With Netflix churning out original feature content week after week and seemingly dominating awards season this year with the likes of The Irishman and The Two Popes, we thought we’d jump across to their biggest rival to see what they have on offer at one of the best times of year for movies arriving on the streaming format.
While Amazon doesn’t seem to offer quite as much original content in terms of movies, it does look like they’ve managed to get their hands-on quality content from elsewhere, most of which we haven’t seen offered anywhere else. Here, we look at six of the best movies now playing on Amazon.
Dragged Across Concrete
Comeback king Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn lead the cast of this long, but very memorable crime movie from S. Craig Zahler, the man who bought us the likes of Bone Tomahawk and Brawl In Cell Block 99. Gibson and Vaughn play two seasoned cops who, after being suspended from the force, turn their backs on doing the right thing and look to the underworld to get their hands on some fast cash. While not as impactful as the cannibal cowboy movie Bone Tomahawk or as blisteringly violent as his sophomore feature Brawl In Cell Block 99, Dragged Across Concrete is well worth your time if you’re a fan of the genre. Just as long as you’re able to stick out the near three-hour running time.
Wild Rose
One of the best British films of the last ten years, Wild Rose is a superb drama focusing on a young woman from the hard side of Glasgow who dreams of becoming a country star. Jessie Buckley, who previously appeared in the TV dramas War & Peace and Taboo, shines bright in her breakthrough role as Rose-Lynn, a girl with dreams of superstardom though struggling with life on the streets of Glasgow. Tom Harper, who would go on to direct the much bigger-budgeted The Aeronauts with Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones the following year, brings a stunning feature to screens. A wonderful, more grounded alternative to the other big music-themed awards magnet of 2018, A Star Is Born.
Molly’s Game
Also hailing from a debut at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, Molly’s Game is the directorial debut of celebrated wordsmith Aaron Sorkin. Revolving around the world of gambling. This film focuses on the world of the underground poker scene in Los Angeles in the early 2000s. Jessica Chastain plays the title role of Molly Bloom, a former Olympian who turns to gaming and sets up poker games behind closed doors. Molly’s high-stake poker tables, attracts the likes of movie-stars, investment bankers, athletes and casino online players. Her efforts soon attract the attention of the FBI which is where the film opens, the narrative being told in flashback for the thrilling two and a half hour running time. Also amongst the cast are the likes of Idris Elba as Bloom’s lawyer Charlie Jaffey, along with the likes of Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, and Jeremy Strong. A brilliant debut from Sorkin who shows he’s as comfortable behind the camera as he is in front of a keyboard.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Following Moonlight was going to be no easy task, but Barry Jenkins’ 2018 effort If Beale Street Could Talk comes close to matching the quality of his 2016 Oscar-winner. Stephan James plays the role of Fonny, a young man who falls for Tish (KiKi Layne). The two start up a relationship and Tish soon becomes pregnant, however, on the tough streets of Fonny is framed for a crime he did not commit and is sent to prison. It is up to Tish and those around her to try and prove Fonny’s innocence before their child comes into the world. Of course, there’s much more to this beautiful-told, wonderful love story than that, and the plaudits that Jenkins’ film received in the months following its TIFF premiere, prove that. An absolute must.
Amazing Grace
The only documentary feature on our list is also the most recent film to have been released. Amazing Grace is a concert film featuring the late Aretha Franklin performing at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. The film features previously unseen, thought-lost footage of the concert, brought to the screen courtesy of the late Sydney Pollack, though realized and seen through to completion by producer Alan Elliott. It is a wonderful watch, an intimate look at a performer at the top of her game featuring cameos from the likes of Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, and Pollack himself.
Dunkirk
With 1917 currently playing in cinemas, we thought we’d include Christopher Nolan’s superb 2017 epic Dunkirk as our final entry. Again using time as an essential narrative device, Nolan’s film focusses on the efforts to evacuate Dunkirk in northern France during World War II. The film is told from three different perspectives – land, sea and air, though each takes place over different lengths of time. Shot in stunning IMAX 65mm and using many practical effects and a brilliant ensemble cast, Dunkirk is one of the best war movies of the past decade, one very much worth of its eight Oscar nominations and three wins. Though best seen on the biggest screen you can find, Dunkirk is a definite must-see wherever you can access it.
