton) accidentally discovers Joe’s true identity, he’ll have to resume his former identity as a hero to protect those he cares about from harm.
From our review:
Stallone should be adept at playing a superpowered man in quiet semi-retirement. That’s basically the premise of those later Rocky and Rambo installments. But alongside the incompetent filmmaking here, he’s done in by the conviction that it’s not yet time for him to pack it in, or even move on to the character-actor roles that he could really crush. Instead of an elegy for his former invincibility, Samaritan is an utterly fake and cartoony attempt at a new beginning.
DC League of Super-Pets
Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
One of the few DC Comics movies to actually get a release this year, this animated movie features many (but not all!) of the pets of the members of the Justice League. The sprawling voice cast includes Dwayne Johnson as Krypto, Kevin Hart as Ace the Bat-Hound, and Keanu Reeves as Batman, among many, many others.
From our review:
As with The Lego Batman Movie, the best part of DC League of Super-Pets is the writers’ intimate knowledge of and love for the source material, which they use to keep the movie moving with clever gags and even more brilliant callbacks. A highlight is an inexplicable holographic recording of Krypto’s father, Dog-El, dispensing important counsel like “Don’t eat chocolate.” There are a lot more gags for in-the-know comics fans, like a Justice League hotline asking callers to press buttons based on whether they’re trying to contact Earth-1 or Earth-2, and a Big Belly Burger in downtown Metropolis that gets wrecked in the fighting.
Me Time
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Kevin Hart stars in the 2022 Netflix comedy Me Time as Sonny, a stay-at-home dad who agrees to go out with his former best friend, Huck (Mark Wahlberg), for a wild weekend out on the town while his wife, Maya (Regina Hall), takes their two kids for spring break vacation. As you might expect things escalate, Sonny gets mauled by a mountain lion, there’s a stripper pole, et cetera et cetera.
Watcher
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
The serial killer thriller Watcher finally comes to streaming on Shudder this weekend following its limited theatrical run earlier this year. It stars modern scream queen Maika Monroe (It Follows, The Guest) as an actress who notices a stranger (Burn Gorman) spying on her. Watcher is the feature debut of director Chloe Okuno, who directed the “Storm Drain” segment in V/H/S/94.
From our review:
The setup and execution are ideal for both minimalist indie horror and a pandemic-era production. (The film was shot on location in Romania in spring 2021.) In spite of its small scale, Watcher doesn’t rely only on the power of suggestion, or limit itself to emphasizing the symbolic importance of Julia’s fears. Director Chloe Okuno, making her feature debut after directing a segment of V/H/S/94, knows how to maintain a slow burn without letting the flame blow out. Using some simple images — a shadowy figure staring out a window, the eerie familiarity of a man on the street, the blurs and shallow focus created by rain on glass — she provokes genuine, instinctive shivers
Watch Out, We’re Mad
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Netflix’s reboot of the 1974 Italian-Spanish action comedy follows estranged brothers who, putting aside their long-standing differences, reunite on a mission to reclaim their late father’s legendary stolen dune buggy.
That’s Amor
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Following the dissolution of both her job and relationship, Sofia (Riley Dandy) takes a cooking class only to be unexpectedly swept off her feet by a charming cook named Matias (Isaac Gonzalez Rossi).
Seoul Vibe
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
The 2022 Korean action comedy Seoul Vibe follows the story of a ragtag team of street racers who received a tantalizing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, only to be implicated in a slush fund investigation on the eve of the 1988 Seoul Olympics opening ceremony.
Loving Adults
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
The 2022 Danish mystery drama Loving Adults follows a seemingly happy couple whose marriage, following their son’s successful recovery from a debilitating illness, is thrown into a deadly tailspin when the husband’s extramarital affair is brought to light.
Hostile Territory
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
The 2022 Western adventure Hostile Territory recounts the true story of Jack Calgrove, a former Civil War POW who races to rescue his abducted children from being skirted away aboard a train of slavers. He’s not alone, though; he’s got a group of Native American sharpshooters and a former slave by his side to get the job done.
