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?
Ben Sharrock’s highly acclaimed and award-winning breakout feature Limbo is now available to own digitally on FandangoNOW and Vudu. The comedic drama is about a Syrian musician (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s Amir El-Masry) who is stuck on a remote Scottish island along with other fellow displaced persons awaiting asylum. While not based on a true story, the character-driven film is inspired by people Sharrock encountered while working in refugee camps in the 2000s, so it has a feeling of authenticity that balances well with its quirky sense of humor.
If you’re looking for something fun to watch for the Fourth of July this weekend and you’ve seen all the usual Independence Day favorites, the new horror-comedy Re-Elected is set on the American holiday and involves U.S. presidents — resurrected from the dead. That’s right, the movie, which is now available to rent or buy digitally on FandangoNOW and Vudu, pits a group of teenagers against zombie George Washington, zombie Abraham Lincoln and zombie Andrew Jackson.
Are there any other big movies coming out this week?
Werewolves Within, a hilarious new horror-comedy based on the multiplayer video game of the same name, arrives on Vudu to rent digitally this Friday, July 2. Set in an isolated small New England town in the dead of winter, the movie’s plot pits resident against resident after people and pets succumb to what appears to be werewolf attacks. And any of the remaining locals — or one of the visiting outsiders — could be the creature incognito. Veep’s Sam Richardson leads a perfect ensemble cast, which also includes What We Do in the Shadows’ Harvey Guillén and “AT&T girl” Milana Vayntrub, for a silly, satirical and never-too-gory delight that plays like a cross between Clue and John Carpenter’s The Thing.
Also coming to digital this Friday on FandangoNOW and Vudu (and currently available for pre-orders on both sites) is S.K. Dale’s action-horror movie Till Death, which stars Megan Fox (Transformers) as a woman trying to survive a home invasion at a remote lake house. That’s after she wakes up the morning following her 10th wedding anniversary to find herself handcuffed to her husband — who is now dead. Given that it’s also set in an isolated location during wintry conditions, this one could very well make for a good double feature with Werewolves Within.
Speaking of shocking mornings involving marriage, Josh Lawson’s Long Story Short is also out on digital to rent or buy on FandangoNOW and Vudu this Friday (and is now available for pre-orders on both sites). The romantic comedy stars Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) as a man who wakes up the day after his wedding and finds himself jumping ahead another year in time every few minutes (it’s like the antithesis of the sci-fi rom-com About Time, which would make for a fun pairing).
What are some great “David vs. Goliath” movies to buy this week?
With the Fourth of July coming up this weekend, it’s worth remembering that America’s fight for independence was a “David vs. Goliath” story, which is a favorite kind of story for filmmakers. Fittingly, Vudu has a sale on movies involving such stories, and I have a number of recommendations among them. Of course, we might as well begin with the Revolutionary War movie The Patriot (also available in an extended version). Then there are the essential applicable anti-dystopia sci-fi franchise bundles, including The Matrix, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Divergent.
I also have some pairings to recommend: Ava DuVernay’s Selma, starring David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights struggle for voting rights, with Gus Van Sant’s Milk, starring Sean Penn as gay activist and politician Harvey Milk; Michael Mann’s The Insider, starring Russell Crowe as a tobacco industry whistleblower, with Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker, starring Matt Damon as a young lawyer going up against the health insurance industry; and Frank Capra’s classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington starring James Stewart as an idealistic senator, with Mayor, a documentary also about a likable politician.
I’d also make double features out of these: Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise as a sports agent who goes solo, and David O. Russell’s underrated drama Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence a self-made businesswoman; Steven Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts as a legal clerk fighting a utility giant, and Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo as an attorney who similarly fought DuPont, also over water contamination; and for the obligatory sports movies, Fighting with My Family, starring Florence Pugh as a pro wrestler, and the women in baseball movie A League of Their Own.
Are we celebrating any big movie anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the alien-invasion disaster movie Independence Day as well as the Eddie Murphy comedy The Nutty Professor, the John Travolta fantasy Phenomenon and the Demi Moore drama Striptease. Also, the iconic blockbuster sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the spoof film The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear, the family comedy follow-up Problem Child 2, the animated feature Rover Dangerfield and the controversial documentary Trump: What’s the Deal? all turn 30. Plus: John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon, the horror sequel Psycho III and the rom-com About Last Night all turn 35 while Penelope Spheeris’ classic punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization turns 40.
Going back further, the beloved musical adaptation Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder, turns 50 years old this week, along with the original Shaft, Mike Nichols’ Carnal Knowledge, the Disney comedy Million Dollar Duck, Nicholas Roeg’s Walkabout and John Schelsinger’s British drama Sunday Bloody Sunday. Also, the John Ford western Two Rode Together turns 60, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I and the Paul Newman sports drama Somebody Up There Likes Me both turn 65, Billy Wilder’s media-skewering Ace in the Hole turns 70 and Orson Welles’s crime thriller The Stranger and the Cole Porter musical biopic Night and Day both turn 75.
More recent movies with noteworthy anniversaries include Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the horror parody sequel Scary Movie 2 and the talking-animal family film Cats & Dogs, which all turn 20 this week. Also, the comic book movie Superman Returns, the fashion-industry comedy The Devil Wears Prada and the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? all turn 15 while the blockbuster sequel Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts rom-com Larry Crowne both turn 10. Plus, The Legend of Tarzan, Spielberg’s The BFG and Makoto Shinkai’s animated film Your Name are all already five years old!
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
Vudu’s latest Actor’s Spotlight has deals on movies starring Mindy Kaling, Lil Rel Howery and Oscar-winners Alicia Vikander and William Hurt. I recommend A Wrinkle in Time for Kaling since her part is unlike any other role she’s gotten to play before. For Howery, you can’t ignore his breakout scene-stealing bit in Get Out. Pick up Ex Machina for what should have been Vikander’s first Oscar-nominated performance. And for Hurt, make a triple feature of his non-winning Oscar-nominated performances with Children of a Lesser God, Broadcast News and A History of Violence and see if he deserved to win for any of them.
What are the 10 most popular new movies on FandangoNOW?
1. Nobody
2. Cruella
3. Spirit Untamed
4. Wrath of Man
5. Demon Slayer
6. Godzilla vs. Kong
7. Spiral: From the Book of Saw
8. Lansky
9. The Misfits
10. Mortal Kombat
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
1. Demon Slayer
2. Nobody
3. Cruella
4. Godzilla vs. Kong
5. Spirit Untamed
6. Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One
7. Wrath of Man
8. Mortal Kombat
9. The Unholy
10. Spiral: From the Book of Saw
