Weekend #16 of 52 (4/15 – 4/18/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
Let’s hope this is the start of us back on track for this being published on Thursdays, because as friendly reader, Jo, pointed out last weekend, this is less useful for others if/when it’s posted later than Thursday.
However, fair warning going forward, it may still be posted later in the weekend and maybe sometimes not at all if the day job keeps me away.
We both love watching movies, and this is our weekly reference, too, of what we want to watch and/or what’s new on the various streaming channels, so it remains a useful guide we want and kind of need too.
KEY
*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*Dad Stop Embarrassing Me (Apr 14)
*Law School
*The Soul
*Why Did You Kill Me?
*Dark City Beneath The Beat (Apr 15)
*The Master
*Ride or Die
*Synchronic (Apr 16)
Arlo The Alligator Boy
Crimson Peak
Into The Beat
Rush
Why Are You Like This?
The Zookeeper’s Wife
NETFLIX TV
*The Circle – Season 2 (Apr 14)
*Fast and Furious Spy Racers: Season 4: Mexico (Apr 16)
Disney+ Movies & TV
*Big Shot (Apr 16)
*Earth Moods
*Treasure Buddies
*White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf
*National Geographic: Earth Moods Volume I
*Primal Survivor (S5)
*The Kid Who Would Be King
*RIO
HBO Max
*Infinity Train, Max Original Season 4 Premiere (Apr 15)
The Dark Knight Rises (Apr 17)
Mare of Easttown, Limited Series Premiere (Apr 18)
Weekend #15 of 52 (4/8 – 4/11/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
Spring for streaming. Let’s see what’s happening this weekend.
KEY
*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*What Lies Below – 2021 (Apr 4)
*Coded BIas (Apr 5)
*The Last Kids On Earth: Happy Apocalypse To You – Animated (Apr 6)
*The Way of the House Husband (Apr 8)
*Thunder Force (Apr 9)
*Have You Ever Seen Fireflies
*Night In Paradise
*The Stand-in (Apr 10)
NETFLIX TV
*The Big Day – Collection 2 (Apr 7)
*Diana: The Interview That Shook The World (Apr 11)
Disney+ Movies & TV
*Disney Future-Worm! (Apr 9)
*Disney Kick Buttowki: Suburban Daredevil (S1)
*Disney Kick Buttowki: Suburban Daredevil (S2)
*Disney Secrets of Sulphur Springs: Time After Time (S1 Finale)
*Man of the House
*Mark Twain and Me
*Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale
*Cesar Millan: The Real Story
HBO Max
*The Other Two – Season 1 (Apr 9)
*The New Mutants – 2020 (Apr 10)
*The Nevers – TV Series (Apr 11)
Amazon Prime Video
*Them – TV Series (Apr 9) Stephen King said the first episode scared him!
Noah (Apr 10)
G.I Joe Retaliation
Hulu
*Everything’s Gonna Be Okay: Season 2 Premiere (Apr 9)
Rebel: Series Premiere
The Standard (2020)
Stars Fell on Alabama (2021)
The Day I Became a God: Season 1, Epsiodes 1-12 (DUBBED) (Apr 10)
Weekend #14 of 52 (4/1 – 4/4/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
Happy Easter everybody! Yeah, this is later than it should be and no, it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke to be late, it’s just me being late. Would love to claim it was April Fool’s though 😉
The first of the month is more than April Fool’s it’s movies rotating in and out of the main streaming service time. The big news on streaming, besides these rotating movies, is Godzilla vs. Kong, which can also be seen in theaters. We caught this in the theater on Thursday in 3D and a review is coming.
It’s also the first week of the month, which means movies rotating into the various streaming services. The list of those movies are below. You can go through them and add to your wishlists.
