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?
Michel Franco’s Sundown is new to Vudu following its theatrical release, now available to rent or purchase digitally. The suspense drama stars Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a brother and sister on vacation at a luxury resort in Acapulco, Mexico, with her two children. During their stay, the older siblings learn their mother has passed away, stopping their holiday short.
I don’t want to say anything more about the plot, which takes some unexpected turns, but it’s mostly a solo character drama focused on Roth’s quiet and contemplative performance. I watched it twice, immediately back to back, in order to better appreciate the subtlety of the storytelling. It’s not so much mysterious as it is inexplicit. I think it’s one of the best films of 2022 so far.
What movies are great to pair with that new release?
If you’re checking out Sundown, I recommend picking up some other films by Michel Franco as well, including After Lucia and Chronic, the latter of which also stars Tim Roth. If you’re looking for something else to pair with Franco’s latest, it reminds me a bit of the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, particularly his masterpiece L’avventura and The Passenger, starring Jack Nicholson.
I have some more suggested titles if you like Sundown and want to know what to watch next, for various reasons: Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash, Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure, Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru and Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Biutiful, which are all excellent and capture some similar themes. But if you want something much lighter afterward, there’s the comedy Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah or the Elvis musical Fun in Acapulco.
Are there any other big movies coming out this week?
Two-time-Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts performs a fascinating one-woman showcase in The Desperate Hour, a heavy-hitting drama out on digital this week about a mother trying to get to her son’s high school during a mass-shooter situation. Almost the entire movie is just Watts on screen, running across her town and through the woods while talking on the phone with various authorities, family members and Lyft drivers.
A different kind of emergency is at the center of The Burning Sea, another intense drama out on digital this week. From John Andreas Andersen, the director of the disaster movie The Quake, comes a story set in the North Sea across a span of oil drilling platforms, which are collapsing in a catastrophic pattern. When one man is left behind during an evacuation, it’s up to his scientist girlfriend to head out and rescue him before things get worse.
Can you recommend some great video game movies?
With Uncharted now out in theaters and a bonafide hit, I’ve got video game movies on the brain. Fortunately, Vudu currently has a sale on movies based on or inspired by games. Maybe you want something like Uncharted? Pick up Tomb Raider, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life — the latter two, starring Angelina Jolie, are available in a bundle.
Personally, I like the more family-friendly adaptations, such as Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog. But the recent horror-comedy Werewolves Within is one of the more enjoyable video game movies ever, and it’s quite grown-up and gory. I also recommend these movies based on gaming that aren’t actually adaptations: The Last Starfighter, eXistenZ and Tron: Legacy.
Are there any classic movies being re-released in new formats this week?
For the centenary of its release, the vampire horror classic Nosferatu is available anew this week with a special “100th Anniversary Edition.” Loosely based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, F.W. Murnau’s essential silent feature, which is a prime example of German Expressionism, stars Max Schreck as a Transylvanian count who is also a blood-sucking creature of the night.
Are we celebrating any other big movie anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Rosewood, John Singleton’s historical drama starring Ving Rhames. The gangster film Donnie Brasco and the horror sequel Leprechaun 4: In Space also both turn 20 while the Sylvester Stallone comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and the Merchant Ivory romantic drama Howard’s End both turns 30.
Going back further, the horror sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warrior and the teen movie Some Kind of Wonderful both turn 35. Plus, Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, turns 55, the sci-fi horror classic The Incredible Shrinking Man turns 65 and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s suspense drama 5 Fingers turns 70.
More recent titles with anniversaries include the indie rom-com sensation My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which turns 20 years old this week along with Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding and the war movie We Were Soldiers. Meanwhile, the Disney sci-fi action movie John Carter, the comedy Wanderlust, the action movie Act of Valor and the sequel Easy Rider: The Ride Back all turn 10.
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
Right now, Vudu has a spotlight on DC Comics adaptations, including Batman movies, in honor of the upcoming release of the latest Caped Crusader solo showcase. More than 100 titles and bundled collections are part of this deal, which can get you up to $8 off your ticket to The Batman. Your best bets are the Dark Knight trilogy set and the Batman four-film collection, plus The Suicide Squad, Shazam!, Joker, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
Vudu also currently has a “Page to Screen” sale on literary adaptations. Among them, I recommend the movies If Beale Street Could Talk, The Virgin Suicides, Carol, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, There Will Be Blood and Paddington. I also love modernized takes on Shakespeare, such as the simply titled “O” and Michael Almereyda’s version of Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke.
There are also many bundle deals in the Page to Screen sale, but if you want more fun pairings, Vudu now has a Double Features bundle sale. My favorite duos among the bunch include Smoke with its impromptu sequel Blue in the Face, the Safdie brothers grouping of Good Times with Uncut Gems, the parental horror films Rosemary’s Baby and mother! and the collection of the original True Grit and its Coen brothers-helmed remake.
Vudu loves the 1980s this month, as shown in a sale dedicated to the decade. The deal includes that era’s underrated Disney animated features — The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, Oliver and Company and The Great Mouse Detective — along with Tom Hanks essentials Big and Splash and action classics such as Die Hard, Predator and Aliens. Also: the original Tron.
What must-see movies are coming soon to Vudu?
Uncharted, which topped the box office over the weekend, is sure to be playing on the big screen for a while now that it’s a confirmed hit. But you can pre-order the movie so you’ll have it at home whenever it’s released on digital. The video game adaptation stars Tom Holland as treasure hunter Nathan Drake in a globe-trotting adventure to find billions worth of lost gold.
Also now available to pre-order is Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, Licorice Pizza, which I consider to be one of the top five movies of the past year. Nominated for three Oscars, the double-coming-of-age “hang out film” stars the wonderful newcomers Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman as a pair of unlikely best friends navigating Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley in the early 1970s.
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
The supernatural action-comedy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife topped the Vudu best-sellers chart for the third week in a row! As for newcomers, the historical action-comedy prequel The King’s Man (also available with the first two installments in a franchise three-pack bundle) debuted in second place. Meanwhile, Marvel’s Eternals made a return to the top 10, at #6, and the Disney animated musical Encanto shot back up the chart, landing at #5.
See the full top 10 list below.
1. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
2. The King’s Man
3. Sing 2
4. American Underdog
5. Encanto
6. Eternals
7. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
8. House of Gucci
9. Dune
10. Redeeming Love
