Breathe Into the Shadows is streaming on Amazon Prime Videos.
Amid all the despair due to coronavirus pandemic, for many people, one source of solace and entertainment is streaming services which, in the absence of theaters, are keeping us sane.
Today’s a big day for the OTT space. A few high profile movies and series are lined up for release on different streaming platforms today.
One of them is Greyhound. The war drama, streaming on Apple TV+, is based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by CS Forester and is about a US Navy Commander (Tom Hanks) on his first war-rodeo during World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic, the longest military campaign of the war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Hanks has also penned the screenplay.
The Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta gave the film three stars. She wrote, “It’s the mark of great actors that they seem to be doing so little, and yet inhabit their roles quite so completely: as Krause, devout to a fault, flashing back to his beloved (Shue), kneels to pray, we see his blood-stained socks, a result of being on his feet in a yawing-and-pitching vessel for much too long. We know that he has been in pain only through the rare twitch on his face: in the rest, he is completely in control.”
Reviews | Breathe | Greyhound | The Old Guard | Undekhi
She added, “You wish the crew was more detailed; a back-story or two would have been nice. Except for an African-American head chef (Morgan) who keeps following the captain around with small-meals-on-trays that he (the captain) manages never to eat, a skilful tracker (Graham) of enemy subs under the cold, grey water (the film is almost fully grey, varying the palette with blue and black), and a couple of young ones who exchange fearful glances when their captain seems to be taking his time to veer away from danger, the others are just a collection of faces.”
Here are the movies, web series and TV shows you should watch on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, SonyLIV, ALTBalaji, ZEE5, Voot and others.
The Old Guard is streaming on Netflix (Photo: Aimee Spinks/NETFLIX ©2020)
A film which became synonymous with the genre, Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is considered by many filmmakers as the greatest war film ever made. The first half an hour of the film, which is considered by fans as the best part of the film, shows American soldiers landing on the Omaha beach amid massive artillery and machine gun fire by Germans and suffer heavy losses. The presentation of the scene is harrowingly realistic with limbs flying, water turning red and a traumatic soldier walking with one of his limbs in one hand. It makes you feel as if you are actually there. Saving Private Ryan is the pinnacle of war filmmaking.
Stephen King adaptation Pet Sematary starring Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, and John Lithgow, is now available on Amazon Prime Video. The film tells the story of a family that moves to a countryside house with his wife and two kids. They discover that their new house is built near a pet cemetery (spelled as Sematary). The said pet cemetery was itself built on an ancient burial ground. Among the two kids, one becomes a little too interested in the cemetery. When their pet dies and comes back, the child is happy. But as we know from horror fiction, when the dead come back, they are never the same. One of the children is also then run over by a speeding vehicle.
Devs comes from Alex Garland, known for uncanny movies with a trippy visual language. The series, starring Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, Karl Glusma, Alison Pill. among others is a mystery that takes it time to get off the ground, but when it does, the payoff is big and worth waiting for. Apart from its entertainment value, Devs has a lot to say about humans, religion and so on and it is fun to peel back the layers of the story and look beneath the metaphors.
The Plot Against America belongs to the genre of alternative-historywhere fascists took control of USA in the 1940s. The show stars Winona Ryder in the lead role.
Forrest Gump boasts of one of Tom Hanks’ finest performances yet. And it is so much better than that draggy book which had some truly awful narration. It is amazing how someone could transform that heap of garbage to such a lovely film.
When I read the Schindler’s List, I found it a dark, depressing story but also remarkably moving. The Steven Spielberg movie was better. More moving and, thankfully, retaining the dark (literally and metaphorically) tones of that incredible novel. Not to forget the fantastic cinematography and excellent portrayal of Oskar Schindler by Liam Neeson.
