Michael B. Jordan is duckin’, dodgin’, and murkin’ mercenaries
Were the Oscars really only a week ago? Between the announcement of the first Sailor Moon movie in decades set to premiere on Netflix in June and the release of a new trailer for Pixar’s upcoming film Luca, it might be easy to forget that Nomadland picked up the Academy Award for Best Picture. Good news: you can watch Nomadland on Hulu.
But like every week, there are also a host of brand new movies arriving straight to your TV. This week Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, the latest action thriller in the long-running Tom Clancy starring Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan, releases today on Amazon Prime Video. The animated family comedy The Mitchells vs. the Machines and the supernatural horror thriller Things Heard & Seen release on Netflix, as well as a ton of other movies on VOD including The Outside Story, Golden Arm, Voyagers, and more. To help you get a handle on what’s new and available to watch, here are the movies you can watch on VOD this weekend.
Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse
Where to watch it: Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
Photo: Nadja Klier
Black Panther and Creed star Michael B. Jordan is the latest A-list actor to play a hyper-proficient state-sponsored assassin with a vendetta in Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse. Jordan plays John Kelly, an elite Navy SEAL (and a recurring character of the Jack Ryan series previously portrayed by Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber) who uncovers an insidious international conspiracy in the wake of his pregnant wife’s brutal murder at the hands of Russian soldiers. Emboldened by loss and fueled by rage, Clark embarks on campaign of revenge to uncover the conspirators behind the plot and bring them to justice. And he’s gonna do it (wait for it) … without remorse! (ayyyyye, he said the name of the movie!). As we get into in our full review, it’s without a few other things, too.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Where to watch it: Stream on Netflix
Photo: Netflix
Produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), The Mitchells vs. the Machines finds Katy (Abbi Jacobson) and her quirky, dysfunctional family on a cross-country roundtrip that lands them smack dab in the middle of a robot apocalypse. Lord and Miller have an amazing track record and the animation in the trailer looks impressive with some genuinely funny moments to boot. From our full review:
From the zany visuals to the wild plot and its genuinely sweet observations on family, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, originally set for a theatrical release by Sony before settling on Netflix, is a joy in every way. It’s a movie that commands attention, with everything going on across the screen and in the script. The action plot augments the family conflict and vice versa, with every moment of the story pushing those plots forward. It’s an utter delight from start to finish that brings the best of animation and the internet to life.
About Endlessness
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Photo: Magnolia Pictures
Described as a “reflection on human life in all its beauty and cruelty […] its splendor and banality,” About Endlessness is the latest film from Swedish director Roy Andersson, best known for his previous works such as 1970’s A Swedish Love Story, 2000’s Songs from the Second Floor, and 2014’s A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. As if the titles of his previous films and the above photo weren’t enough, poetic comedy features a vignette of Adolf Hitler hiding in his bunker on eve of the Allied Forces’ victory in Europe as well as several scenes of people watching flocks of birds. If you’re hankering for a tragicomic cinematic meditation on the stubborn perseverance of humanity in the face of unflinching absurdity à la Synecdoche, New York by way of Holy Motors (and honestly, who isn’t?), About Endlessness will be a must-see.
Things Heard & Seen
Where to watch it: Stream on Netflix
Photo: Anna Kooris/Netflix
Based on Elizabeth Brundage’s novel All Things Cease to Appear, Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!) and James Norton (Little Women) star in the new Netflix horror thriller Things Heard & Seen. When Manhattan couple Catherine and George Claire to a sleepy hamlet in the Hudson Valley, they come to discover that a dark and insidious history of secrets, lies, and horror underpins their new home … possibly even their own marriage.
The Outside Story
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Atlanta and If Beale Street Could Talk’s Brian Tyree Henry stars in Casimir Nozkowski’s The Outside Story, the story of an introverted video editor. Fresh off of a break-up with his long-time partner (Sonequea Martin-Green), Charles comfortable (see: complacent) living out life in his second-floor apartment, always working and perpetually in a rut. But when he accidentally locks himself out of his building, his tour across the city becomes a journey of self-discovery as he’s reminded of what matters most in life. At 85 minutes, this slice-of-life indie might go easily overlooked, but RogerEbert.com notes “Henry’s performance is rich enough to make this small film feel rather epic.”
Golden Arm
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Mary Holland (Happiest Season) and Betsy Sodaro (Hubie Halloween) star in Golden Arm, a road trip buddy comedy set in the high-stakes world of ladies arm wrestling. When Danny (Sodaro), a truck driver trains her girly best friend Melanie (Holland) to compete in the National Ladies Arm Wrestling Championship, they soon discover that meek and unassuming Melanie has an uncanny aptitude for the sport. As they travel across the country to compete, the two friends grow closer as Melanie grows more assertive and confident in her own self-worth.
