Marty Supreme, Crime 101, Sirat

Timothée Chalamet’s Oscar-nominated box office hit “Marty Supreme” arrives on HBO Max this month in what is sure to be one of the biggest new streaming offerings. Chalamet plays an aspiring ping-pong superstar who upends all his personal relationships in the pursuit for greatness. The movie earned $179 million worldwide and scored nine Oscar nominations, including best picture and actor for Chalamet, who also picked up honors from the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards for his leading turn as the eponymous Marty. The supporting cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara and Fran Drescher.

Oliver Laxe’s heart-pounding thriller “Sirāt” is a must-see when it arrives on streaming this month via Hulu. Winner of the jury prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, the film stars Sergi López as a father wandering the desert with his son and linking up with a group of ravers in southern Morocco as he searches for his missing daughter. “Sirāt” picked up two Oscar nominations earlier this year: best international feature and sound. 

Park Chan-wook’s dazzling comedy thriller “No Other Choice” was Korea’s official Oscar entry this year but missed out on a nomination. Lee Byung-hun stars as a laid off corporate worker who resorts to killing his competition for a new job in order to get back in the workforce and provide for his family. The movie earned acclaim out of the Venice Film Festival last year and went on to earn three Golden Globe nominations: best motion picture (comedy/musical), foreign-language film and actor for Lee.

Bart Layton’s thriller “Crime 101” with Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry earned strong reviews this winter but couldn’t match its reported $90 million production budget at the box office, where it earned $71 million worldwide. More viewers are hopefully going to discover the crime thriller when it launches on Prime Video. Based on the 2020 novella by Don Winslow, the movie stars Hemsworth as an enigmatic thief whose last score is upended by an insurance broker past her breaking point (Berry) and a relentless detective (Mark Ruffalo) trying to prevent the thief’s multi-million dollar heist. The supporting cast includes Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nick Nolte.

Sydney Sweeney earned some of the best reviews of her career for “Christy,” a biographical drama in which she portrays the trailblazing boxer Christy Martin. The film was mostly rejected at the box office (its $1.3 million opening ranked as one of the worst starts ever for a movie that was released in more than 2,000 North American theaters), but buzz for Sweeney’s performance could make it a streaming hit when it debuts on HBO Max this month alongside the actor’s beloved TV projects “The White Lotus” and “Euphoria.” 

Charlize Theron is hoping to give Netflix a streaming blockbuster right before the summer movie season starts with her survival action movie “Apex,” co-staring Taron Edgerton. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur (“Everest”), the movie stars Theron as a grieving woman testing her limits in the Australian wilderness. Not all goes according to plan when Egerton’s ruthless serial killer enters the picture. Eric Bana also stars in the Netflix original. 

Apple’s big original movie premiere of April is “Outcome,” directed by Jonah Hill and starring Keanu Reeves as a beloved Hollywood actor whose career faces possible derailment when he’s blackmailed over a video that could destroy his public image. The dilemma forces the actor to make amends with anyone he could’ve wronged during the highs and lows of his acting career. Hill also co-wrote the movie and stars as Reeves’ crisis lawyer. The supporting cast includes Cameron Diaz, Matt Bomer, Susan Lucci, Laverne Cox, David Spade, Martin Scorsese, Atsuko Okatsuka, Roy Wood, Jr., Welker White, Kaia Gerber and Ivy Wolk.

Director Chris Stuckmann makes his directorial debut with Neon’s horror “Shelby Oaks,” which follows the disappearance of a YouTuber and amateur ghost hunter Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn). Having started his career as a film critic and essayist on YouTube, Stuckmann makes the transition to director with a horror movie that expertly blends media and feels at times like a mockumentary ripped right from the video platform.

The fan-favorite horror movie “Good Boy” tells a haunted house ghost story through the POV of a dog. From Variety’s review: “There’s something inherently novel in experiencing a haunted-house movie through the eyes of the director’s dog, a wide-eyed retriever named Indy, who senses a malevolent force stalking his master… ‘Good Boy’ uses all kinds of clever tricks, from inventive editing to ‘The Babadook’-style gags where terrifying silhouettes move in the background.”

Netflix already found streaming success with the shark movie “Under Paris.” Can lighting strike twice? Enter “Thrash,” starring Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak and Djimon Hounsou in the story of a group of coastal townspeople who must survive a hoard of hungry sharks after a Category 5 hurricane destroys their town. Tommy Wirkola writes and directs.

From Netflix: “As a career-defining chapter propels him into global stardom, musician Noah Kahan stands at a crossroads. In the wake of the breakout success of ‘Stick Season’ — an album born from the quiet of rural Vermont and embraced around the world — Noah begins work on his follow-up album while facing the mounting pressure of what comes next. Over a whirlwind year of sold-out tours and unprecedented acclaim, he returns to his Vermont roots and family. Buoyed by his uncanny wit, he searches for a sense of home and creative inspiration as he confronts the deeply personal struggles that have left him out of sync with himself.”

