There’s a great bunch of movies this week from both competitors. Whether you’re into boxing, talking monkeys, Super Villains, Hip-Hop or Melissa McCarthy. Something for everyone. First up, let’s see what Netflix has to offer.

Netflix

Creed

Creed

Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) never knew his famous father, boxing champion Apollo Creed, who died before Adonis was born. However, boxing is in his blood, so he seeks out Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) and asks the retired champ to be his trainer. Rocky sees much of Apollo in Adonis, and agrees to mentor him, even as he battles an opponent deadlier than any in the ring. With Rocky’s help, Adonis soon gets a title shot, but whether he has the true heart of a fighter remains to be seen.

Megamind

Megamind

Though he is the most-brilliant supervillain the world has known, Megamind (Will Ferrell) is the least-successful. Thwarted time and again by heroic Metro Man (Brad Pitt), Megamind is more surprised than anyone when he actually manages to defeat his longtime enemy. But without Metro Man, Megamind has no purpose in life, so he creates a new opponent, who quickly decides that it’s more fun to be a bad guy than a hero.

The Get Down

The Get Down

The multi-talented Baz Luhrmann and a team of collaborators — Oscar-winner Catherine Martin, legendary MC Nas, Grandmaster Flash, Pulitzer-winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, and hip-hop historian Nelson George — have created a music-driven drama that documents the emergence of a new art form. Set in the late 1970s, when New York was at the brink of bankruptcy and disco was dying out, the rise of hip-hop is told through the lives, art, music and dance of a group of young people in the South Bronx.

Amazon

Tammy

tammy_header_clear_720

For Tammy (Melissa McCarthy), a burger-joint waitress, a bad day keeps getting worse. She wrecks her car, loses her job and finds her husband in a compromising position with their neighbor. It’s time for Tammy to hit the road, but without money or transportation, her options are limited. Her only choice is a road trip with her grandmother, Pearl (Susan Sarandon), who has a car, cash and an itch to see Niagara Falls. It’s not the escape Tammy had in mind, but it may be what she needs.

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas

Actors (Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent) take on multiple roles in an epic that spans five centuries. An attorney harbors a fleeing slave on a voyage from the Pacific Islands in 1849; a poor composer in pre-World War II Britain struggles to finish his magnum opus before a past act catches up with him; a genetically engineered worker in 2144 feels the forbidden stirring of human consciousness — and so on. As souls are born and reborn, they renew their bonds to one another throughout time.

Arthur

I like this picture because it looks like Greta Gerwig is just loving the absurdity of Brand sitting in that chair in an unusual manner…with that duck. Mirren and Garner aren’t impressed. I also like that tehre is a blank space so that we can add our own title and taglines etc. Based on the Oscar Winning film of the same name, this one didn’t win any Oscars for some reason.

arthur

Irresponsible playboy Arthur Bach (Russell Brand) has always relied on two things to keep him out of real trouble: his great wealth and the advice of his lifelong nanny, Hobson (Helen Mirren). But now Arthur must undertake the most-expensive risk of his life. He must choose between an arranged marriage that will keep him in the money or a more-modest life with the only woman (Greta Gerwig) he has ever loved. A remake of the 1981 Oscar-winning film.

Streaming Pick of the Week

Netflix – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (DotPotA) is the follow up to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (RotPotA). It has a smaller heart but bigger spectacle. Sometimes that’s what you want in a sequel.  It’s up there with the great Ape moves of our time, Just don’t tell Tim Burton.

Amazon v Netflix Win Newt Punch

Ten years after simian flu wiped out much of the world’s homosapiens, genetically enhanced chimpanzee Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his ever-growing band of followers have established a thriving colony just outside San Francisco in Muir Woods. Meanwhile, a small band of human survivors emerges, which forces Caesar — as leader — to grapple with the dual challenge of protecting his people and re-establishing a relationship with the remaining human population — the latter being Caesar’s secret wish.

Amazon 4: Netflix 5

Nice work Netflix. The counter gets reset on August 31st so there’s plenty of time for an Amazon comeback. I’s anyones game. Who will be the Summer Streaming Champ?!

Paul Caldwell

Author: Paul Caldwell

Paul Crazy-Legs Caldwell. I take care of most of the week's geek based content and make sure that the Octogeek is only let out on a Wednesday. I also make comics for my website www.theskeletonblog.com when the notion takes me.