Based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s stories, which also inspired a hugely popular series of open-world RPG video-games, the world of the witcher resembles Westeros (from Game of Thrones) in many ways. For one, it is a gritty, dirty world full of violence, sex, and so on. For another, there is no clear division of good or bad like in most fantasy tales. However, The Witcher boasts of a lot of magic and fantastical creatures, which George RR Martin’s novels shied away from. The hero itself, Geralt of Rivia, is a mutated human with superhuman abilities. Game of Thrones in comparison had magic, but only on the periphery, at least in the first few seasons.
Netflix’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Victorian-era Gothic horror novel was a surprisingly clever, well-performed piece of entertainment. While it was a considerable departure from the source material, it remains an interpretation that Stoker himself probably would have been proud of.
At a time when 3D animation was still in its infancy, Spielberg’s Jurassic Park came and shattered all expectations with its stunningly designed models and high-quality CGI dinosaurs that still hold up well today. A truly terrifying depiction of the events which materialise when those monstrous reptiles of the bygone era are thrown abruptly in today’s world with the help of advanced genetic technologies. And above all, the devastating consequences of that audacity.
Compelling characters, story, stunning cinematography, engrossing battle sequences, and fantastic score are just a few reasons why Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is easily the best film trilogy ever made. Even if you have seen the whole thing, it is pretty rewarding to watch the movies again.
Stephen King is a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick, except the time when he adapted King’s horror classic The Shining. Much has been said about how the film departed from the original story on a fundamental level, even if plot-wise, it was pretty much the same. On its own, the movie, starring Jack Nicholson at the top of his game, is a frightening depiction of a man going insane in real-time. This is horror at its most scary.
Crashing has six episodes, each spanning around 20-25 minutes. And to say that it is a sweet, engaging story of six adults coming to terms with life would be putting it too simplistically. Let us just say, once you begin, you won’t be able to stop until you have watched them all!
At times cringey, Netflix's first Belgian original show, Into the Night, is a thrilling survival story. What helps its case is that it works like an unputdownable pulp fiction novel.
12 Years a Slave is Steve McQueen’s heart-wrenching adaptation of a memoir of a black slave Solomon Northup. Chiwetel Ejiofor essayed the lead role in the film which also starred Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, and Alfre Woodard. The film was a brutal depiction of slavery and is a hard movie to watch.
The animated series follows a mad but brilliant scientist Rick Sanchez and his naive, impressionable grandson Morty Smith's adventures across faraway galaxies, planets, parallel worlds, different realities and so on. Rick and Morty boasts some of the most intelligent writing in the medium currently, with jokes that are easy to miss if the attention wavers even a little. And before you have managed to wrap your head around it, the show has already moved ahead.
The camera angles, the narrative (based on Mario Puzo's bestselling novel of the same name), the performances, the editing, the score -- at no point were these varied departments of filmmaking inharmonious. Like a lovely orchestra group, each unit of cinema supported the other, thereby finally giving us this masterclass of a film. Read more
The story of Mirzapur is about a local drug lord Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi) whose son Munna (Divyendu) is trying too hard to take his place but lacks any of his diplomatic or criminal skills. His position is in danger after two local boys Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu (Vikrant Massey) beat him up to their own surprise. The web series depicts the governance and rule of mafia dons and the rivalry and crime prevailing in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh.
Street Dancer 3D is Remo D’Souza’s third dance film after ABCD and ABCD 2. It is backed by an ensemble cast including stars like Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Nora Fatehi and Prabhudheva among others. I would suggest you watch this film only if you are a fan of dance reality shows as it has nothing more than some good dance performances to offer.
The Elizabeth Olsen starrer is a two-part series that deals with the trials and tribulations of a widow who suddenly loses her loving husband. Olsen delivers a staggering performance in Sorry for Your Loss.
Are you obsessed with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge? If you gave an affirmative nod, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is the perfect pick for this weekend. It has a similar narrative with Raj (SRK) and Simran (Kajol) being replaced by Humpty (Varun Dhawan) and Kavya (Alia Bhatt). It has a few crackling dialogues, easy-breezy chemistry between the lead pair and a pinch of humour too.
