Home viewing roundup: What's available to stream and what's on horizon

The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television during the week of April 21, as well as notes on TV programming for the same week. Televised films may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations while the programs listed have not been reviewed and therefore are not necessarily recommended by OSV News.

Streaming Now

“The Land Before Time” (1988; Netflix)

Delightful animated feature about the exploits of five young dinosaurs of differing species who band together for survival. Plagued by hunger and threats from meat-eating dinos, the leaf-eating tykes make their way to the Great Valley for food. Director Don Bluth offers some cute little characters, quality animation and a lovely message of solidarity and courage. A brief, nicely handled sequence of a mother dino’s death. The OSV News classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted.

“Richard Jewell” (2019; Amazon Prime)

Director Clint Eastwood’s sympathetic profile of the titular security guard (Paul Walter Hauser) who quickly went from hero to villain in the public mind when he was accused of planting the three pipe bombs that he himself first discovered, and helped to save people from, during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Dogged by an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) convinced of his guilt and a relentless mob of journalists led by a newspaper reporter (Olivia Wilde) who’s out for a sensational story at any cost, he turns for help to his former boss, a maverick attorney (charismatic Sam Rockwell). The canny, hard-bitten lawyer and his naive client make for an interesting odd couple and Kathy Bates is in fine form as Jewell’s doting mother. But a steamy subplot and other factors make Eastwood’s fairly gripping film, which draws on both a book and an article, inappropriate fare for youngsters. An implied nonmarital encounter, brief violence, mature references including to homosexuality, about a dozen uses of profanity, frequent rough and crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“Wonder Woman” (2017; Hulu)

Enjoyable adventure for the DC Comics superhero (Gal Gadot) takes her from her home environment — an island of Amazons isolated from the rest of the world — into the thick of World War I. Her involvement in the conflict follows the accidental intrusion of an American (Chris Pine) who’s spying for the British into her native realm, an event she takes as a signal that her race is being called to bring peace to humanity. Since her mother (Connie Nielsen), who is also the queen of the warrior women, disagrees, she undertakes the mission on her own. Guided by the agent, and with the support of a high-ranking government official in London (David Thewlis), she uses her military training (under Robin Wright) to take on real-life German commander Gen. Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and the fictional, sinister scientist (Elena Anaya) who runs his chemical weapons program. Though director Patty Jenkins keeps the mayhem mostly free of gore, and the dialogue in Allan Heinberg’s script is unspotted by vulgarity, the sexuality that tinges the central romance, though restrained, makes the film best for grownups. Possibly acceptable for older teens. Frequent stylized violence with minimal blood, nonscriptural religious ideas, implied premarital sexual activity, a scene of immodest behavior, some sexual humor, at least one mild oath, a single crass term. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Looking Ahead

Sunday, April 21, 1:30-3 p.m. EDT (EWTN) “Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in D Major.” Christian Thielemann conducts this performance of the great composer’s 1824 Mass setting at the Semperoper Dresden opera house in Germany (TV-G — general audience).

Monday, April 22, 9-11 p.m. EDT (PBS) “Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal.” This episode of the series “American Experience” recounts how the toxic legacy of a former chemical waste dump in a working-class neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York, affected the lives of local residents.

Tuesday, April 23, 8-10:30 p.m. EDT (TCM) “The Sundowners” (1960). Excellent story about the joys and hardships of an itinerant Australian sheepherder (Robert Mitchum) whose passion for the unencumbered life is in direct conflict with the yearnings of his wife (Deborah Kerr) to settle down. Directed by Fred Zinnemann, the movie’s characters and its locale are finely evoked in a story that is part outdoors adventure and part domestic drama. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.

Thursday, April 25, 8-11 p.m. EDT (AMC) “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994). Gritty prison drama begins in 1946 when a quiet banker (Tim Robbins) is wrongly convicted of murder, then spends the next two decades inside a brutal and corruptly run penitentiary where he has positive effects on the hapless inmates, especially another lifer (Morgan Freeman), before his unexpected departure. Director Frank Darabont does not spare viewers the dehumanizing ugliness of life behind bars in a story notable for its portrayal of a man who inspired hope in others while coping with the injustice done to him. Some graphic prison violence and suicides, crude sexual innuendo, brief nudity and much rough language. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating was R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Friday, April 26, 6-7:45 a.m. EDT (TCM) “Boys Town” (1938). Sentimental but emotionally honest story of how Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) built his school for homeless and delinquent youths during the Depression. Directed by Norman Taurog, the Hollywood version centers on the conflict between the priest’s charismatic powers of persuasion and a street tough (Mickey Rooney) who only thinks he’s hard-boiled. Tracy’s Oscar-winning performance as a role model for those in need of one was a credible blend of the idealistic and the pragmatic. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-I — general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association. (First in a series of seven religion-themed films, concluding with “The Sandpiper” (1965) 5:45-8 p.m. EDT)

Saturday, April 27, 9:45-11:39 p.m. EDT (Cinemax) “First Reformed” (2018). This drama about a Protestant minister (Ethan Hawke) in upstate New York has quite a bit to say about religious belief, environmentalism, grieving, alienation, rage, the power of love and the corruption of religion by money and power. Writer-director Paul Schrader does not condescend to belief but is interested in launching discussions about what faith means and what actions best express it. Some gore, mature themes, fleeting scatological references. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Streaming Now

Looking Ahead

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