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 March 22, 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

“Charley Varrick” (1973; Amazon Prime)

Unusual, action-packed and curiously disturbing film about a seemingly ordinary individual (Walter Matthau) who supplements his income as a cropduster pilot by robbing small-town banks on his mornings off. When he happens to rob a bank used by gangsters, he winds up being chased by the mob as well as the police. Director Don Siegel’s movie is tense and occasionally quite brutal, with an undercurrent of amorality in the dog-eat-dog atmosphere of the underworld. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

“Deepwater Horizon” (2016; Netflix)

Forceful but grim dramatization of events surrounding the 2010 disaster that destroyed the titular drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Drawing on a New York Times article by David Barstow, David Rohde and Stephanie Saul, screenwriters Matthew Michael Carnahan and Matthew Sand fix their focus on a quartet of principals: the vessel’s chief electronics technician (Mark Wahlberg), his worried wife back on shore (Kate Hudson), the craft’s respected crew commander (Kurt Russell) and the young officer (Gina Rodriguez) responsible for keeping the vast, free-floating structure in position. The tense opening scenes of director Peter Berg’s film find a visiting corporate executive (John Malkovich) pushing back against the safety concerns expressed by both Russell and Wahlberg’s characters, only to find himself caught up in one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history. Following the “blowout,” the race for survival against shooting flames, sudden explosions and deadly flying debris is fueled by self-sacrificing heroism and courage. It’s an admirable and well-crafted spectacle for grownups — with the background assets of a solid, positively portrayed marriage and some incidental religious elements. Still, it’s not an easy movie to watch. Pervasive, sometimes gory, disaster violence, a scene of nongraphic marital lovemaking, about a half-dozen uses of profanity, frequent crude and crass language. 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.

“Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005; Hulu)

Beautifully filmed and finely acted adaptation of Arthur Golden’s bestseller about a girl (Ziyi Zhang) sold by her family into being a geisha in pre-World War II Japan, and her over-the-years love for a businessman (Ken Watanabe) who bought her ice cream as a child. Director Rob Marshall has crafted what is basically an unrequited romance of the kind Hollywood used to make, though one must make cultural allowances for the concept of a geisha — strictly speaking, a woman trained to converse with and entertain men with dance and music — but there is a subtly portrayed sexual component to the story as related here. Some sexual banter and discreetly filmed sexual situations, including an assault, a couple of violent episodes. 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, March 22, 12:30-3:30 p.m. EDT (AMC) “Independence Day” (1996). Compelling sci-fi thriller in which huge alien spaceships level three American cities before the president (Bill Pullman), a computer whiz (Jeff Goldblum) and a Marine pilot (Will Smith) mount a last-ditch effort to disable the spacecraft’s impenetrable shields. Director Roland Emmerich’s patriotic-themed disaster flick is powered by an action-packed story, spectacular special effects and sympathetic characters who provide some human dimension to the proceedings. Intense depiction of massive destruction but little gore, brief sexual innuendo and minimal profanity. 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.

Monday, March 23, 10 p.m.-midnight EDT (TCM) “Chicago” (2002). Zesty musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago finds two rival song-and-dance gals (Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones) each jailed for murder using the same unscrupulous attorney (Richard Gere) to exploit their celebrity and get them off the hook. Adapted from Bob Fosse’s 1975 Broadway show, director Rob Marshall’s spirited black comedy weaves fantasy and reality together for a naughty, razzle-dazzle take on the corrupting power of greed and fame. Brief violence, a fleeting sexual encounter, double entendres, intermittent profanity and an instance of 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.

Wednesday, March 25, 3-6 p.m. EDT (EWTN) “Mass of Installation.” On the Feast of the Annunciation, the Most Reverend James R. Golka is installed as the Sixth Archbishop of Denver. Part of the occasional series “Cathedrals Across America” (TV-G — general audience).

Thursday, March 26, 9:30-11 p.m. EDT (PBS) (check local listings) “Carole King & James Taylor Live at the Troubadour.” This musical special showcases a 2007 joint performance by Carole King and James Taylor at the Troubadour Club in West Hollywood, California.

Saturday, March 28, 8-10 p.m. EDT (TCM) “Them!” (1954). Durable sci-fi thriller with steady but incredulous lawmen (James Whitmore and James Arness) helping a scientist (Edmund Gwenn) trace the spread of deadly giant ants from New Mexico to the storm drains under Los Angeles. Director Gordon Douglas plays on period fears of organic mutations stemming from radiation released in A-bomb tests and the result is suitably tense, even though the movie’s 12-foot ants are more threatening off-screen than on. Some stylized violence and considerable suspense. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-I — general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.

Saturday, March 28, 9:39-11:56 p.m. EDT (Cinemax) “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” (2017). Flashy but lightweight sci-fi adventure, set in the 28th century, in which a duo of intergalactic law enforcement agents (Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne) share romantic tension as well as a series of crime-busting exploits involving the legacy of a destroyed planet and the fate of the titular metropolis, a mega-space station under threat from an unidentified force. In adapting a series of graphic novels by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres, writer-director Luc Besson excels at such sequences as an interdimensional chase through an exotic bazaar. Yet his sometimes baroquely overwrought film is longer on style than ultimate impact. Though the love story sees DeHaan’s playboy character anxious to mend his ways in favor of marital commitment, moreover, his detour through the vast craft’s gritty red-light district suggests even most mature teens should skip this trip to the stars and instead stay safely earthbound. Gunplay and other stylized violence, a prostitution theme, scenes of sensuality with partial nudity, a mild oath, a couple of uses each of crude and crass 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.

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

Streaming Now

Looking Ahead

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