Each week at Polygon, we round up the most notable new releases on streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies you can watch at home.
This week, Bad Boys: Ride or Diethe new buddy cop film starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, is released this week on VOD, along with the Hindi action thriller Kill. There are many other exciting releases to choose from that are also new to streaming this week, such as Ghostbusters: The Ice Cold Empire on Netflix, the crime thriller directed by Michael Keaton Knox leaves about Max, the science fiction drama The beast on Criterion Channel and more.
Here’s everything new to see this weekend!
New on Netflix
Ghostbusters: The Ice Cold Empire
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Sony Pictures
Genre: Supernatural comedy
Duration: 1h 56m
Director: Gil Kenan
Pour: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard
The Ghostbusters are back with a brand new movie, and this time Bill Murray is in it! Three years after the events of Ghostbusters: Life After DeathThe Spengler family must team up with the experienced Ghostbusters to stop an angry demonic entity from freezing all of New York City. Oh, and Slimer is here too, of course.
From our test report:
The Ghostbusters franchise doesn’t seem to really cater to anyone anymore. It’s not funny. It’s not scary. It’s largely abandoned its new, younger characters, and its older actors barely seem to care. The Frozen EmpireThe unintended answer to that question seems to be that Ghostbusters is now a cinematic form of the nostalgia farming industry. Sure, it lacks all the charm and silliness that the original deserved. Ghost Hunters so many fans – but if you stick around long enough, the filmmakers show off the proton backpacks again and there’s always a new person to sully. It’s a franchise reduced to nothing more than a parade of hollow, familiar images, slightly repackaged in the hopes that we’ll buy another ticket and try to relive the emotions we felt when we first entered this world.
New on Hulu
Woman
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Image: Anton/Utopia
Genre: thriller
Duration: 1h 39m
Directors: Sam H. Freeman, by Choon Ping
Pour: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay, Aaron Heffernan
After being brutally attacked by an unknown man and her group of friends, a drag queen named Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) confronts her attacker – a young, closeted man named Preston (George MacKay) – in a gay sauna. Jules begins an affair and plots revenge on Preston, who is unaware of Jules’ true identity and intentions.
Sleeping dogs
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Image: Nickel City Productions/The Avenue
Genre: Crime thriller
Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes
Director: Adam Cooper
Pour: Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, retired homicide detective Roy Freeman (Russell Crowe) is motivated to reopen the investigation into the murder of a college professor when a mysterious new witness turns up with a compelling piece of evidence. As he tries to track down the real culprit, he must struggle to convince those around him to trust his intuition and theories.
New at Max
Knox leaves
Where to watch: Available to stream on Max
Image: FilmNation Entertainment/Saban Films
Genre: Crime thriller
Duration: 1 hour 54 minutes
Director: Michael Kea ton
Pour:
16 years ago, Michael Keaton made his directorial debut with The cheerful gentlemanabout a hitman who falls on hard times. Now he’s back with his second feature film, which he directed, also about a hitman who falls on hard times. This time the hitman is John Knox, a hitman who has been separated from his family and takes on one last job after being diagnosed with dementia.
New on Criterion Channel
The beast
Where to watch: Available to stream on Criterion Channel from July 28
Image: Kinology
Genre: Science fiction romance
Duration: 2h 26m
Director: Bertrand Bonello
Pour: Léa Seydoux, George MacKay, Guslagie Malanda
Introduce Cloud Atlas meets The age of innocence meets Mulholland DriveThis is the easiest way to describe The beast, Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi romantic drama. Lea Seydoux (spook) plays Gabrielle, a woman in the near future who undergoes a process to “cleanse” her DNA of strong emotions by reliving her past lives. Her procedure becomes more complicated after she meets Louis (George MacKay), a man she may or may not have loved in a past life.
From our test report:
The beastThe three timelines of play with seemingly incompatible genres: a classic period romance, a gripping horror thriller, and dystopian science fiction. This creates a logistical disconnect between them, but Bonello connects them aesthetically and emotionally. Through his long, thought-provoking close-ups of Gabrielle and Louis in each section, he creates a sense of longing and isolation across time, connecting human experiences of the past, present, and future and placing them in a sharp and terrifying context.
New to Shudder
Human
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Image: IFC Films
Genre: Horror
Duration: 1h 33m
Director: Caitlin Cronenberg
Pour: Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Peter Gallagher
Caitlin Cronenberg’s feature film debut is a horror thriller that lives up to the family name. Set during a global ecological collapse, Human follows estranged siblings who learn that their father and mother have decided to participate in a nationwide assisted suicide program as a form of public service. When things go awry, the family must select one of their own as a replacement participant. Naturally, it gets personal.
New to rent
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Where to watch: Available for rent on Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Photo: Frank Masi/Columbia Pictures
Genre: Buddy Cop Action
Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes
Directors: Adil El Arbi & Bilal Fallah
Pour: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens
The Bad Boys are back for another lap around the block! Bad boys for life Directors Adil and Bilall return for the latest installment in the series, this time following partners and best friends Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) as they try to clear the name of their late boss Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) when he becomes posthumously embroiled in a criminal conspiracy.
From our test report:
The direction of El Arbi and Fallah is the brightest aspect of drive or dieThe couple has improved since then Bad boys for lifewho show themselves to be eager students of Bayhem and are happy to use camerawork that is as exciting as the gunfights it captures. Frantic drone shots race through gunfire, cameras pan down the barrel of a gun, and nothing ever stays still. It’s a bit overwhelming: Restrained compared to Bay in their previous work, they go a bit over the top here. Their action shines brightest when someone is able to believably kick ass on screen, like Jacob Scipio, who stars as Mike Lowrey’s long-lost son from Bad boys for life.
Kill
Where to watch: Available for rent on Amazon, Appleand Vudu
Image: Lionsgate
Genre: Action thriller
Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhatt
Pour: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Ashish Vidyarthi
In this thriller, an army commando leads a mission to rescue his girlfriend from an arranged marriage – and then ends Also Saving a train from a gang of bandits. Kill premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won second place for the People’s Choice Award: Midnight Madness.
This is what Pete Volk, editor at Polygon, says had to say:
Kill makes the most of the close combat scenery and the many different weapons – knives, limbs, fire extinguishers and the architecture/layout of the train itself all play a part in the fight. It’s a real treat for action fans, especially when things take a turn after 45 minutes and the violence increases significantly. Killing doesn’t go from 0 to 60; it starts from 60 and goes to 200. The film’s action design is basically split into two halves, which allows the team (and Lakshya as the lead actress) to show different approaches to the fight scenes. I won’t say to much to avoid spoilers, but the action design becomes much more deadly in response to the events of the story, allowing Kill to start with a more classic, non-lethal martial arts action approach before moving on to something more akin to what you would find in a horror film.
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