Weekend Watchlist, 10/17: Time

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. (But I have opened up PV Guide’s Premium Tier, for those interested in supporting this work!)

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It’s a light week for new-to-streaming titles this week: the most notable are Kogonada’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (new to rent) and 40 Acres, now on Hulu. More on the latter in a moment, because you should check it out if you haven’t yet.

The second episode of my podcast, Sports Movies That Don’t Suck, is now live, talking about the classic Jean-Claude Van Damme hockey movie Sudden Death with editor, writer, producer, and podcaster Ryan Nanni. I’d appreciate you giving it a listen, and following the podcast on your platform of choice. (Bonus points if you leave a review!)

Let’s get into this week’s picks.

A Diane Keaton movie you haven’t seen

The wonderful actress and fashion icon Diane Keaton died last weekend, and it moved me to watch one of her movies I hadn’t seen before: Reds. It’s a three-hour epic historical drama about journalism, the October Revolution, leftist infighting, and the difficulties of balancing ideological and personal goals, with no easy answers. I really liked the movie, and thought Keaton was fantastic in it. It’s a difficult part that she pulls off incredibly well, and as someone who had mostly seen her in comedic roles, it gave me a better idea of the depths of her tremendous skill as an actor. It's currently streaming on the free-with-a-library-card services: Kanopy and Hoopla.

So whether it’s Reds or something else (might I suggest Book Club for something a bit lighter?), put on a Diane Keaton movie this weekend. And here are two great obits for supplementary reading.

Make Some Noise season 4 premiere

If you like: Game shows, improv comedy, impressions
Watch at: Dropout

Make Some Noise might just be the most consistently funny show on Dropout. (I love Game Changer, but the format naturally lends itself to more hits and misses). It’s back for a fourth season after a hiatus of about half a year, and as has been true of every Make Some Noise season so far, things kick off with a Noise Boys reunion for a very funny premiere.

40 Acres

If you like: Survival thrillers, post-apocalyptic movies about family, movies by music video directors
Watch at: Hulu
Watch trailer here

I recommended 40 Acres back in August when it first came out for digital rental and purchase, and it’s worth another recommendation now that it’s available on a streaming service. I think it’s one of the most underrated new movies of the year, and deserves a lot more attention than it’s gotten. Here’s what I wrote back in August:

A taut post-apocalyptic survival action-thriller about a family protecting their farmland, 40 Acres has more on its mind under the surface, as the title suggests. 

The Freeman family has farmed their land since 1875, when an ancestor fled the US and settled in Canada. Nearly two hundred years later, a mysterious disease has ravaged most worldwide animal life, and farmland has become the most precious commodity left. When violent outsiders attempt to take the farm by force, the family has to stick together and defend their land. But 40 Acres is also about the necessity (and difficulty) of trust in hard times, the power of belief in a better world, and how to build that better world together after the destruction of the previous one. A pretty relevant topic for our times, I’d say.

The feature debut of music video director R.T. Thorne, 40 Acres is fun, tense, and well-constructed, with a sharp script and fantastic performances by Danielle Deadwyler, Kataem O'Connor, and Michael Greyeyes.