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New York Times
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘The Voyeurs,' ‘Cyrano' and More Streaming Gems
'Cyrano' (2022) Edmond Rostand's late-19th-century play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' has proved to be quite a durable text, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise; few things translate as well, no matter the period or genre, than the feeling that the person you love could never feel the same. This adaptation by the director Joe Wright ('Pride & Prejudice'), first presented onstage by the New Group in 2019, changes the source of the title character's low self-image: Instead of an oversize nose, he is of undersize height. Peter Dinklage is marvelous in the starring role, finding the cockiness and bluster that Cyrano uses to compensate, while showing the beating heart just under that hard surface. He also provides a pleasant baritone for the songs by members of the National, which are the film's other key deviation from Rostand's original. They're a masterstroke, beautifully conveying the longing and regret of this tragic tale. 'The Last Stop in Yuma County' (2024) Three cheers for this A+ premise: The pumps are empty at the last gas station for 100 miles and the truck with the refill is running late, so stranded motorists are killing time at the diner next door — among them, two crooks who made off with a trunkful of bank loot. The writer and director Francis Galluppi works from his own Swiss watch of a script, equally influenced by 'The Desperate Hours' and the dusty neo-noirs of the 1990s, where the turns are unpredictable yet organic and precise, and there are chances for every one if its character actors to shine. Snappily paced, delightfully stylish and refreshingly bleak, this movie is an assurance that we're going to hear much, much more from this gifted first-time filmmaker. 'The Voyeurs' (2021) There's a fair amount of nostalgia these days for the erotic thrillers of the 1980s and '90s, but most of those with fondness for the subgenre are recalling such major studio releases as 'Basic Instinct' and 'Indecent Proposal.' This Amazon original hews more closely to their direct-to-video stepchildren (celebrated in the recent documentary 'We Kill for Love'), glossy entertainments with interchangeable titles like 'Body Chemistry' and 'Naked Obsession,' in which beautiful squares are tempted out of their vanilla sexual boxes, often with deadly results. Said squares are played here by Sydney Sweeney and Justice Smith, as a young couple whose trendy new apartment offers an unobstructed view of their beautiful and randy neighbors (Ben Hardy and Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Their voyeurism is presented as fairly understandable; we all like to watch, the writer and director Michael Mohan assures us. But then the situation gets sticky. It's a touch overlong, with a plot twist (or two) too many, but 'The Voyeurs' delivers the lurid thrills it promises, along with compelling performances by Smith (of last year's 'I Saw the TV Glow') and Sweeney (with whom Mohan would team up again, for 'Immaculate'). 'Official Competition' (2022) The self-importance of art house filmmakers and Method actors is delightfully skewered in this showbiz comedy from the Argentine directors Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn. Penélope Cruz is a brilliant but bonkers director, hired by a rich industrialist to film an acclaimed novel that he has never bothered to read. She hires two diametrically opposed actors — an actor's-actor theatrical legend (Oscar Martínez) and a gorgeous, dimwitted movie star (Antonio Banderas) — and the sparks fly. All three actors are clearly having a gas sending up their profession (and perhaps settling some scores), while Duprat and Cohn, who wrote the script with the Duprat brother Andrés, build their inside-baseball satire to a fever pitch. 'Every Secret Thing' (2015) The gifted documentary filmmaker Amy Berg ('Deliver Us From Evil') makes her narrative feature debut with this tricky and prickly adaptation of the Laura Lippman novel. Dakota Fanning and Danielle Macdonald are excellent as teenage girls suspected of kidnapping a baby, and their complex dynamic recalls the knotty codependency of 'Heavenly Creatures,' while Elizabeth Banks brings a haunted tenderness as the lead police detective. Berg has a good feel for the story's small-town setting, building menace and dread out of everyday assumptions and offhand interactions. 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' (2020) Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) is a 17-year-old with an unwanted pregnancy. She can't terminate it in the small Pennsylvania town where she lives, so she gets on a bus with her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) and heads to New York City. It's a simple premise, but the writer and director Eliza Hittman ('Beach Rats') spins their journey into both a quiet howl of fury (the bureaucratic hoops Autumn must jump through are infuriating, and played as such) and a modest yet powerful character study. 'Look Into My Eyes' (2024) The documentary filmmaker Lana Wilson ('Taylor Swift: Miss Americana') profiles seven New York City psychics, and it's easy to imagine how such a portrait could have been cynical, or even cruel. Instead, 'Look Into My Eyes' is deeply empathic, not only to the clients who come with questions — some tiny and specific, others as big as any we can ask — but also to these souls who try to answer them. Wilson isn't concerned with anything as binary as 'fake' or 'real'; she wants to know what draws these people together, what affirmation is provided by their interactions. Unsurprisingly, many of the psychics are struggling actors and writers, and they have moments of doubt and failure both in and out of their sessions. Some of it is sad, and some of it is funny, but it's never simple. Wilson takes her subjects seriously, and by the film's conclusion, so do we.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New movies streaming this weekend: ‘The Monkey' and 'Black Bag' are available on digital and on-demand
