Reserve dogs; prey.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos courtesy of Hulu
Another week, another handful of TV and movie picks for everyone. It’s an easy one, but we’ll just call it that quality > quantity. The choices below can range from perfect to silly fun, but that’s how we like to spend our weekends, right? It’s David Leitch Bullet train, and, to be fair, I’m mostly recommending this because the beautifully funny chemistry of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry is a surprising delight to watch. Oh, and I can’t forget that it’s Bad Bunny’s sexy and saucy film debut. (You know there’s going to be some butt in the theater seats.) And there are even fresher and more exciting choices, like a new season of Reserve dogs (woo!) and the debut of a new one predatory film. Here are the choices:
Bullet train it has everything: a big action scene, fun movies, Tarantino-style flashbacks, hilarious dialogue, great music and a stacked cast with Brad Pitt at the center. Not necessarily all coming together in a tight, high-level movement, but Bullet train it’s still a fun ride.
Why prey isn’t showing in theaters is beyond me, but hey, that means Hulu subscribers will have a buzzy new movie release in their living rooms this weekend. An ancestor of predatory movies, prey follows the arrival of the fearsome alien on Earth in the 1700s, which means there is no technology or weaponry to fight the advanced being. This simply fascinating premise alone is enough to spark a watch, but combine that with Amber Midthunder’s performance as Naru, a young Comanche woman struggling to be seen more in her community, and director Dan Trachtenberg’s absolutely tensed. 10 Cloverfield Lane, and we are ready. Hulu even offers a Comanche dub of the film.
The film that inspired many a Twitter flick and introduced Alana Haim to the general population as an actress is hitting Amazon Prime Video (the film was previously only available on VOD platforms). Haim stars as Alana Kane, a directionless 20-year-old who crosses paths with young Gary Valentine (played by a charming Cooper Hoffman), a teenage business enthusiast, in the San Fernando Valley of the 70s. It’s one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s more tender films, as it plays with Alana’s desire to recapture the bright-eyed feeling of childhood and Gary’s desperate need for grown-up independence.
There is a comfort level in Reserve dogs it makes it tempting to sit back and forget about everything else around you. The story of four young rez kids striving for something more is touching, hilarious and, at times, melancholy. After the events of the first season, in which the self-proclaimed reservation dogs lose one of their friends, Elora (Devery Jacobs), to a rival gang member when she makes her way to rogue California, the rest of the kids are left to choose . revive parts in Oklahoma.
Ohhh, The sand man. Based on Neil Gaiman’s epic graphic novel, Netflix’s latest attempt at a franchise-building series is an intriguing endeavor. Has Gaiman’s work ever been properly translated for the screen (other than Coraline, this is)? Now, I don’t know if I found it The sand man necessarily catchy, but I didn’t like it. (I know, a low bar). I also know that devout fans will want to check it out for themselves. That’s how you want it The sand man to be one Witcher-as a hit, or will it be lost in the dark void of Netflix’s endless queue. Only time will tell.
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Also! Read our streaming recommendations from the weekend of July 29. Vulture’s next list of weekend broadcast picks goes online on Friday, August 12.