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?
Those Who Wish Me Dead is now available digitally in 4K UHD, as a premium rental or to purchase, on both FandangoNOW and Vudu following its theatrical release. The action thriller stars Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie as a wildland firefighter in Montana who must protect a young boy (Finn Little) from two assassins (Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen) and the out-of-control forest fire that they purposefully start. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Koryta and is written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Hell or High Water and co-creator of the TV series Yellowstone.
What movies are great to pair with that new release?
Wind River, Taylor Sheridan’s previous feature as both writer and director, pairs very well with Those Who Wish Me Dead as it’s another neo-Western involving a main character who works for one of the national land management agencies. Here it’s a tracker for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Jeremy Renner) who teams up with an FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) to investigate a murder on the titular Indian reservation. Jon Bernthal also co-stars in both.
Sheridan’s other neo-Western movies, as a screenwriter — the Denis Villeneuve-helmed Sicario, its sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and the David Mackenzie-helmed crime drama Hell or High Water, which earned him an Academy Award nomination — are also fitting matches. So is his cattle-ranger drama series Yellowstone, which already consists of three seasons and a total of 29 episodes, if you’re looking for a binge watch accompaniment.
Other movies that would make a good double feature with Sheridan’s latest include these relevant recommendations: Witness, which stars Harrison Ford as a cop protecting a young Amish boy from killers as they hide out in the kid’s own turf; Only the Brave, which is based on the true story of a team of wildland firefighters in Arizona; Wildlife, which co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an unemployed golf pro who becomes a wildland firefighter; Wildland, which is a documentary about a wildland firefighting crew in the Pacific Northwest; and Ron Howard’s firefighter thriller Backdraft and his fire disaster documentary Rebuilding Paradise.
Are there any classics newly available in a new format?
Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 masterpiece Ran is newly available in the 4K UHD format and can now be rented or purchased digitally on FandangoNOW and Vudu. The movie, which concerns an aging warlord who decides to divvy up his land among his three sons, combines inspirations from William Shakespeare’s King Lear and Japanese history and legends for an epic action drama set in the 16th century. Costume designer Emi Wada won an Oscar for her beautiful work on the production while the Academy also recognized Kurosawa’s direction, the stunning cinematography and the art direction/set decoration with additional nominations.
Are there any other big movies coming out this week?
Deon Taylor’s The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2 arrives on digital for purchase this Friday, July 9, following its successful theatrical release earlier this year. The indie comedy horror sequel, which will also be available as part of a double-feature bundle with Taylor’s original Meet the Blacks from 2016, stars Mike Epps reprising his role as former hustler Carl Black. This time, he moves his family from Beverly Hills to his childhood home in Atlanta, where they encounter an eccentric next-door neighbor, played by comedian Katt Williams, who turns out to be a vampire.
What are some great female-led superhero movies to buy this week?
More than two years since the last feature film installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the franchise is finally is back in theaters this weekend with Black Widow, the first solo outing for the titular Avenger, played by Scarlett Johansson. It's hardly the first female-led superhero movie, even from Marvel, but it’s still a big deal for women’s representation, so I suggest celebrating the occasion with more movies of this specific variety.
Of course, you can start with the fellow MCU entry Captain Marvel and also include Ant-Man and the Wasp because it probably could have been called The Wasp and Ant-Man. Or just The Wasp. On the DC side of the aisle, pick up Wonder Woman and its goofy sequel, Wonder Woman 1984. Also, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, though not just for Harley Quinn, who isn’t quite a hero anyway, and I love the campy tone of the 1984 movie Supergirl. You can also add in Tank Girl and Fast Color, and I’ll allow the Johansson-led Lucy.