KEY
*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*Concrete Cowboy (Apr 2)
*Just Say Yes
*Madame Claude
*Sky High
Escape from Planet Earth – 2012 (Apr 3)
*The Fisherman’s Diary (Apr 4)
*What Lies Below – 2020
NETFLIX TV
*The Serpent – Limited Series (Apr 2)
Movies rotating into NETFLIX as of April 1
Tersanjung the Movie Worn Stories 2012 Cop Out Friends with Benefits Insidious Legally Blonde Leprechaun The Pianist The Possession Secrets of Great British Castles: Season 1 The Time Traveler’s Wife Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family White Boy Yes Man
Disney+ Movies & TV
*Star Wars Clone Wars – Seasons 2003-2005
HBO Max
*Godzilla vs. Kong (Mar 31) – also in theaters
*On The Spectrum (Apr 2)
Ted 2012 Unrated Version (Apr 3)
Q: Into The Storm Finale
Movies rotating into HBO MAX as of April 1
A Shock To The System, 1990 (HBO) Abandon, 2002 (HBO) Adam’s Rib, 1949 All Is Lost, 2013 (HBO) Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl Barbarosa, 1982 (HBO) Black Dynamite, 2009 Blindness, 2008 (HBO) The Bodyguard, 1992 Boogie Nights, 1997 Bringing Up Baby, 1938 The Butcher’s Wife, 1991 (HBO) Caddyshack, 1980 The Collection, 2012 (HBO) The Color Purple, 1985 Dante’s Peak, 1997 (HBO) Dark Shadows, 2012 (HBO) Dead Silence, 2007 (HBO) Dirty Harry, 1971 The Eagle Has Landed, 1977 (HBO) Early Man, 2018 (HBO) Easy Rider, 1969 Ella Enchanted, 2004 (HBO) The Evil That Men Do, 1984 (HBO) Eye For An Eye, 1996 (HBO) Fear, 1996 (HBO) genera+ion, Part One finale Ghost Rider, 2007 Goodfellas, 1990 Green Lantern, 2011 Hardball, 2001 (HBO) Happy Endings Haywire, 2012 (HBO) In & Out, 1997 (HBO) Kicking & Screaming, 2005 (HBO) King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, 2017 (HBO) Lassiter, 1984 (HBO) Leatherface Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, 1990 (HBO) Let’s Go To Prison, 2006 (HBO) The Longest Yard, 1974 (HBO) Man Up, 2015 (HBO) The Mask of Zorro, 1998 The Man With The Iron Fists, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO) Missing In Action 2 – The Beginning, 1985 (HBO) Missing In Action, 1984 (HBO) My Super Ex-Girlfriend, 2006 (HBO) The Nanny The Natural, 1984 Now, Voyager, 1942 One Day, 2011 (HBO) Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, 1985 (HBO) Police Academy 3: Back In Training, 1986 (HBO) Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol, 1987 (HBO) Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach, 1988 (HBO) Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, 1989 (HBO) Police Academy: Mission To Moscow, 1994 (HBO) Primal Fear, 1996 (HBO) Reasonable Doubt, 2014 (HBO) Red Dawn, 1984 (HBO) The Return, 2006 (HBO) Risky Business, 1983 (HBO) Roger & Me, 1989 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939 Sneakers, 1992 (HBO) Space Jam, 1996 Speed 2 Cruise Control, 1997 (HBO) Spellbound, 2003 (HBO) Stuart Little, 1999 The Shack, 2017 (HBO) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, 2006 (Extended Version) (HBO) Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, 2011 Wanderlust, 2012 (HBO) The Warriors, 1979 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) The Watch, 2012 (HBO) White Noise, 2005 (HBO) The Wild Life, 2016 (HBO) Within, 2016 (HBO) Wolves At The Door, 2017 (HBO)
Amazon Prime Video
*Moment of Truth – True Crime – Docuseries (Apr 2) Murder of Michael Jordan’s father
Movies rotating into PRIME VIDEO as of April 1
A Hologram For The King (2016) Anna Karenina (2012) Art of Falling in Love (2019) A Simple Plan (1998) Because I Said So (2007) Bob Roberts (1992) Brüno (2009) Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) Chato’s Land (1972) Cheech & Chong’s Still Smokin’ (1983) Cohen And Tate (1989) Devil In A Blue Dress (1995) Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) Evan Almighty (2007) Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994) Frankie & Alice (2014) Girl With A Pearl Earring (2003) Gunfighters Of Abilene (1959) Hancock (2008) Head Of State (2003) How To Train Your Dragon (2010) Inception (2010) Johnny English (2003) Lady In A Cage (1964) Larry Crowne (2011) League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) Lords