What's New To Streaming In April 2020
There's a whole host of great new streaming titles to fill your quarantine days
Hopefully you’re not running out of movies to watch yet! This week we wrote about a few stellar films that are new to streaming in April. We also listed several more that are worth checking out. Dive in this weekend and let us know what you think!
We’d love to hear what you’ve been watching over the last few weeks. Anything worth checking out? Reply to this email or hit us up on Twitter (@youlike_apples).
Drew recommends…
The Social Network (streaming on Netflix)
As I type this, I’m sitting at home, like most of you. For about three weeks now, our world has essentially been shut down due to a global pandemic. (That still seems impossible to even say.) Do you know what hasn’t been shut down? Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Tik Tok. These social media sites are more central to our lives than ever before. Right now I’m fighting the urge to stop what I’m doing and refresh Twitter. Even before COVID-19 struck, we lived our lives online. That’s even more true now.
For this reason, there hasn’t been a more relevant or prescient movie in the last ten years than The Social Network. In fact, it topped my list for best movies of the decade (and came in at #8 on Billy’s). That’s how highly regarded this film has become, and really, always has been since its release almost ten years ago.
I remember when I first saw the movie’s spectacular trailer. With a choral version of Radiohead’s “Creep” in the background, images of people’s lives on Facebook flash by before we get a glimpse at how the story of Facebook’s creation and rise would be told. Before that trailer, many were skeptical of how the history of a tech company would make for an interesting movie. It turns out director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, two of the brightest and most talented minds in Hollywood, were a perfect match. Fincher brought that trademark sleek style and thrilling pace to a story of coding and shareholding. Sorkin did what he always does, which is write rapid-fire dialogue for fascinating characters.
The actors that filled out those characters were cast with a keen eye. Jesse Eisenberg almost seems like he was created in a lab to play Mark Zuckerberg, and I would argue this still has an effect on how we view Zuckerberg today. Rooney Mara appears in only a couple scenes, but kills it whenever she’s on screen. Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer have maybe never been better. And Justin Timberlake was a brilliant choice to play brash Napster co-founder Sean Parker (“A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”). Along with these quality performances, a riveting (and massively influential) score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and razor-sharp editing, The Social Network became a huge success with audiences, critics, and awards bodies.
Sure, the facts in The Social Network aren’t completely true. They made certain events a little more convenient than they were in real-life; no one making the movie has denied that they dramatized what happened. However, this hasn’t ever bothered me. The Social Network isn’t a documentary -- any feature film based on real events is going to take dramatic license. The question should be if the filmmakers were responsible in their storytelling. I’d argue they were, considering how much truth they uncovered about how the Internet and social media changed society forever.
The Social Network isn’t really about Zuckerberg or Harvard final clubs or even Facebook. It’s about a transitional period in history where much of our social lives (and thus, how we spend our time) were beginning to be moved online. This has had innumerable repercussions, both positive and negative, that we see today. The moment we’re living in right now in 2020 is a great example. Coronavirus misinformation spreads throughout social media faster than the disease itself. However, how invaluable have these platforms been for maintaining human connection in the midst of such an isolated time? Ten years ago, The Social Network hit on exactly what role the Internet and social media were going to play in our lives.
The Nice Guys (streaming on HBO Now)
The Nice Guys kind of came and went back in 2016. It received little buzz for a movie that starred Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe and ended up doing average business at the box office. Well, I’m here to tell you this movie is a roaring good time.
With its easygoing retro style, this 70s LA detective story is a true throwback to the classic buddy comedy. Here we have Gosling as the hapless cop and Crowe as the tough-minded enforcer. The two actors unsurprisingly make for a perfect buddy cop duo. Gosling is legitimately super funny (he’s always had an undeniable knack for comedy), while Crowe still maintains that compelling screen presence he’s always had.
