Want to know what’s coming soon to digital and what to watch right now on FandangoNOW and Vudu? Here is your weekly guide to the latest releases:
What are the latest new releases to watch right now?
Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland is now available to purchase digitally on FandangoNOW and Vudu. The deeply stunning drama follows a “houseless” woman (Frances McDormand) as she connects with a community of fellow nomads while traveling the country in pursuit of work. Already breaking records for Zhao’s accumulation of honors, it is now a major contender among this year’s Oscar nominees, particularly in the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress categories. When you buy it on FandangoNOW, you’ll get bonus content, including a making-of feature and deleted scenes.
Some Kind of Heaven, a fantastic debut by Lance Oppenheim, is also now available to buy digitally, as well as to rent, on FandangoNOW and Vudu. Like Nomadland, it’s also one of my favorite movies from the past year, and the two would make an interesting double feature — both display magnificent cinematography as they present contrasting portraits of senior living in the U.S. While Nomadland depicts life on the road for older Americans, this documentary showcases the static and more stable existence of residents of the country’s largest retirement community.
What movies are great to pair with those new releases?
Nomadland also pairs perfectly with a fellow current Academy Award nominee that’s similarly up for Best Picture and Best Director and contending in one of the lead acting categories and one of the two screenwriting categories: Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, which offers a different take on the American Dream. You could also go for a Chloé Zhao double feature by checking out her breakout drama, The Rider. Or pair her latest with one of the (so far) two movies containing an Oscar-winning performance from Frances McDormand: Fargo or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
In addition to Nomadland, Some Kind of Heaven would also go great with another of this year’s Oscar nominees: The Mole Agent, which is up for Best Documentary Feature and was shortlisted for the Best International Feature award. It’s about an 83-year-old man going undercover to spy on a retirement home suspected of committing elder abuse. But you could also choose a more fantastical movie involving retirement home residents, like the Elvis and “JFK” versus evil mummy team-up Bubba Ho-Tep.
Are there any other big movies coming out this week?
Nobody, which makes an action hero out of Bob Odenkirk (TV’s Better Call Saul), arrives on FandangoNOW and Vudu this Thursday, April 15. If you like the premise and the extremely violent fight scenes of the John Wick movies, you’ll definitely want to check out this similar but cheekier effort written by that franchise’s creator, Derek Kolstad, and produced by the original’s co-director, David Leitch. Here, Odenkirk plays a family man stuck in a humdrum routine life and job whose mysterious past a hired killer resurfaces following an attempted burglary at his home.
Coming to FandangoNOW and Vudu this Friday, April 16, is the compelling espionage drama The Courier. Based on a true story, it portrays the experience of British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), who was recruited by MI6 in cooperation with the CIA to carry secrets out of Russia while making deals in Moscow. Learn about the astounding truth behind-the-scenes of the Cuban Missile Crisis and enjoy a great cast, which also includes Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley and Merab Ninidze, who steals the movie as the Soviet source, Oleg Penkovsky.
Jakob’s Wife, a fun vampire flick from co-writer/director Travis Stevens (Girl on the Third Floor), is also out on FandangoNOW and Vudu this Friday. Reuniting horror icon Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator) with Larry Fessenden (the two were last seen together in 2015’s We Are Still Here), the movie pairs them up as a minister and his wife, the latter of whom is bitten and turned during an encounter with an old flame. It’s a (very) bloody good time in a way that doesn’t take itself too seriously but also isn’t overly comical either — an excellent showcase for the two leads.
Are we celebrating any big movie anniversaries this week?
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the Jane Austen-inspired romantic comedy Bridget Jones’s Diary, which kicked off a trilogy of movies. The cult classic comic book adaptation Josie and the Pussycats and the David Spade comedy Joe Dirt also turn 20 years old this week. Disney’s animated Roald Dahl adaptation James and the Giant Peach and the thriller Fear, featuring early starring roles for Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon, both turn 25. Also, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s cannibalism comedy Delicatessen turns 30 this week.
Going back further, the mini-monster sci-fi movie Critters, the first in its franchise, turns 35. Also, the giant-monster movie Gamera vs. Barugon turns 55, the film noir The Blue Dahlia starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake turns 75 and the classic Shirley Temple comedy Captain January turns 85. More recent movies with anniversaries include the horror sequel Scream 4, which turns 10, and Disney’s live-action The Jungle Book, which is already 5 years old! This week is also the 10th anniversary of the start of the popular TV series Game of Thrones and Happy Endings.
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
This week, Vudu has a sale on slapstick movies as part of its month of comedy spotlight, and there’s a bunch I want to recommend. As usual, in double-feature pairings: genre send-ups Blazing Saddles and The Cheap Detective; Steve Martin favorites The Jerk and Roxanne; the original Anchorman and original Zoolander; Bill Murray and Harold Ramis collaborations Caddyshack and Stripes; underrated gems The Money Pit and She-Devil; and Home Alone and its first sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. And then This is Spinal Tap stands alone, of course.
Vudu’s Actor’s Spotlight series celebrates the following performers this week: Donnie Yen, Geena Davis, Jessie Eisenberg, Eva Mendes, Giancarlo Esposito and Jane Fonda. And here are my recommendations for early movies of theirs, one favorite for each of them, all on sale: the gorgeous martial arts film Hero for Yen; the New York City comedy Quick Change for Davis; the divorce drama The Squid and the Whale for Eisenberg; the crime thriller Training Day for Mendes; the Spike Lee Joint Do the Right Thing for Esposito; and the sci-fi classic Barbarella for Fonda.
Which must-see movies are coming soon to FandangoNOW and Vudu?
If you’re on an Anthony Hopkins kick right now after watching his Oscar-nominated performance in The Father (and you should be), mark your calendar for his next movie, The Virtuoso, which arrives on digital at the end of this month, on April 30. The actor plays the boss of an assassin (Anson Mount, from Marvel’s Inhumans) on a mysterious job. Also coming out on April 30 is Percy Vs. Goliath, which reunites Sleepy Hollow co-stars Christopher Walken and Christina Ricci for the true story of a farmer who went up against a giant corporation over some patented seeds.
What are the 10 most popular new movies on FandangoNOW?
1. Raya and the Last Dragon
2. Chaos Walking
3. Wonder Woman 1984
4. City of Lies
5. The Little Things
6. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
7. News of the World
8. The Croods: A New Age
9. Every Breath You Take
10. Judas and the Black Messiah
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
1. Raya and the Last Dragon
2. Wonder Woman 1984
3. City of Lies
4. Chaos Walking
5. The Little Things
6. Willy’s Wonderland
7. The Croods: A New Age
8. Every Breath You Take
9. Monster Hunter
10. News of the World