Adam Sandler’s daughter Sadie headlines the Netflix original comedy movie “Roommates,” which centers on the chaos that erupts after a naïve college freshman asks a popular girl to be her college roommate. “A blossoming friendship spirals into a war of passive aggression,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. The cast also includes Chloe East, Billy Bryk, Sarah Sherman, Martin Herlihy, Josh Segarra, Carol Kane, Janeane Garofalo, Aidan Langford, Bella Murphy, Jaya Harper, Storm Reid, Ivy Wolk, Bailee Madison, Natasha Lyonne and Nick Kroll.

Tom Holland’s blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home” finally arrives on Disney+ this month ahead of his web-slinger return to the big screen this summer in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” in theaters July 31. “No Way Home” powered to $1.9 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing movie of 2021. Its success was fueled by the movie uniting three generations of Spider-Man actors: Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

Bryan Fuller’s directorial debut “Dust Bunny” stars Sophie Sloan as Aurora, a young girl who is menaced by the giant, magical and bloodthirsty title beast who lives under her bed. She then hires a hitman (Fuller’s “Hannibal” star Mads Mikkelsen) to take care of the problem…if only he believes her. Variety called the movie a “morbidly fantastical shoot-em-up” in its review, adding: “The strength of the performances and the filmmaker’s smart handling of ambiguity (is there or is there not an actual monster at play here?) do enough to keep one engaged.”

Dinosaurs and the Vietnam War collide in the action movie “Primitive War,” a sequel for which is already on the way. Written and directed by Luke Sparke (“Occupation Rainfall,” “Bring Him to Me”), “Primitive War” is adapted from the cult novel of the same name by Ethan Pettus. The story follows Vulture Squad, a recon team sent to a remote jungle valley in 1968 to locate a missing Green Beret platoon, only to find themselves face-to-face with prehistoric predators.

Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling” was shortlisted for the best international feature Oscar this year and won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year in a tie with “Sirat.” The movie “tracks the lives of four adolescent girls (Alma, Erika, Angelika, Lenka) across the last century — their desires and distress, their secrets and truths, their encounters with another’s gaze and defiant gaze in return. Though separated by time, far-reaching resonances emerge as echoes of experience linger.”

Tom Cruise’s alleged last “Mission: Impossible” movie, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” arrives on Prime Video this month at no extra cost to subscribers after grossing $598 million at the worldwide box office last summer. The movie originally debuted on streaming via Paramount+. Starring Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg and more, “The Final Reckoning” picks up in the wake of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” as Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his globetrotting team of agents continue their mission to destroy the Entity, a mysterious and all-powerful AI, before it falls into the wrong hands.

Edgar Wright and Glen Powell’s “The Running Man” remake faltered at the box office last fall with an underwhelming $69 million worldwide. After making its streaming debut on Paramount+, the high-octane action movie now becomes available on Prime Video this month at no extra cost to subscribers. Based on the 1982 novel by Stephen King (which was then turned into a 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger), “The Running Man” takes place in a dystopian society where a game show pits contestants, called “runners,” against murderous killers (aka “hunters”).

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s demon-hunting couple The Warrens return for their fourth “Conjuring” film, which was a box office monster last year by grossing nearly $500 million worldwide to become the franchise’s biggest installment yet. “Last Rites” was billed as the final “Conjuring” movie, but that’s highly unlikely with a box office haul that strong. The horror hit becomes available on Prime Video at no extra cost to subscribers this month after debuting on streaming via HBO Max. 

The Colleen Hoover hit movie “Regretting You” arrives on Prime Video this month at no extra cost to subscribers. The movie explores the strained relationship between young mother Morgan Grant (Allison Williams) and her 16-year-old daughter Clara (Mckenna Grace), particularly in the aftermath of the tragic death of Morgan’s husband and Clara’s father, Chris (Scott Eastwood). The film also stars Dave Franco — who plays Jonah, Morgan’s love interest following the loss of her husband — as well as Mason Thames, Willa Fitzgerald and Clancy Brown.

“Naya Desir-Johnson offers a star-making performance as a precocious Black youngster determined to strike it rich in 1913 Oklahoma,” reads Variety’s positive review of the inspirational drama “Sarah’s Oil.” The movie centers on an 11-year-old girl who firmly believes there is an abundance of black gold beneath property she has been bequeathed, and it’s as “thoroughly predictable as it is irresistibly uplifting… The period detail is impressive, the storytelling is engrossing, and the overall impact is pleasantly enjoyable.”

As a duo, Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin have appeared in 25 movies, including their 1978 big-screen debut “Up in Smoke.” Now they return for one final adventure in “Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie.” The synopsis reads: “The movie defies documentary expectations, offering a wildly imaginative take on genre convention; a true-life tale told through a mix of animation and archival madness, all underscored by a classic cinematic road trip comedy. Tracing the enduring legacy of pioneering comics Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, the film features interviews, sketches, and never-before-seen footage spanning the duo’s five-decade career.” 

“Him,” directed by Justin Tipping and produced by horror maestro Jordan Peele, follows an up-and-coming quarterback (Tyriq Withers) who studies under the questionable mentorship of his football idol (Marlon Wayans). The movie also stars Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker and more. “Him” debuted on streaming last December via Peacock but now arrives on Netflix this month.