Of Dogtown (2005) Love in Harmony Valley (2020) Madea’s Big Happy Family (2011) Madea Goes To Jail (2009) Mad Max (1980) Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003) Men Of Honor (2000) Milk (2009) Minority Report (2002) Monster’s Ball (2001) Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Motel Hell (1980) My Cousin Vinny (1992) New In Town (1992) Open Range (2003) Platoon (1986) Shaft (2000) Shooter (2007) Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) Smiley Face Killers (2020) So I Married An Axe Murderer (1993) That Thing You Do! (1996) The Abyss (1989) The Dead Zone (1983) The Devil’s Double (2011) The Gift (2000) The Happening (2008) The Hunting Party (1971) The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) The Pawnbroker (1964) The Program (1993) The Replacement Killers (1998) The Skull (1965) The Sum Of All Fears (2002) Untraceable (2008) Valerie (1957) Waiting To Exhale (1995) What About Bob? (1991) A Soldier’s Story About A Boy Aloha American Pastoral Anaconda Burn After Reading Daddy’s Little Girls Dear John For Colored Girls Four Rooms Fun Size G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra Girl Most Likely Good Luck Chuck Kung Fu Panda Midnight Sun Moneyball (2011) Mud October Sky Road To Perdition Salt Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World Something’s Gotta Give (2003) Step Up Revolution Surf’s Up The 6th Day The Bone Collector The Great Debaters The Royal Tenenbaums The Sting The Sting II Tombstone Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Tough Love What Women Want
Hulu
*WeWork: Or The Making And Breaking Of A $47 Billion Unicorn (Apr 2)
*Hysterical – Season Premiere (Apr 3)
Movies rotating into HULU as of April 1
2012 (2009) 28 Days Later (2003) A Hologram for the King (2016) A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) A Simple Plan (1998) The Abyss (1989) Before We Go (2015) Bug (2007) Bulworth (1998) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) Changing Lanes (2002) Chappaquiddick (2017) Chato’s Land (1972) Cheech & Chong’s Still Smokin’ (1983) Cohen and Tate (1989) The Color Purple (1985) The Dead Zone (1983) The Devil’s Double (2011) Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) Die Hard (1988) Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000) Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) Frankie & Alice (2014) Friends With Benefits (2011) Garden State (2004) The Gift (2000) Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) Guess Who (2005) Hancock (2008) The Hunting Party (1971) In The Mix (2005) Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000) Lady in a Cage (1964) Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector (2006) Life Of Crime (2014) Live Free Or Die Hard (2007) Mad Max (1980) Madea Goes To Jail (Theatrical Feature) (2009) The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004) Monster’s Ball (2001) Motel Hell (1980) Napoleon Dynamite (2004) Never Back Down (2008) New in Town (2009) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) The Out-Of-Towners (1999) The Pawnbroker (1964) Platoon (1986) The Polar Express (2004) The Preacher’s Wife (1996) The Program (1993) Ramona and Beezus (2009) The Replacement Killers (1998) Rio (2011) The Sandlot (1993) Scary Movie 4 (2006) Sex And The City (2008) Sex And The City 2 (2010) Shaft (2000) Shrek 2 (2002) The Skull (1965) Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) Sliver (1993) So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) Star Trek: Generations (1994) Step Up Revolution (2012) The Sum of All Fears (2002) That Thing You Do! (1996) The Upside (2017) Vanilla Sky (2001) Virtuosity (1995) Waiting to Exhale (1995) War (2007) Warriors of Virtue (1997) What About Bob? (1991) Where the Heart Is (2000) Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
This means he doesn’t think Roku will ever be a major streamer, because they are ad-supported. It’s a bit ironic, considering HBO Max is going to be releasing an ad-supported version of their service, similar to what Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock all currently offer.
