Movies Streaming/On Demand This Week: 'American Reunion' & More
As you prepare to strike up the BBQ for Independence Day, there's quite a slice of Americana available in movieland.
The latest (and final?) installment of "American Pie," "American Reunion," will make you appreciate your friends; "God Bless America" showcases our right to freedom of expression; and "The Do-Deca-Pentathlon" proves what happens when you hang out with family for too long (watch out, you may be doing your own before the week's out).
And, as an added bonus, starting now, this column has expanded its coverage to include titles available through Cable On Demand. What a country!
NEW RELEASES
Jim, Stifler, Finch and the rest of our favorite gross-out friends are back for another - and final - entry in the "American" franchise. This time around the gang reunites for their high school reunion.
Why Stream It: They may have gotten older, but the raunchy humor is still with them.
Available On: iTunes, VUDU, Amazon Instant, Cable On Demand (as of July 10)
For this relaunch of the classic Wes Craven horror, Jackie Earle Haley dons the fedora and creepy knife-fingered glove to play Freddie Krueger, the iconic ruler of our dreams who is tormenting a new batch of teens.
Why Stream It: Like Johnny Depp before her, check out Rooney Mara being chased by Krueger before she made it big.
Available On: iTunes, VUDU
Stars Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Ben Foster come on board director Fernando Meirelles' ("City of God," "The Constant Gardner") latest for a multi-storyline drama that looks at a number of people in different social backgrounds dealing with one another.
Why Stream It: An all-atar cast with a top tier director has gotta intrigue you.
Available On: Cable On Demand, VUDU
Another movie that will give you nightmares, we follow a young woman with a troubled past who returns to her childhood home to find strange occurrences happening in the house. See it now before it opens in theaters later this week.
Why Stream It: See why it was one of this year's hits at Sundance.
Available On: Cable On Demand, iTunes, Amazon Instant, YouTube
You might have thought to yourself, "What ever happened to Bobcat Goldthwait?" Well, for the better part of 12 years he's been directing gritty indies. For his latest (and most violent) he casts Joel Murray ("Mad Men") as a guy who finds out he's terminally ill and decides to rid society of some of its most annoying people – all while being accompanied by a 16-year-old girl.
Why Stream It: A bit of "Bonnie and Clyde" with "Natural Born Killers"-type violence.
Available On: iTunes, VUDU, Amazon Instant
Currently available on streaming before its theatrical release later this week, the most recent Duplass brothers movie (yes, it does feel like they come out with a movie every week) follows two brothers who compete in their own made up 25-event Olympics.
Why Stream It: For the ones who like their sibling brother movies with an indie twist.
Available On: iTunes, Amazon Instant
The first release from Kevin Smith’s Smodcast Pictures label that's not a Kevin Smith film, this twisted comedy follows three high school virgins suspended from school and heading into the city to reenact "The Catcher in the Rye."
Why Stream It: With the Kevin Smith seal of approval, expect lots of jokes about the human anatomy.
Available On: iTunes, VUDU, Amazon Instant, YouTube
OLDIES BUT GOODIES
With the "Hunger Games" box office success, Netflix has finally made Kinji Fukasaku's masterful "Battle Royale" available for streaming. Based on Koushun Takami's novel, a group of ninth grade students are brought to an island by the Japanese government and ordered to kill each other until only one student is left standing.
Available On: iTunes, Netflix, VUDU, Amazon Instant, YouTube
Just recently jumping over to Netflix Streaming, director Guillermo del Toro brings the popular comic to life with square-jawed Ron Perlman playing the cigar-chomping demon.
Available On: iTunes, Netflix, VUDU, Amazon Instant, YouTube
With multiple Tony wins, the Broadway musical has fared much better than the movie version. However, over the years this Disney take on the 1899 newsboy strike has found a cult following. In it, Christian Bale leads a group of homeless and orphaned boys for better pay from the newspaper giants that employ them.
Available On: iTunes, VUDU, Amazon Instant, YouTube
