Okay, there are no football playoff games this weekend so it’s a great time to sit back and watch a new movie debuting on one of the top streaming services.
The new films coming between Friday and Sunday to Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu and Amazon Prime include:
* The Little Things, a Warner Bros film which stars Denzel Washington as a small county deputy sheriff who clashes with a Los Angeles detective (Rami Malek) during the investigation of a serial killer. The movie will debut the same day on HBO Max as it will in movie theaters, which is part of Warner Media’s new strategy to lure subscribers to the streaming service.
So far, the critics are not loving the film, giving it a score of just 51 at Rottentomatoes.com.
“A throwback thriller which brings nothing new to a crowded genre, and has little to say along the way. They don’t make ’em like this anymore, and, to be honest, they probably shouldn’t,’ writes Empire Magazine.
However, The Washington Post’s Michael O’Sullivan has a kinder, if not glowing, view:
“It boasts a sterling main cast – Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto – as well as open-endedness that is simultaneously pleasurable and a bit unsettling, in both the good and bad senses of that word,” O’Sullivan writes.
* The Dig, a Netflix original movie about a wealthy widow (Carey Mulligan) who makes a startling historic discovery on her property during an archaeological excavation. Rottentomatoes.com is digging The Dig; the film has a score of 91 based on 45 critical reviews.
* Epic, a 2013 computer-animated film (on Disney+) about a 17-year-old girl named Mary Katherine (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) who clashes with her scientist father who claims he can see invisible people in the woods. (Okay, I think we can side with Mary Katherine here.)
* Chick Fight, a 2020 comedy/drama (on Amazon Prime) starring Malin Akerman (Billions) as an unemployed waitress who discovers the joys of boxing in an underground fight club. Rottentomatoes.com does not find much joy in the film, giving it a score of just 36 based on 25 reviews.
Here is the complete list of new movies debuting this weekend on the top streaming services:
HBO Max
Friday, January 29
The Little Things — HBO Max exclusive (Premiering same day in movie theaters)
Saturday, January 30:
The Mummy, 1999 (HBO)
The Mummy Returns, 2001 (HBO)
The Scorpion King, 2002 (HBO)
Netflix
Friday, January 29
Below Zero (Bajocero) — Netflix Film
The Dig — Netflix Film
Finding ‘Ohana — Netflix Film
We Are: The Brooklyn Saints — Netflix Documentary
Saturday, January 30
Fatima (2020)
Amazon Prime
Friday, January 29
Chick Fight
Mortal
Disney+
Friday, January 29
Epic
Ramona and Beezus
Hulu has no new movie additions this weekend.
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— Phillip Swann