What defines a “major” streaming service? The CEO of HBO Max, Jason Kilar says “hundreds of millions of paying subscribers.”
Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom virtual conference Thursday morning, Kilar said that there’s only a handful of major streaming services “that I think can ultimately get to scale, defined by hundreds of millions of paying subscribers around the world.”
How many is a handful?
“Less than six,” the former Hulu CEO said.
Amazon Prime Video isn’t 100% paid subscribers, because they include their streaming service as a perk for joining their Amazon Prime service. Yes, they also sell subscription separately, but the vast majority of their 150+ million subscribers are not paying to only subscribe to Prime video, they’re getting it as an included benefit. Their service would have dramatically fewer paid subscribers if it was only the streaming service. We’ll probably never know these numbers but if we could guess, we’d say it was less than 10 million subscribers, maybe way less.
This leaves the elephant in the room, the king of the hill, Netflix as the only “major” streaming service currently with hundreds of millions of paid subscribers. That’s all. One streaming channel. Disney+ is paid subscribers only, but it’s nowhere near 200+ million paid subscribers.
What Kilar is trying to do here is position HBO Max as one of the three or four primary paid subscription streaming services so when households start budgeting and cutting, they keep his service. Although HBO Max have been targeted as being too expensive — after all, they are the second most expensive streaming service currently — the reality is their content makes them one of the major streaming providers.
Then there’s Disney, the second elephant in the room. They don’t have as many paid subscribers yet, but they are climbing — fast. Don’t count them out by any means, not with such lucrative IP as Star Wars and Marvel, not to mention their own animated kingdom of family films. Disney, if they don’t screw it all up by failing to produce more movies and TV shows based on their IPs that fans are clamoring for, has the potential to one day rival Netflix. They are crippled at the moment by a variety of factors, but counting them out is ill-advised.
We don’t need Kilar to predict the streaming future. There are currently three major streaming services: Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ — and then everybody else. I could argue that Disney+ isn’t as good as HBO Max (especially with movies), because they aren’t putting out anywhere close to as much new original content, but that doesn’t matter. Disney is working on changing that. Heck, they have like a dozen Star Wars projects in the hopper alone, not to mention the Marvel stuff. If even a quarter of these projects are as successful as The Mandalorian, they can ride this to hundreds of millions of subscribers.
None of the services, even Amazon, compete with Netflix on quantity of new content released. Netflix has been working that corner market for several years and their pipeline is bursting with new content. Everybody else is playing catch-up. Once other streaming channels catch up, though, who’s on top could change. Netflix might be all about quantity but they have some quality control problems. So will everybody else. Not everything created is a smash hit.
Bottom line: Kilar isn’t wrong with what he said. He just focused on “paid” subscribers which is more than misleading considering the many ad-supported “FREE” streaming channel options. Many people will suffer through ads to watch their favorite movies and TV shows, just as has been the case with traditional TV that is fading for streaming..
What Kilar should have pondered is how many will switch to HBO Max ad-supported version to save $5-10/month? That answer depends on how invasive the ads will be.
Weekend #13 of 52 (3/25 – 3/28/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
The last weekend of the month is not without new movies and TV shows coming out. Notably, Bad Trip, which tried to make an appearance in theaters, but another movie sidelined by the pandemic.
And then it was accidentally released by Amazon Prime Video on April 17, 2020. It got taken down, but not before pirates copied it and released on illegal back channels. Then it sold to Netflix and fast forward to March 26, when it will make it’s first official, non-accidental release.
