Dear friends,
Today’s top pick is a docuseries about people who have made the best out of the harshest confinement conditions: maximum-security prisons. From learning new languages to getting competitive degrees, it’s easy to be inspired - and frankly blown away - by their determination.
THE TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
College Behind Bars
On Netflix almost everywhere.
This documentary from Ken Burns is a selection of stories from prisoners enrolled in a competitive college program. Many of the prisoners are in maximum-security facilities, some for serious crimes.
Seeing their difficult imprisonment conditions, the struggles they come from, and yet their incredible determination to excel in their education - it’s all such a humbling and emotional affair.
📰 The Washington Post: “it's especially fascinating to watch two students in particular - Rodney Spivey-Jones and Sebastian Yoon - as they shape their complicated senior theses into works that impress a committee of their professors.”
📺 on Netflix almost everywhere; 🍅 rating: - not yet rated
THE TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
The Lighthouse
New on Amazon Prime U.S. and Canada today.
Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are the only two actors starring in this eccentric movie, and they deliver such great performances that it feels like one more actor would have been one too many.
They star as lighthouse keepers in the 19th century, left on an island to interact only with each other and their rock. It’s a fascinating premise of how these men, left on their own, deal with boredom, loneliness, and being annoyed with one another.
Incredible performances, an interesting aspect ratio, and perhaps excessive weirdness, make this movie unforgettable.
📰 Justin Chang of the L.A. Times: “The Lighthouse may be a little too in love with its own virtuosity, but who can blame it? At a time when American movies are overrun with shopworn visions, its madness is a balm and a beacon.”
📺 on Amazon Prime U.S., Canada, and select other geographies; 🍅 rating: 90%
Readers’ top picks
King Jack on Netflix is our readers’ favorite movie pick. It’s a coming-of-age drama about a bullied kid who has to take care of his cousin.
Caliphate on Netflix is readers’ favorite TV show. It’s an engaging thriller that takes place between Syria and Sweden, following how ISIS radicalizes two groups of young Europeans.
New titles worth your time
The Coen Brothers’ 2016 comedy Hail, Caesar! is now streaming on Netflix. Set in the 50s, it’s about a major Hollywood actor played by George Clooney who gets kidnapped by a mystery group.
The cop thriller Bosch comes back for season six today. As one of Amazon’s first Originals, it stars Titus Welliver as a tough gun-wielding cop who gets into legal trouble.
The top movie pick, The Lighthouse, is also new on Amazon Prime today.
Great titles that will soon expire
The beyond amazing I, Daniel Blake leaves Netflix tomorrow, Saturday, April 18th. Directed by Ken Loach, it’s about two neighbors who are let down by the social welfare system in England. It features only amateur actors and by all measures, it’s a simple story, but, Loach (who is in his 80s and still making movies) gives it so much power.
Also leaving tomorrow is the 2017 documentary Oklahoma City. It tells the events of the worst domestic terrorism attack in the U.S., the 1995 bombing of a government building in Oklahoma.
No new titles expiring on Amazon Prime this week.
The Newsflash: Peacock
A lot happened this week in streaming news. Netflix is now worth more than Disney, and more than ExxonMobil.
Also on Netflix: they’ve made many of their documentaries free on Youtube to help educators who want to show the films to their students online.
And in other news, the new streaming service Quibi has launched, focusing on “quick bites” or short length TV shows for mobile users. It costs $5/month with ads and $8 without.
But perhaps more notably is the limited launch of NBC’s new service, Peacock. Named after the company’s logo, it’ll have many of their classics: The Office, Parks & Recs, and many movies from Universal and Dreamworks.
So just another streaming service? Not exactly. Peacock might be most innovative where other services aren’t: pricing. It has three tiers: one completely free, one for $5 with ads, and one without ads for $10.
For reference, Hulu doesn’t have a free tier, and the ad subscription costs $6.
For now, Peacock is only available to select Comcast subscribers, with the full launch planned in the US for July 15th. It’s reported to include 15,000 hours of streaming, with half of that going to the free ad-supported plan.
That’s it for today, I hope there is something in there for you.
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The next edition will be in your inbox on Friday, April 24th.
Until then,
Bilal Zou, founder [bilal@agoodmovietowatch.com]
Carried with the support of the Creative Europe Program – MEDIA.