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?
Free Guy, the surprise hit of last summer, is new to digital starting today (September 28). The crowd-pleasing comedy stars Deadpool’s Ryan Reynolds as Guy, a happy-go-lucky video game character, and Jodie Comer (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) as the player who inspires him to become a hero. Whether you’re a gamer or not, you’ll want to follow Guy’s hilarious journey of self-discovery as he becomes the one to save his digital universe.
When you order Free Guy on Vudu, you get a bunch of extra bonus material, including deleted scenes, an extended scene, trailers for the movie and a gag reel. Behind-the-scenes featurettes focus on the world of Free City, the character design of Jodie Comer’s in-game character, “MolotovGirl,” the flashy performance by co-star Taika Waititi and a special look at the outrageous fight between Guy and Dude.
One of my favorites of the year, The Green Knight is now available to purchase digitally from Vudu. The mesmerizing Arthurian drama is by visionary filmmaker David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon) and stars Oscar-nominated actor Dev Patel (Lion) as Sir Gawain, one of the legendary Knights of the Round Table. In this fantastical tale, Gawain faces the titular foe (Ralph Ineson) as a test of his courage. The cast also includes Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) in two separate roles.
What movies are great to pair with those new releases?
There are so many great movies worth pairing with Free Guy. They include Disney’s animated feature Wreck-It Ralph, in which a video game villain decides he wants to be a good guy, and its sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet. Other likeminded animated features include The LEGO Movie and Disney’s Bolt. And then there are the similar plots of Tron, The Matrix, The Truman Show, They Live and Ready Player One. Also, the new documentary A Glitch in the Matrix would make for a perfect nonfiction pairing.
Ryan Reynolds also revealed that Hal Ashby’s Being There, about a simple gardener who suddenly, mistakenly becomes a political consultant, was a major inspiration on his character and performance, so I recommend that as another double-feature option. Additional influences, according to director Shawn Levy, include Big, Edward Scissorhands and Elf. Reynolds also cites Back to the Future as a movie he wanted Free Guy to emulate.
As for The Green Knight, writer and director David Lowery has mentioned a number of favorites as inspirations for his latest. They include Jim Henson’s fantasy film The Dark Crystal, Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, the George Lucas-produced and Ron Howard-helmed action fantasy movie Willow and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, from Francis Ford Coppola. I also recommend Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky and John Boorman’s Excalibur.
Are there any other big movies coming out this week?
Cue the iconic theme song. Get your snapping fingers ready. And prepare for more laughs from your favorite creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky clan of eccentric and macabre characters. Simultaneous with its theatrical release, The Addams Family 2 arrives on Vudu this Friday, October 1, as a “Theater At Home” digital rental. And it’s a great way to start off the next month, a.k.a. the altogether ooky season leading to Halloween.
The new animated feature is a sequel to the 2019 hit (currently on sale) based on the classic comic strip characters. This time the Addamses — including Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, Pugsley, Grandmama and Uncle Fester — head out on a road trip in their haunted camper in order to bring themselves closer together. The returning voice cast includes Charlize Theron, Oscar Isaac, Chloë Grace Moretz, Javon Walton, Bette Midler and Nick Kroll.
What are some great movies to buy in honor of Melvin Van Peebles and Roger Michell?
Filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, a pioneer of Black cinema and particularly the Blaxploitation sub-genre, died last week at age 89. In his honor, I recommend picking up some movies he had a hand in. There’s the underrated Watermelon Man, a bold and quite funny comedy sending up racism that he directed for Columbia Pictures in 1970. Then there’s the Richard Pryor-led NASCAR racer biopic Greased Lightning, which Van Peebles co-wrote.
You also need to check out the biopic Baadasssss!. It’s directed by his son, Mario Van Peebles, who also portrays the elder filmmaker as he sets out to make his groundbreaking independent movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. You can also see Melvin Van Peebles on screen in Mario Van Peebles’ Black Western film Posse. And he makes a cameo appearance as himself in the Arnold Schwarzenegger cult classic Last Action Hero.