If you’re thinking, wow, what a bad trip, that title works on many levels. I don’t know how good the movie will be, but have to check it out for the bizarre release history alone.
KEY
*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*Seaspiracy – Documentary (Mar 24)
*Who Killed Sara
*Caught By A Wave (Mar 25)
*DOTA: Dragon’s Blo
*Secret Magic Control Agency
*A Week Away (Mar 26)
*Bad Trip – 2020
*Magic for Humans by Magic Pop
*Nailed It Double Trouble
NETFLIX TV
*Millenials – Season 3 (Mar 25)
*Big Time Rush – Seasons 1-4 (Mar 26)
*The Irregulars – Original
Disney+ Movies & TV
Inside Pixar: Foundations (Episodes 11-15)
Disney Secrets of Sulphur Springs: As Time Goes By
Disney Pickle and Peanut (Seasons 1-2)
Gnomeo & Juliet
HBO Max
*Hotel Coppelia (Mar 26)
*Tina (Mar 27)
*The Last Cruise (Mar 30)
Amazon Prime
*Renegades (Mar 29)
Peacock
John Wayne Gacy: Devil In Disguise – Original (Mar 26)
Weekend #12 of 52 (3/18 – 3/21/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
Snyder Cut, Snyder Cut, Snyder Cut .. Justice League. That’s really all there is to know about this weekend. There are some other movies and TV shows worth checking out, but Snyder Cut is where a lot of attention will be focused.
4+ hours, so make sure your bladder is empty or your pause button is nearby!
Disney+ is rolling out a new TV series with Falcom and The Winter Soldier. This follows Wandavision as the second new TV series in 2021 to date. They are trying to catch more lightning in bottles like The Mandalorian tapping the Marvel IP.
Shudder is ramping up their weekly output adding movies as well, both originals and older titles. Some are well worth checking out.
KEY
*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admission Scandal – documentary (Mar 17)
Weekend #11 of 52 (3/11 – 3/14/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
This week I’ve been busy with my job and haven’t been as focused on the entertainment scene and movies. We did find time to see the two new movies in theaters released (see: Opening 3-11-2021 in Theaters: The Father, Long Weekend) and keep our long running streak going of a movie review a day, although it took several days to post the reviews.
Then Friday came and no new FIRST LOOKs were posted and Thursday came and went and didn’t take a look at the streaming scene. Here it’s Sunday and finally had time to analyze what’s going on this weekend on the various streaming channels. Also peeked into the next couple days.
What are the major streaming releases, if any this weekend? Did something big get released? The long awaited Snyder Cut of Justice League is coming next weekend. Coming 2 America, the sequel to Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall’s classic 1988 comedy was last week, so what’s going on this weekend?
Amazon Prime: Mar 12
Let’s find out.
KEY
*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*Just In Time (Mar 12)
*Paper Lives
*Yes Day – 2021 Jennifer Garner
*Audrey – Audrey Hepburn Biography
The BFG (Mar 13)
*The Last Blockbuster – Documentary
NETFLIX TV
*Love Alarm – Season 2 (Mar 12)
*Paradise PD – Season 3
*The One – Season 1
*Bakugan: Armored Alliance – Season 1 (Mar 15) Anime, Children’s
*The Lost Pirate Kingdom – Season 1
*Zero Chill – Season 1
Disney+ Movies & TV
Assembled: The Making of WandaVision (Mar 12)
Own the Room – 2021
Marvel Studios: Legends
Disney Secrets of Sulphur Springs: Long Time Gone
Disney Junior Doc McStuffins: The Doc Is In
Disney My Music Story: My Perfume
Dr. K’s Exotic Animal ER (Seasons 1-8)
Dr. Oakley: Yukon Vet (Season 7)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – 2016
HBO Max TV
*South Parq Vaccination Special (Mar 11)
*Isabel (Mar 12)
Speed (Mar 13)
Three Busy Debras
Allen vs. Farrow – Documentary Finale (Mar 14)
Infomercials (Mar 15)
Amazon Prime
*Honest Thief (Mar 12)
Hulu
*Farewell Armor (Mar 12)
*Buddy Games – 2019 (Mar 14)
*1 Night In San Diego (Mar 15)
Constructing Albert – 2017
*Here Awhile – 2019
*Intersect
*Missing 411: The Hunted – 2019
*Naughty Books
*Pink Wall – 2019
*Sister Aimee – 2019
The Pretenders – 2018
The Relationship – 2017
*The Stand: How One Gesture Shook The World
*Tracks – 2019
Shudder
*Prey (Mar 9)
*Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker
*Stay Out Of The Attic (Mar 11)
*Hosts (Mar 15)
*It Cuts Deep
*Game Of Death
*Shakma
*Nosferatu (Mar 16)
*The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari
*The Great Gabbo
*White Zombie
Shudder likes to add movies on Mondays and Tuesdays, which kind of throws off the format of this weekend post, but included Monday’s and Tuesdays titles above, since this post is late anyway.
