Weekend Watchlist, 6/27: Leaving streaming in June
Three great movies leaving their current streaming platforms at the end of the month
Happy Friday, PV Guide readers! I hope you have a great weekend ahead of you.
Every Friday, I’m recommending a few great things to watch that the algorithm might not be pushing at you right now, with a focus on variety, so every reader can find something they’re interested in. The Weekend Watchlist will always be 100% free.
This past week, I watched the first four Final Destination movies (I’ll be writing something about the franchise in July), A Working Man, a rewatch of The Long Goodbye, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.
This week, I’m highlighting some great titles leaving streaming services at the end of the month. But I would be remiss not to mention the VOD arrival of Escape from the 21st Century, the totally bonkers Chinese sci-fi comedy I reviewed earlier this month. Consider that a bonus recommendation to go along with the three picks below.
What I’m watching this weekend: Probably Final Destination 5, hopefully Johnnie To’s Breaking News, and maybe The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)
If you like: Sweaty movies, trains, actors that look like normal people
Watch at: Criterion Channel (leaving June 30)
Watch trailer here
It’s been a very New York week in the news, so why not watch one of the Most New York Movies?
I actually saw the Tony Scott-Denzel Washington remake first, and while I like that one as well (just like every Tony Scott-Denzel Washington collab), the original is even better. A tense heist thriller filled with life and personality, the original Pelham 123 fires on all cylinders.
The Equalizer 3
If you like: Action movies with strong slasher influences, Denzel kicking ass
Watch at: Netflix (leaving July 1)
Watch trailer here
While I found the first two Equalizer movies enjoyable enough, they never quite lived up to the great premise of Denzel Washington dishing out vigilante justice to protect the most vulnerable. But then The Equalizer 3 took the franchise in an exciting new aesthetic direction: the slasher movie. It’s the best of the trilogy by some margin, in large part because of the decision to frame Denzel’s Robert McCall character as an unstoppable killer in the mold of MIchael Myers, with terrified members of the Italian Mafia as his unfortunate victims. An added bonus: Equalizer 3 is also a reunion for Denzel and his Man on Fire co-star, Dakota Fanning. 🥲
Showing Up
If you like: Stories about art and artists, great performances, movies for grown-ups
Watch at: Max (leaving June 30)
Watch trailer here
Showing Up follows a working sculptor (Michelle Williams) preparing for an upcoming exhibition while juggling her other needs and responsibilities – her home, her friends, and her day job at a local arts college. A criminally underrated movie from master director Kelly Reichardt, Showing Up is dryly funny, filled with great performances, and avoids the normal narrative conventions around stories about art and artists. Instead of the standard inspirational narrative, Reichard instead tells a story about the work, the time, and the alternating moments of fulfillment, frustration, and disappointment that can come from a career in a creative industry without much financial support.