Pick of the week: “How To Train Your Dragon 2” — Apparently the first movie didn’t provide ample dragon-training instruction, as there’s a sequel. But it’s a sequel that improves on the already strong first movie, with dazzling action sequences, sharp humor and a genuinely affecting family drama at its core. Plus dragons.
Pick of the week: “Listen Up Philip” (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. Jason Schwartzman is hilariously awful as an arrogant young writer who finds that success only feeds and confirms his misanthropy in this acerbic comedy from Alex Ross Perry.
Pick of the week: “Groundhog Day“: You’re exactly a month late on this one, Netflix. But it’s still wonderful to see Harold Ramis’ 1992 comedy, which wraps a beautiful message on how to live a better life inside a hilarious comedy. No wonder Bill Murray moved away from being a leading comic actor — he could never top this.
Pick of the week: “20,00o Days on Earth“ (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. Nick Cave’s baroque fictionalized documentary mixes the mythos and the man to create a film that both celebrates his larger-than-life and provides surprising insight into his creative process.
Pick of the week: “Re-Animator“ — Former UW-Madison student Stuart Gordon’s glorious and gory cult ’80s film about a mad scientist trying to resurrect dead tissue, with results going about as wrong as you might expect.
Pick of the week: “Chef“ — My full review is here. While some elements of Jon Favreau’s indie hit strain credulity (I can’t imagine Scarlett Johansson really getting that worked up over someone making spaghetti), this is an amiable film about pursuing what you love, and a celebration of American cuisine. And it will teach you how to make a great grilled-cheese sandwich.
Pick of the week: “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy“ — My full review is here. An unlikely spy thriller masterpiece, Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel about British intelligence rooting out a mole is both a twisty, engrossing mystery and a meditation on those who keep secrets.
Pick of the week: “Frank“ (Netflix) — My full review is here. Michael Fassbender as you’ve never seen him before — completely obscured by a giant papier-mache head as he plays the enigmatic, possibly emotionally damaged leader of an art-rock band in this strange, funny and sad film about the price and salvation of creative genius. Great supporting turns by Maggie Gyllenhaal as the mercurial power behind the band and Domhnall Gleeson as a mediocre songwriter who tries to push the band towards mainstream success.
Pick of the Week: “Election“ — Tracy Flick would have turned up her nose at the messy, careless Cheryl Strayed, but after seeing Reese Witherspoon’s tour de force in “Wild,” it’s fun to go back and see her in Alexander Payne’s 1999 comedy about a driven high school student and the teacher (Matthew Broderick) determined to stop her.
Usually this weekly streaming column is either partially or entirely devoted to new titles on Netflix Instant. But with Netflix in a bit of a late-December funk (“I, Frankenstein,” anyone?), I thought I would turn my attention to Amazon Prime Instant Video.
Amazon Prime has been busy making exclusive streaming deals with independent film distributors like A24 (“The Bling Ring”) and, in October, Oscilloscope Laboratories. A whole bunch of excellent films from Oscilloscope and elsewhere just went up exclusively on Amazon Prime in the last couple of weeks, so this week’s column will focus on those.
Madison Movie 