Jon Hamm in Confess, Fletch.Miramax
Do you ever feel like you’re drowning … but you haven’t even left your couch? Welcome to the Great Content Overload Era, where there are so many new films and series being released on streaming platforms every day that it can feel hard to keep your head above the zeitgeist waters. To help you navigate the choppy digital waves, here are The Globe’s best bets for weekend streaming.
Confess, Fletch (on-demand)
Would you like a mid-budget comedy aimed at adults starring one of the most charming actors of our times, working with one of the most proven directors of the genre? Well, then Confess, Fletch is here for you – although it arrives with almost no marketing weight behind it, in one of the more bizarre releases of this already bizarre film year. Directed by Greg Mottola (Adventureland, Superbad) and starring Jon Hamm as the titular detective, this adaptation of Gregory Mcdonald’s beloved novel is one of the more charming and surprising efforts of the year. Before you ask: No, Chevy Chase isn’t involved. Although Hamm does share some drinking scenes with former Mad Men co-star John Slattery, which is more than compensation.
Dead for a Dollar (on-demand)
Warren Burke, Rachel Brosnahan and Christoph Waltz in Dead for a Dollar.Lewis Jacobs
If there is one thing that the legendary director Walter Hill is known for, it is being unknowable. The filmmaker ostensibly trades in genre, but his touch oscillates wildly depending on the quality of the material – so much so that he remains entertainingly unpredictable. For every movie like The Warriors or 48 Hrs., there are spectacularly curious misfires like Bullet to the Head or 2016′s wild gender-reassignment thriller The Assignment, which I cannot imagine being made (or at least debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival) today. Which is all a long way of saying that you can bet Hill’s latest, the bloody western Dead for a Dollar, will be worth a watch no matter what. And considering that Hill has also assembled one of his best ensembles in ages – Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe and Rachel Brosnahan – the curiosity levels are sky-high.
Breaking (on-demand)
John Boyega in Breaking.Courtesy of Bleecker Street
The brilliant Michael K. Williams delivered a career’s worth of incendiary performances before he died last year – just think of his work on The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, The Night Of and a whole whack of projects that didn’t air on HBO. Williams only pops up halfway through the new bank-heist thriller Breaking, but when he appears as a hostage negotiator trying to talk John Boyega’s would-be robber down from the metaphorical ledge, Williams steals the show. Originally titled 892 when it debuted at Sundance this past January, Breaking doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s worth cracking a few safes to admire Williams’s last great act.
Ramy, Season 3 (Crave)
Ramy explores the life of Ramy Hassan (Ramy Youssef), a first generation Egyptian-American on a spiritual journey in his politically-divided New Jersey neighbourhood.Courtesy of Crave
Yes, I know: It is impossible to keep up with the amount of high-tier episodic comedies being released by streamers. But there is something special about Ramy, in which Egyptian-American comedian Ramy Youssef heavily fictionalizes his life and career. Surreal but sincere, sharp but heartfelt, the series enters its third season with an energy and sensibility that is unmatched.
Premium Rush (Netflix)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Premium Rush.Sarah Shatz/Sony Pictures
Largely and unfairly ignored when it came out a decade ago, David Koepp’s bicycle-courier thriller (yes, a thing) is the closest thing Hollywood has come to producing a live-action Looney Tunes movie. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a door-dasher who gets caught up in the shenanigans of a criminal empire and crooked cop (a truly unhinged Michael Shannon), Premium Rush is the perfect film to reassess on a chilly Saturday night.
Barry Hertz