Assailant
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Chad Michael Collins (Sniper: Rogue Mission) and Poppy Delevingne (Kingsman: The Golden Circle) star in the 2022 thriller Assailant as a British couple who sail to the Caribbean in an attempt to salvage their marriage, only for their trip to devolve into a sinister game following a bar fight with a mysterious drifter (Starship Troopers’ Casper Van Dien). I guarantee this is the strangest form of couples’ therapy you’ll see on screen this year.
Vendetta
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Clive Standen stars in the 2022 action revenge thriller Vendetta as William Duncan, an ex-Marine who sets out on a mission for retribution after his teenage daughter is brutally murdered and her killers walk free. Bruce Willis and Mike Tyson co-star as Donnie Fetter, a villainous gangster responsible for the death of William’s daughter, and Roach, William’s former comrade-in-arms.
Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
The 2022 music documentary Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby charts the story of Dominique Armani Jones’ journey from hustling on the streets of West Atlanta to his meteoric ascent to the heights of rap stardom as Lil Baby, not to be confused with DaBaby, Bali Baby, Baby Keem, Bhad Bhabie, Birdman (aka Baby), et cetera.
So Vam
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
The queer coming-of-age horror film So Vam tells the story of Kurt (Xai), a shy outcast who yearns to leave his small hometown to pursue his dreams of becoming a drag queen. After being kidnapped and sired by an abusive older vampire, Kurt is rescued by a gang of rebellious young vampires who feed exclusively on bigots. Teaming up with them, he’ll have to hunt down and slay his killer if he has any hope of being truly free.
Funny Pages
Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon and Vudu
Produced by John and Benny Safdie, actor-director Owen Kline’s coming-of-age cringe comedy follows the story of an aspiring teenage cartoonist who, eschewing the safety of his suburban life, seeks out a mentorship under the tutelage of Wallace (Matthew Maher), a gruff and antisocial comic artist.
From our review:
Kline’s movie works best when it blurs the lines between the people of a nerdy subculture and the style of their obsessions. Kline seems to delight in coming up with too-perfect subjects for Robert’s sensibility, like the strange, sweaty roommates in the overheated basement dwelling he briefly calls home. When the movie attempts to give Robert more of a coming-of-age reckoning, it feels like maybe it’s skipped a step or two, ending on a contemplative note that doesn’t feel completely earned. It’s a pitfall of the otherwise admirable 86-minute running time. But in a cultural landscape where even superhero satire can feel obvious and overproduced, Funny Pages offers a necessary reminder that for many people, comics are a beautiful, obsessive dead end.
Last Journey of Paul W.R.
Where to watch: Available to rent for $2.99 on Amazon; $6.99 on Apple
The French sci-fi drama Last Journey of Paul W.R. stars Hugo Becker as an amnesiac astronaut who, hours before embarking on a mission to save Earth from a cataclysmic crash course with a neighboring planet, disappears and awakens in the desert. With the clock ticking down, Paul must discover the truth behind what happened in time to save humanity. Jean Reno (Léon: The Professional, Ronin) co-stars as Paul’s father, a famous scientist searching for his son.
Maneater
Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon and Apple
After her fiancé breaks off their engagement, Jessie (Nicky Whelan) is convinced to go ahead with her planned honeymoon trip, transforming the tropical getaway into a long weekend trip with her close friends. Unfortunately for everyone, there’s a giant man-eating shark swimming nearby that’s just chomping at the bit to eat them alive.
Out of the Blue
Where to watch: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon; $4.99 on Apple; $5.99 on Vudu
Ray Nicholson stars in the 2022 romance thriller Out of the Blue as Connor, an ex-con turned library assistant who catches the eye of Marilyn (Diane Kruger), the wife of a wealthy businessman. Entering into an affair, Connor is reinvigorated by his passionate new relationship — that is, until Marilyn’s abusive marriage gradually gives way to thoughts of murdering her husband.
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