Scream, West Side Story, and 11 new movies you can watch at home now

The week sees the streaming premiere of two of last year’s biggest titles: Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, both of which have been nominated for Best Film at this year’s Academy Awards. Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta finally makes its streaming premiere on Hulu alongside A24’s anticipated new sci-fi film, Yang.

Rounded out by the streaming debut of two of our best movies of 2022, so far, as well as Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s The Scream on VOD, and much more, it’s a great weekend to sit back and enjoy the latest and greatest releases from the comfort of your home.

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.

Drive My Car

You should be watching:On HBO Max, you can watch it live.

Janus Films, Photo

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s drama was recently nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, and finally makes its highly anticipated US streaming debut. Why? This is our 2021 Best Movies write-up

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My CarIt runs for 179 minutes, yet it is worth every minute. The opening preamble, nearly an hour before the opening credits plays, covers an outwardly happy marriage between stage actor Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and his television producer wife Oto (Reika Kirishima). The pair enjoy a lively sex life, as Oto makes intercourse into writers-room sessions by crafting stories aloud for Kafuku’s arousal. Soon, however, Oto discovers something terrible about his wife. He is confronted by tragedy before he can face her.

Drive My Car It is an award-winning film that has been praised for its writing, direction and acting. It’s an experience well worth the three hours of its running time.

West Side Story

You should be watching:Available for streaming on Disney Plus or HBO Max

The Walt Disney Company.

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the legendary stage musical is an absolute delight to behold. The new musical is alive with life and color. West Side Story The second pays homage while still being unique. Ariana DeBose (in her movie debut) and Rachel Zegler (in their film debut), shine as Maria, Anita and earn an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. That’s one of seven nominations for the film, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design. Ansel Elgort is a drag every time he’s on screen, but Tony was never the most interesting character here anyway. The latest West Side Story The entire experience is delightful from beginning to end. Our review:

Most of the attention is given to Puerto Ricans. In the original story, there was more sympathy and admiration shown for immigrants who had just arrived from Puerto Rico than what was culturally normal in that time and place. Spielberg and Kushner’s version underlines those sympathies even further. The filmmakers made a crucial update in the casting, replacing the 1961 version’s Sharks — mostly white and non-Latinx actors in brownface — with an all-Latinx cast. And they pack significant scenes with unsubtitled Spanish dialogue — not clumsy Spanglish or the odd mid-sentence language-swapping that’s become common in TV shows and games trying to establish a setting and culture without alienating English speakers. This is actually a good thing. West Side StoryFeels like it was designed for bilingual viewers.

Screem

You should be watching:Amazon, Apple and $4.99 Vudu available to rent

Image by Paramount Pictures

The ScreamThe confusingly-titled fifth installment in the legendary slasher horror series is called “The Fifth Instance”. Ready or not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Woodsboro is seeing the franchise return more than 10 years later after events that took place in The Scream 4Nearly a quarter century since the original Scream, a new generation joined Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), as they battle against yet another. Another A maniacal murderer has taken on the terrifying mask of Ghostface. Our review:

This The ScreamYou might try something similar Resurrections by The MatrixIt pushed self-referentiality beyond its limits in an attempt to smuggle its potential status as a decades-later cash-in while also brokering a happy reunion with its beloved original characters. The problem is that Matrix comparison doesn’t always flatter the 2022 The Scream. Campbell, Cox, and Arquette all have chances to shine, and Campbell’s rueful confidence even approaches something vaguely touching. This movie is too crowded. It’s a film where you feel relief, not dread.

Yang

Photo: Sundance Institute

Get the latest news from Columbus director Kogonada, YangIt is an eerie, melancholy sci-fi movie. The film balances questions about the way we think about artificial lives with more interesting ones about what it thinks about us. Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith star as adoptive parents raising a young Chinese girl, with the help of a “technosapien” — an android programmed as her language tutor, cultural advisor, and big brother. When his systems fail, the family goes through exactly what they’d experience at the death of any family member, with the added question of what his death tells them about their lives and relationships. It’s a small, quiet, meditative film, but it’s visually rich and packed with ideas about prejudice and assumptions, cultural assimilation, and the way everyone is navigating an inner life that would astonish everyone around them.

Yang You can stream it on Showtime AnytimeShowtime and Showtime Amazon.

