Late April / Early May 2021 Streaming Curations [Streaming Reviews]

An American Satan from Omnibus Entertainment arriving on April 27th

An American Satan was a great documentary that feels like it will play better to younger audiences. Most of the information on Anton La Vey is available via other sources. However, director Aram Garriga hit the right balance to humanize the Church of Satan figures. While this won’t be for everyone, it feels like a documentary I’ll watch again in the future.

Citizen Penn Premiering on discovery+ on May 6th, 2021

Citizen Penn might be the worst documentary I’ve seen in years. But, May needs to have a low point to balance out everything I’ve watched so far. Discovery Plus has been low-key killing it with their documentary pick-ups. So, why go out of your way to grab a Sean Penn vanity project? Other people have helped Haiti and Latin America. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to praise Sean Penn.

It’s just every single bit of this documentary felt like an opportunity to get celebrities to praise Sean Penn for having a pet cause rather than a Humanitarian desire to help.

The Sons of Sam starts streaming on Netflix on May 5th, 2021

The Sons of Sam isn’t a documentary series about David Berkowitz aka The Son of Sam. It’s a show about how Maury Terry used early data science to debunk and solve a lot of the NYPD’s efforts. While most of my early studies of Son of Sam came from Jimmy Breslin’s findings, it’s neat to have another take on the matter. Especially since elements of this May documentary were used to form Mindhunter.

True crime really runs the quality spectrum, but I appreciate the shows that base their takes in shaky grounding. It’s not because I’m looking for facts, I want to see a random weirdo scream about a new take on an old case. What’s weird is that when they shine a spotlight on Terry’s personal life, it makes him look like the crazy one. I highly recommend checking out Sons of Sam.

616 WILFORD LANE arrives from Indican on May 18th

616 Wilford Lane is another haunted house movie about a family moving from a major city to a small town. While these films are a dime a dozen, they don’t feature Eric Roberts as the supremely killer neighbor. It’s just that out of all the May streaming movies, this one had the ending that bothered me the most. That really sucks, as I was kinda enjoying the movie more than I expected.

But, there’s something about indie horror movies not being able to stick the landing that makes me crazy. I’d be an ass and spoil it here, but I don’t want to tamper your viewing. It could just be a “me” issue.

Dark Woods arrives exclusively from Topic on May 13th

Dark Woods is another foreign show on Topic. All I’ve got to say about the May stuff I watch is the foreign entries were draining me this month. Nothing was as self indulgent as Citizen Penn, but I guess I’m hitting a point in my life were I need absolute concentration to process foreign language cinema at the same level as English speaking. It could also be the seemingly never-ending traffic of people moving in and out of AV Central. We’re in a Pandemic and I’m watching a lot of stuff in German. STFU, people.

Taking place over several years, Dark Woods takes us deep into the craziness of this life. But, it feels very typical for every character that isn’t the main three. While it’s grimm, it also doesn’t offer much outside of the vicious central crimes.

Two of Us arrives on May 18th from Magnolia

Two of Us is a foreign film about secret love among two elderly lesbians. After a stroke incapacitates one woman, the stakes get raised as they have to profess their love. For 2021, the movie feels slightly dated. While not the worst movie I’ve seen in May 2021. There’s something about it that doesn’t hit right for me. I can already feel the comments slipping in throughout the various DMs, but I guess I’m not the target audience.

Stray arrives on June 1st from Magnolia

Stray is a movie about stray dogs living their lives. While that’s enough for most of the Internet, I tend to be more of a Milo and Otis fan than a Kedi follower. What did this one do for me? Well, it’s another movie about stray animals living in Turkey. What’s going on over there, Turks? Get that shit under control. America will loan you Sarah McLachlan as a goodwill gesture.

While the film is charming enough, Stray is the kind of movie you put on as background noise. Good for one watch, but I dare you to sit through a second screening with the same enthusiasm.

Goodbye Honey arrives on May 11th from Freestyle Digital Media

Goodbye Honey is a film about the terror of being a victim and not trying to be a victim. Two women from various points of life push up against each other, as they fear what the other might do to them. No one is sure what’s going on and they might be lying. For an indie film, it ways heavily on you and may be one of the best streaming films I watched in this period.

I do want to add that the Synth score is amazing and should be made available to buy. There are a ton of people that would want to pick it up.

Ape Canyon arrives on VOD on April 16th

Ape Canyon is a movie I covered a month ago, but somehow the site ate that review. I had some loose bits of the initial review, but let’s throw it together here. The obsession with Bigfoot on film recently has been intriguing, but I like how the low budget Ape Canyon plays with it. All encounters are portrayed in animation, while the personal stuff is shown up-close and personal.

The main idea behind Ape Canyon is one person’s overwhelming desire to make something happen. Does Ape Canyon? Well, it depends on the person that wants to go to there. Hell, now I want to see Bad Witch.