Elvis, Netflix’s Day Shift, and every other new movie to watch at home

This week, the new movies available to watch at home are led by a big theatrical release finally coming to home video, and an exciting Netflix movie that’s a bit of a throwback.

We must first talk about Elvis. Baz Luhrmann’s maximalist approach is a pitch-perfect vehicle for a story of one of American pop culture’s most legendary figures, and it’s finally available to watch at home if you, like me, have been unable to go to theaters.

The other highlight is Netflix’s Day Shift, a vamp-hunting horror action-comedy/horror mix from J.J. Perry. Starring Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco and Snoop dogg. It’s a blast, and a throwback to a bygone era of action moviemaking.

In addition to those two, there is a pair of kids movies, a documentary about Princess Diana, David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future and Alex Garland’s MenLow rental rates and many other benefits

Let’s get into it!

Elvis

What to Watch: Amazon, Apple and Vudu are available to rent, or buy for $19.99

Warner Bros.

Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll stars Austin Butler (Hollywood Once Upon a TimeAs the legend musician, he was played by ), and Tom Hanks plays Colonel Tom Parker. This is our review

The crucial casting decision isn’t the actor but the director. Baz Luhrmann has everything an Elvis biography needs. He is unrestrained, shameless, and self-conscious. He’s the only filmmaker who could address the legend of Elvis Presley with the simultaneous high camp and emotive sincerity it deserves.

While you’re in the mood, why not check out our list of great biopics about musicians, or the best movies from Elvis’s acting career?

Day Shift

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image courtesy of Netflix

J.J. Perry is J.J. Perry’s directorial debut as a stunt actor and an action coordinator. It’s in many ways a throwback to buddy comedy action movies from 30 years ago, but with modernized choreography. Jamie Foxx plays a vampire hunter in desperate need of cash, teaming up with a Vampire Hunters’ Union rep (Dave Franco) and an old friend (Snoop Dogg) to try and secure a big score.

Our review:

Two of these ways are the refreshingly low stakes or the effortless interplay of mundane and supernatural. Day Shift will remind savvy viewers of the many ’80s and ’90s video-store staples the film is so clearly a love letter to. The Lost Boys, Dead HeatAnd Night of Fright Each movie gets its own homages. These references can be subtle and are meant to only be understood by film geeks. Other shoutouts are animated, passionate ones.

Secret Headquarters

What to Watch: Paramount Plus streaming available

Photo: Hopper Stone/Paramount Pictures

This kid-centric superhero movie stars Owen Wilson as an Iron Man/Green Lantern combination. Catfish And Nerve Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman

Our review:

If Secret Headquarters It is a delight to see kids enjoying the thrill of superpowered gadgets. When it narrows the focus to the conflict between Charlie and his dad, and the toll that being a masked vigilante takes on family life, the movie stands out from other entries in the “kids discover superpowers and/or super-gadgets” subgenre. Joost Schulman and Charles Schulman have reduced the drama to a smaller scale and used sillier humors. Secret Headquarters This is an enjoyable, warm-hearted romp.

Crimes of the Future

What to Watch: Rentable for as low $5.99 at Amazon, Apple and Google

Image by NEON

David Cronenberg’s latest body horror venture stars Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart. There’s no better time to revisit Cronenberg’s history with the genre he’s long championed.

Our review:

Some of his movies have discomfiting scenes, some are horrifying, others contain flashes or gnarliness. From the Stars, MapsAnd Cosmopolisboth with Stewart’s TwilightRobert Pattinson stars as his co-star. Taylor Lautner is waiting by the telephone, doing some kick-flips. But Crimes is Cronenberg’s first full-on sci-fi/horror movie since 1999’s playful gaming odyssey eXistenZ. He is back in genre territory, but his return is more extreme than expected. eXistenZ This is an easier trip for those who are not as sedentary, however it does offer a lot of benefits. Crimes’ explicitly surgical moments, it’s a more contemplative, sometimes recessive film. It could be called a mood film.