There are also plenty of animated movies to consider, including the 2009 Wonder Woman and 2019’s Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, as well the DC Super Hero Girls features. And for a good stretch of the Pixar sequel Incredibles 2, it’s essentially an Elastigirl movie. Also at Disney, Elsa of Frozen and Frozen II is pretty much a superhero. Then there are the relevant TV shows, including Wonder Woman, Supergirl, DC Super Hero Girls and Watchmen, which is mostly Regina King’s domain as Sister Night.
Are we celebrating any big movie or TV anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of the video game adaptation Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which was the first photorealistic computer-animated feature film. Also turning 20 years old this week are the Chinese cult classic sports comedy Shaolin Soccer and the original British version of the TV phenomenon The Office starring Ricky Gervais. And the coming-of-age family film Harriet the Spy turns 25 this week.
Going back further, the Harrison Ford drama Regarding Henry premiered on the big screen 30 years ago this week while John Carpenter’s sci-fi action thriller Escape from New York and the Disney animated feature The Fox and the Hound were both released 40 years ago. The live-action Disney comedy Gus about a football-playing mule turns 45, the Bette Davis drama A Stolen Life, in which she plays twins, turns 75, and the James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson crime film Smart Money turns 90.
More recent titles with anniversaries include Richard Linklater’s rotoscope-animated Philip K. Dick adaptation A Scanner Darkly and the Disney adventure sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which both turn 15 — as does the TV series Psych. Meanwhile, Seth Gordon’s comedy Horrible Bosses, the Kevin James comedy Zookeeper, James Marsh’s fantastic chimpanzee-focused documentary Project Nim, the farming documentary Farmageddon and the music documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest all turn 10.
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
In honor of Black Widow releasing Friday, Vudu has a sale on Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. This is a great time to pick up all of the previous installments (many are bundled together), but if you have to choose fewer than 23 movies, make it a relevant selection with just those featuring Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. She debuted in the 2010 sequel Iron Man 2 then teamed up two years later in The Avengers and returned prominently in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. She is also part of the growing ensemble in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
As part of Vudu’s Summer of Savings, animated features are also on sale, with individual titles and bundles discounted 25% off through July19. I recommend the following pairings: The Brave Little Toaster with The Iron Giant; An American Tail with Rango; The Secret of NIMH with The Plague Dogs; the Roald Dahl adaptation double feature of James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr. Fox; and the Sylvain Chomet double feature of The Triplets of Bellville and The Illusionist. Also: the bundled duo of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel; and the Aardman Animations bundle of Early Man and Shaun the Sheep Movie.
If anime is what you’re into, those animated titles are on sale even longer, through July 26, as part of a focus on Funimation releases. You can pick up classics like Akira and the series Cowboy Bebop as well as recent favorites like the box office hit My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (also available dubbed in English) and the My Hero Academia animated series. Also, the Makoto Shinkai masterpiece Your Name (also available dubbed in English) and Mamoru Hosoda’s The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (also available dubbed in English) make a great double feature.
Which must-see movies are coming soon to FandangoNOW and Vudu?
Two of this year’s biggest box office hits, the horror sequels A Quiet Place Part II and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, arrive on FandangoNOW and Vudu this month amidst their theatrical releases. The former, John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place follow-up concerning the Abbott family’s continued attempt to survive an invasion of hearing-enhanced aliens, debuts on digital next week, on July 13. You can pre-order it here or here. And the latter, the latest installment of the Conjuring Universe based on real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, releases on digital on July 23. You can pre-order that here or here.
What are the 10 most popular new movies on FandangoNOW?
1. Cruella
2. Spirit Untamed
3. Wrath of Man
4. Godzilla vs. Kong
5. Nobody
6. Those Who Wish Me Dead
7. Spiral: From the Book of Saw
8. Lansky
9. Demon Slayer
10. Till Death
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
1. Wrath of Man
2. Cruella
3. Godzilla vs. Kong
4. Nobody
5. Spirit Untamed
6. Demon Slayer
7. Those Who Wish Me Dead
8. Mortal Kombat
9. Tom & Jerry
10. Till Death
