Just three movies will make themselves available for home viewing this week with one of the biggest box office hits of the first half of the year joining a romantic “chick flick” and a baseball movie that skipped theaters. Here are MHT’s recommendations for what to buy, rent, stream and skip for the week of August 30th:
The Jungle Book —MOVIE HOT TAKE REVIEW—
Super Simple Synopsis: The incoherent animated Disney film of the 60s gets a live action remake.. and an intelligible plot.
Why Buy?
When it comes to home video collections, this one is the bare necessities.
Why Rent?
You were either too much of a fan of the animated version or not enough to the point where you are a little bit skeptical about a live action version featuring a young boy and a green screen.
Why Stream?
You don’t need to own it and you’ve already seen it but now you must look for hidden clues that would reveal any possibility of a live action version of Tailspin.
Why Skip?
You can’t decide and don’t want to mess with Mr. In-Between.
MHT Verdict: Buy it!
The Jungle Book is visually impressive and delivers with a quality storyline worthy of a big screen live action version.
Me Before You —MOVIE HOT TAKE REVIEW—
Super Simple Synopsis: A woman is hired to take care of a wheelchair-bound young man. The two fall in love. You’ll need tissues by the end.
Why Buy?
There’s always something in your eye and you’d like to try and naturally flush it out.
Why Rent?
Is that Emilia Clarke? From Game of Thrones?
Why Stream?
There might be a sequel, you have to be prepared.
Why Skip?
Winter is coming.
MHT Verdict: Rent it!
A well done film with some heavy handed moral dilemmas. If you like a slightly sappy love story from time to time, this is the movie you’ve been looking for.
The Phenom –NO REVIEW–
Super Simple Synopsis: To find success in the big league, Hopper must battle the mental demons of his abusive father who pushed him to be a ballplayer as a kid.
Why Buy?
A film about the mental side of sports sounds like it’s right up your alley.
Why Rent?
Reviews say Ethan Hawke, Paul Giamatti and Johnny Simmons deliver great performances. That’s enough for you.
Why Stream?
It’s confusing enough to see a 77% Tomatometer and 40% audience score to make you wait until it’s available on a streaming service.
Why Skip?
It’s been years since anyone cared about a Braves pitcher, why start now?
MHT Verdict: Stream it!
Interesting idea but it might be worth waiting for based on the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.