Nightmare Alley, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and 8 new movies to watch at home

This weekend Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Toro’s highly-anticipated follow-up to his 2017 Academy Award-winning romance Water ShapeAfter its theatrical release in late 2013, ‘The Last Dance of the Night’ is finally available for streaming. In addition to del Toro’s latest, there’s plenty of great new releases to watch on VOD and streaming this weekend like sports biopic King RichardWill Smith stars Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Sing MachoYou can find out more.

To help you get a handle on what’s new and available, here are the new movies you can watch on streaming and VOD this weekend.

Nightmare Alley

What to Watch:You can stream HBO Max or Hulu.

Kerry Hayes/20th Century Studios. Photo

Guillermo del Toro’s psychological noir Nightmare Alley Bradley Cooper stars as Stanton Carlisle. He is an ambitious, theatrical carny who has a talent for manipulating others. When Carisle’s schemes draw the attention of a sultry psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) with plans of her own, his life quickly spirals out of control as he descends ever further into the depths of human depravity and desperation. From our review

Nightmare Alley is a careful and lavish adaptation of a seminal work where its most interesting dimensions are the ones that emerge when the viewer asks “why tell this story now?” Its script, by del Toro and Kim Morgan, is not didactic nor is it a drastic departure from previous versions. Yet, it is one of the most important studio films that feels more at this time than any other. Nightmare AlleyThe film is a dark drama about lies and how they get people to believe them. It’s also about the cycle of exploitation in which wealth and privilege are all that separate a cheater from a scammer from someone who can make a fool out of someone who doesn’t know better. Crucially, the film spends very little time in the actual alley from which the movie gets its title, but it’s always there. There are countless Nightmare Alleys all across America, and the moment you think you’re above ending up in one is the moment you’re doomed to be trapped there.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

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

Columbia Pictures

The fourth GhostbustersFilm, and third installment in the original franchise timeline Afterlife is the latest example of a “torch-passing” franchise film. Two grandchildren (Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace) of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler move to their grandfather’s haunted farmhouse and learn about his legacy (and bustin’ ghosts) in the process. This may be your best choice if you’re looking to bring the Ghostbusters franchise to younger generations. Our review shows that this is a great movie.

Even with the emphasis placed on young characters it is still very appealing. Ghostbusters: AfterlifeIt is filled with inside jokes and references to the movies that inspired it. There are many small, uplifting moments that will make even the most dedicated Ghostbusters fan cheer. The movie’s most interesting aspect is the way it welcomes a new generation into Ghostbusters culture, onscreen as well. The movie features Afterlife’s endless string of callbacks, Jason Reitman lovingly pays homage to his father’s series, but the new characters are where Jason’s own intimate and personal style of filmmaking shines through. It seems only right that it should be so. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is at its best when it’s about young characters finding their place in a pop-culture landscape their predecessors built.

King Richard

What to Watch:Rentable for as low as $19.99 at Amazon, Apple and Vudu

Warner Bros. Pictures

Based on Richard Williams’s true story as the father to tennis legends Venus Williams and Serena Williams King Richard His aspirations and attempts to become a star in an historically very white sport, portrays their hopes. Will Smith is a well-known actor who plays Richard. Demi Singleton and Saniyya Saidney are the stars of young tennis talent. We have reviewed the following:

Multiple competing interests are pulling on this film: The need to sanitize Williams’ image, the desire to make an already inspirational story more mainstream. King Richard never delves into the grittier side of racial dynamics, instead remaining at arm’s length while quickly moving past references to Rodney King or the Jim Crow South. The more interesting movie would probably be told from Venus and Serena’s perspective.

But in spite of those shortcomings, the beguiling draw of this rags-to-riches story can’t be denied. Smith’s immense movie-star presence can’t be ignored. Other crowd pleasers are equally charming, with many open-hearted jokes. Green’s King Richard isn’t a great movie, but it doesn’t need to be when the characters are this warm, and its message is so earnest.

Sing Macho

What to Watch:You can stream HBO Max on your computer.

Warner Bros.

Clint Eastwood, a late-career actor, has shown more of his reflective, sentimental side. Sing MachoIt is an emotional addition to Eastwood’s legendary filmography. Eastwood is a former rodeo star, who was paid by his employer to bring a child from Mexico to Texas. These aren’t the most straightforward of stories. What follows is an touching tale about cross-generational bonding and cross-cultural connection, with 1) Macho, a rodeo star, and 2) Eastwood acting as an emergency veterinarian in a small town.

