I scoured the Amazon Prime and FreeVee platforms for new releases this month to showcase the best new movies and series the streaming services have to offer.
Amazon’s featured original work this month is the May/December romantic comedy “The Idea of You” starring Anne Hathaway. And don’t get hung up on the sci-fi neo-western Outer Range Season 2 or The Outlaws Season 3; both are great.
In addition to new series and movies, I'm also highlighting some of the great old movies coming to Prime this month, including one of my all-time favorites, 1955's All That Heaven Allows and "Amélie" proves that FreeVee also has room for pretentious French movies.
your thoughts
The romantic comedy "On Your Mind" is based on the novel by Robinne Lee, originally a Harry Styles fan fiction, and stars Anne Hathaway as Soleil Solène, a 40-year-old single mother, unexpectedly fell in love with Hayes when she went to Coachella. Nicholas Galitzine, a 24-year-old singer who plays the main stage in the band August Moon. "The Idea of You" has a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising Hathaway's strong performance, the romantic chemistry between the film's leads, and the film's light, character-driven comedy.
Live broadcast starts on May 2
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
To coincide with the release of The Idea of You, Prime dropped an older release from the May/December romance genre: 1955's All That Heaven Allows . Jane Wyman stars as a wealthy widow whose life depends on the opinions of her snooty children and the country club square. Rock Hudson plays the dashing young garden designer/free spirit she falls in love with. Upon its release , "All That Heaven Allows " was considered a well-made romance, but director Douglas Sirk's clever satire of 1950s middle-class mores and Hollywood romantic clichés misled the film. It wasn't noticed until decades later.
Live broadcast starts on May 1st
Outland , Season 2
For fans of neo-westerns, the premise of "Outer Range" may seem familiar: Josh Brolin plays Royal Abbot, a Wyoming rancher who fights to protect himself fight for the land. But when Albert discovers a mysterious, perfectly round hole on the edge of his property, otherworldly events begin to occur around the ranch, and the show takes an unexpected turn toward the supernatural. Outland Season 1 left a lot of questions unanswered. Let's hope Season 2's answer lives up to the promise of the premise.
Live broadcast starts on May 16th
goat
Remember around 2004? Reality TV was everywhere at the time, with shows like The Surreal Life bringing fading celebrities to live together to see what would happen? Goat feels like a throwback to those halcyon days. "The GOAT" is hosted by Daniel ( Tosh.0 ) Tosh, and features 14 "reality TV superstars" including F Boy Island 's CJ Franco and The Bachelorette 's Joseph Amabile living together in the GOAT Manor, competing for $200,000 and being named the best Kudos to a great reality show. Star of all time.
Live broadcast starts on May 8
Outlaws , Season 3
Created by and starring Steven Merchant, co-creator of the British version of The Office , and starring Christopher Walken in a supporting role, The Desperados delivers a very British comedy . It tells the story of a group of petty villains from all walks of life who come together to perform community service for their crimes. Things get complicated when they discover a stash of money and decide to keep it, angering the drug dealer to whom it belongs. If you're not familiar, now is a great time to catch up on the first two seasons.
Live streaming begins on May 31st.
58th Academy of Country Music Awards
All your favorite country stars will be in attendance at the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards . Billed as "Country Music Party of the Year," this year's event will be hosted by Reba McEntire, who will also perform new music during the show. It's a very interesting time for country music, as the traditionally staid genre encounters a new wave of performers. The Entertainer of the Year category, for example, pits neo-traditionalists like Cody Johnson against new-school iconoclasts like face-tattooed, hip-hop-influenced artist Jelly Roll.
Live broadcast starts on May 16th
Whipped(2014)
Winner of three Academy Awards, Cracker tells the story of Andrew Nyman (Miles Teller), a student drummer who longs for perfect jazz, and his relationship with ruthless teacher and band leader Terrence Fletcher (JK Simmons). No expense was spared in order for his students to reach the peak of their talents. "Crackling Drummer," a film that turns music instruction into a thriller through tight pacing and editing, has a high score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Live broadcast starts on May 1st
Amelie (2001)
Amazon's FreeVee isn't my first movie platform for French magical realism movies, but it will be streaming Amélie in May, so maybe I'm wrong. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's portrayal of a clumsy Parisian waitress (Audrey Tautou) and her strange hobbies will satisfy any craving for campiness and magic, But it manages to avoid cramming in so much whimsy that it makes you sick.
Live broadcast starts on May 1st
Bottle Rocket (1996)
"Bottle Rocket," starring Owen and Luke Wilson and directed by Wes Anderson, was one of the highlights of the independent film boom of the 1990s. Bottle Rocket tells the story of a group of eccentric nobodies trying to pull off an ambitious heist, and its quirky vibe is both current and timeless. Even with a relatively low budget and a lack of feature film experience, Wes Anderson's talent is undeniable and his fingerprints are on every frame of this endearing and quirky film.
Live broadcast starts on May 1st
Last month's picks
fall out
The Fallout video games are actually pretty well-respected by gamers, so a Prime TV series based on those games would receive a lot of critical attention. Luckily, Fallout executive producer Jonathan Nolan knows how to adapt a dystopian sci-fi story - he created HBO's Westworld. The play adopts the classic "Fallout" style and is set 200 years after the nuclear disaster destroyed mankind. The protagonist Lucy (played by Ella Purnell) walks out of the shelter's technology vault and enters the bombed Los Angeles. She'll encounter gun-toting ghouls, power-suit-clad Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, Mr. Smart robots, and all sorts of "Hey, I know it!" material from the game. Hit play to see if it lives up to its legacy.
