What's New To Streaming In May 2022

Let's get you ready for summer with two 90s classics!

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May 06, 2022

It’s the first week of the month, so we’re hitting you with the best of what’s new to streaming in May. If you’re looking forward to the summer, you’re in luck because we’ve got a last-day-of-school movie and a baseball movie! Read, subscribe, and share our newsletter on social!

Also, if you missed our Spotify Live discussion earlier this week, you can listen to it in full here. We previewed upcoming movies this summer to get hyped for. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more Spotify Live events!

2022 Summer Movie Preview

Drew recommends…

Dazed and Confused

There likely hasn’t been a more effortless cult classic than Dazed and Confused. Released in 1993, Richard Linklater’s low-budget and nostalgic vision of 70s high school life wasn’t a box office smash or a needle-mover among the mainstream, but almost 30 years later it’s recognized as a beloved cult fave, an unforgettable introduction to a couple mega-stars, and the ultimate teen hangout movie.

Back in the early 90s, Linklater had only made a couple films, but he had some juice in the indie space, so he was able to assemble a bunch of young up-and-coming actors for his little movie loosely based on his Texas high school experience back in the 70s. Many of the people involved in the making of Dazed and Confused have described it as like having fun at a “summer camp,” and it shows in the spontaneous, hazy, and carefree final result. Taking place over the last day of school, most of the movie is just an observation of the hijinks that stupid high school kids get up to. The acting from the ensemble cast isn’t all that polished and you have to squint to see the plot’s throughline, but that’s the charm of Dazed and Confused. The seniors mercilessly haze the freshman while teachers and staff look the other way. Most scenes show our characters driving around aimlessly, getting high constantly, and obtaining booze for a massive party. Not all of it ages well when viewed today, but Linklater doesn’t approve of this behavior so much as simply depict what went on back then.

All of the high school “types” are accounted for: jocks, nerds, stoners, dropouts, the guy that graduated years ago but still hangs out with high schoolers. Randall “Pink” Floyd, the de facto main character, is the bridge between all of these types. He’s the star quarterback that chills with the stoners and makes conversation with the nerds. In a way, he is Linklater’s avatar. The director has famously eclectic taste and his career isn’t even close to a straight line. He’s made risky experimental films (Boyhood, Slacker, Tape), romances (the Before trilogy), and studio comedies (School of Rock, Bad News Bears). And similar to Pink in Dazed and Confused, everyone seems to like him and enjoy working with him.

Despite its status as one of the best high school movies ever, Dazed is best known for its soundtrack full of 70s classics and for kickstarting the careers of Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck. A lot of the film’s budget was spent on acquiring music rights to songs by ZZ Top, Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent, and many more, which was a great decision because the rock n’ roll backing contributes to the movie’s whole “go with the flow” vibe. Linklater wonderfully recreates that time and place with the sights and sounds of the era.

One scene in a pool hall evokes this memorably when McConaughey’s character Wooderson, the aforementioned high school grad that won’t leave it behind, swaggers onto the scene set to Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane.” Even without classic music on the soundtrack, it’s astounding how magnetic McConaughey is with almost no film acting experience. His Wooderson has most of the movie’s quotable lines, often because of how charismatic he is in delivering them. Similarly, Dazed features a great early Ben Affleck role as O’Bannion, a senior that failed to graduate but zealously participates in the freshman hazing ritual. Both actors could never have known how Dazed and Confused would gain cult status over the years, but they both effectively used it as a launching pad to superstardom. Seeing them so young and fresh-faced is one of the many joys this classic has to offer.

Streaming on Hulu

Billy recommends…

A League of Their Own

Did Dottie drop the ball on purpose? One of the greatest movie debates ever. At no point will I try to convince you one way or the other, but this wonderful sisterhood baseball movie is a staple of the sports genre. For some reason I always thought this was an indie comedy/drama that found its success in the aftermath of its release. I think two reasons are attributed to that wrong assumption. First, the movie accurately portrays these characters as underdogs. A women’s baseball league in the midst of World War II certainly seems like a sure thing. Second, I think it is about the 10th baseball movie I was shown as a kid. It is probably because this is a PG-13 movie and I was probably told it is a girls movie, but the delay in seeing it made it seem like I found this hidden gem. Upon a not so deep reflection it is so clearly meant to be a blockbuster and that I am the one that missed it.

The second most famous redhead actress of the 90s, the world’s biggest pop star in Madonna is on the poster, director Penny Marshall coming off massive successes in Big and Awakenings, and Tom Hanks starting a run of movies that will never be seen again. A League of Their Own follows two sisters. Dottie, played by Geena Davis, the older sister who doesn’t really have to try and is amazing at everything. Kit, the younger sister, is always following in her sister's shadow and is trying so hard to be recognized by anyone.

Major League Baseball is not the same product with seemingly every able man drafted or enlisted to go fight in World War II. So savvy businessmen come up with the idea to create the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A scout played hilariously by Jon Lovitz comes to a game Dottie and Kit are playing in. Unsurprisingly, he is enamored by Dottie. The best player on the team, tall, charismatic, and beautiful. An immediate offer to play baseball for $70 a week was extended her way. She refuses! But will make an exception if her sister gets signed as well. The deal is agreed to and off we are to see one of the most charismatic groups of women to ever be put on screen.

The roster for The Rockford Peaches is:

Coach: Jimmy “Avoid the Clap” Gugan (played by Tom Hanks)
SP - Kit (played by Lori Petty)
C - Dottie (played by Geena Davis)
CF - Mae (played by Madonna)
3B - Doris (played by Rosie O’Donnell)

And… the rest of the roster doesn’t really matter as much. What ensues can be cliche, but it is polished into authenticity because of the performances from the five people above. Jimmy just wants to win and not feel like a failure anymore after drinking himself out of baseball. Therefore, treating these female athletes equally as horrible as he would male athletes. Mae/Doris are best buds that bring consistent laughter and inappropriate stories to the team. A week into them playing and you feel as if they have been best friends for their whole lives. That is probably because there is a common worry for all of them in WWII and baseball is an outlet that is distracting them from reality while empowering them at the same time.

A League of Their Own is a sports movie that I often forget to cite as a top 5 favorite, but it really deserves to be up there. Let’s just chop off that beginning and end with the older version of the players visiting the hall of fame and it may be #1. I think some of you might be in the boat I was if you were a young boy born right as this movie came out. Probably shown other classic baseball movies first and by the time you watched this it seemed like a rare find. In retrospect, this movie is as blockbuster as they come, and I’m just one of the boys who underestimated these women like everyone else.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Netflix

Crazy, Stupid, Love
Den of Thieves
Dirty Harry
Forrest Gump
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Rambo
War of the Worlds
When Harry Met Sally
You’ve Got Mail

Amazon Prime Video

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Enemy Of The State
Fargo
Field of Dreams
Independence Day
Mamma Mia!
Office Space
Platoon
Pearl Harbor
Road To Perdition
Shrek
Sideways
Zero Dark Thirty

Hulu

A Beautiful Mind
The Adjustment Bureau
Billy Madison
The Breakfast Club
Despicable Me
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Drag Me to Hell
Easy A
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Fun with Dick and Jane
Hot Fuzz
The Karate Kid
Marie Antoinette
Pleasantville
Pretty Woman
Resident Evil
Stuart Little
Taken
White Men Can’t Jump

HBO and HBO Max

Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
Devil in a Blue Dress
The Fugitive
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Sense and Sensibility
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Director’s Cut)
Young Adult
The Matrix: Resurrections (May 10)
Old (May 13)
The Mule (May 17)

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