And here’s what dropped last Friday:

Resurrections of the Matrix

What to Watch: Rentable for as low as $24.99 from Amazon, Apple and Vudu

Murray Close/Warner Bros. Pictures

It’s now been 18 years since the Matrix trilogy ended. Resurrections of the MatrixLana Wachowski’s post-cyberpunk romance/heist movie/epilogue featuring Keanu Reeves (returning star) and Carrie Anne Moss (returning star). An ambitious, strange, and deeply personal continuation of the original series that further complicates and interrogates the concept of the “chosen one,” Resurrections of the MatrixThe 1999 edition is as unique and bold as ever. From (excellent!) review:

Resurrections of the MatrixThis is all about achieving the impossible. On a very basic level, it’s about the insurmountable and inherently cynical task of making a follow-up to the Matrix trilogy, one that breaks technical and narrative ground the way the first film did. On a thematic one, it’s an agitprop romance, one of the most effective mass media diagnoses of the current moment that finds countless things to be angry about, and proposes fighting them all with radical, reckless love. On top of all that, it is also a kick-ass work of sci-fi action — propulsive, gorgeous, and yet still intimate — that revisits the familiar to show audiences something very new.

Home Team

What to Watch: Netflix is available to stream

Image: Scott Yamano/Netflix

Loosely inspired by Sean Payton’s 2010 autobiography, the 2022 sports comedy Home TeamKevin James plays the role of the NFL’s most renowned coach, who guided the New Orleans Saints in their only Super Bowl win. Payton, who was suspended from coaching after the Super Bowl victory, returns home to his hometown to try to make contact with his son of 12 years. With his son’s football team in desperate need of some coaching, Payton steps up to lead them to newfound heights of success and self-esteem. This might be what it sounds like Home Team is your typical inspirational sports drama, but not to worry: there’s also more than enough projectile vomit and crass humor to go around.

The Fallout

What to Watch:You can stream HBO Max on your computer.

Image by HBO Max/ Warner Bros. Pictures

The Fallout stars Jenna Ortega (The Scream) and Maddie Ziegler (West Side Story() As Vada Cavell, and Mia Reed. They are two survivors of a school shooting. Bonded through their mutual experience, Vada and Mia grapple with the emotional and psychological fallout of their classmates’ deaths while trying to build a new life in the wake of tragedy. The Fallout garnered significant praise following its debut at 2021’s SXSW, with particular acclaim singling out Park’s direction and Ortega’s emotionally moving performance in particular.

Keep it clean

Here are some things to keep an eye on Rentable for as low as $6.99 at Amazon, Apple and Vudu

Image from IFC Films

Crime drama 2021 Keep it clean stars Adrien Brody (The Pianist() As a troubled, violent man who is now living a quiet and repentant life as a garbage collector. When a spur-of-the-moment decision places him in the crosshairs of a local crime boss (Glenn Fleshler), he’ll have to resume his life of violence in order to protect himself and those he holds dear.

Brody, along with director Paul Solet produced and co-wrote the film. Keep it clean certainly isn’t going to win any accolades for originality. If you’re looking for yet Other action film in the vein of 2021’s NobodyOr John WickYou can make the lengthy wait worth it John WickIt might make the wait easier.

The Taste of Hunger

Here are some things to keep an eye on Amazon: $5.99; Vudu: $6.99

Magnolia Pictures

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of ThronesKatrine Greis – Rosenthal and () star in 2022 drama The Taste of HungerCarsten and Maggi, culinary superstars in Denmark, set out to open their first Danish restaurant. Despite their relative happiness, the two become obsessed with the one thing they don’t have — a Michelin star. Carsten, Maggi, and their relationship are willing to risk everything to achieve their goals. They decide that prestige or their love is what they really care about. The trailer plays similarly to last year’s A Second Round, so if you’re the type of viewer who considers watching a handsome Danish man going through a mid-life crisis to be an entertaining watch, you should definitely pop this one on.

Buck Wild: Ice Age Adventures

Here are some things to keep an eye onDisney Plus is available to stream

Image: Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Buck Wild: Ice Age AdventuresThe animated film’s sixth installment, “The Sixth” Ice AgeThe series has had many bumps and tribulations along its path to the big-screen. After more than four years of production and the closure of Blue Sky Studios following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the television spinoff-turned-feature film has finally been released into the world on Disney Plus.

The new Ice Age movie stars Crash and Eddie, the mischievous thrill-seeking possum brothers first seen in 2006’s Ice Age: MeltdownThe trio set off in pursuit of adventure but ended up trapped in an empty earth, inhabited only by mythical creatures that survived the extinction. Buck Wild rescues the three of them and they must set out on a mission for peace in the Lost World.