Toussaint Egan
is a curation editor, out to highlight the best movies, TV, anime, comics, and games. He has been writing professionally for over a decade.
Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week, Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy about the invention of Pop-Tarts, premieres on Netflix. If brand biopics aren’t your bag, there’s certainly no shortage of new releases to choose from this week. The coming-of-age teen drama Turtles All The Way Down releases on Max this weekend, alongside the remaster of Jonathan Demme’s classic concert film Stop Making Sense, a new romcom starring Anne Hathaway on Prime Video, and much more.
Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Unfrosted
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Jerry Seinfeld
Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan
Nowadays it feels like everyone and every thing is getting the biopic-comedy movie treatment. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Blackberry mobile phones, Nike Jordan sneakers — you name it. Unfrosted is the latest in this emerging trend, chronicling the sorta-true story of how Kellog’s beat their competitors to market with their patented Pop-Tart product.
From our review:
Despite its family-friendly veneer, Unfrosted is a resolutely cynical work. Step outside of the candy-colored glow of its warm cinematography and the picture is bleak. Just as Pop-Tarts come from the executives in the film studying trash, Hollywood’s desperation for marketable IP means studios are happy to greenlight literal garbage. What does it mean that Jerry Seinfeld — a man who never needs to work another day in his life if he doesn’t want to, a guy mostly famous these days for simply hanging out — is back with a movie that proves Hollywood will greenlight a film about any old brand, no matter how nonsensical?
New on Hulu
Prom Dates
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Coming-of-age comedy
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Kim O. Nguyen
Cast: Julia Lester, Antonia Gentry, JT Neal
After unexpectedly breaking up with both of their dates, a pair of high school friends hatch a plot to find new dates in time for their senior prom. As their prospects dwindle, the two are left with no other choice: Sneak into a college party and find new dates there.
New on Max
Turtles All The Way Down
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Romantic drama
Run time: 1h 51m
Director: Hannah Marks
Cast: Isabela Merced, Cree Cicchino, Felix Mallard
Based on John Green’s 2017 young adult novel, Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) stars as Aza Holmes, a 16-year-old struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder who reunites with her childhood crush, the son of a fugitive billionaire. As Aza attempts to pursue the disappearance of her crush’s billionaire father, she’ll grow to learn to live with and overcome her challenges to pursue her happiness.
From our review:
In a way, Max’s Turtles All the Way Down is an anti-John Green adaptation — at least, it’s anti preconceived notions of John Green. He’s been trying from his very first novel to deconstruct the tropes he accidentally became known for. But sometimes it takes an outside hand to free a story from judgment and give it a new form, so it can shine without an author’s (however ill-attributed) reputation on it. Marks crafts a fulfilling coming-of-age story from Green’s book. Turtles has familiar John Green touchpoints — a gimmicky story setup, a teen romance, a quirky best friend — but it turns the story inward and pulls off a fantastic character exploration, one that feels like a gut-punch in its best moments.
Stop Making Sense
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Genre: Concert movie
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Jonathan Demme
You may find yourself at home on your couch, looking for something to watch. And you may find yourself scrutinizing what’s new on streaming and VOD. And you may find yourself intrigued by the latest 4K remaster of Jonathan Demme’s acclaimed concert film of the Talking Heads performing. And you may ask yourself, Well, why don’t I watch that?
New on Prime Video
The Idea of You
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Genre: Romantic comedy
Run time: 1h 55m
Director: Michael Showalter
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, Ella Rubin
Is it really possible for a 20-something rock star and a 40-something single mom to be in a relationship? Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine) and Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) are about to find out in this romantic comedy based on Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel.
New on Peacock
The American Society of Magical Negroes
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Genre: Fantasy rom-com
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Kobi Libii
Cast: Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan
Kobi Libii’s directorial debut stars Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) as Aren, a young biracial artist who is recruited to join a clandestine group of magical Black people who secretly help white people in their mission to solve racism. You can probably guess about how well that goes.
New on AMC Plus
American Star
Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus
Genre: Action thriller
Run time: 1h 47m
Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego
Cast: Ian McShane, Nora Arnezeder, Thomas Kretschmann
Ian McShane (John Wick, Deadwood) stars as an over-the-hill contract killer who embarks to the tropical island Fuerteventura to fulfill his last assignment before retirement. While waiting for his target, he finds himself drawn to the people of the island and their lives there, and begins to contemplate what life he would like to build after he puts his career as an assassin behind him.
New on Metrograph At Home
Pamfir
Where to watch: Available to stream on Metrograph At Home
Genre: Fantasy drama
Run time: 1h 42m
Director: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
Cast: Oleksandr Yatsentyuk, Stanislav Potiak, Solomiia Kyrylova
This Ukrainian drama follows the story of Leonid (Oleksandr Yatsentyuk), a reformed smuggler who has forsaken his life of crime to devote himself as a family man. Despite his best efforts, Leonid is unable to find a honest way of making a living and recruits his brother in a scheme to provide for his wife and teenage son. Caught between a local crime syndicate and local law enforcement, Leonid will have to find a way to secure a better life.
New to rent
Arcadian
Where to watch: Available to purchase on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Action horror
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Ben Brewer
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins
Nicolas Cage stars as a father of two sons desperate to protect and raise his family in a near future Earth decimated by the arrival of a ferocious nocturnal creatures. When their father is wounded by one of these creatures, his sons must band together and call upon every lesson of their training in order to survive.
Blue Giant
Where to watch: Available to purchase on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: Yuzuru Tachikawa
Cast: Yuki Yamada, Shotaro Mamiya, Amane Okayama
Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100, Death Parade) returns with an animated drama based on Shinichi Ishizuka’s 2013 manga. Blue Giant centers on Dai Miyamoto, a high school basketball player who casts aside his sport aspirations to become a jazz saxophonist. Moving to Tokyo to pursue his dream of becoming the best saxophonist alive, Dai will have to overcome more than just his inexperience if he has any hope of attaining his goal.
Femme
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Thriller
Run time: 1h 39m
Directors: Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping
Cast: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay, Aaron Heffernan
After being viciously attacked by an unknown man and their group of friends, a drag queen named Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) confronts their assaulter — a closeted young man named Preston (George MacKay) in a gay sauna. Striking up an affair, Jules plots his revenge against Preston, who is oblivious to Jules’ true identity and intentions.
They Shot The Piano Player
Where to watch: Available to purchase on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Musical docudrama
Run time: 1h 43m
Directors: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Tony Ramos, Abel Ayala
This animated docudrama follows a music journalist (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) who embarks on a globe-trotting journey to uncover the truth behind Francisco Tenório Júnior, a Brazilian samba-jazz pianist who was instrumental in popularizing Bossa Nova music, and the reason behind his sudden mysterious disappearance.
Source: Polygon