The Monkey, the latest horror film from Osgood Perkins, and Black Bag, directed by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, top this week's list of movies newly available to watch from the comfort of your home. If you're looking for something on a streaming service that you're already paying for, there are three additional great options: One of Them Days, a new comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA; crime thriller comedy The Last Stop in Yuma County and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a holiday treat for April. Here's what to know about the movies newly available to stream as of this week, and where you can find them. Click on the links below to jump straight to a specific movie:The Monkey is director Osgood Perkins's follow-up to his smash-hit Longlegs. Based on a short story by Stephen King, the movie couldn't be more different in tone than its predecessor. The film more closely resembles a Final Destination sequel than anything in Perkins's ouevre. It takes glee in the spectacle of death as it comes for the film's characters. When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear apart their family. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the estranged siblings to confront the cursed toy. Despite the comic tone, The Monkey is emotionally affecting. The filmmaker's own history of personal tragedies, including that his mother died in the September 11 attacks, makes him the ideal candidate for a movie about how one deals with the randomness of death. It's equal parts a send-up of the 'this horror movie is actually about grief' trend and an earnest take on one. What is there left to do in the fact of death but laugh? The Monkeyis now available to purchase on Prime Video and other video-on-demand platforms. Buy on Amazon One of Them Days is a bit of rarity as a pure comedy. The movie, starring Keke Palmer and musician SZA, is refreshing in its sole commitment to just trying to make you laugh, and it succeeds with flying colors in its brisk 97 minutes. The film wears its influences on its sleeve, namely 1995's Friday and other 'all in one day'-set comedies that seemed to proliferate in that era. It follows best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa as they discover Alyssa's boyfriend has blown their rent money, finding themselves going to extremes in a comical race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact. Both Palmer and SZA are laugh-out-loud funny throughout, as are a number of side characters, including a memorable turn from stand-up comedian and actor Katt Williams. It's a treat! One of Them Daysis now streaming on Netflix. Stream on Netflix Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh's second movie of 2025 is already on streaming, and it's another cracking genre experiment with a killer cast from one of the most prolific filmmakers today. When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse (Cate Blanchett) is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband (Michael Fassbender) — also a legendary agent — faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his wife or his country. It's sexy, it's exciting and it's often hilarious. Imagine Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from the guy that brought us Sex, Lies and Videotape: beautifully shot, full of exciting dialogue and flirtation that's often wielded by its characters like a weapon. People love to complain that they don't make movies like this for adults anymore. This is a great one! Black Bagis now available to rent or purchase on Prime Video and other video-on-demand platforms. Rent or buy on Amazon Last Stop in Yuma County is a self-aware genre exercise, a dark comedy that feels plucked from a bygone era of Quentin Tarantino and Coen brothers imitations. The premise is pretty fantastic and sounds like a movie that could've been made in the '40s or '50s (if it weren't for all those '90s signifiers): While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty to protect their ill-gotten fortune. It's about as fun as it is mean and nihilistic, and the performances from indie darlings like Jim Cummings and genre staples like Joceline Donahue and Richard Brake help elevate the material beyond imitation. Last Stop in Yuma Countyis now streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime. Stream on Paramount+ Based on the beloved children's book of the same name, The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever is a cute, sweet family film, starring beloved character actress Judy Greer in a leading role alongside comedian Pete Holmes. The six Herdman kids are undeniably the worst children in town: They lie, steal, cheat, bully and overall terrorize their small community. But on Christmas, they're taking over their local church pageant, and they just might unwittingly teach a shocked little town the true meaning of the holiday. It's funny to watch the locals react to the Herdman kids' wackiness, but there's a sad story behind why these kids are the way they are. It's trying very hard to be A Christmas Story with its narration and structure, and it's easy to see this one becoming a perennial classic for some. The Best Christmas Pageant Everis now streaming on Starz. Stream on Starz
