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?
Nightmare Alley, the latest from Oscar-winning writer and director Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), is now available to purchase digitally on Vudu, in 4K UHD. Bradley Cooper stars in the movie as a carnival-dwelling hustler who takes his talents to the big city and bites off more than he can chew.
Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara and Willem Dafoe are also part of the incredible ensemble cast of this compelling psychological thriller, which itself is nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Cinematography. If you like throwbacks to Old Hollywood glamour and style, you can’t miss this one.
Speaking of classic Hollywood stories, Joe Wright’s Cyrano, a musical version of Cyrano de Bergerac, is also now on Vudu, as a Theater at Home rental. Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage makes the titular role his own while Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train) shines in the part of his love, Roxanne.
Rounding the love triangle is Kelvin Harrison Jr. (The High Note) as Christian, a new member of Cyrano’s military unit who enlists his commander’s poetic wit in his own pursuit of Roxanne. Once again, Wright (Atonement) has staged a handsome production and delivered another fresh take on a familiar property.
What movies are great to pair with those new releases?
You could watch another Guillermo del Toro movie with Nightmare Alley, with the best fits being his Best Picture-winning The Shape of Water and his underrated horror romance Crimson Peak. You also could do a double feature with Nightmare Alley and Carol, which also stars Blanchett and Mara, or The City of Lost Children, another film in which Ron Perlman plays a carnival strong man.
But for some true film noir examples from the Golden Era of Hollywood, I recommend pairing it with Detour, the Marilyn Monroe movie Niagara, Samuel Fuller’s Underworld U.S.A. or Born to Kill, starring Lawrence Tierney. All four of these are also acknowledged influences on del Toro and his latest movie.
As for Cyrano, there are past incarnations of the story worth checking out, for comparison sake, including the 1950 Cyrano de Bergerac, with an Oscar-winning performance from Jose Ferrer, and the hilarious modernized rom-com version, Roxanne, starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah. And if you want to see the true story of the creation of Cyrano de Bergerac, there’s the recent biopic Cyrano, My Love, about playwright Edmond Rostand.
You’re likely to fall in love with Haley Bennett, so you might as well pick up the unforgettable drama Swallow. Or check out Dinklage in the lovable indie The Station Agent or Harrison in his breakthrough, It Comes at Night. But you could also just pair Cyrano with other similar Joe Wright films, such as his gorgeous takes on Anna Karenina and Pride and Prejudice.
Are there any other big movies coming out this week?
The surprise box office hit Dog arrives on Vudu to rent digitally this Friday, March 11, as a Theater at Home title. The comedic road movie stars Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) as an Army Ranger tasked with escorting a military service dog named Lulu on a road trip to attend the funeral of the canine’s late handler.
Equally funny and sad (but don’t worry, it’s not that kind of dog movie), this new feature film offers heartwarming entertainment for viewers of all ages. It also marks the directorial debuts of both Tatum and screenwriter and producer Reid Carolin (Magic Mike), who have partnered once again to co-helm the movie together.
Then on Sunday, March 13, you’ll also be able to find the new romantic comedy Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, on Vudu. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the movie follows a pop star (Lopez) who surprisingly accepts a marriage proposal from a man she doesn’t know (Wilson) who is in attendance at one of her concerts.
At first, their relationship is an impulsive stunt, but as always happens in these kinds of movies, the two leads start to actually fall in love. But will it end in a happily ever after? That’s for you to find out. And you can go ahead and pre-order this one so you’ll get your answer as soon as it becomes available on the site.
Does Vudu have any of this year’s Independent Spirit Awards winners?
The 37th Film Independent Spirit Awards were held in Los Angeles over the weekend, and you can find a number of the winners on Vudu right now. Taylour Paige received the Best Female Lead honor for her performance as the titular character in Zola. That movie also won the award for Best Editing and was nominated for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay and more.
Best Male Lead went to Simon Rex for his late-career breakthrough performance as a washed up adult film star in Red Rocket. Also, Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block won the award for Best First Screenplay, for the Sarnoski-helmed Pig. Questlove’s Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) won Best Documentary Feature and Drive My Car received the honor for Best International Feature.
What are some great movies involving mythology to watch this week?
Vudu has a Mythology Sale this month highlighting movies based around myths, legends and fantastical creatures. And this cool deal has everything from the cheap and silly Hercules in New York, starring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, to the more highbrow fare, such as Christian Petzold’s latest, Undine.
