WWII drama Masters of the Air, the latest from the creators of Band of Brothers and The Pacific, leads this week’s streaming releases, supported by the VOD debuts of Wonka and Wish, and more!

SERIES

Masters of the Air S1

26 January 2024 – Apple TV+

“From the producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific…” should be all you need to know about Masters of the Air, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ latest big-budget WWII drama series, before you click play. But in case you need some more info about this show, for some silly reason, here you go: It stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle and Nate Mann, along with other well-known faces like Ncuti Gatwa and Barry Koeghan, and is an adaptation of Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name, which follows “the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen, and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air.” This is easily the biggest release of the week and I am hyped!

Expats S1

26 January 2024 – Prime Video

If this is the first time you’re hearing about Expats, a new Hong Kong-set drama series following a group of international expatriates in the Chinese city – and the locals who work for/with them – who experience a series of personal tragedies, I wouldn’t blame you. For a show starring multiple award-winning actress Nicole Kidman, and which was created by Lulu Wang, the writer/director behind the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning feature film The Farewell, there’s been absolutely zero promo push from Prime Video on this. Maybe the low-key release is due to the controversy the film created during its filming in 2021 when Kidman and her entire entourage was allowed an exemption from COVID-19 security protocols at the time, an act which many locals – still severely locked down at the time – found grossly hypocritical. There were also claims that the government was making all the concessions for the show so as to use it as a positive marketing tool for Hong Kong to distract from recent political unrest at the time. Whatever the situation, Expats is now finally releasing so you can judge for yourself if it should have had more fanfare.

Essex County S1

29 January 2024 – Showmax

There’s a common misconception that comic book adaptations all have to do with people flying in capes, and that’s just not true. Okay so maybe the trailer for Essex County does actually open with a boy in a cape flying in a corn field, but just trust me on this one. This is no sophomoric superhero adventure. Adapted from the multiple-award-winning trilogy of graphic novels from acclaimed comic book creator Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Moon Knight, Descender), the five-part Essex County follows the interwoven tales of several characters, starting with a young boy with dreams of being a superhero, sent to live with his uncle, whose search for his father unearths the history of the titular town and the role his family played in it. Don’t expect this to be some big explosive mystery reveal though. This is story packed with real human emotion and heavy drama. Keep the tissues handy.

MOVIES

Badland Hunters

26 January 2024 – Netflix

If you were to just look at the poster for Badland Hunters, you would swear this is some kind of “man vs nature” movie where South Korean screen icon Ma Dong-Seok (aka Don Lee) is attacked by a crocodile. And well, that could not be further from the truth. Instead of “man vs nature”, it’s more “man vs future post-apocalyptic wasteland in which a mad scientist conducts experiments on humans.” And yes, there’s lots of punching in this one – a staple of boxer-turned-actor Lee’s filmography – resulting in what looks like some silly action thriller fun.

The Greatest Night in Pop

29 January 2024 – Netflix

We Are the World. An iconic song, if there ever was one, that assembled arguably the greatest supergroup in music history all for a good cause. And it nearly didn’t happen. Feature film documentary The Greatest Night in Pop goes behind the scenes with never-before-seen footage detailing how in 1985, singer Harry Belafonte’s idea to do a music piece to raise funds for African famine relief, resulted in an unprecedented event. Led by singers/songwriters Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie with producer Quincy Jones, the group managed to wrangle together nearly 50 of the biggest names in music, all from different genres and backgrounds, all with their own personalities and ideas, to perform the global anthem. And it was definitely not easy!

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

29 January 2024 – Showmax

As Sam noted in his review last year, Transformers: Rise of the Beast is most definitely not a perfect film. Despite being mentioned right there in the title, the fan-favourite characters from the beloved Beast Wars animated series barely feature. The plot is also both contrived and predictable, filled with tropes that would have been more at home in action moves release three decades ago. But just like its predecessor, Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts successfully continues the trend of soft rebooting the Transformers movie franchise after previous overload Michael Bay left it a flaming dumpster fire. It’s not as good as the shockingly great Bumblebee was, but there’s still a lot of great character work, a ton of fun, and some solid action that is actually coherent.

Elite Squad

23 January 2024 – Prime Video

We don’t generally feature movies released nearly two decades ago, but I think this may be the first time that Elite Squad is actually available to watch locally without need to resort to DVD/Blu Ray imports. And if you haven’t seen this action phenomenon before, you can finally fix that thanks to Prime Video! Originally released way back in 2007, Elite Squad (aka Tropa de Elite) is a Brazilian crime thriller that follows a captain the local Special Police Operations Battallion who leads a series of raids on the crime-ridden favelas of Rio de Janeiro in preparation for the state visit of Pope John Paul II. That may not sound like much, but just trust me on this one. There’s a reason this film and its sequel, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (sadly, still not available), went on to break box office records in its home country and blew away viewers at various international film festivals, where it also picked up several rewards. It launched director José Padilha into the Hollywood spotlight and helped to turn lead actor Wagner Moura into a global star. In short: You need to watch this damn movie!

VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES

The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:

Wonka

Purchase: Apple TV – R200 / Google Play Movies – R212

Rental: Apple TV – R170 / Google Play Movies – R170

Timothée Chalamet may be hilariously confused about what a Fizzer tastes like, but the actor was apparently a very good pick to bring to life arguably the most famous sweets peddler in literary history. Filmmaker Paul King (who also gave us the brilliant Paddington films) writes and directs Chalamet here in this new spin on Roald Dahls’ beloved classic children’s story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Rather than focus on Dahl’s eponymous golden ticket winner though, this film tells the origin story of the owner of said chocolate factory, Willy Wonka, and how he went from struggling inventor and chocolate-maker to becoming one of the most beloved of Dahl’s characters. I will admit that I skipped Wonka in cinema because I thought it would be terrible, but glowing reviews and BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations suggest I was very wrong.

Wish

Purchase: Apple TV – R150 / Google Play Movies – R180

As Noelle noted in her, Wish is not a bad movie at all. The latest Disney animated musical has all the right components for fans of the genre, while also ticking much more modern boxes in terms of diverse on-screen representation and a more nuance story rather than the naively simplistic tales of old. Similarly, it also boasts a great blending of classic 2D artwork and modern CG visuals. But Wish stumbles because of how often it wants to rather give throwback shoutouts to other classic Disney tales like Snow White, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and more, a result of the film being released as part of Disney100, the House of Mouse’s centennial celebration. And with an abbreviated 95-minute running time, all that self-referencing means the actual story gets a bit shortchanged. However, with its colourful visuals, and catchy songs by a strong voice cast led by Oscar-winning Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine, this should be more than enough to keep the kids distracted for a while. Maybe just wait a week or so until rental options appear.

Freelance

Purchase: Apple TV – R150 / Google Play Movies – R161

Rental: Apple TV – R45 / Google Play Movies – R50

I am not going to lie to you. We’re friends and you don’t deserve lies. And Freelance, by nearly all accounts, is a terrible, terrible movie. But this action-comedy about an ex-special forces operative drawn out of a soul crushingly boring retirement to provide private security to a washed-up journalist interviewing a ruthless dictator in his home country does star John Cena and Alison Brie, two actors who genuinely have fantastic on-screen presence and comedy timing. And as such, I have to think there’s something in here that will at least justify a rental.