Saturday Night Movie Recommendations with Abe

Welcome back to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. I'm going to be providing a handy guide to a few choice movies currently playing in theatres as well as several films newly released on DVD and Netflix. I invite you to add in your thoughts on any films I haven’t seen in the comments below.

Now Playing in Theatres

It’s a big week for major releases of Oscar contenders, and they’re all pretty great! One of them is profiled below because of its Netflix platform launch but is also playing in select theaters. Though that film is very likely to win Best Foreign Film, I might actually pick another likely nominee, Capernaum, an affecting Lebanese film about a young boy who believes his parents should never have had him. If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to “Moonlight,” is very good and deserves to be seen by a very wide audience. I loved Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a truly creative animated film that works on so many levels. And finally, there’s The Mule, Clint Eastwood’s late-breaking film in which he plays a 90-year-old drug smuggler, which is pretty standard fare for him these days that works pretty well. Don’t miss releases from past weeks, including The Favourite, Mirai, and Widows.

New to DVD

One of my favorite films from Sundance, Colette, didn’t receive nearly the praise it should have for a tremendous performance from Keira Knightley and for its fantastic production values. I wasn’t nearly as fond of Lizzie, a historical murder mystery starring Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart that just didn’t really work. Previous picks, almost all from Sundance, include: Juliet, Naked, Blindspotting, The New Romantic, Never Goin’ Back and The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

Now on Netflix Instant Streaming

I’ve contended since I saw it that Roma was going to win Best Picture. The black-and-white Mexican film from director Alfonso Cuaro really is pretty incredible, and though seeing it on the big screen is worthwhile, I’d still recommend it on the streaming service for those not eager to go to a theater. Recent great additions covered in past weeks include: Breath and The Cakemaker.