We’re back with 10 movie movies that you can watch right now, whether it’s a trip to the theaters or a nice night in at home.
Last week, we recommended you check out movies like BlackBerry and Hypnotic.
This week, we’ll take a look at the latest installment in the Fast and the Furious franchise and The Little Mermaid (well, the original one, anyway).
We’ll also look at some classic films that come from Italy and a couple of 2023 films that came out in the spring that you might’ve missed.
Let’s butter the popcorn and check out which movies you can check out pretty easily.
Fast X
It’s fair to wonder how much tread is left on this franchise’s tires, but Fast X is just relentlessly entertaining enough to keep things afloat before the grand finale.
If anything, Jason Momoa’s surprisingly unhinged villain keeps everything on its toes and keeps the film from veering too far into its longstanding franchise vices. It’s a tremendous performance for a series that’s not always known for its villainy.
Where to Watch: Theaters
The Little Mermaid
While you technically could go see the 2023 Little Mermaid remake in theaters right now, you could also just fire up Disney+ and watch the original.
It’s still as spirited and delightful as you’d remember, the film that kicked off the Disney renaissance with aplomb and deliriously catchy musical numbers.
It’s hard to imagine the new film capturing this momentum, as it would be for any live-action remake trying to recreate what the Disney renaissance did so well.
Where to Watch: Disney+, video rental on demand
Bama Rush
This is far, far less explosive than it is studious. It more seeks to build empathy for the young women who seek community in college than it does unearth something freshly scandalous about the University of Alabama’s much-discussed Machine.
The documentary falters when it tries too hard to discuss its production within the personal studies of the young women who are either planning to rush or have already gone through the process. It’s not worth any sort of controversy since any discussion of the Machine is just sharing much of what is already out there.
If anything, this documentary walks a fine line between trying to critique the social club system and justify its existence in the grander scheme of college socialization. It does both just well enough to work, but it’s much more effective as the latter than the former.
Where to Watch: Max
Bicycle Thieves
This is one of the best studies of post-World War II Italy that you will find, as it’s just a sweeping portrait of unrelenting humanity on the brink of ruin.
Masterful filmmaker Vittorio De Sica is one of Italian neorealism’s pioneers, and this is as close to a masterpiece as any film on this week’s list. It’ll break your heart into a million pieces all while lifting your spirit into the heavens.
Where to Watch: Max, the Criterion Channel, Kanopy, video rental on demand
8 1/2
If you’ve not heard, Federico Fellini is very, very good at making movies.
Your favorite surrealistic movie owes much to 8 1/2, a formally daring study into the creation of art and how our worlds shape what we create.
It’s as influential as any film that came out of the European arthouse revolution of the 1960s.
Where to Watch: Max, the Criterion Channel, Kanopy, video rental on demand
The Talented Mr. Ripley
If we want to fix Hollywood, make 100 more movies like The Talented Mr. Ripley and just make that the extent of what people can choose from.
Where to Watch: Paramount+, video rental on demand
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You could write this film’s plot on a straw wrapper, but I admired the bare-dinoboned approach.
It’s maybe too slim and uninspired for its own good, but it’s quick enough to where you aren’t all that bothered by the time spent with it. Adam Driver fighting with a T-Rex is a fun optic.
This reminded me of After Earth, but without the M. Night Shyamalan touch (I like After Earth, sue me).
Where to Watch: video rental on demand
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Every year, there are one or two movies that I just do not get the adoration for, and I’m sorry to say this is one of ‘em.
I like everything they’re trying to do, but I don’t think it really hits any of the beats it wants to master with the self-aware fantasy comedy Princess Bride stuff. It’s not very funny and the whole meandering plot just felt kind of boring.
I’m all for devious charms from Hugh Grant and Chris Pine doing his shtick; don’t mistake me. The cameo in this is fun. It’s just such a niche exercise in inside jokes and corny humor.
Some of the action sequences have a bit of zest to the way they’re staged, but without much of a story or cast of characters to rest on, what do you do with them? The opening scene is the funniest part. That’s not good for momentum’s sake!
I’m totally fine to be in the minority on this one; just the way the dice roll sometimes. Just … not seeing it! Bummer!
Where to Watch: Paramount+, video rental on demand
Everything is Copy
This documentary on the late, great Nora Ephron is absolutely riveting.
It’s the kind of no frills bio-doc that refuses to tell you anything but the truth, and it does so in such an organic way that doesn’t try to veer too far away stylistically from the subject’s body of work.
I learned a lot; added movies to my watchlist. This is the best way these HBO bio-docs can go.
Where to Watch: Max
Roman Holiday
As relentlessly charming and iconic as this is, Joe Bradley is a worse journalist than Trent Crimm. He should’ve been fired on the spot.
I kid; I kid. This is as good as you’ve heard.
Where to Watch: Paramount+, video rental on demand