Based on Chetan Bhagat’s book The 3 Mistakes of My Life, Kai Po Che is led by Sushant Singh Rajput, Rajkummar Rao and Amit Sadh. It is the story of three friends who stand by each other in every situation and plan to start a sports academy together but get separated amid a communal riot in Gujarat.
A five-part documentary series examining the gripping story of high school football star Greg Kelley and a quest for truth and justice. Few people experience the momentum that Kelley had going into his senior year in Leander, Texas. That all changed when he was convicted of sexual assault of a four-year-old boy, and sentenced to 25 years in prison with no possibility for parole. But a groundswell of support emerged for Kelley, calling into question the investigation, the prosecution's tactics and ultimately, the validity of the conviction.
Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan starrer Never Have I Ever is about a young girl from Sherman Oaks, California who is dealing with the death of her father. The series also starred Poorna Jagannathan, Richa Moorjani, Jaren Lewison and Darren Barnet among others.
Flames 2 makes you feel as if it is set in that time when you still had to fight with parents to own a cellphone and being in constant touch with friends was a task. It takes place at the very dawn of smartphones and elicits sweet and simple memories of teenage romance which become more relevant in times when couples seek validation of their love on social media. But the makers never explicitly say what era the show is set in since the characters are also seen talking about Thor and Thanos. Read more
After Life has been written and directed by popular British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais. Gervais is known for his snarky, brutally honest style of comedy. And that is what he brings to the table here. Except this time he is not hosting any awards show and offending the rich and famous people of showbiz. In After Life, we see another facet of Gervais — the performer. In the series, he has lost the love of his life, his wife, and he finds it hard to keep up the pretence of normality. That results in some heartfelt, but truly hilarious moments.
Before streaming Breathe: Into The Shadows, watch the first season of the psychological thriller. The first season of Breathe narrates the story of a father (R Madhavan) who is ready to go to any length to save his son from a deadly lung disease. He starts killing the organ recipients who are ahead of his son in a list. Everything goes as per plan until he reaches the last recipient (Sapna Pabbi), who is the ex-wife of Senior Inspector Kabir Sawant (Amit Sadh).
Created by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (also known as Raj & DK), The Family Man starred Manoj Bajpayee as a middle-class man, who is secretly an intelligence officer working with a fictional branch of National Investigation Agency (NSA). The series was gripping from start to finish and featured a characterstically nuanced performance by the excellent Bajpayee.
An HBO miniseries, The Night Of targets American criminal justice system and its inherent biases. A Pakistani-American young man is charged with rape and murder, and the procedure is more defined by the race and origin of the person than evidence. Performances are great including Riz Ahmed as a naive young man, but my favourite is John Turturro as a small-time lawyer with troubles of his own.
Rescued from a train station, Paddington Bear finds a haven with a London family -- until a taxidermist decides to add Paddington to her collection. It is also one of the finest family movies ever made.
Two brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, team up to fight supernatural threats. The threats include vampires, shape-shifters, demons, even angels and Lucifer himself among others. The premise is basically the same every episode. Dean and Sam spot news hinting at something bizarre and race to the location in their Impala, acting as FBI agents. Despite repetitiveness, Supernatural has remained enjoyable across more than a dozen seasons (!) because of some really interesting characters.
This surprisingly sweet film has everything that makes a road trip movie great. Despite using the same old tropes (different personalities travelling together reluctantly) The cast (Paul Rudd - 'nuff said) does a great job of making a strong script and clever dialogues come alive.
Steven Spielberg's adaptation of HG Wells' novel of the same name, War of the Worlds sees an invasion by the Martians. Tom Cruise stars as a longshoreman who witnesses the invasion directly. Scores of people are disintegrated by the Martian war machines called Tripods that emerge from beneath the earth. War of the Worlds is a non-stop thriller that never lets up.
A mysterious quarantined zone is affected by an alien phenomenon that is mutating creatures and landscapes inside it. The zone is surrounded by a shimmering electromagnetic field and it is thus called the Shimmer. The zone is getting larger and larger and the US government believes that it would one day surround the whole world if not stopped. This film has elements of science fiction, horror, and mystery. Its denouement is a gorgeous interplay between mind-bending visuals and incongruous electronic notes.