Voyagers
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Photo: Lionsgate
Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One), Lily-Rose Depp (The King), and Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) star in Limitless director Neil Burger’s latest film Voyagers, a sci-fi adventure thriller about a crew of astronauts on a multi-generational mission across the universe who gradual descend into a spiral of paranoia and insanity. From our review,
Like the recent Cosmic Sin, Voyagers feints toward using its space setting as an opportunity for insight about the human condition, but its execution is as lackluster as that film’s sleepwalking version of Bruce Willis. Cosmic Sin tried and failed to make some kind of point about the cost of war and the sacrifices soldiers make to protect us. Voyagers tries and fails to make some kind of point about the cost of progress and the sacrifices explorers make to protect us. But Burger plays this story so straight, with no hint of humor or irony, that Voyagers also offers no surprises. The plot reveals all its beats within the first 10 or so minutes.
The Virtuoso
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon and Apple
Two-time Academy Award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins and Anson Mount star in director Nick Stagliano’s The Virtuoso. In the wake of a terrifying accident that frays the nerves of his apprentice, an aging professional assassin (Hopkins) offers his protégé (Mount) a new assignment: find and kill a rogue Hitman hiding in a rustic diner in a dying town, with no other distinguishing details to get the job done. As the young assassin begins to track down leads, including the town’s local sheriff, he finds himself unexpectedly entangled in an romance with a local woman working at the diner (Abbie Cornish). Sounds a bit paint-by-the-numbers with an obvious twist you could spot a mile away without a sniper scope, but the trailer looks interesting enough. It’s like a movie version of Spy Party but with Anthony Hopkins thrown into the mix, what’s not to like?
And here’s what dropped last Friday:
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Where to watch it: Available to stream on HBO Max
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
The battle for Earthrealm returns to the big (and small) screen in the long-awaited reboot of Mortal Kombat. Cole Young lives a pretty average life as an MMA fighter. That is, until he’s viciously attacked by Sub-Zero (Joe Talsim, The Night Comes for Us) ; the otherworldly Cyromancer (*heavy sigh*) and merciless lieutenant assassin of Shang Tsung, the tyrannical emperor of an alternate universe known as Outworld. Fearing for his life, Cole must join forces with Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee, The Meg), and Jax (Mehcad Brooks, Supergirl), as well as Shaolin warriors Liu Kang (Ludi Lin, Power Rangers), Kung Lao (Max Huang, Kingsman: The Secret Service), and mercenary Kano (Josh Lawson, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues) to train for an martial arts tournament unlike any other… one that will shape the fate of the multiverse for generations to come. From our review,
The film’s R rating earns its keep through the film’s technical flourishes: the unsettling sound of a dagger crunching on bone; the jarring beauty of blood and rain mixed together on flower petals and leaves; the laugh-out-loud grossness of a beating heart being pulled out of someone’s chest. The key here is tone, and Mortal Kombat is thoughtful with it. That first fight with Sanada and Taslim is the film’s most emotionally weighty, and the stakes of the well-shot and well-edited clash carry through the remainder of Mortal Kombat.
Bloodthirsty
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Lauren Beatty stars in director Amelia Moses’ supernatural horror thriller Bloodthirsty as Grey, an indie rock singer. After being invited to work by a successful music producer with a notorious reputation, the musician experiences dreams and episodes imagining herself as a werewolf. As Grey’s work with the producer continues, her disturbing visions become more real and intense with each passing day. —TE
Stowaway
Where to watch it: Stream on Netflix
© 2021, Stowaway Productions, L
Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), and Shamier Anderson (Goliath) star in Joe Penna’s sci-fi thriller Stowaway. When an unintended stowaway on an interplanetary mission to Mars compromises their ship’s life support systems, a crew of astronauts must find a way to science their way out of that shit and make unthinkable choice in order to survive. —TE
Trigger Point
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) stars in 24 director Brad Turner’s latest action thriller Trigger Point as Nicolas Shaw, a retired U.S. special operative recruited into an elite team of undercover assassins tasked with taking out the worst of the worst. After he’s framed for the death of his fellow team members, Shaw is forced to go AWOL in order to discover the truth and clear his name, all while staying one step ahead of the authorities tasked with bringing him down. —TE
Vanquish
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Bad Boys writer-turned-director George Gallo’s latest action crime-thriller Vanquish stars Ruby Rose as a former Russian drug courier who is forced to work as hitman for a retired cop (Morgan Freeman) after he abducts her daughter. There’s neon lighting, shoot outs, and characters looking sternly through glass panel walls. It ain’t John Wick, but it works I guess! —TE
We Broke Up
Where to watch it: Available to rent for $6.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Break-ups are never easy. Especially when they occur around big social events like holidays and birthdays. William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) and Aya Cash (The Boys) star in director Jeff Rosenberg’s We Broke Up as Doug and Lori, a 10-year couple who — you guessed it! — break up just days before the wedding of Lori’s little sister. Rather than bite the bullet and confront the awkward messiness of their relationship status to their respective families, Doug and Lori attempt to pretend they’re still together until the wedding is over. Billed as a comedy from the producer of 500 Days of Summer and Juno, there’s a 50/50 chance they’ll end up breaking it off amid a life-affirming lesson with some mumblecore laughs along the way. —TE