Belle, RRR, Morbius, and more new movies you can watch at home

It’s Friday, and you know what means. The weekend’s around the corner, and we have a list filled with new movies available for you to watch at home, either for rental or on streaming services like Netflix.

These are the VOD premieres of two movies that have been our favorite of the year: BelleThe modern anime version of Beauty and the BeastAnd the Indian historical action epic RRR. The vampire Marvel movie is also now digitally available Morbius, Paul Thomas Anderson’s most recent movie, Licorice Pizza, and the “startling” Finnish horror movie Hatching After a false alarm this month, it was confirmed that the problem is real.

On the streaming side of things, there’s a new Chip ’n Dale movie on Disney Plus, a group of Netflix originals (including a new Jackass movie, kind of), a rom-com with Samara Weaving on Hulu, and much more.

Belle

You should be watching:Rentals available for only $3.99 from Amazon, Google Play, Vudu and $4.99 from Apple

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Mamoru Hosoda’s sci-fi fantasy anime BelleSuzu is a quiet high school student from rural China. This story follows her journey. Mourning the loss of her mother, Suzu finds solace and validation by escaping into the massive online world of “U,” where her virtual alter-ego “Belle” is a globally recognized pop singer. Suzu decides to search for the Dragon and other mysterious figures after her concert is disrupted by them.

Our review:

This is the kid-friendly message of Beauty and the Beast (or at least the 1991 Disney version) is a simple one: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” With the ambitious, decisively uncynical new anime movie BelleMamoruHosoda, the writer and director of the film, updates the story to the Internet age by adding another adaptation. The internet has made it possible to create online characters that can replace curses and transform magical singing candles into mewling AIs. However, the director MiraiAnd The Girl who Leapt Through TimeThe core message is taken one step further, with the emphasis on how connections are a two-way street. It isn’t enough to recognize someone else’s true self without offering vulnerability in return. Produced by Hosoda’s Studio Chizu, this lush, spectacularly animated vision argues for the life-changing bonds that can develop when people shed their digital defenses.

RRR

You should be watching:Netflix Hindi Dub (Hindi version) and ZEE5 Original Telugu Version (as well as dubs available in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, are both available to stream).

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BaahubaliDirector S.S. Rajamouli is back with RRR (“rise, roar, revolt”), an epic historical action drama following a fictionalized encounter between Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr. is a pair of revolutionaries that join hands to fight for Indian independence, and free themselves from the British yoke.

RRRYou can stream the film on Netflix but it is only available in Hindi. If you want to experience Rajamouli’s latest epic with the original Telugu language audio track, or Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam dubs, you can stream the film on ZEE5.

Our review:

RRRThis movie is busy, with lots of action, noise effects, CGI and expensive looking CGI. Rajamouli is skilled at balancing the film’s many elements, so “overstimulated” isn’t quite the word for how walking out oRRR feels. It’s more like the pleasant exhaustion after a good workout.

Morbius

You should be watching:You can digitally purchase Amazon, Apple, or Vudu for just $19.99

Image: Sony Pictures

Sony’s latest Marvel movie is another anti-hero story, as Jared Leto plays the doctor-turned-vampire Michael Morbius. He becomes the ungodly creature you see above when he tries to cure his rare blood disorder.

From our review:

The most important lesson of Venom’s success was that if unimaginative superhero franchise films You must be churned out, they can still feel worthwhile if they’re fueled by smart, funny performances. While audiences will often support characters that they like, they are also open to supporting characters who they don’t love. PeopleActors who play strange quirks or have specific mannerisms. Morbius is what happens when there’s a studio desire for another VenomBut, without too much thought about how. VenomIt can be connected to anyone. It’s only there to plug into a burgeoning crossover franchise. (As two nonsensical scenes in the middle of the credits indicate.

Hatching

You should be watching:You can rent it for just $4.99 from Amazon, Apple, Google Play and $6.99 via Vudu

Photo: Sundance Institute

Finnish horror film that doubles for satire on online culture. Hatching follows Tinja, a 12-year-old girl who has been the subject of her parents’ video blog for seemingly her entire life. When Tinja comes across a strange egg and brings it home, it quickly grows before … well, hatching into a creature nicknamed “Alli.”

This is our review

Alli, however, is an enchanting presence which gives the film its cultish shivery centre. Bergholm tells Polygon that she literally Googled the world’s best specialist in movie animatronics, then reached out to him about working on the film. Gustav Hoegen is her animatronics director. Gustav was previously responsible for the practical effects teams on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Solo, The Last Jedi and Rogue One were just a few examples of how Gustav came to work with Lucasfilm. Her SFX makeup head, Conor O’Sullivan, comes with a similar pedigree, as half of the Oscar-nominated effects duo who gave Heath Ledger his grotesque leer as the Joker in The Dark Knight. They make Alli horribly visceral together with their teams, giving it the weight and conviction that a practical effect has. And Solalinna’s performance with the puppet is convincing and distressing. They bring the film to an unforgettable end, pushing it past its weaknesses.

Licorice Pizza

You should be watching:Amazon, Apple, Vudu and Vudu are all available for rent at $5.99

Photo: MGM Studios

Paul Thomas Anderson has returned with Licorice PizzaA comedy-drama about a young adult set in San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman star as Alana Kane and Gary Valentine, a photographer’s assistant in her 20s and a high school sophomore aspiring to become an actor, who navigate the confusing highs and tumultuous lows of an unlikely romance.

Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers

You should be watching:Disney Plus is available to stream

Image: Disney

Disney’s newest live-action/animation hybrid is a tribute to Roger Rabbit Who Framed? The movie is full of references to other animation properties. The movie follows Chip and Dale’s reunion after years of estrangement following the cancellation of their show as they band together to save an old friend from a dark fate.

This is our review

The movie, however, reveals a different side to this simplicity. The plot is mainly designed to take Chip and Dale out of their comfort zone, to introduce another character or to make a clever joke about Hollywood. And that’s all fine, really. This movie’s end message, which is a touching one about friendship, does not overshadow the humorous jokes.

Keep Your Fire On

You should be watching:You can rent it for $5.99 from Amazon and $4.99 on Apple. $6.99 on Vudu

Image: IFC Films

Stefan Forbes’ 2022 documentary Keep Your Fire OnThis is the tale of the longest hostage takeover in NYPD history. After four young African American men in Brooklyn steal guns to defend themselves during a standoff with police that results in the death of an officer, police psychologist Harvey Schlossberg is called in to do what was thought impossible — negotiate the release of 12 hostages and defuse the situation nonviolently. Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with the survivors, Forbes’ film offers a unique perspective of a landmark event in American policing.

Memorization

You should be watching:Amazon, Apple, Vudu and Vudu are all available for rent at $19.99

Image: Open Road/Briarcliff Entertainment

In the latest Liam Neeson movie, he plays an assassin with memory loss and refuses to be assigned to murder a child. He finds that he must kill the people who hired him to do so.

From our review:

Neeson reads as if he’s operating in the same mode of desperate competence he originally perfected in Taken. Yet in Memorization, the thrill is gone — his intensity is no longer surprising, and as committed as Neeson is to remaining on screen and present for most of his character’s stunts, his limitations appear more apparent than usual, given Campbell’s clear shot blocking and the clean cuts that stitch the film’s action scenes together so neatly. These two men are the biggest problem in filmmaking. You can also good at their jobs, so one’s commitment overexposes the others’ shortcomings.

Double

You should be watching:For $4.99 Apple, $3.99 Google Play and Vudu.

Photo by RLJE Films

Riley StearnsSelf-Defense: How to be a good defender of yourselfThe science fiction movie is directed and written by. It tells the story of Sarah Gillan (Karen Gillan), who after receiving a terminal diagnosis chooses to clone to avoid her grieving family members. Sarah attempts to remove her clone, but fails after an unexpected recovery. Sarah finds herself with no choice but to battle her clone, in an orderly duel to death by the court to determine which clones will be permitted to live.

Our review:

This premise may seem absurd at first glance, but Stearns focuses on the absurdity. Stearns’ ad for the Cloning Service presents an absurd scenario in which a man suffering from depression clones himself to commit suicide peacefully without causing any family members pain. It is a film that displays a brutally serious sense of humor. Anyone who can’t see themselves chuckling at least a little bit at the bleak prospect of a new clone calmly coming across his progenitor’s corpse and taking his place would be advised to steer clear.

The Perfect Family

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Image by Netflix

This Spanish family drama follows a clash of two very different families — one rich and uptight, one Very Much Not. Tensions build when the rich son brings home his girlfriend.

Toscana

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Image by Netflix

Food-centric love, Toscana follows a Danish chef who falls in love while visiting Tuscany to sell his dad’s company.

A Perfect Pairing

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Photo by Vince Valitutti/Netflix

This week’s second romance on Netflix is based around travel. It follows an executive from a wine business in Los Angeles who finds love while helping out at a ranch.

Jackass 4.5

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Photo: Sean Cliver/Paramount Pictures

This is false Just what it saysIt’s not a Jackass film, but it is. How’s that, you ask? It’s simply a collection of outtakes from various footage that was taken on the cutting floor. Jackass Forever.

Sundown

You should be watching:Hulu streamable

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In the drama 2021, Charlotte Gainsbourg stars alongside Tim Roth Sundown as Neil and Alice Bennett, the eldest siblings of a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico — until an emergency back home calls on them to leave earlier. Neil, who pretends to have lost his passport so that he doesn’t leave behind family members, embarks on an emotional journey to discover and grow.

Valet

You should be watching:Hulu streamable

Image: Hulu

The rom-com is about a movie star, Samantha Weaving (who accidentally gets caught in the picture with her husband). After her PR team discovers that Eugenio Derbez (her valet) is also included in the photograph, they pretend to be the couple.

American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story

You should be watching:Hulu streamable

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With Zachary Levi as the main role, Kurt Warner’s remarkable tale of rags to riches, which focuses on a quarterback who stockpiled shelves in a grocery shop not too long before becoming the Super Bowl MVP, is now shown. It’s directed by the Erwin brothers, who make faith-based films, so expect this movie to focus as much on Warner’s Christianity as on the football.

The Mystery of the Found Footage

You should be watching:Shudder is available to stream

Image: Shudder

Shudder’s new feature-length documentary focuses on the found footage subgenre of horror, including closer looks at iconic entries like Blair Witch Project, Paralympic ActivityAnd Unfriended.