Red Rocket

You should be watching:Rentable for as low as $4.99 Amazon and Vudu, or $5.99 Apple

Image: A24

Were it not for the fact that Joachim Trier’s dark romantic comedy-drama had already claimed the name, Sean Baker’s (Tangerine, Florida Project) Red RocketIt could easily have been called The World’s Worst Person. Simon Rex stars as Mikey “Saber” Davies, a fast-talking narcissistic dirtbag who could give Nude’s Johnny Fletcher a run for his money, who returns to his hometown of Texas City after 17 years to wreak havoc in his vainglorious bid to land back on top. Our review:

Red Rocket’s script, by Baker and his longtime co-writer Chris Bergoch, keeps things loose and centered on Mikey’s incessant talking. Its strengths, however, lie in the things that happen around Mikey, from the people who don’t say much compared to him, who will remain in Texas City whether or not he does, to the vast expanses of Southern land, where the only landmarks are smokestacks and Trump campaign billboards. In the background of Mikey’s hucksterism, the 2016 presidential campaign plays out on television, never commented on, but ever-present. It’s another story about a man who effortlessly spun fictions about himself and got people to believe them, to the detriment of everyone in his orbit.

Pirates’ Last Royal Treasure

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Image: Lotte Entertainment / Netflix

A spiritual sequel to Lee Seok-hoon’s 2014 South Korean period adventure film The Pirates, Kim Jeong-hoon’s 2022 film depicts a clash between pirates, bandits, and pioneering vying for a seal that could lead them to a undiscovered trove of royal gold lost at sea. It’s a lavish trailer with fiery dragons and high-flying penguins. What’s not to like?

Benedetta

You should be watching:Hulu streamable

IFC Films – Photo

Paul Verhoeven’s erotic biopic drama BenedettaVirginie Efira plays a nun living in 17th-century Italy and falls for Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia), one her sisters. As Benedetta’s apparent religious powers and the discovery of her love affair pit her in the center of an ever-widening religious scandal, her faith and innocence is put to the test. This review is a summary:

Some might find it. BenedettaToo exploitative for me to consider seriously. That criticism has its merits: The movie’s lasciviousness can be read as being meant for the camera as much as it is for the characters. The movie’s queerness could be seen as a purely satirical device for straight men. But in the context of the rigid confines of Catholicism at the peak of its powers, Verhoeven’s argument for Benedetta’s extremes is compelling. He presses against the profane and calls into question the religious rejection of human experience.

It was a Simple Man

You should be watching:Criterion Channel is available for streaming

Image: Criterion Channel

Christopher Makoto Yogi’s (August at Akiko’s() Ghost story is a meditation on the afterlife, death and memory. An elderly patriarch, Steve Iwamoto (excellent in his debut lead role), is approaching the end his life. However, his relatives in the present as well as ghosts of the past visit him, including Constance Wu, his long-deceased spouse. Intergenerational tensions arise as the ghosts of past conflicts return, too – squabbles and fights between family members long estranged, as well as the history of Hawaii’s path to statehood.

It was an easy manThis film takes you on a journey through different times and features dream-like surrealism and dreams. It is a beautiful film filled with breathtaking images of Hawaii’s stunning landscapes and rich textures. The Made in Hawaii Award for Best Feature was presented at the 2021 Hawaii International Film Festival. It was an easy man This unforgettable adventure captures one last day of life on Earth.

All New

You should be watching:Hulu streamable

Image: Searchlight Pictures

Mimi Cave’s comedy horror thriller All NewNoa is played by Daisy Edgar-Jones. She’s a frustrated woman with modern dating, and she finds herself unintentionally swept off the feet by Steve Stan (a charming young man). While at first their relationship comes across as picturesque, Steve soon enough reveals his true intentions; confessing to Noa his “unconventional desires” that veer closer into Hannibal Lecter territory than Christian Grey.

The Invisible Thread

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Image by Netflix

The Invisible Thread (not to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 romantic drama Phantom ThreadLeone is a teenager, who films a documentary in Italy about LGBTQ rights. It focuses on his experiences as the father of two sons. When a unexpected twist results in his parents’ separation, Leone will have to navigate not only the prejudices of his peers but the open question of who he go on to live with.

Meskina

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Image by Netflix

A 2022 Dutch romantic comedy Meskina Leyla is a thirty-something woman, who feels helpless when her husband abandons her in favor of pursuing another man. Seen as a “Meskina” (pity-case) by her family, Leyla embarks on a personal journey of romance and self-discovery in search meaning outside of love itself.

For the Ice

You should be watching:Netflix is available to stream

Lilja Jonsdottir/Netflix

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of ThronesJoe Cole’s (Black Mirror, Peaky BlindersIn For the Ice as Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen, a Denmark arctic explorer and his inexperienced crew member Iver Iversen who embark on a perilous journey to disprove the United State’s claim to Northeast Greenland. Their ship gets crushed and they are forced to abandon their camp. The pair will have to fight fatigue and extreme cold in an attempt for survival.

The Long Walk

You should be watching:Google Play offers a $3.99 rental option

Image: Yellow Veil Pictures

Laotian director Mattie Do’s sci-fi horror mystery The Long Walk follows the story of an old reclusive scavenger (Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy) living on the fringes of near-future society who discovers that the ghost of a road accident victim has the power to traverse time, transporting him fifty years in the past in the hopes of preventing his mother’s untimely death from a terminal illness.