The third week of April is heating up, both in terms of the weather and what’s streaming on HBO Max.
But if you don’t feel like going outside and getting your share of vitamin D, you won’t be lacking in stimulating entertainment on the top streamer.
This weekend, Watch With Us wants to highlight three great recent additions to the HBO Max movie library that you have to check out.
Our first selection is Alien 3, the highly underrated franchise installment directed by David Fincher.
‘Alien 3’ (1992)
Following the events of Aliens, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) crash-lands on a prison planet named Fiorina 161, home only to criminals and the guards that preside over them. Ripley discovers that she is the sole survivor of the crash, and both Cpl. Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Newt (Carrie Henn) have perished. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones on board the spacecraft, and a facehugger has already found its next victim in the pet dog of an inmate on Fiorina. Initially facing skepticism from the prisoners and guards, it’s once again up to Ripley to defeat the Xenomorph killing machine before it kills everyone — and this time, she doesn’t have any weapons.
Alien 3 was the Seven and The Social Network director’s first movie, and unfortunately for Fincher, he entered the world of feature directing with a whimper. The film endured a troubled production and was subsequently hacked up by studio interference, and while Fincher has subsequently disowned the film, an “Assembly Cut” made without his involvement, based on his editing notes, was put together and has received a much warmer reception. That version was just added to HBO Max’s library this month, and we suggest you stream that one instead of the theatrical cut.
‘Practical Magic’ (1998)
Sisters Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) Owens descend from a long line of witches, though they have been cursed to doom any man who falls in love with them. As adults, they have almost entirely disavowed magic, but when Sally accidentally kills Gillian’s dangerous boyfriend Jimmy (Goran Visnjic), they unwittingly turn him into a malevolent spirit who is hellbent on exacting revenge. The Owens sisters quickly realize they will need to brush up on hard magic and embrace their lineage in order to both defeat Jimmy’s spirit and also finally fall in love with the men they deserve.
Practical Magic was not embraced by critics at the time of release, who found the mishmash of genres — supernatural fantasy, domestic abuse melodrama, crime procedural and rom-com — to be at odds with one another. However, the movie has since gained a devoted cult following, strong enough to engender a sequel, Practical Magic 2, set for release in September of this year. Practical Magic has been embraced for its focus on strong relationships between women and the way it wove dark, challenging themes into a mainstream fantasy film, themes that have ultimately been crucial in allowing the movie to endure as a favorite for many.
‘Out of the Past’ (1947)
This classic film noir stars Old Hollywood greats Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer. Out of the Past follows Mitchum’s Jeff Bailey, a humble gas station owner whose shady past catches up with him when he’s recognized by a crook named Joe Stephanos (Paul Valentine). Years ago, Stephanos’ boss, Whit Sterling (Douglas) had hired Bailey to track down a former girlfriend, Kathie (Greer), who’d shot him and made off with 40 grand. Instead, Bailey and Kathie fell in love — then Kathie double-crossed him and went back to Sterling. Now, Sterling has a score to settle with Bailey.
Out of the Past is a true American noir, with a ravishing femme fatale, shadowy cinematography, a convoluted crime plot full of betrayal and a bleak ending. Mitchum and Douglas truly cement themselves as titans of Hollywood in their respective, formidable roles, and Greer’s no-good Kathie is utterly magnetic. The moody, languorous film sustains a dreamlike quality that lulls the audience into a false sense of security, before it jolts you awake with its fatalistic conclusion. While the plot is a little tricky to follow, Jacques Tourneur‘s direction keeps things constantly engaging.
