Dan Slevin recommends Daniel Day-Lewis' last film as this week's new-to-streaming highlight.
Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock fits Alma (Vicky Krieps) in PT Anderson’s Phantom Thread. Photo: Universal
It’s not often that you can say the best new-to-streaming films are on Neon, a service best-known for playing it safe, but this week they lead the pack.
There is a strong call for Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther to be nominated for an Oscar this year (there can be up to ten nominations for Best Picture so it’s possible) and that one is likely to get the most clicks but my highlight for the week is the impeccable Phantom Thread. A wry comedy of sexual politics in the clothes of a literate historical drama (with a haunting Holocaust survivor narrative lurking just around the corner), Paul Thomas Anderson’s film was long-awaited but then sort of fizzled out at the box office almost as soon as it arrived.
Never mind. Daniel Day-Lewis’ final screen performance gets funnier the more that you think about it and he is well-matched by newcomer Vicky Krieps and the incomparable Lesley Manville. You can hear my review of it from At the Movies here:
Also new to Neon this week is the Japanese anime romance Your Name. (2017), a body swap fantasy that ends up packing quite a powerful punch.
Netflix have made a rare trip to the archive to bring us George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973) in which a cast of Hollywood up-and-comers like Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford act out 50s teenage life with all the hot rods and rock and roll they can get their hands on.
Richard Dreyfuss ponders his future in George Lucas’ American Graffiti. Photo: Universal Pictures
Prime Video, Amazon’s streaming offer, has gone all in on family Christmas with at least 15 holiday-themed films that you’ve never heard of. They also betray the Australian origins of their programming for this market with Leo McKern in the lovely 1987 drama Travelling North and something called The Slim Dusty Movie from 1984 in which the dinkum musical legend tours Australia and a bunch of actors recreate his early life.
For those who feel like a flutter, new rental options are strong this week with Google Play offering Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (2015), the 2017 Oscar-winner for Best Animation, Zootopia, arriving at Apple and Lightbox highlighting this year’s female-driven caper flick, Ocean’s 8.
Every week around this time, Dan Slevin highlights some of the best and most interesting feature films that are new to Kiwi streaming services.
