prime video this week
“A Star Is Born” (1976)
Before Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci,” 2021) and Bradley Cooper (“American Sniper,” 2014), there was Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl,” 1968) and Kris Kristofferson (“Blade,” 1998), in director Frank Pierson’s (“Dog Day Afternoon,” 1975) 1976 musical “A Star Is Born,” available now to stream on Prime Video.a story told previously in 1937 and again in 1954, this highly-popular adaptation was written by John Gregory Dunne (“The Panic in Needle Park,” 1971), Joan Didion (“Up Close & Personal,” 1996) and Pierson himself, unraveling the relationship between John Norman Howard (Kristofferson), a famous rock star, and Esther Hoffman (Streisand), a relatively unknown singer.as their paths cross and their romance blooms, Hoffman’s career skyrockets while Howard’s begins to struggle, causing strife between the two young performers. A massive box office success, this 1976 iteration won Best Original Song at the 49th Academy Awards, catapulting both real-life stars into further fame. Pierson’s “A Star Is Born” boasts a cast that also includes Gary Busey (“The Buddy Holly Story,” 1978), Oliver Clark (“They Might Be Giants,” 1971),Venetta Fields (“The Lancaster Miller Affair”), Clydie King (“The Long Goodbye,” 1973), Marta Heflin (“The King of Comedy,” 1982), Paul Mazursky (“An Unmarried Woman,” 1978) and M.G. Kelly (“Turner & Hooch,” 1989).
“Charlotte’s Web” (2006)
Now that’s some pig! E.b.white’s classic story is brought to life in “Charlotte’s Web” (2006) — a farmhouse romp of a film, available to stream now on Prime Video. Featuring beloved characters from the original story, like Wilbur the pig (Dominic Scott Kay, “Minority Report,” 2002), Charlotte the spider (Julia Roberts,“erin Brockovich,” 2000),Templeton the Rat (Steve Buscemi, “Fargo,” 1996) and Fern Arable (Dakota Fanning, “I Am Sam,” 2001), this film follows a young girl as she adopts a runt piglet she fears her father will get rid of, promising to raise him as her own.as Wilbur grows older, however, Fern begrudgingly takes the pig to live at her uncle’s farm, knowing he needs the space and animal companionship.at the farm,wilbur begins to worry that he may not make it through the season without winding up on the dinner table, and soon hatches a plan with a barn-dwelling spider, Charlotte, and her pal Templeton, in order to convince the family of his worth. From director Gary Winick (“Tadpole,” 2002), 2006’s “Charlotte’s Web” also features the voice acting talents of John Cleese (“A Fish Called Wanda,” 1988), Oprah Winfrey (“The Butler,” 2013) Cedric The Entertainer (“Barbershop,” 2002), Kathy Bates (“Misery,” 1990), Reba Mcentire (“Reba”), Robert Redford (“The Natural,” 1984) and Sam Shepard (“Black Hawk Down,” 2001).
“Godzilla vs. Kong” (2021)
Starring Alexander Skarsgard (“Big Little Lies”), Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”), Brian Tyree Henry (“Bullet Train,” 2022) and Kyle Chandler (“Argo,” 2012), 2021’s “Godzilla vs. King” has made its way to the small screen near you, now available to stream on Prime Video.the fourth film in the “Monsterverse” franchise, this feature acts as a sequel to both “Kong: Skull Island” (2017) and “Godzilla: King of Monsters” (2016), pitting the two monsters against each other as the humans try to stop Godzilla’s mysterious and deadly attacks by utilizing Kong’s massive size and strength. This sequel also sees the returns of Brown and Chandler to the franchise – both initially introduced during the previous Godzilla film – with the duo joining a cast that includes Rebecca Hall (“The Town,” 2010), Shun Oguri (“No Longer Human,” 2019), Eiza Gonzalez (“I Care a Lot,” 2020), Julian Dennison (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” 2016), Lance Reddick (“John Wick,” 2014), Kaylee Hottle (“Magnum P.I.”), Demian Bichir (“The Hateful Eight,” 2015) and more, all led by director Adam Wingard (“V/H/S,” 2012).