Men

What to Watch: Amazon, Apple and Vudu are available to rent at $5.99

Kevin Baker/A24

Alex GarlandEx Machina, AnnihilationThe horror film “Jessie Buckley” is back with this movie. It’s about a young lady (Jessie Buckley), who escapes from her abusive husband to seek refuge in the country, where she meets strange men (Rory Kinnear), who all share the same face.

Our review:

It doesn’t matter what meaning or purpose is Men is a sensualist’s dream. Garland with Rob Hardy, cinematographer (who also shot). Ex MachinaAnd AnnihilationThe film has a stunningly sharp visual clarity with vibrant colors and dazzling imagery. It is almost impossible to miss the simple beauty of shots like those showing moss covered trees or raindrop ripples in an apuddle. The music, by Ben Salisbury and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow — who also collaborated on Garland’s previous two films — blends ambient noise and music with Buckley’s vocalizations, sometimes to hauntingly beautiful effect, as when she explores a tunnel’s echo by harmonizing with her own voice. Later, a shriek of pent-up emotional pain slips so completely into the soundtrack that it might as well be something Harper is thinking more than something she’s actually doing.

Happy Birthday

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image courtesy of Netflix

The hilarious Telugu-language comedy of crime takes place in a fictional nation where gun ownership is mandated by law. A group of guests at a luxurious hotel require that customers have guns. The film follows the events that follow.

Code Name: Emperor

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image courtesy of Netflix

The Spanish action thriller follows the moral dilemma of a secret agent who is forced to indict an innocent politician.

Heartsong

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image courtesy of Netflix

Heartsong A musical drama about a Turkish folk musician who is hired by the Dom people to sing at weddings. This movie is filled with Dom folk music.

Bank Robbers Were the Last Great Heist

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image courtesy of Netflix

Argentina’s most famous bank robbery is investigated in this true-crime doc, when five masked robbers held 23 people hostage and robbed a bank in broad daylight in 2006.

Pakka Commercial

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image courtesy of Netflix

This week’s Telugu-language Comedy on Netflix is another comedy. It features a judge taking on a controversial client. He gets into trouble with his father, an ex-judge.

Stay aboard: The Leo Baker Story

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image courtesy of Netflix

This documentary tells Leo Baker’s incredible story as a skateboarder and trans athlete.

13: The Musical

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Photo: Alan Markfield/Netflix

The movie adaptation of Jason Robert Brown, Robert Horn, and Dan Elish’s 2007 stage musical follows a boy who moves from New York to Indiana and wants to have a bar mitzvah to be remembered in his new environment.

The Princess

What to Watch: On HBO Max, you can watch it live.

Image by:

This is not to be confused the Hulu action film of the exact same name. The Princess The Oscar-nominated documentaryarian Ed Perkins has made a documentary on Princess Diana.Black Sheep).

My Dad Is My Hero

What to Watch: Vudu, Apple and Vudu available to rent starting at $6.99

Magnolia Pictures

Patton Oswalt’s hilarious comedy is inspired by a true story. His character plays a dad who attempts to reconcile with his son via online dating. Yes, he does try to catfish his son, played by James Morosini (whose true experience is the basis of this story).

Wifelike

What to Watch: Rentable for as low $5.99 at Amazon, Apple and Vudu

Image by Paramount Pictures

This science fiction thriller is rated R. WifelikeFollows Jonathan Rhys Meyers, a detective who has recently lost his wife. He is assigned Elena Kampouris as an AI companion. She’s designed to behave like her. He is drawn into conflict with an AI companion (Elena Kampouris) who begins to recall memories not hers.

Our review:

Instead of trying to create an insecure, unbalanced relationship between these characters, Wifelike excavates some barely concealed subtext and proudly lays it out as text: Men subjugate women, and if their attempts to do that are stymied, they’ll invent new women to subjugate some more. Bird avoids presenting grief and loneliness in the film as a catch-all for men’s misdeeds. It’s just another interesting idea the movie raises and drops.