What’s worth a watch this weekend?
Theaters are still closed, but new streaming movies are coming to entertain you and your family during socially-distanced times.
And it’s an all-star weekend, too, with Tom Hanks captaining a Navy destroyer against trash-talking German submarine commanders in an Apple TV+ World War II thriller and Charlize Theron swinging a mean ax as an immortal warrior in a Netflix action film. Also on tap: an Andy Samberg timeloop romantic comedy, a buddy drama involving a cow, and the one horror movie that’ll keep you away from the beach this summer.
If that’s not enough to get you online and watching movies, Universal’s musical-centric “The Shows Must Go On!” YouTube channel is streaming “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Donnie Osmond starting at 2 p.m. EDT/11 a.m. PDT Friday.
Here’s a rundown of new movies hitting streaming this weekend, for every cinematic taste:
If you want to see America’s dad take on Nazis in the Atlantic: ‘Greyhound’
It’s the kind of signature meat-andpotatoes role Hanks is known for, a Naval commander leading a large convoy of Allied ships through treacherous waters filled with predatory Uboats in America’s early days in World War II. The gravy is the stirring sea battles where torpedoes whizz by, machine guns roar and Hanks’ ship captain tries to keep it together surrounded by danger and insecurity.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
If you’re yearning to see Charlize Theron kick posterior yet again: ‘The Old Guard’
So the comic book adaptation isn’t as good an action extravaganza for Theron as “Mad Max: Fury Road” or “Atomic Blonde.” But “Old Guard” is still an interesting spin on a familiar genre, with the A-list star playing the leader of an immortal crew who brings in a rookie (KiKi Layne) just as their secretive status quo becomes higher profile than they’d prefer.
Where to watch: Netflix
If you’ve always wanted a ‘Groundhog Day’ sequel: ‘Palm Springs’
The romantic comedy takes the time-loop movie to the next level: Goofball wedding guest (Samberg) meets reluctant maid of honor (Cristin Milioti), and then she accidentally gets stuck in the same day he’s already been living over and over again. Milioti steals the show in a thoughtful effort that’s both gleefully dark and refreshingly sweet.
Where to watch: Hulu
If one time-twisting movie is not enough for you: ‘Volition’
The sci-fi thriller is a convoluted mess that at least has a few moments of high-minded inspiration exploring fate vs. free will. Adrian Glynn McMor
ran plays a crook whose clairvoyant streak makes him popular among his lowbrow associates, but when he has visions of his own murder, he tries to figure out how to save himself and the new woman (Magda Apanowicz) in his life before it’s too late.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, Fandango Now
If you dig robots and oddball love stories: ‘Archive’
Kind of a poor man’s “Ex Machina,” the futuristic sci-fi film stars Theo James as a scientist trying to develop a close-to-human artificial intelligence, keeping his real goal – reuniting with his dead wife – hidden from his bosses. Come for the various robotic prototypes our hero creates (including a high-end model played by Stacy Martin), stay for the unexpectedly intriguing ending.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, Fandango Now
If you have no idea who Walter Mercado is: ‘Mucho Mucho Amor’
Get ready to fall in love with a flamboyant astrologer extraordinaire with fancy capes and luxurious hair – that is, if you weren’t already a super-fan like Lin-Manuel Miranda. The documentary chronicles Mercado’s life from Puerto Rican farm boy to gender-nonconforming icon of Latin culture for decades starting in the 1970s, extolling love and
horoscopes, until he had to wage a legal war for the rights to his very name.
Where to watch: Netflix
If your tastes tend toward the bold and the bovine: ‘First Cow’
There’s not nearly enough cow, though plenty of friendship is at the heart of Kelly Reichardt’s gorgeously shot slow-burn drama, which only got a small release in theaters before the pandemic struck. In the 1820s Pacific Northwest, a wandering cook named Cookie (John Magaro) buddies up with Chinese immigrant King Lu (Orion Lee) and they become a hit with their “oily cakes,” made with a secret ingredient: the milk from the prized cow of a rich landowner (Toby Jones).
Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, Fandango Now
If you’re interested in a different take on the haunted house flick: ‘Relic’
In the affecting and atmospheric horror film, Kay (Emily Mortimer) travels with her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) to the dilapidated country house of Kay’s mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) and learn the old woman’s gone missing. When Edna returns, she begins behaving strangely and violently, warning there’s a darkness in the house. Director Natalie Erika James’ freaky debut doubles as a moving tale touching on dementia.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, Google Play
If you feel like never going into the ocean ever again: ‘The Beach House’
Cosmic horror and absolute dread wash ashore in this squirm-inducing fright fest. Liana Liberato and Noah Le Gros are a young couple who escape to a beach house and have their getaway first derailed by an unexpected older couple (Jake Weber and Maryanne Nagel) and then by a strange supernatural phenomena that show up out of nowhere, infecting human bodies and taking them over.
Where to watch: Shudder