Weekend #10 of 52 (3/4 – 3/7/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
First week of the month time which means a bunch of new movies rotated in across the services. Also CBS All Access is becoming Paramount+ and should be receiving a boost of new content.
KEY
*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*Pacific Rim: The Black – Anime (Mar 4)
*City of Ghosts
*Dogwashers
Movies rotating into NETFLIX as of March 1
Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell Batman Begins (2005) Blanche Gardin: Bonne Nuit Blanche (2021) Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) Dances with Wolves (1990) I Am Legend (2007) Invictus (2009) Jason X (2001) Killing Gunther (2017) LEGO Marvel Spider-Man: Vexed by Venom (2019) Nights in Rodanthe (2008) Rain Man (1988) Step Up: Revolution (2012) Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006) The Dark Knight (2008) The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) Training Day (2001) Two Weeks Notice (2002) Year One (2009)
NETFLIX TV
*DC Super Hero Girls: Season 1
*Power Rangers Beast Morphers: S2
*Pokemon Journeys: The Series – Season 4
Disney+
*Raya And The Last Dragon – PREMIUM ($30) – Mar 5
Disney Secrets of Sulphur Springs: Time Warped
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
Heartland Docs, DVM (s2)
HBO Max TV
*Lost Resort (Mar 6)
Rocky 1 – 6
Movies rotating into HBO MAX as of March 1
10 Years (HBO) A Mouse Tale (HBO) Adventureland (HBO) Assault On Precinct 13 (1976) (HBO) Assault On Precinct 13 (2005) (HBO) Bandits (HBO) Barefoot (HBO) Blade The Brothers Grimm (HBO) Bowfinger (HBO) Cesar Chavez (HBO) Charlotte’s Web (HBO) CHiPs (HBO) Constantine The Doors (HBO) Dr. Dolittle 2 (HBO) Dream House (HBO) Driving Miss Daisy Eulogy (HBO) Fierce People (HBO) Final Analysis (HBO) Final Space, Seasons 1-2 Finding Neverland (HBO) Gloria (HBO) Going In Style (HBO) Gone (HBO) Hard, Season 2 Premiere (HBO) Hellbenders (HBO) Henry Poole Is Here (HBO) House Arrest (HBO) Immigration Tango (HBO) Jungle Master (HBO) Just Before I Go (HBO) The King’s Speech Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (HBO) Live By Night (HBO) The Lost Boys Machine Gun Preacher (HBO) Malice (HBO) Man On A Ledge (HBO) Miss Sharon Jones! No Se Aceptan Devoluciones (AKA Instructions Not Included) (HBO) Ocean’s Eleven Ocean’s Thirteen Ocean’s Twelve One More Time (HBO) Our Brand Is Crisis (HBO) Parental Guidance (HBO) Pitch Perfect (HBO) Princess Kaiulani (HBO) The Quiet Ones (HBO) The Raven (HBO) Red Dragon (HBO) Repentance (HBO) The River Wild (HBO) School Dance (HBO) Secretary Shadows (HBO) Stand Up Guys (HBO) Super Capers (HBO) Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride The Undocumented Lawyer (HBO) Unforgettable (HBO) The Voices (HBO) Veronica Mars Wedding Crashers Wiener Dog Internationals (HBO)
Amazon Prime
*Coming 2 America (Mar 5)
Movies rotating into AMAZON PRIME as of March 1
