A six-pack of releases to quench your entertainment thirst is headlined by the Best Foreign Language Film winner and anchored by a Christmas horror flick. In between, there’s an unnecessary sequel, a Western with a female lead and two that skipped theaters. MHT breaks down what to buy, rent, stream or skip for the week of April 26th:
Son of Saul (See our Movie Hot Take from this year)
Super Simple Synopsis: Depressing. Powerful. Holocaust.
Why Buy?
You need a good cry. (Wait! They weren’t tears. That was allergies.)
Why Rent?
You want to see it once but know you’ll never want to see it again.
Why Stream?
You know it’s the winner of the Best Foreign Language Film so how could it possibly not be good?
Why Skip?
You know it’s good but have no desire to witness the pain and suffering of the Holocaust in vivid detail.
MHT Verdict: Buy it!
Son of Saul will sit with you for quite some time after viewing and powerfully delivers a gritty, grim and emotional depiction of the Holocaust.
Ride Along 2 (See our Movie Hot Take from this year)
Super Simple Synopsis: Like Ride Along… only less funny.
Why Buy?
You’ve been waiting for a follow-up ever since seeing Ride Along. (You’re the one!)
Why Rent?
You know it’s not going to be great but you can’t get enough Kevin Hart or Ice Cube.
Why Stream?
You just watched Son of Saul and if you don’t see something at least a little bit funny, you’re going to drown yourself.
Why Skip?
You already own Ride Along and can re-watch that instead.
MHT Verdict: Skip it!
Unless you want to see what a Ice Cube/Kevin Hart cash grab looks like, move along. There’s nothing to see here.
Backtrack (Did Not Review)
Super Simple Synopsis: Like The Sixth Sense only now the psychologist sees dead people and it’s not anywhere near as good.
Why Buy?
You’re a big fan of Adrien Brody, Sam Neill and 2002’s The Queen of the Damned. No, not one of those. All three!
Why Rent?
You’re really into the who “I see dead people” thing.
Why Stream?
You recognize the cast and the synopsis doesn’t totally turn you off.
Why Skip?
You’re holding out for the movie about a psychologist who talks to dinosaurs starring Sam Neill with Adrien Brody in the supporting cast.
MHT Verdict: Stream it!
While it sounds like this film has very little chance of being good, Brody is usually interesting on screen.
The Driftless Area (Did Not Review)
Super Simple Synopsis: Some guy falls for Zooey Deschanel because apparently, every movie featuring her has to be about some guy falling for her. In this one, he’ll help her exact revenge. Oh, and she might be dead.
Why Buy?
You’ve fallen for Zooey Deschanel.
Why Rent?
You watched the trailer and can’t make heads or tails of what is really going on and now you feel like you have to know. It’s probably Zooey Deschanel’s fault, by the way.
Why Stream?
You haven’t fallen for Zooey Deschanel because you haven’t been exposed to her enough yet although that seems impossible unless you were in a coma.
Why Skip?
You are Zooey Deschanel.
MHT Verdict: Stream it!
For what it’s worth, The Driftless Area looks unusual and it’s hard not to be curious about what it is actually about. It’ll probably be terrible but it’s worth a shot.
Jane Got a Gun (See our Movie Hot Take from this year)
Super Simple Synopsis: Meet Jane. She has a gun. She also has a horse but we chose to leave that out.
Why Buy?
You love Westerns and Natalie Portman so this is definitely a dream you’ve had before.
Why Rent?
You wanted to see it when it was in theaters but you blinked and missed it.
Why Stream?
You have watched every other Western available through your streaming service because they come out so sporadically.
Why Skip?
You already saw Aerosmith do this.
MHT Verdict: Stream it!
Portman was adequate in this mediocre Western. It’s not a film to go out of your way to see but it is at least worth one watching.
Krampus (Check out our Movie Hot Take from last year)
Super Simple Synopsis: A horrific Christmas folk tale about a ghoul who visits those who’ve lost the Christmas spirit.
Why Buy?
You love horror movies and hate Christmas movies.
Why Rent?
You think the idea of a dysfunctional, annoying family being terrified by the anti-Santa sounds fabulous.
Why Stream?
You’re skeptical but are down for a good frightful Christmas tale with it’s fair share of jump scares.
Why Skip?
You figure Santa in A Christmas Story is scary enough.
MHT Verdict: Rent it… during the holidays!
Krampus is an alternative to the traditional holiday film. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea (it wasn’t mine) but it will definitely be entertaining to some. Horror fans might particularly enjoy it.
Krampus scared me any time of the year…