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?
Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man is now available to purchase on Vudu. The action comedy prequel follows the origins of the secret spy agency called Kingsman and takes place throughout the duration of World War I. Ralph Fiennes stars as the Duke of Oxford, a noble pacifist working behind the scenes of world events with two members of his help staff (Djimon Hounsou and Gemma Arterton). Their mission: stop a global conspiracy. Meanwhile, against his wishes, his son (Harris Dickinson) goes off to war.
This installment of the Kingsman franchise is ridiculous yet meticulous in the way it weaves historical events and figures of the time — including Mata Hari and Vladimir Lenin — into its comic book plot. It’s like a cross between Forrest Gump and Wonder Woman in that regard. Also, it’s hard not to love everything that Rhys Ifans is doing as a ballet-dance-fighting Grigori Rasputin. You might want to have a textbook open while watching if you’ve forgotten your early 20th century history, but that’s part of the fun.
Also out this week on Vudu, Pedro Almovodvar’s Parallel Mothers is available to rent or purchase digitally, just in time for those of you wanting to catch up with all the newly minted Oscar nominees. Penelope Cruz received her fourth nod (it’s her second for Best Actress; her first, 15 years ago, was also for an Almodovar film: Volver) for her highly emotional performance here as a grieving mother who befriends another, younger mom who’d given birth at the same hospital on the same day.
While not an Oscar nominee, Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II has been voted by many critics as the best movie of the past year. The autobiographical drama follows-up 2019’s The Souvenir, which stars Honor Swinton Byrne as a film student navigating her first love affair with an older man, who turns out to be a heroin addict. In the reflective sequel, she’s grieving her late boyfriend after an overdose and is attempting to make her thesis film about the relationship and the events we saw occur in the first movie.
What movies are great to pair with those new releases?
You could watch The King’s Man without seeing the other two Kingsman movies first, but you’ll at least want to watch them afterward. The original is titled Kingsman: The Secret Service, and it introduces the sharply dressed British spy organization, while the second installment is called Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and it’s partly set in the United States. I also recommend the aforementioned Wonder Woman as an apt pairing, as well as the The Death of Stalin and, yes, Transformers: The Last Knight.
To go with Parallel Mothers, you’re going to want to pick up the other six feature collaborations between Almodovar and Cruz, including Volver (featuring her first Oscar-nominated lead performance), All About My Mother, Broken Embraces, I’m So Excited!, Live Flesh and Pain and Glory. For The Souvenir Part II, you need to watch it with The Souvenir (just get them together in a bundle), and do so in order since the sequel will make the original even better in retrospect through its artistic re-contextualization.
Can you recommend some great movies for President’s Day?
Bone up on your American history with Vudu’s 50% off President’s Day Weekend Sale, which begins this Friday and ends Tuesday. The titles available in this deal include biopics about U.S. presidents, such as Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln, and those about first ladies, like the Jacqueline Kennedy film Jackie and the Rachel Jackson film The President’s Lady. And if you want to stick to real people, check out some documentaries, like Our Nixon and the Obama film The Final Year.
Of course, fictional presidential stories are always an enjoyable bit of fantasy. While Oliver Stone’s Richard Nixon biopic, Nixon, is pretty good, I highly recommend pairing it with the Nixon-related fictional teen comedy Dick, starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams. And as for made-up presidents, pick up The American President, starring Michael Douglas, The Contender, starring Jeff Bridges, and Head of State, starring Chris Rock. Also, the must-binge TV series The West Wing and Veep are on sale as well.
Which movies made by Ivan Reitman need to be in every film fan’s collection?
Movie fans are mourning the loss of Ivan Reitman this week. He helped to define American comedy cinema through the 1980s and 1990s, so I want to highlight all of the must-own titles from his filmography. Obviously, the first to come to mind are Ghostbusters and its first sequel, Ghostbusters II. He also produced the recent installment, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which his son Jason directed. Before Ghostbusters, though, he helmed the essential summer camp comedy Meatballs and the military satire Stripes.