We also lost director Roger Michell last week. He’s best known for the Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant rom-com Notting Hill, which is a must-see. His other recommend movies include the thriller Changing Lanes, which pits Ben Affleck against Samuel L. Jackson, and the biopic Hyde Park on Hudson, in which Bill Murray portrays President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and The Crown’s Olivia Colman portrays Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
Michell also helmed Morning Glory, starring Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton as morning-show TV hosts, and Venus, which earned Peter O’Toole his eighth and final Oscar nomination. You can also check out Daniel Craig and Samantha Morton in Enduring Love, Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin in My Cousin Rachel, and Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright and Eileen Atkins in the documentary Tea With the Dames for multiple reminders that Michell was such a great actor’s director.
Are we celebrating any big movie and TV anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Ben Stiller’s cult classic comedy Zoolander. The thriller Don’t Say a Word and the Stephen King adaptation Hearts in Atlantis were also both released in theaters 20 years ago, while the J.J. Abrams series Alias and the sitcom Scrubs made their debuts on television. Also, the movies Extreme Measures, The Ghost in the Darkness and 2 Days in the Valley all opened 25 years ago.
Going back further, Disney’s animated masterpiece Beauty and the Beast premiered at the New York Film Festival 30 years ago this week. Meanwhile, Terry Gilliam’s Oscar-winning modern-day fairy tale The Fisher King and Gus Van Sant’s Shakespeare-inspired New Queer Cinema classic My Own Private Idaho also both celebrate 30 years since release. Plus, the action movie Enter the Ninja turns 40 years old.
Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show and the Monty Python sketch compilation film And Now for Something Completely Different both turn 50 this week, while John Huston’s The Bible turns 55, Vincente Minnelli’s Tea and Sympathy turns 65, John Huston’s The Red Badge of Courage and Ingmar Bergman’s Summer Interlude both turn 70 and John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon and Howard Hawks’ Sergeant York both turn 80.
More recent titles with anniversaries include the animated feature Open Season and the TV series Friday Night Lights and Dexter, which all turn 15. Also, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, starring Michael Shannon, and Jonathan Levine’s 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon Levitt, were both released 10 years ago. And Shin Godzilla, Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden and the TV series Westworld are all already 5 years old!
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
Speaking of anniversaries, Lucasfilm turns 50 years old this December, so Vudu currently has a sale on movies produced by George Lucas. Obviously, you want to pick up all the Star Wars movies, including all the core installments available in the 9-movie collection of “The Skywalker Saga.” Also, you can pick up all four of the Indiana Jones movies in a 4-movie collection. Outside the bundled franchises, there’s also Willow, Labyrinth and American Graffiti. And I’ll be bold here and recommend Howard the Duck.
As long as you’re picking up American Graffiti, you might as well grab some other teen movies, and Vudu now has sale on those as well. First off, you need Dazed and Confused to go with that early Lucasfilm classic. Some other double features I recommend are Mean Girls with Jawbreaker; Fast Times at Ridgemont High with Almost Famous; Superbad with Booksmart; Pretty in Pink with Some Kind of Wonderful; and for the secret Shakespeare buffs, 10 Things I Hate About You with She’s the Man.
Think I’ve forgotten the teen movies Clueless, Varsity Blues and American Pie? Nah, just saving them to showcase as part of another sale: ‘90s movies for $9! In addition to the aforementioned timely picks like Notting Hill and The Truman Show, plus the not-mentioned but relevant live action The Addams Family, essentials include Se7en, Fight Club, The Big Lebowski, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, The Age of Innocence and The Iron Giant. I recommend these underrated gems from the decade as well: Mars Attacks!, What About Bob? and Courage Under Fire.
Finally, with the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage out in theaters this Friday, Vudu has a sale on the original Venom — plus all the movies of the various Spider-Man series. That’s including the 2000s trilogy from Sam Raimi, available a la carte or bundled together, the two Amazing Spider-Man movies, a la carte or bundled together, the two MCU Spidey movies, a la care or bundled together, and the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. There’s also a bundle of all seven live-action Spider-Man movies.
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
The top movies on Vudu over the last seven days were led by Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. The horror sequel was released digitally one week ago accompanied by an extended cut with a new ending that promises to change the franchise entirely. Fellow newcomers The Protégé, starring Maggie Q, and the animated feature PAW Patrol: The Movie also join the top-streamer chart this week, in the sixth and fifth place spots, respectively.
See the full top 10 list below.
1. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
2. F9: The Fast Saga
3. Candyman
4. PAW Patrol: The Movie
5. The Protégé
6. The Suicide Squad
7. Black Widow
8. Don’t Breathe 2
9. Jungle Cruise
10. The Forever Purge
