Teleport back with Star Trek, get mean with Bojack Horseman, marvel at Ex Machina and more for your eyes to see
Thursday 7.21
Work shmerk. Stay home and get pumped for tomorrow’s big release of Star Trek Beyond by streaming all six of the original Enterprise crew’s Star Trek movies (1979-91) for free on Amazon Prime. Yeesh. On second thought, stick to the acknowledged best of the bunch: the 1982 thriller, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. For pure Hollywood fun and open-hearted humanism, though, follow it up with the Leonard Nimoy-directed, time-traveling “save the whales” comedy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. If not, then double dumb-ass on you!
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Friday 7.22
The New Zealand box-office record-breaking family comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople opens in Kansas City. Starring Sam Neill as an unstable uncle chasing his rebellious nephew through the bush, it’s directed by Taika Waititi, whose last film was a hilarious vampire mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows. Waititi is the hot director of the moment, with his next movie Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok.
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Saturday 7.23
Season 3 of the mean-spirited and wonderful Netflix animated comedy series Bojack Horseman dropped yesterday, and its mere existence is a testament to the kind of creative freedom Netflix allows its showrunners. If you’re not caught up and you crave full context, stream Seasons 1 and 2 first. That said, the new episodes retain an unlikely poignancy — as much as a morally reprehensible cartoon celebrity horse (voiced by Will Arnett) can have — if viewed as stand-alone stories.
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Sunday 7.24
Stream Ex Machina, which upset J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars behemoth in the special-effects category at this year’s Oscars, on Amazon Prime (or rent or buy it on Blu-ray). This is an exemplary sci-fi film — a marvel of modern practical and CGI production design. Writer and director Alex Garland’s parable asks all kinds of uncomfortable questions about sexuality, equality and the rapid pace of technological development.
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Monday 7.25
Crimes of Passion is a bizarre 1984 relic from iconoclast Ken Russell that features Kathleen Turner as a prostitute named China Blue, who role-plays dangerous sex games with perverted clients. It’s so lurid and full of bad acting (from milquetoast leading man John Laughlin and a raving-mad Anthony Perkins) that it’s a wonder it was ever made. Add to that a script that zips from ridiculous to genuinely provocative, sometimes in the same scene, and you have the makings of a cult classic. It’s now available on Blu-ray from Arrow in an unrated director’s cut.
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Tuesday 7.26
The most welcome surprise of all the Emmy nominations this year (The Americans and Mr. Robot love notwithstanding) was comedian Louie Anderson getting nominated for his supporting turn as Zach Galifianakis’ mom on FX’s oddball comedy series Baskets. Rather than campy stunt casting, it was a surprisingly canny decision. Anderson’s natural warmth is at the heart of the show’s twisted brand of empathy. Stream Season 1 now on Hulu.
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Wednesday 7.27
One of the most important filmmakers in the New German Cinema movement, Rainer Werner Fassbinder made more than 40 movies and TV shows in 16 years. Although he was known mostly for directing rich character studies, his final acting role was in Wolf Gremm’s 1982 proto-cyberpunk film, Kamikaze ’89. In a new 4k restoration, sweaty Fassbinder struts around in a ridiculous-looking leopard-skin suit, facing off against cross-dressing assassins, a media conspiracy and porn stars. It sounds bonkers, and tonight at 7 at Alamo Drafthouse is probably your only chance to ever see it in a theater.
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Eric Melin is the editor of Scene-Stealers.com and president of the KC Film Critics Circle.