48 Hrs. (1982) 50/50 (2011) Another 48 Hrs. (1990) As Good As It Gets (1997) Attack Of The 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012) Attack The Block (2011) A Very Brady Sequel (1996) Back To The Future (1985) Back To The Future Part II (1989) Back To The Future Part III (1990) Beloved (1998) Cocktail (1988) Due Date (2010) E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Extract (2009) For Colored Girls (2010) I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009) Instant Nanny (2015) (UP Faith & Family) In The Line Of Fire (1993) Mae West: Dirty Blonde (2020) (PBS Living) Neil Young: Heart Of Gold (2006) Patriot Games (1992) Patriots Day (2017) Priceless (2016) Rain Man (1988) Religulous (2008) Rushmore (1999) Shine A Light (2008) Silverado (1985) Sliver (1993) Sydney White (2007) The Full Monty (1997) The Spirit (2008) The Terminal (2004) The Whole Nine Yards (2000) Tombstone (1993) Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns (2008) W. (2008) Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Hulu
*Boss Level (Mar 5)
*Ammonite
Beirut
*Iron Mask – 2019
*Triggered (Mar 6)
Storks – 2016
Proxima – 2019
Movies rotating into HULU as of March 1
The 13th Warrior (1999) 50/50 (2011) A Very Brady Sequel (1996) As Good as It Gets (1997) Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012) Attack the Block (2011) Beloved (1998) Blow (2001) Brooklyn’s Finest (2010) Charles and Diana: 1983 (2020) Cocktail (1988) Demolition Man (1993) The Descent (2006) Dolphin Tale (2011) Dolphin Tale 2 (2014) Employee Of The Month (2006) Enemy Of The State (1998) The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) The Ghost Writer (2010) The Great Debaters (2007) I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) In the Line of Fire (1993) Judge Dredd (1995) The Last Face (2017) Malcolm X (1992) McLintock! (Producer’s Cut) (1963) The Nanny Diaries (2007) Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) The Ninth Gate (1999) Pandorum (2009) Patriot Games (1992) Predators (2009) Pretty Woman (1990) Priceless (2016) Rushmore (1999) Scrooged (1988) Shine a Light (2008) Silverado (1985) Sliver (1993) The Social Network (2010) The Spirit (2008) Stargate (1994) Starsky & Hutch (2004) The Terminal (2004) Tokyo Rising (2020) The Tourist (2010) Traitor (2008) Vertical Limit (2000) Wedding Crashers (2005) The Whole Nine Yards (2000) Young Frankenstein (1974)
We’ve spent a lot of time watching HBO Max since it launched. The popular opinion seems to be to bash it as some kind of lesser streaming service compared to the top dog, Netflix.
When Warner announced they were releasing all 17 major films on both HBO Max and in theaters and were giving 20% off the six month rate, we didn’t complain, we subscribed (see: Don’t Count Out HBO Max in 2021)
The quality of movies and shows on HBO Max can’t be beat. But I should add a caveat that the nuts and bolts of the actual service still need a lot of work. The app and website can be buggy and crash. And HBO Max doesn’t offer many titles in 4K, though that’s not much different from other streaming services. Netflix does have 4K but you have to pay more.
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The interface is so-so, but the HBO Max navigation does stand out in one way: the genre pages have an A-Z listing you can peruse. No other streamer has this feature; they all display titles within themed collections or by recommendations. HBO does that, too, but it’s so helpful just to see every movie on HBO Max by alphabetical order.