The co-writer and director of The Nice Guys is Shane Black, who you may know from Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and the mind behind the Lethal Weapon franchise. Black knows how to craft a witty and fast-paced script, and he doesn’t hold back in this one. The story may be a little too unfocused but that shaggy style is part of what makes movies like this so lovable. If you need two hours of neo-noir hijinks to get your mind off things, The Nice Guys is a wonderful choice to do just that.
Billy recommends…
Die Hard (streaming on HBO Now)
Before I get into my recommendation I want our favorite boss, Michael Scott, to give you his thoughts:
“You know what, here’s the thing about Die Hard 4. Die Hard one, the original, John McClane was just this normal guy. You know, he’s just a normal New York City cop, who gets his feet cut, and gets beat up. But he’s an everyday guy. In Die Hard 4, he is jumping a motorcycle into a helicopter. In air. You know? He’s invincible. It just sort of lost what Die Hard was. It’s not Terminator.”
Wonderfully put, Michael. Die Hard is not the best movie ever made, but it is the most perfectly made movie. Every note is spot on and it drives the story forward at a pace no movie since has been able to match. Our first time meeting John is on a landing airplane and he is afraid. That is such a beautiful note for our hero character. In a lot of hero stories like this we may get to them being afraid eventually and sometimes not at all. Going right into his flaws is a bold choice from the director and Die Hard is all the better for it.
John McClane is a classic character and Bruce Willis deserves all the praise that is given to him for his performance, but each moment away from John (that’s how you know it is a classic character, eventually you just go by his first name) brings in characters that are equally iconic. Especially the breakout of breakout roles from Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. And for all of you Snape diehards, no, that is not Alan Rickman’s best role. Hans Gruber is. Die Hard might be the only movie that can claim an all time best hero and villain in the same movie.
There are times for delving into films that challenge the way we think intellectually and those movies tend to be the ones that stand the test of time, but not Die Hard. It is first and foremost one of the most entertaining movies from beginning to end, but an inspiration for many filmmakers in how to make an efficient movie. No scene is wasted, the structure of the movie is perfect, and the characters make a plot that we have seen before memorable. This is an all timer and it needs to be watched at least once a year.
The Lighthouse (streaming on Amazon Prime starting April 16th)
The Lighthouse is the tale I always wanted to see. If Jack Sparrow found the rum and never got off the island. Ok ok ok, this is not what the movie is, but it might as well be. There is not much of a plot to this one. A young lighthouse keeper and an older lighthouse keeper get caught into a storm that leaves them at the lighthouse for longer than they are supposed to be. The result is an incredibly entertaining descent into madness that will leave you befuddled, but hopefully entertained.
Our stars include the always reliable Willem Dafoe and one of the best young actors around, Robert Pattinson. A rare combo that are seemingly opposite of each other and at the beginning of the movie they are, but become slowly similar as the madness takes over. That increasing paranoia and craziness is the source of all of the entertainment for this movie. It provides comedy and horror. One of the characters first interactions involves flatulence and that will probably make or break the rest of the movie for most audiences.
The star that is going to come out of this movie is director Robert Eggers. His first two movies are horror type movies with a unique lens. His first film The Witch is more conventional horror and relies on more classical horror themes to make the movie work like religion, the woods, and a fairy tale feel to it. The Lighthouse takes place in isolation which is the only horror theme that feels traditional.
The originality of this one will turn people off because it tries to mix the comedy into the horror at times that feel inappropriate. Not because any of the themes or imagery is super messed up, but because the comedy takes the audience out of the intensity a scene had just created. While I am putting a lot of small warnings into this recommendation I think that most audiences will like this one. It is horrific without being a horror movie that will keep you up at night. At the very least gaze upon Robert Pattinson’s beautiful face!
Other movies new to streaming in April
Netflix
Minority Report
Molly’s Game
Mud
Sherlock Holmes
Taxi Driver
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Hangover
The Matrix
Hulu
Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
Phone Booth
Risky Business
Spider-Man (2002)
Zombieland
Parasite (on April 8)
HBO
The Kids Are All Alright
Slumdog Millionaire
Links to get you through your quarantine
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