If you’re looking for a hot video or three to watch this weekend on Prime, you’ve got an eclectic set of features that come with watching Snoop Dogg smoke weed and pee football in The Underdoggs, examining the meaning of cultural identity in Return . . in Seoul, or step back in time with The Taking of Pelham 123.
Rapper Snoop Dogg makes his lead acting debut in that homeless kids sports comedy that owes a lot to the 1976 decade, The Bad News Bears. Dogg plays Jaycen Jennings, a talented but incorrigible former NFL receiver who has fallen on hard times. he ends up coaching a Pop Warner football team made up of rude kids with more attitude than discipline, and comedy ensues plus expansion and learning. Underdoggs attempts to debunk the maudlin premise with a little meta-comment (Jennings’ initial motivation for accepting the training task). is to sell the rights to the film) and a lot of swearing and marijuana smoke.
Astro Kid proves that wonderful CGI videos can come from places other than Pixar or Illumination. This captivating film comes from France and its calmer flavor contrasts nicely with the over-amplified American animation. The titular Astro Kid is Willy, an inventive 10-year-old boy. abandoned on a remote planet with only a robot to keep him company. While he is aimed at children, parents will also be delighted (or at least entertained).
Streaming on FreeVee, Prime’s free sister service.
A romantic comedy doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel, and The Other Zoey doesn’t try to. Instead, it focuses especially on the rhythms that have worked since Shakespeare created them (a cute encounter, an identity, lovers with nothing in common, etc. ). Genuinely witty dialogue, charismatic performances, and a lighthearted plot make for a better-than-average romantic comedy.
French-Cambodian director Davy Chou explores and destroys pervasive myths about identity and culture through main character Frédérique Benoît’s adventure in Korea. Freddie (as he is known) was born in Korea and was followed by a French family. Today she is 25 years old, a traveler of years who discovers herself through the possibility of a “homeland” with which she has few ties. If you’re expecting a folktale about “the search for a cultural identity and not a public one,” that’s rarely the case; It’s much more nuanced and complex than that.
I’m adding this vintage from the 70’s for anyone who needs to use Prime as a time machine. The old, dark New York City edition is almost a supporting character in this heist comedy in which a gang of daring criminals take over an entire subway car. hostage. They need a million dollars (Dr. Evil’s clue) and promise to start getting bodies out of exercise if they don’t get it soon. The guy tasked with putting an end to their evil plan is Walter Matthau. Because in the ’70s and videos were like that back then.
Baby Driver features car chases and heists that are twice as thrilling as any Fast and Furious movie, and it’s smart and stylish too. The baby of the name is a scholar in one field: driving. He works as a getaway engine for a gang of thieves, but Baby needs to get out. That’s all and freedom is one last job. Spoiler: it’s not going well.
Streaming on Prime’s free sister streamer, FreeVee
Stephen Johnson is a contributor to Lifehacker, where he covers pop culture and adds two weekly columns, “The Disconnected Adult’s Guide to Children’s Culture” and “What People Get Wrong This Week. “She graduated from Emerson College with a bachelor’s degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing.
Previously, Stephen was editor-in-chief at NBC/Universal’s G4TV. At G4, he won a Telly Award for writing and was nominated for a Webby Award. Stephen has also written for Blumhouse, FearNET, Performing Songwriter magazine, NewEgg, AVN, GameFly, Art Connoisseur International Magazine, Fender Musical Instruments, Hustler Magazine, and other outlets. His paintings have aired on Comedy Central and screened at the Sundance International Film Festival, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the Chicago Horror Film Festival. He lives in Los Angeles, California.