Your definitive zombie movie. In this South Korean film, zombies do not hobble, they run like Usain Bolt and possess the stamina of a racehorse. Cramped confines of a train do wonders and well-drawn characters are pretty relatable. The pacing is just right. Bottom line is, if you love zombie movies, you cannot really go wrong with this one.
Based on Lewis Carroll’s fantasy book for kids, the classic Disney animated feature Alice in Wonderland follows Alice’s adventures inside a subterranean fantasy world (which she falls into by way of a rabbit hole) filled with weird, anthropomorphic animals.
In This Breaking Bad spinoff movie, Jesse Pinkman finds himself hunted by law enforcement for collaborating with “Heisenberg” after fleeing from the Neo-Nazi hideout. His name is all over the news and there aren’t many people left who he can trust. Here is where Skinny Pete and Badger and more figure in.
Joker is a solid comic book film thanks to an absolutely storming central performance by Phoenix, excellent writing, and stunning cinematography which provides some unsettlingly pretty visuals, especially one towards the end (those who have seen the movie know what I am talking about).
Breaking Bad's less popular spinoff Better Call Saul is at least as good as Breaking Bad (according to some, even better) even if it is mostly devoid of big moments of drama and twists that characterised the tale of Walter White. Whatever you may believe, it is solid, high quality television nonetheless.
Jon Favreau creation The Mandalorian is the first-ever live-action Star Wars series. It is about an ace bounty hunter, who due to recession in the wake of Galactic Empire’s obliteration, takes up a near-impossible job from a well-paying client.
A much less talked about and known Stephen King adaptation, Gerald's Game was made on a lower budget than It and was released on a small screen platform, Neflix, but it was almost every bit as good. Gerald's Game adapts a middling King novel and turns it into a compelling, keep-on-their-toes horror film that is harrowing throughout.
One of the greatest, genre-defining psychological horror movies Psycho gets a sequel in Bates Motel. We know Norman Bates was an insane guy with a dual personality who kept the exhumed corpse of his mother in his living room. But how did he come to be that person (Or should I say, persons)? Bates Motel tells the backstory of Norman Bates and is a quality television show with great performances especially by Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga in lead roles. It also offers a nuanced look at Dissociative Personality Disorder. And did I mention it is downright creepy? Bates Motel is a living proof that you don't need ghosts and monsters to scare people out. Sometimes the inner demons are scary enough.d
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One of the greatest, genre-defining psychological horror movies Psycho gets a sequel in Bates Motel. We know Norman Bates was an insane guy with a dual personality who kept the exhumed corpse of his mother in his living room. But how did he come to be that person (Or should I say, persons)? Bates Motel tells the backstory of Norman Bates and is a quality television show with great performances especially by Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga in lead roles. It also offers a nuanced look at Dissociative Personality Disorder. And did I mention it is downright creepy? Bates Motel is a living proof that you don't need ghosts and monsters to scare people out. Sometimes the inner demons are scary enough.
This show is about Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), who finds herself in The Good Place in her afterlife. The Good Place is where good people go after they die. Oh, but it is only Eleanor who knows that she may not be so good after all. To remain in the place, which is a community of scores of people, she hides her true identity – a selfish, uncaring and rude loner. The show is cleverly written and does not have the dreaded laugh track. The humour is amazingly subtle, and the performances are really good. If you are not watching The Good Place, you are missing out on a lot.
The Hulu series streams in India on Disney+ Hotstar. Starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere is a show about motherhood and the struggles that come with it. Based on the bestselling book by Celeste Ng, the show follows two mothers who are sometimes overwhelmed by the responsibilities that they have to fulfill. The secrets, the lies and everything that lies beneath their relationships with their children form the plot here. Watch it for Witherspoon and Washington.