Netflix is sort of in a class by itself at the current time. They have spent multi billions producing so much original content that they can just continue to crank new original movie and TV series after another. During the pandemic, they’ve also been in on the bidding war for movies meant for theaters but sold to streaming instead.
Objectively, comparing Netflix to the other streamers for original content is challenging. From a quantity standpoint, there is no comparison. Every week on Thursdays when we do our What To Watch On Streaming posts, Netflix consistently outproduces the other streamers.
But quantity isn’t the same as quality. Is it better to have one great movie and/or TV series debut each week or have a half dozen or more of varying quality movie and TV shows to choose from? For those of us that want to watch the best movies we can see, not the most movies, the less is more strategy is more sound. We’ve talked about the quantity vs. quality situation with Netflix before (see: Does Netflix Release Too Many Originals? Maybe Ask New CMO Bozoma Saint John)
All that said, HBO Max might not be superior to Netflix in number of subscribers, but from what’s available to watch on it right now, even at the higher monthly price point, there are plenty of movies and TV shows to check out. It’s refreshing to read articles like this one that aren’t bashing HBO Max for not having 100+ million subscribers.
Whichever is your favorite streaming channel, it’s great to see movie lovers have multiple options to choose from. Disney+ has the family, Star Wars and Marvel corners covered. HBO Max has several great TV shows (Friends!), a bunch of great movies. Amazon Prime has its own slate of originals, some very, very good and Netflix has its originals. Then there are the others like Hulu, CBS All Access soon to be Paramount+ and Peacock, not to mention a boatload of niche streamers like Shudder, Discovery+ and so on.
And those are just the paid streamers, there is a whole bunch of FREE, ad-supported channels to choose from. So many, that we can’t even cover them all. The Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto and so on.
Whatever you want to watch, you can probably find it playing somewhere. Good times for home movie watchers, anyway. The cinema landscape might be struggling, but these are active, productive times for streamers.
What’s your current favorite streaming channel? Or do you have multiple favorites?
Weekend #9 of 52 (2/25 – 2/28/2021) for 2021 Picks By Streaming Service
The final weekend of February 2021 is upon us. Streaming channels are showing no sign of slowing down releasing new movies and TV shows while the theater scene continues to be in a state of paralysis of new titles. It’s like one here, two there and just ghost town movie theaters. We were saddened this week to see a beautiful IMAX screening of a film that had three people in attendance at a 7pm showing of Nomadland, two of which were us. The theater probably seated close to 200 people. Theaters are doing great business in China and some other countries.
Have been saying all along that theaters need to get more new movies showing in them, but for whatever reason that’s not happening. Probably to blame is the severe lack of moviegoers attending them. As mentioned previously, this is a slow time anyway for theaters, the first quarter of the year. This year is a bit unique because the academy extended the award eligibility window into early 2021 (see: Oscars 2021 Still On As Planned As In-Person Event, Not Zoom or Virtual)
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*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
Blue, Painful and Brittle – 2020 (Feb 24)
*Bigfoot Family – animated – 2020 (Feb 26)
*Call Me Crazy – 2021
Captain Fantastic – 2016
*The Girl On The Train – 2021
NETFLIX TV
*Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan – Season 1 (Feb 24)
*Canine Intervention Documentary series
*Ginny & Georgia – Season 1
*Two Sentence Horror Stories – Season 2
*High Rise Invasion – Season 1 (Feb 25) Anime
Disney+
Flicka 2 (Feb 26)
Ice Age: Collision Course
HBO Max TV
*Tom and Jerry – also in theaters (Feb 26)
Blade Runner 2049
Amazon Prime TV
*The Informer (Feb 26)
Hulu
*The United States vs. Billie Holiday – 2021 Hulu Original (Feb 26)
Florence Foster Jenkins – 2016
Apple TV+
*Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry (Feb 26)
