Premium Video-on-Demand: Worth It?
Should you pay $20 to stream new movies early, or wait for the $5.99 fire sale? And which movies deserve the steeper cost?
Here is the state of movie distribution as we usher out the year of our lord 2022: A film will debut in theaters (sometimes) and then A) quickly start streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, or whichever service bankrolled it or B) show up on multiple services as a “premium on-demand” title for purchase or rental, the latter usually priced at $19.99, before becoming available at a much cheaper price point – $3.99 to $6.99 – some months down the road. Which forces a decision on you, dear viewer: Should you buy individual tickets to see a specific film on the big screen, shell out at home for the pricier streaming premiere (which is still a decent $20 for as many people as want to watch), or wait until it’s in the bargain bin with all the other movies?
It depends on a number of factors: the audiovisual wow factor, how soon you want to be part of the conversation around a particular film, and your personal tastes in genre, actors, directors, entertainment vs. art, and so forth. I can’t help you with that last part, but I can point out which premium on-demand movies I’d recommend (and for whom) right now, as well as those 2022 films that can now be had for cheap.
Exactly where are they playing? If you go to any of the streaming platforms not affiliated with a major studio (and also not Netflix, which doesn’t play the premium on-demand rental game), you’ll find the same titles available at the same top-tier prices. Those platforms include Amazon, AMC On Demand, Apple TV, DirectTV, Google Play, Microsoft, Redbox, Vudu, and YouTube. It doesn’t matter which one you choose, since the streaming experience is the same. All have smart-TV apps or website portals, but for the love of cinema, watch ’em on your big-screen television rather than your laptop. (Unless you’re at the airport, in which case you have my grudging permission.)
Here are the best premiere on-demand movies as of Monday December 19. (All title links are to info on where to find them.)
“Armageddon Time” ($19.99/$24.99) – I found James Gray’s memory play of growing up in 1980s New York manipulative in the extreme, but I seem to be just as extremely in the critical minority, so go with God and Anne Hathaway. (And someone tell me what that accent is that Anthony Hopkins is batting around.) Watch now: if you want a morally complex heart-tugger about a kid’s racial and ethical coming of age, with performances that may be a factor during awards season. Wait for the price to come down: if you’re leery about “lesson” dramas.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” – Martin McDonagh’s dark Irish fable about a feud is one of my favorite movies of the year. Just as perverse as anything in the movie is the fact that it’s only available for a $14.99 purchase on the services mentioned above. It’s also streaming on HBO Max, but a stand-alone rental option does not exist as yet. Watch now: if you could use a trip to the Aran Islands and have a taste for good writing, great acting, and black humor. Wait for the price to come down: if absurdist drama isn’t your thing.
“Bones and All” – Ah, yes, the Timothée Chalamet cannibal love story. Definitely a matter of taste in more ways than one, but the performances in Luca Guadagnino’s tender(loin) romance about two wacky kids with a craving for flesh make it worth your consideration. Co-star Taylor Russell is Chalamet’s equal and then some, and Mark Rylance is as scary as he’s ever been. Available as a $19.99 rental only. Watch now: if you’re a Chalamet (or a Guadagnino) completist. Wait for the price to come down: if you’re a vegan.
“The Fabelmans” – Or “Steven Spielberg: The Early Years.” I don’t have to sell you on this one by now. You know whether you’re in or out. Available as a $19.99 rental or $24.99 to buy.
“She Said”—The story of how New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) broke the wall of silence surrounding producer Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual crimes. Watch now: if you want to see a handful of fine performances and get your blood boiling all over again. Wait for the price to come down: if you’re expecting a newspaper movie to rise above “All The President’s Men” tropes. Available as a $19.99 rental or $24.99 to buy.
“Till” – Not so much a dramatization of teenager Emmett Till’s 1955 lynching as a close study of how his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), rose out of sorrow into fiery activism. Watch now: if you want to see one of the very best performances of 2022. Wait for the price to come down: if you’re not up to the movie’s emotional demands, which are considerable. Available as a $19.99 rental or $24.99 to buy.
“Tár” – The downfall of a world-famous and fatally egotistical orchestra conductor, as played with trademark intensity by Cate Blanchett. Watch now: if you can put your damn phone down and give your attention to the year’s most bracingly demanding narrative. (Note that I didn’t say most lovable). Wait for the price to come down: if you don’t like prickly protagonists or think “difficult” means “pretentious.” Available as a $19.99 rental or $24.99 to buy.
As a bonus, here are ten 2022 releases now available for on-demand rental at $5.99 or less.
“Amsterdam” – From David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”), a madcap 1930s crime-thriller/comedy/romance, and as messy as that sounds. But Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington are having a blast and the first half is entertainingly demented. Anyway, if you hate it, you’re only out $3.99.
“Bros” – The Billy Eichner gay rom-com doesn’t reinvent the wheel but is genuinely funny no matter your persuasion. It’s also a movie that works best with a crowd. Worth trying out at home nevertheless. ($5.99)
“Call Jane” – Elizabeth Banks stars along with Kate Mara and Sigourney Weaver in the real-life drama of Chicago women who created an underground railroad for then-illegal abortions in the early 1970s. Well done, but the documentary “The Janes,” also released this year and streaming on HBO Max, is better. Watch ’em both, I say. ($5.99)
“The Eternal Daughter” – Psst: One of the year’s best movies, Joanna Hogg’s delicate Gothic ghost story about a woman and her mother (both played by Tilda Swinton), is already on demand for a mere $4.99.
“The Good House” – Speaking of Sigourney Weaver, the actress has one of her meatiest roles in years as a suburban real-estate-saleswoman with a sharp tongue and a drinking problem. The character’s not perfect and neither is the movie, but it’s good enough, and Kevin Kline’s in it. ($5.99)
“Nope” – The long, strange trip of Jordan Peele continues. Here he’s mashing up westerns, sci-fi, and horror, all through a dyspeptically funny Black lens. ($5.99)
“Resurrection” – Rebecca Hall as a tightly wound single mother who starts to unravel alarmingly with the appearance of a man (Tim Roth) from her past. It’s one of Hall’s most intense performances ever (which is saying something), with a mid-movie monologue that takes you right over a cliff. ($3.99)
“Something in the Dirt” – Two slacker dudes discover a time-space anomaly in their apartment. I confess this is my least favorite slice of sci-fi weirdness from the filmmaking duo of (Justin) Benson and (Aaron) Moorhead, but you might as well start somewhere. ($6.99)
“Three Thousand Years of Longing” -- Academic Tilda Swinton stuck in a hotel room with genie Idris Elba. It’s kind of nuts – from George “Mad Max” Miller, so no wonder – but I dug it, and so may you. ($5.99)
“Triangle of Sadness” – The Cannes prizewinner from Ruben Östlund (“Force Majeure”) is a splattery three-part farce about rich idiots getting their comeuppance. Don’t watch it on a full stomach. ($5.99)
“The Woman King” A brawny, old-school historical epic driven by righteous fury and Viola Davis’s ferocious lead performance as a warrior queen fighting European slavers. ($5.99)
Thoughts? Don’t hesitate to share — comments are open to all today.
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