Streaming Releases: These New Releases are not Half-Hearted
May 2, 2020
The Half of It leads the way when it comes to streaming releases. The coming-of-age teenage romance movie should please most viewers. On the other hand, Hollywood has the loudest buzz when it comes to the TV series end of the list, but its reviews are disappointing.
Movies:
The Half of It - Reviews
The Lodge - Reviews
Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story - Reviews
A Secret Love - Reviews
TV Shows:
Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian - No Reviews
Hollywood - Reviews
Normal People - Reviews
Prop Culture: Season 1 - No Reviews
Trying - Reviews
Upload: Season One - Reviews
Netflix
Leah Lewis plays Ellie Chu, a smart-but-shy high school girl, who is hired by Paul, a jock who is a nice guy, but bad with words. She assumes he wants to hire her to write a term paper, but he actually wants her to him him woo Aster, one of the popular girls in school. They become friends during this endeavor; however their friendship becomes strained when Paul realizes Leah has feelings for Aster. This is the Netflix original release this week that I’m the most interested in.
Hulu
This horror film is hitting Blu-ray and Hulu on the same day, this Tuesday. The film’s reviews are good, but not great, so I think some genre fans will be happy to catch it on a streaming service, as there’s a lot less risk if the film isn’t too their taste.
Netflix
A documentary about Cyntoia Brown, who was forced to be a prostitute as a child and killed a john at 16. She was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. This film looks at her quest for clemency. It is a powerful story, but the film’s reviews are only good and not great. Also, there’s a second Netflix documentary on this week’s list and its reviews are stronger, so I suspect it will do better with audiences.
Netflix
A documentary about Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel, who were in a secret relationship for decades until coming out. The film’s reviews are 100% positive, while the average score is over 8 out of 10, so its reviews are not just unanimously positive, but there are enthusiastically positive as well.
Disney+
A documentary series about the making of The Mandalorian. It doesn’t debut until Monday, May the Fourth (of course)… Also coming out on May the Fourth is the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Both of these should have Star Wars fans glued to their screens.
Netflix
This TV show had a lot of pre-release buzz. This isn’t surprising, as it is co-created by Ryan Murphy, who has had a lot of success on TV with shows such as Nip/Tuck, Glee, and American Horror Story. Unfortunately, while the buzz is strong, the actual reviews are merely mixed, so I don’t think it will be one of his hits.
Hulu
A mini-series about a cross-class romance in a small Irish town. The reviews are very good and Hulu has had some success with similar shows so this could be another hit for them.
Disney+
A documentary series that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of some Disney films. There are no reviews, so I can’t tell if the show is in-depth enough to be worth watching or if it is little more than advertising for other Disney shows.
Apple TV+
Rafe Spall and Ester Smith star as a couple who are trying to conceive. There are only five reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but all five are positive, so that’s an encouraging sign.
Amazon Prime
In the near future, people can upload their consciousness to computer simulations when they die. This show focuses on one such person, Nathan, who is killed in a car crash, and his interactions with his new upload assistant, Nora. The film’s Tomatometer Score is a lot stronger than its average ratings, so odds are you will like it, but not love it.
Filed under: Home Market Releases, Streaming Releases, The Lodge, A Secret Love, Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, The Half of It, Star Wars, Rafe Spall, Ryan Murphy, Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire