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 Jan. 25, 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

“Loving” (2016; Amazon Prime)

Writer-director Jeff Nichols’ fact-based drama about the Virginia couple (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) whose legal crusade led to a landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision demolishing race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States is so restrained and decorous that it nearly obscures the historical significance of the events it recounts. Drawing contempt from local police — embodied by the sheriff (Marton Csokas) who initially arrests them — but eventually supported by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (most prominently Nick Kroll), the duo is forced to stay on the move as they seek to avoid harassment. The original circumstances must have been extraordinarily stressful for the pair since they had no way of knowing whether any given nightfall would be the cue for a hate crime. Yet Nichols keeps his film free from the histrionics that surely must have occurred. Valuable viewing for mature teens based on the cultural impact of the real-life story. A premarital pregnancy, a couple of crass terms, fleeting racial slurs and two scenes of childbirth. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“My Girl” (1991; Netflix)

Heartwarming drama in which an imaginative 11-year-old (Anna Chlumsky), whose widowed father (Dan Aykroyd) operates a funeral parlor out of their home, confronts some of her worst fears when her dad’s attention is drawn to the new cosmetologist (Jamie Lee Curtis) and she loses her best friend (Macaulay Culkin). Director Howard Zieff handles childhood traumas with humor and sensitivity in an evocative story of memorable characters and life-affirming relationships. Brief but disturbing sequence of a juvenile’s death, discreet scene about menstruation and a drug reference. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

“Taken” (2009; Hulu)

Formulaic and contrived but effectively tense thriller about an ex-government operative (Liam Neeson) hunting for his missing teenage daughter (Maggie Grace) who has been kidnapped by Albanian sex traffickers in Paris. Director Pierre Morel keeps things moving with a flashy visual style, and Neeson plays his role with a genuine intensity that almost, but not quite, makes you overlook the improbable setup and ludicrous plot developments. Intense but nongraphic action violence including torture, multiple killings, vigilante justice, some crude language and expressions, and a single profanity. The OSV News classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (The sequel “Taken 2” (2012) is also streaming.)

Looking Ahead

Sunday, Jan. 25, 6-8 p.m. EST (TCM) “Manhattan Murder Mystery” (1993). Breezy comic mystery in which a woman (Diane Keaton) decides a next-door neighbor (Jerry Adler) has murdered his wife and sets out to prove it with the help of an increasingly nervous husband (Woody Allen), their flirtatious, newly divorced buddy (Alan Alda) and the husband’s amorous colleague (Anjelica Huston). Also directed by Allen, the movie amusingly combines a romantic rectangle with a rather flimsy mystery, but the result is a good-natured look at the fluctuating fortunes of love and life in the Big Apple. Fleeting violence, a few sexual references and occasional profanity. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 8-10:15 p.m. EST (TCM) “How Green Was My Valley” (1941). Nostalgic chronicle of family ties based on the Richard Llewellyn novel about a Welsh coal-mining village at the turn of the 20th century trying to maintain its traditional way of life despite changing industrial times and the power of the mine owners. Director John Ford’s episodic picture of a community in transition is depicted largely through an emotionally rich, often sunny but sometimes tragic portrait of the close-knit Morgan family and its proud father (Donald Crisp) who rejects his five sons when they join the union, the mediating mother (Sara Allgood) who reconciles them, the daughter (Maureen O’Hara) who marries unhappily when rebuffed by the village’s new minister (Walter Pidgeon) and the youngest of the Morgans (Roddy McDowall) recalling the family’s past as a grown man leaving his beloved but now-depressed valley. Muted treatment of romantic complications and some stylized violence including the sadistic caning of a youth and a harrowing mine disaster. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.

Wednesday, Jan. 28, 3:30-4:50 p.m. EST (EWTN) “The Catholic University of America: Mass for the Patronal Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.” This Eucharistic liturgy for the feast of the Angelic Doctor is broadcast from Washington’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (TV-G — general audience).

Wednesday, Jan. 28, 9-10 p.m. EST (PBS) “Angkor: Hidden Jungle Empire.” A look at what new discoveries are revealing about how the ancient Cambodian metropolis of Angkor was built — and what likely led to its devastating collapse. Part of the series “Nova.”

Saturday, Jan. 31, 8:01-9:59 p.m. EST (Cinemax) “Split” (2017). Psychological thriller from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan posits that victims of childhood abuse are not only prone to dissociative identity disorder — split personalities — but also that each persona can have unique physical characteristics. Shyamalan’s not out to make anyone think too deeply about this prognosis. He prefers to couch the story in the efficient tropes of a cheese-ball teen-abduction drama, using reliable scream queen Anya Taylor-Joy as a lure. Together with Haley Lu Richardson and Jessica Sula, Taylor-Joy plays one of a trio of abductees kidnapped and threatened by schizophrenic molestation survivor James McAvoy. From early on, the film follows the familiar pattern of teen girls in peril, with a general “moral” about what doesn’t kill you making you stronger — in this case, amazingly stronger. Possibly suitable for older adolescents. Gun and physical violence with some gore, mature themes, including sexual abuse, fleeting rough language. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Saturday, Jan. 31, 10 p.m.-midnight EST (AMC) “Men in Black II” (2002). Fairly entertaining sci-fi sequel in which a secret government agent (Will Smith) must get his former partner (Tommy Lee Jones) back on the job to stop a diabolical plot masterminded by an alien disguised as a lingerie model (Lara Flynn Boyle) who wants to destroy Earth. Despite a pretty skimpy plot, director Barry Sonnenfeld’s lightweight follow-up has some amusing moments with notable alien creations and flashy visual effects. Some cartoon sci-fi violence and crass expressions. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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

Streaming Now

Looking Ahead

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