Don’t overlook some of his later gems, either, such as Dave, which would be another pick for President’s Day viewing, or his final directorial effort, Draft Day, which should fill the gap in your football viewing until the fall. Reitman also directed the hilarious Arnold Schwarzenegger pictures Twins and Kindergarten Cop. And I recommend Evolution, which is like Ghostbusters but with aliens instead of ghosts. He also produced the classic Animal House and his son Jason’s Oscar-nominated film Up in the Air.
Are we celebrating any big movie and TV anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Wayne’s World, the iconic comedy based on the Saturday Night Live sketch. The family film Radio Flyer also turns 30 while the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi movie The Running Man and Barry Levinson’s salesmen comedy Tin Men both turn 35 and Wes Craven’s DC comic book adaptation Swamp Thing turns 40.
Going back further, the cult-classic hockey comedy Slap Shot turns 45 this week. Plus, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and Robert Altman’s The Delinquents both turn 65, Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon turns 85, the classic Clara Bow romantic comedy It turns 95 and the silent horror film Nosferatu turns 100.
More recent titles with anniversaries include the comedy sequel Vegas Vacation and the Disney remake That Darn Cat, both of which turn 25 this week. Meanwhile, the Denzel Washington drama John Q. turns 20 and both the Marvel comic book movie Ghost Rider and the family film Bridge to Terabithia turn 15.
Also, the comic book movie sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the romantic drama A Royal Affair, the action comedy This Means War and the Oscar-winning documentary Undefeated all turn 10. Plus, the X-Men spin-off Logan, the comedy Fist Fight, Gore Verbinski’s A Cure for Wellness and Angelina Jolie’s First They Killed My Father are all already 5 years old.
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
This week only, Vudu has a sale on indie sci-fi and fantasy movies priced to own for just $5.99, and this deal has some legitimate masterpieces among its offerings. You must own all of these: Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s The City of Lost Children, Sally Potter’s Orlando, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, Duncan Jones’ Moon, Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, Jeff Nichols’s Take Shelter, Todd Haynes’s Safe, Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Also, lasting through the end of February, Vudu now has a “Far Off Adventure Sale,” which includes plenty of big budget sci-fi and fantasy flicks for those of you wanting more speculative fiction. This bunch includes the following essentials: Jurassic Park, Edge of Tomorrow, Annihilation, Dredd, Sea Fever, Swiss Army Man, the Schwarzenegger version of Total Recall, Zhang Yimou’s Hero, John Carpenter’s Dark Star and Disney’s Peter Pan.
Speaking of Disney animated features, Vudu has an animation sale just this week, and there are many Disney favorites among the bunch, including current Oscar nominees Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon, plus Moana, Tangled and others. You can also pick them up by the bundle — Wreck-It Ralph and its sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet are available in a two-movie collection, and another set includes both Frozen and Frozen II.
What must-see movie is coming soon to Vudu?
There is nothing like watching an epic disaster movie like Moonfall on the big screen, but there’s also nothing like enjoying such a guilty pleasure over and over and over in the comfort and privacy of your own home. You can now pre-order the new theatrical release, about the threat of the Moon “falling” and crashing into Earth, in anticipation of its debut on Vudu in late March.
Another one of the latest theatrical releases, the rom-com Marry Me, is also now available to pre-order on Vudu. The digital release date for this one isn’t known, however, so be sure to catch it on the big screen while you can. Jennifer Lopez heads up the movie as a pop star who takes a fan, played by Owen Wilson, up on his proposal for marriage, which he makes during a concert.
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
The long-awaited sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which was produced by the original’s late director, Ivan Reitman, and helmed by his son, Jason Reitman, topped the Vudu best-sellers chart for the second week in a row. The only newcomer to the list over the past seven days, at #8, is the romantic drama Redeeming Love, which released just in time for Valentine’s Day, while Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, King Richard and Disney’s Encanto all make return appearances on the chart this week.
See the full top 10 list below.
1. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
2. Sing 2
3. American Underdog
4. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
5. House of Gucci
6. Dune
7. King Richard
8. Redeeming Love
9. The Matrix Resurrections
10. Encanto
