Instant Picks of the Week 12/15/17
Gone are the days of scrolling mindlessly through your queue! No longer will you have to sift through the vastness of what’s coming to the instant viewing wastelands this month! Whether you’re looking for a stellar film or an exciting new show to binge, Instant Picks of the Week brings you the hottest releases in film and television on instant viewing platforms that we know you’ll love, or at the very least not despise.
ACE IN THE HOLE (Amazon Video)
Never in my life did I think I’d give a film with such initially wonky dialogue a five star review. But how can I resist? ACE IN THE HOLE might actually be one of my favorite films of all time! It is an absolute milestone: a perfect encapsulation of socio-political critique (and some satire) rolled into one absolutely devastating package. Kirk Douglas is a wrecking ball and Billy Wilder navigates his camera with incredible ease. It’s the type of masterful filmmaking that really came to define the golden age of Hollywood. To me, it’s an inarguable fact that this is the most important thing to come out of McCarthyist Tinsel Town. It brilliantly posits the dog-eat-dog world of American capitalism and offers each of its flawed characters a shot at redemption, making a concerted effort to empathize with them despite the fact that many remain just as crooked, broken, and unchanging from the tragedy of the film’s events. I really can’t praise it enough. It’s a work of unparalleled genius, boasting a final scene that literally sends shivers down my spine every time I recall it. There really isn’t much more to say. It’s a must watch. A true great American movie. We need more films like ACE IN THE HOLE. [Sergio Zaciu]
NATHAN FOR YOU: FINDING FRANCES (Comedy Central)
A mockumentary crew embarks on a road trip through the United States to find a man’s distant soulmate, only for the same man to fall head-over-heels in love with a prostitute living in a dead-end town in rural America. NATHAN FOR YOU: FINDING FRANCES is absolutely lovely, but it must be said that BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN did it all first, and better. Nevertheless, Nathan Fielder really knows how to toy with your emotions here, and the film’s lengthy phone call is an absolute showstopper (surely one of the finest cinematic moments of 2017). NATHAN FOR YOU: FINDING FRANCES is a wonderful emotional joyride. It is a meta step that we knew the show was capable of, but never thought would be interested in taking. It is a stunning piece of reality-bending filmmaking, and one of the best things Nathan Fielder and Comedy Central has ever done. An Odyssey, if you will. [Crossfader Staff]
