Want to know what’s coming soon to digital and what to watch right now on Vudu? Here is your weekly guide to the latest releases:
What are the latest new releases to watch right now?
Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, which is a strong contender for Best Picture at next year’s Oscars, is now available to rent on Vudu. The coming-of-age drama is loosely based on Branagh’s own youth growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1960s. Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe are also earning awards buzz for their performances as characters inspired by Branagh’s parents.
Young newcomer Jude Hill is the star of the show, however, in the main role based on Branagh at nine years old, while Ciarán Hinds and Dame Judi Dench round out the cast as his grandparents. The movie got a head start on awards season back in September by winning the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and accolades have kept coming ever since.
What movies are great to pair with that new release?
Your best bet for movies to pair with Belfast are other works by filmmaker Kenneth Branagh. There’s a little nod in the new drama to the fact that he also helmed Marvel’s Thor, and that’d be great to watch afterward as a great contrast and representation of Branagh’s versatility. But he’s better known for his early Shakespeare adaptations, such as Henry V and the 1996 Hamlet.
If you want to pair Belfast with movies involving the Troubles and the IRA, there are many great features to consider. Daniel Day-Lewis stars in both The Boxer and In the Name of the Father, which are both worth seeing, as are Paul Greengrass’s breakthrough historical drama Bloody Sunday and 2012’s Shadow Dancer, a thriller starring Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough.
What are some other 2021 award-winners to buy this week?
End-of-the-year awards season is underway with regional critics groups and other organizations naming the best movies and performances of the year. Michael Sarnoski’s Pig was just named the year’s Best Directorial Debut by the National Board of Review, which also named Dune, The Last Duel, The Card Counter, Attica, Lamb and Titane among their picks for the best films of 2021.
They also recognized The Green Knight, which was additionally named as one of the top 10 movies of the year by the Atlanta Film Critics Circle. That group liked Kristen Stewart’s performance in Spencer, as well, whereas Detroit critics named Jessica Chastain as Best Actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Detroit also honored Shiva Baby director Emma Seligman for Breakthrough Film.
Awkwafina won an award from Washington DC critics for Best Voice Performance for the Disney animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon. And the Gotham Awards recognized Frankie Faison for his lead performances in the movie The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain and Ethan Hawke for his outstanding performance in the new TV series The Good Lord Bird.
Are we celebrating any big movie and TV anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the premiere of the Tom Cruise movie Jerry Maguire, which had us at hello from the start. Tim Burton’s alien invasion comedy Mars Attacks! also turns 25, while Steven Spielberg’s Peter Pan film Hook, the sci-fi sequel Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and the horror sequel Critters 3, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio’s film debut, all turn 30.
Going back further, the Eddie Murphy comedy The Golden Child and the Oscar-nominated drama Crimes of the Heart both turn 35, the early Tom Cruise drama Taps and the Steve Martin musical Pennies from Heaven both turn 40. the historical drama A Man for All Seasons turns 55, the Universal monster movie The Wolf Man turns 80 and the Greta Garbo romantic comedy Camille turns 85.
More recent titles with anniversaries include Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Steven Soderbergh’s heist film remake Ocean’s Eleven, Michael Mann’s Muhammad Ali biopic Ali, James Mangold’s romantic fantasy film Kate & Leopold, Frank Darabont’s The Majestic and the spoof film Not Another Teen Movie, which all turn 20 years old this week.
Also, the Oscar-nominated Leonardo DiCaprio movie Blood Diamond and the sports drama We Are Marshall both turn 15, David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, Jason Reitman’s Young Adult and Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy all turn 10. And Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is already 5 years old!
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
In partnership with Rotten Tomatoes, Vudu has a special deal going now on arguably good movies that have rotten critics scores. Here are some of my favorite supposedly “bad” movies among the collection: Step Brothers, Tron: Legacy, Spaceballs, The Sandlot, Equilibrium and Return to Oz. Also, I love these movies that I know are indeed bad: Xanadu and Supergirl.
You know who doesn’t really make rotten movies? Pixar Animation Studios. And Vudu now has a Pixar Holiday Sale going on, You can’t go wrong with any of the offerings there, but I highly recommend a marathon of their most underrated features. Namely: Onward, A Bug’s Life and this year’s release, Luca. If you want some of their very best, though, grab Ratatouille and Inside Out.
Vudu currently has a Director’s Spotlight sale offering deals on the works of the Wachowskis and the Oscar-winning filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee and Guillermo del Toro. Here are my recommendations for underrated or under-seen movies by each: Bound, for the Wachowskis; The BFG, for Spielberg; The Wedding Banquet, for Lee; and The Devil's Backbone, for del Toro.
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
For the second week in a row, the comic book movie sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage topped the chart, while Dune and The Last Duel, both newcomers to Vudu, ranked in second and third place, respectively. Continued favorites Free Guy, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the James Bond movie No Time to Die remained in the top 10. And Season 4 of the TV series Yellowstone returned to the chart this week.
We saw an increase in interest for holiday movies over the last week, with the live-action Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas rising up to 4th place and the animated Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch and the Will Ferrell Christmas comedy Elf arriving in the top 10. Outside the main listings were The Polar Express (#18), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (#26), A Christmas Story (#29) and the animated Hanukah comedy Eight Crazy Nights (#31).
See the full top 10 list below.
1. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
2. Dune
3. The Last Duel
4. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
6. No Time to Die
7. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
8. Free Guy
9. Elf
10. Yellowstone: Season 4