Live broadcast starts on April 11th
Dinner with parents
Don't underestimate this original comedy series just because it's on FreeVee. Dinner with Parents features some of the screen's funniest characters, including Dan Bakkedahl, Michaela Watkins and Carol Kane, and even YouTube star Daniel Thrasher for the kids. Based on the popular British sitcom Friday Night Dinner , each episode of Dinner with the Parents revolves around a family meal at the eccentric Lange household, which inevitably descends into chaos.
Streaming on FreeVee starting April 18
music
Riverdale's Camila Mendes and Internet personality Rudy Mancuso star in this Amazon original romantic comedy. Mancuso co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music for "Music." Described as "an unconventional romantic comedy that unfolds to its own infectious beat," Music tells the story of Rudy (Naturally), a charismatic Brazilian busker with synesthesia , who experiences everyday noises as music. Rudy's directionless life takes a dramatic turn when he meets Isabella (Mendes), a beautiful woman who works at the fish market and who seems to outshine his daughter. Friends know him better.
Live broadcast starts on April 4th
Them: panic
The second season of the horror anthology series Marvin is set in 1991 Los Angeles and stars Deborah Ayorinde as Dawn Reeve, an LAPD detective. A series of particularly gruesome murders are being investigated. As the city teeters on the edge of chaos, Reeve tracks down the killer but begins to suspect there may be something worse than human evil behind the crime, and that it's targeting her and her family. Them: Panic stars Pam Grier as Athena Reeve, and that's why it's worth watching.
Live broadcast starts on April 25
How to date billy walsh
If you want a teen love story, check out How to Date Billy Walsh . Set in a posh British boarding school, Billy Walsh tells the story of Archie's lifelong crush on his best friend Amelia (Charisla Chandran). Just as Archie is about to tell his friends how he feels, Amelia meets Billy Walsh, a handsome, charismatic American transfer student who finds herself deeply in trouble. As they say, complications ensue as Amelia tries to date Billy and Archie tries to secretly keep them apart. It may not be the most original story in a teen comedy, but it's presented here with sincerity and wit.
Live broadcast starts on April 5th
Home with Tyler Cameron
The reality/makeover show chronicles former Bachelorette and current hunk Tyler Cameron's quest to start a construction business in his hometown of Jupiter, Florida. We're supposed to believe that Cameron has always dreamed of working in construction, and now that he's no longer starring in a top-rated TV show with a bunch of beautiful women vying for his affection, he's finally free to pursue his true passion: decorating other people's house. Each of Homecoming 's eight episodes features a remodeled home, and the show also features reality stars including Matt James, Rachel Kirkconnell, Jason Tartick and Hannah Brown. Appearance.
Ong Bak - Muay Thai Fighter (2003)
Sometimes I forget how great martial arts movies are, usually for years and years, but when I see a movie like The Fighter I'm like, "Wait, why am I watching other types of movies?" ?" Tony Jaa's performance as Ding, who sets out from his small village to retrieve a stolen Buddha statue, is on the level of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. This plot is secondary to the battle sequences, though. Filmed in a pre-digital, pre-wired era, Jaa and the rest of the cast's stunts and choreography will leave you in awe , or shaking your head in disbelief.
Live broadcast starts on April 1
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
I will say one thing for him, Jesus is cool. Screenings of Jesus Christ Superstar are an Easter tradition in my family, and they should be in yours too. The story of Judas's betrayal of Jesus told through hippie-era psychedelic rock Jesus Christ Superstar works both as a campy rock opera and as straight-up storytelling - the source material is pretty solid. Filled with wonderful music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and performances by talented long-haired actors like Ted Neely as Jesus Christ and Karl Anderson as Judas, Jesus Christ Superstar is So great that it almost made me forget that I was an atheist.
Live broadcast starts on April 1
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
If you're the kind of person who can separate the artist from the work, watch (or rewatch) Roman Polanski's horror-movie masterpiece Rosemary's Baby . It's strange that a criminal and villain like Polanski could make a film as progressive and pro-feminist as Rosemary's Baby, but art can be weird like that sometimes. The story of Rosemary Carrying the Devil's Child is on the surface a creepy slow-motion suspense/horror story, but underneath it's a scathing critique of the patriarchy, with the powerless Rosemary systematically victimized by everyone and everything in her perpetrators and violations. The so-called perfect life. Today, 55 years later, the film still rocks, with strong performances from Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon bringing it into focus.
Live broadcast starts on April 1
Legacy (2023)
I can't say enough positive things about The Holdovers . Reservation is a character-driven drama directed by the great Alexander Payne and starring Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunnam, a stubborn New England boarding school student. Classical music teacher. Hunnam is tasked with looking after a group of poor boys with nowhere to go on Christmas break, and he teams up with troubled but bright teenager Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and school cook Mary Lamb (Dominic Cesar) develops an unexpected friendship. Actor Da'Vine Joy Randolph won an Academy Award for the role). You know this is a movie that's going to make you cry in about five minutes, but the tears are honest, man.
Live broadcast starts on April 29