This Greg Daniels series on Amazon Prime Video is certainly the best thing that we have seen this year. In the science-fiction comedy-drama, we are introduced to a dystopian concept where humans can ‘upload’ themselves in a virtual afterlife. We follow Nathan, who is still living as per his living girlfriend’s rules even though he is dead.
Asur had a nail-biting plot that combined the mythological fiction and thriller genres. Here, a killer on the loose is leaving his signature behind after every murder. These hints are specifically aimed at a particular officer with whom he engages in a cat-and-mouse game. In my opinion, the only thing that did not work in Asur’s favour was its lead cast. Nevertheless, Asur was quite binge-worthy.
This Ram Madhvani series on Disney+ Hotstar has Sushmita Sen in the lead role. Her character Aarya has to take over the ‘family business’ during a crisis. The show has presented Sen in a never-seen-before avatar. A second season has already been announced.
BoJack Horseman is a show set in the glitzy town of Hollywoo (with the D missing) where animal-people and regular people co-exist. With the business of entertainment as the backdrop, BoJack Horseman explores the dark themes of existentialism and loneliness.
TV Rewind | Bojack Horseman: Tragedy in the garb of comedy
Starring Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, Pankaj Kapur among others, this Anubhav Sinha directorial follows a group of anti-terrorism agents who have been tasked with stopping an attack that could lead to the deaths of thousands of people. Tracks of the film “Dus Bahaane” and “Deedar De” were chartbusters back in the day.
Mad Men was set in the 1960s advertising world and starred Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss in their breakout roles. The character drama did not gloss over the inefficiencies of humans but in fact, acknowledged the ugliness that manifests within us.
TV Rewind | Mad Men: The period drama that was never dated
Manoj Bajpayee starrer Bhosle is now streaming on SonyLIV. The Indian Express critic Shubhra Gupta wrote in her review of the film, “The last time Manoj Bajpayee internalised a role as much was in 2017's Gali Guleiyan. Here he is even better. Bhonsle, streaming on SonyLIV, gives us an actor on the top of his game."
Starring Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar in pivotal roles, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara follows three friends who take a road trip in Spain as they confront their fears and make some life-altering decisions. This Zoya Akhtar directorial also stars Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin.
Starring Namit Das in the lead role, this Hindi-Bangla bilingual series is now streaming on ZEE5.
Starring Shia LaBeouf in the lead role, Honey Boy has been termed as his performance yet. Directed by Alma Har'el, LaBeouf wrote the film while in rehab. The film’s story is based on his real-life experiences with his father.
As the magnum opus completes five years, watch it in the comfort of your home on Netflix. Starring Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan and Rana Daggubati, this is the story of the kingdom of Mahishmati that is being ruled by an unjust King.
“Undekhi opens when the untoward has already happened: a police officer is killed in Sunderbans. The DSP of the area, Barun Ghosh (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) is on the lookout for two tribal girls, the prime suspects in the case, but they have fled to Manali. Meanwhile, in Manali, one of the girls is shot dead by the drunkard head of the Atwal family, Papaji (Harsh Chhaya) during a stag party. Her body is removed by Rinku (Surya Sharma), the foster son of Papaji and troubleshooter of the family. Now, his targets are the dead girl’s friend (Apeksha Porwal) and the wedding photographer Rishi (Abhishek Chauhan) who has recorded the entire crime,” writes indianexpress.com’s Arushi Jain.
Also Read | Undekhi review: A web series that ticks all the boxes of a good crime thriller
As Devdas completes 18 years, watch the Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus on Eros Now. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit in the lead roles, Devdas is based on the novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The Sanjay Leela Bhansali film is remembered for its opulent sets, intricate costumes and spellbinding visuals.
As Devdas completes 18 years, watch the Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus on Eros Now. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit in the lead roles, Devdas is based on the novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The Sanjay Leela Bhansali film is remembered for its opulent sets, intricate costumes and spellbinding visuals.
This Vikramaditya Motwane directorial stars Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha in lead roles. Based on the short story The Last Leaf by O Henry, Lootera lingers for a long time after you have experienced it. The film’s music by Amit Trivedi will stay with you for years.