Disney has three animated features in the mix: Moana, Hercules and the Arthurian tale The Sword in the Stone. Ray Harryhausen special effects are also well-represented, with the original Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts being essentials. I also have to recommend Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and the Coen Brothers’ Odyssey-inspired Depression-era comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
Are we celebrating any big movie and TV anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the Howard Stern biopic Private Parts, starring Stern as himself. It’s also the 25th anniversary of the premiere of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plus, the Joe Pesci comedy My Cousin Vinny, which earned Marisa Tomei an Oscar, turns 30, and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, the Coen Brothers’ comedy Raising Arizona and the TV sitcom Full House all turn 35.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger action epic Conan the Barbarian, the horror movie The Slumber Party Massacre and the stand-up comedy concert film Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip all celebrate their 40th anniversaries this week. Also, the Disney animated feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the disaster movie sequel Airport ’77 both turn 45.
Going back further, Peter Bogdanovich’s rom-com What’s Up Doc? and the Douglas Trumbull-helmed sci-fi drama Silent Running both turn 50 years old this week while the musicals How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and The Young Girls of Rochefort and the stop-motion-animated monster mash-up feature Mad Monster Party all turn 55.
Plus, Alain Resnais’s mind-bending drama Last Year at Marienbad and the psychological thriller Knife in the Water both turn 60, and Disney’s live-action feature The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men turns 70 years old.
More recent titles with anniversaries include the action comedy All About the Benjamins and the sci-fi remake The Time Machine, both of which turn 20 years old this week. Also, Judd Apatow’s pregnancy comedy Knocked Up, Zack Snyder’s 300, Kasi Lemmons’s Talk to Me, the Mark Wahlberg action drama Shooter, Bong Joon-ho’s monster movie The Host and the documentaries Billy the Kid and Confessions of a Superhero all turn 15.
Plus, Scott Derrickson’s horror flick Sinister, Sean Baker’s Starlet, Terrence Malick’s Song to Song, the Oscar-winning documentary Saving Face, the foodie doc Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the chess doc Brooklyn Castle and the cult-focused doc The Source Family all turn 10. And both Atomic Blonde and Baby Driver are already 5!
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
If you love movie franchises, Vudu has a couple of great deals for you this week. Firstly, there’s the Triple Feature Bundle Sale, where you can find specials on sets for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, John Wick, Austin Powers, The Naked Gun, The Maze Runner and Planet of the Apes, which features two installments directed by The Batman helmer Matt Reeves.
Then there’s the Build Your Collection Bundle Sale, which includes anything from a duo such as the pairing of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 to an extensive series like the eight-movie collection of Friday the 13th movies. For the little ones, there’s the Snoopy Collection, including four classic Peanuts animated features, and for the comedy lover there’s a two-movie set with Wayne’s World and Wayne’s World 2.
Also among the sets in that second bundle sale are collections of movies by decades. But Vudu also currently has a whole sale on ‘90s movies, all of them priced under $4.99. I recommend the action movies Speed and The Rock, the baseball comedy The Sandlot, the rom-com Pretty Woman, the Western drama Tombstone, the scary movie The Sixth Sense, Wes Anderson’s Rushmore and Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands.
The latest Actor’s Spotlight offers deals on movies starring Amy Poehler, Keke Palmer, The Batman’s John Turturro, and two-time Oscar-winner Maggie Smith. Here are my recommendations for the best underrated, under-seen or under-appreciated movie for each of them: They Came Together, for Poehler; Akeelah and the Bee, for then-child-actress Palmer; Box of Moonlight, for Turturro; and the mystery movie parody Murder by Death, for Smith.
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
The new horror sequel Scream debuted at #1 on the Vudu chart this week, followed by the animated sequel Sing 2 in second place. The latest installment of the Scream franchise also topped bundle sales with its pairing with the 1996 original.
All in all, almost half of the top 10 consists of additional new digital releases, including the Liam Neeson action vehicle Blacklight at #3, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza at #9 and Steven Spielberg’s musical remake West Side Story rounding out the list. Those latter two aren’t the only Best Picture nominees represented either, as King Richard is also in the mix at #8.
See the full top 10 list below.
1. Scream
2. Sing 2
3. Blacklight
4. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
5. Eternals
6. House of Gucci
7. American Underdog
8. King Richard
9. Licorice Pizza
10. West Side Story
