This week on streaming video, we’ve got Michael Bay’s latest thundering installment of the Transformers franchise, Jon Favreau’s small but well-received dramedy, and a little seen thriller from Australia, as well as a handful of notable choices newly available to stream on Netflix. Read on for details:
Stepping into the lead role is Mark Wahlberg as Texan robotics expert Cade Yeager, who unwittingly comes into possession of a dormant Optimus Prime just as a secretive CIA task force is ramping up efforts to hunt down all rogue Transformers. When it becomes clear the government is colluding with a shady tech firm, Optimus rallies the remaining Autobots to storm their headquarters and uncover a larger conspiracy.
Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard star in this bittersweet romantic comedy that has inspired thousands of Halloween costumes over the years.
Available now on: Netflix
David Walton stars in this TV adaptation of the 2002 film starring Hugh Grant (itself an adaptation of a Nick Hornby novel), about a singer whose bachelor lifestyle is interrupted by the presence of a new neighbor and her precocious son.
Available now on: Netflix
Based upon Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel and featuring an all-star cast, Stardust spins a tale of a young man who sets out to prove his love to the girl of his dreams by presenting her with a fallen star; he embarks on a journey through a forbidden kingdom, encountering witches, pirates, and other magical folks along the way.
Available now on: Netflix
This visually stunning documentary documentary is about a cable car in Nepal that carries tourists and locals to a temple in the mountains.
Available now on: Netflix
Keira Knightley stars as Georgiana Spenser, an ancestor of Princess Di’s, who becomes an 18th century style icon while navigating the rough waters of palace life.
Available now on: Netflix
The willing suspension of disbelief is often essential to the moviegoing experience. This week’s wide releases provide no such relief. We will be asked to believe that a fighter plane develops its own intelligence (and downloads mp3s — most likely by such bands as Jet and U2). We will be asked to believe any kid with superpowers would have a rough time in high school. And — perhaps the greatest stretch — we are asked to believe that there would be a moment in history in which both Diane Lane and John Cusack would be dateless. Which films do the critics believe you should see?
There’s a new movie about brash young Navy pilots, an aircraft with a mind of its own, and some covert missions behind enemy lines. Sound familiar? It should if you’re remotely familiar with "Top Gun" and "2001." Critics are hardly being stealthy about their true feelings for "Stealth"; the consensus seems to put this one on a collision course with so-bad-it’s-good status. Starring Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, and Jamie Foxx, this one, at 12 percent on the Tomatometer, is looking like a botched mission.
"Must Love Dogs" is a new romantic comedy starring Diane Lane and John Cusack as two people who are inexplicably dateless. C’mon now. These are two attractive, likeable human beings, something the critics are quick to point out. But in terms of the rest of the movie, the scribes say "Must Love Dogs" is a tad dog-eared, with romantic comedy clichés in abundance like well-bred pooches at the Westminster Kennel Club. And at 40 percent on the Tomatometer, this one’s far below Cusack’s usual standards; his combined Tomatometer is 72 percent.
So you thought that all potential trials and tribulations of a family of superheroes had been covered in "The Incredibles" and "Fantastic Four?" Think again, as "Sky High," starring Kurt Russell, Michael Angarano, and Kelly Preston is taking flight with critics. Like those old-school comics in the days before tons of brooding and angst, the writers say this one is goofy, likeable, and subtly subversive. At 78 percent on the Tomatometer, this story of a kid at a high school for young superheroes is making the honor roll.
Other Recent Diane Lane Movies:
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63% — Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
47% — Unfaithful (2002)
60% — Searching for Debra Winger (2002)
20% — The Glass House (2001)
38% — Hardball (2001)
Other Recent Rob Cohen Movies:
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45% — XXX (2002)
49% — The Fast and the Furious (2001)
8% — The Skulls (2000)
60% — The Rat Pack (1998)
48% — Dragonheart (1996)
