This weekend, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the latest (and presumably last) MCU movie from DC Studios executive and head James Gunn, is finally coming to theaters. If the adventures of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and his fun-loving band of vigilante mercenaries aren’t quite your pace, don’t worry: there are plenty of new releases to stream and rent from the comfort of your home.
Dungeons & Dragons: honor among thieves, starring Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez, leads the VOD offering. But The Pope’s exorcist, How to blow up a pipelineAnd Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult, are also newly available for home rentals. Want to save some money on what to watch this weekend? We got you: the psychological thriller Inside (not to be confused with Bo Burnham’s comedy special) starring Willem Dafoe is streaming on Peacock, the comedy drama A man named Otto starring Tom Hanks comes to Netflix, and the cannibal romance Bones and all, starring Timothée “Muad’dib” Chalamet, is finally available to stream on MGM Plus.
There’s a range of movies to choose from, so let’s see what’s on the menu.
New on Netflix
A man named Otto
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Niko Tavernise/Columbia Pictures
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2h 6m
Director: Mark Foster
Form: Tom Hanks, Mariana Trevino, Rachel Keller
Tom Hanks goes against type in this dark comedy adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s 2012 novel A man named Ove, playing a grumpy, lonely widower who – against his own antisocial nature – accidentally sparks a friendship with his new neighbor and their child. Content Warning: This movie contains quite a few suicide jokes.
New on Peacock
Inside
Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock
Image: Focus functions
Genre: Psychological thriller
Duration: 1h 45m
Director: Vasilis Katsoupis
Form: Willem Dafoe, Gene Bervoets, Eliza Stuyck
Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, The lighthouse) stars in this psychological thriller as a high-end art thief who gets trapped in a New York penthouse during a robbery. Running out of food and unable to make contact with the outside world, he’ll have to figure out a way to safety or risk being undone by his own madness.
New to MGM Plus
Bones and all
Where to watch: Available to stream on MGMplus
Photo: Yannis Drakoulidis/MGM
Genre: Horror/romance
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Form: Taylor Russell, Timothee Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg
Call me by your name director Luca Guadagnino and star Timothée Chalamet team up again for a romantic horror road movie about love and cannibalism. Chalamet stars as Lee, an intense young drifter with a hunger for human flesh, but the main focus is on his fellow “Eater” Maren (Taylor Russell), who seeks connection and security in a harsh and uncertain world.
From our review:
Besides being prepared for massive amounts of blood and some short, intense violence, Bones and all is the kind of film that is better experienced in the moment than in descriptions. Each new revelation about Maren’s past and present is carefully unfolded, in part because she doesn’t really understand her own nature and must learn about it along with the audience. Screenwriter David Kajganich (a writer-producer-developer of the much-loved horror series The terror) never feels like he’s in a hurry to get to a certain part of the story. He and Guadagnino make plenty of room for Maren to learn through conversation, first with new acquaintance Sully (Bridge of SpiesMark Rylance, disappearing again in an incredible performance), then with newer acquaintance Lee (Chalamet), a worldly wise boy about her age.
New on VOD
Dungeons & Dragons: honor among thieves
Where to watch: On rent for $19.99 Amazon, AppleAnd Vudu
Image: Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures
Genre: Fantasy adventure
Duration: 2h 14m
Director: Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Form: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page
Chris Pine (Star Trek) stars as Edgin Darvis, a former bard turned thief who forms an unlikely band of adventurers in search of a powerful lost artifact. When the party clashes with a dangerous figure bent on world domination, Edgin and his allies will have to fight, run and roll for initiative to save the day.
From our review,
The film is playful and serious throughout, emphasizing that these are serious situations for the characters. Rodriguez’s barbarian is still reeling from a broken relationship, and when her storyline pays off, it’s hilarious – but audiences are still invited to feel and empathize with her pain. Dungeons & Dragons: honor among thieves does not create game mechanics or a sense of improvisation and, shall we say, The legend of Vox Machina, but it’s the best Dungeons & Dragons movie we could have hoped for. Not only is it a fun fantasy movie, it’s also a great adaptation of a gaming session. And it’s an invitation to a new and more visual version of a world that dedicated players already love – and that the filmmakers seem to love too.
The Pope’s exorcist
Where to watch: On rent for $19.99 Amazon, AppleAnd Vudu
Image: Sony Pictures
Genre: Supernatural horror
Duration: 1h 43m
Director: Julius Avery
Form: Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe
Russell Crowe has played many more than life-sized roles during his career: a Roman general turned gladiator, a Royal Navy admiral who fought in the Napoleonic Wars, the father of Superman, the one man who built a very large boat, Robin Hood , and so forth. In Julius Avery’s new supernatural horror film, Crowe dons the black robe and white collar of an exorcist – the Pope’s exorcist no less – as he battles the forces of the underworld to save the life of a possessed child.
How to blow up a pipeline
Where to watch: On rent for $6.99 Amazon, AppleAnd Vudu
Image: Neon
Genre: Environmental robbery thriller
Duration: 1h 44m
Director: Daniel Goldhaber
Form: Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage
Director Daniel Goldhaber (Cam) adapts Andreas Malm’s 2021 incendiary non-fiction book, in which he follows a group of climate activists who, disillusioned by the ineffectiveness of divestment movements and the inaction of government regulation, band together to launch a politically charged act of protest against property damage as well as environmental to commit : blowing up an oil pipeline in West Texas.
From our review,
How to blow up a pipeline is the rare film that effectively weaponizes a radical political message by combining it with conventional genre storytelling. It feels like a game-changer: the kind of film that will inspire artists and budding activists alike for generations. It’s thrilling, tense entertainment with an explosive, memorable closing line. 2023 has been a great movie year so far, but this year will be hard to beat.
Renfield
Where to watch: On rent for $19.99 Amazon, AppleAnd Vudu
Photo: Michele K. Short/universal images
Genre: Comic horror
Duration: 1h 35m
Director: Chris MacKay
Form: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina
Nicolas Cage stars as Dracula in this comedic take on the legendary vampire as his servant Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) tries to come to terms with his toxic relationship with his immortal boss.
From our review:
Hoult has been properly doe-eyed and self-effacing as Renfield — he’s probably the most sincere part of an otherwise cynical project — but he’s the only actor who seems to have been allowed to tap into something resembling a comedic or dramatic soul. He’s also the only one not saddled with dialogue that plays like amateur improv. He’s not grating to look at. That’s the bare minimum for an on-screen actor, but it’s a requirement for almost every other aspect Renfield fails to meet, from its mind-numbing action refusing to indulge in suspense or gross hilarity to the scattered tale of a man finding ways to tell his son of a bitch boss. In that vein, it should be the most recognizable comedy in the world. Instead, it’s just a series of disconnected images strung together by half-baked jokes that you could put in practically any other character’s mouth. The result would feel just as defeated.