Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on the 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 Oct. 11, 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:

“A Complete Unknown” (2024; Hulu)

Timothée Chalamet convincingly portrays storied musician and songwriter Bob Dylan in this well-crafted recreation of the early years of the iconic performer’s career. As a protege of established folk singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), the newcomer breaks into the Greenwich Village music scene while launching a live-in romance with a fellow vocalist (Elle Fanning). But his love-hate relationship with his initially more famous colleague Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) complicates his personal life and his determination to avoid being pigeonholed, though supported by his rebellious friend and admirer Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), eventually raises the ire of genre purists. Director and co-writer James Mangold wisely concentrates on his subject’s perfect-for-the-period music and effectively depicts Dylan’s contrarian personality, though the realistic dialogue he penned with Jay Cocks is too verbally freewheelin’ to make this profile an acceptable introduction for young people. Cohabitation, brief slightly irreverent humor, several uses of profanity, a few milder oaths, numerous rough and crude expressions, an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“Jarhead” (2005; Netflix)

Intermittently arresting war movie based on Anthony Swofford’s memoirs of his experiences in the first Gulf War, which follows a unit of Marines from boot camp to deployment in Iraq — seen through the eyes of a team of snipers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard) — where they battle scorching heat, boredom and each other as airpower wins the war. Director Sam Mendes’ absurdist, obscenity-laced meditation on modern warfare is by turns surreal and sardonic. But, despite solid performances and some striking visuals, the film’s familiar depiction of grunt life feels warmed-over, presenting a morally ambiguous view of war and its desensitizing psychological effects on combatants. Combat-related violence, including disturbing images of charred bodies, a few graphic sexual encounters with partial nudity, scenes of masturbation and urination, shadowy shower nudity, excessive sexually explicit language and humor, 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 R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“Valkyrie” (2008; Amazon Prime)

Generally well-made and engrossing World War II thriller about the true-life final plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and take over the government by a group of disenchanted army officers (Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Izzard, Tom Wilkinson and Terence Stamp). Director Bryan Singer maintains a taut, suspenseful pace, performances are fine (including Cruise, though he seems a bit miscast in the European milieu), and objectionable elements are minimal. Some wartime violence, suicide, executions and a single use of the F-word. 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.

Looking Ahead:

Sunday, Oct. 11, 8:33-11 p.m. EDT (ABC) “The Sixth Sense” (1999). Failed psychological thriller in which a child psychologist (Bruce Willis) tries to help an 8-year-old child (Haley Joel Osment) who’s frightened by seeing dead people walking around, though matters are ultimately not what they seem. Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan provides a story of vague assumptions and boring situations that are suddenly thrown into an entirely new light by a twist ending, though few will find the “surprise” worth waiting for. Gory violence, a menaced child and coarse 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.

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 7-8:15 p.m. EDT (EWTN) “Holy Mass.” This Eucharistic liturgy commemorating the 109th anniversary of the final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima is broadcast from the National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Asbury, New Jersey (TV-G — general audience).

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 10-11 p.m. EDT (PBS) “Africa’s Golden City.” This episode of the series “Secrets of the Dead” follows archaeologists as they explore the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, a city that was once home to 20,000 people.

Thursday, Oct. 15, 8-10:15 p.m. EDT (TCM) “Gaslight” (1944). Sleek thriller set in Victorian London where a rich young bride (Ingrid Bergman) is slowly being driven loony by her slick, greedy husband (Charles Boyer), until an old friend (Joseph Cotten) of her late aunt intervenes. Director George Cukor overplays the wife’s passive acceptance of her mate’s overbearing manipulations as she declines into a state of helplessness, but the contrived situation pays dividends after slowly building to its highly charged conclusion. Much menace. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.

Saturday, Oct. 17, 2-4:30 p.m. EDT (AMC) “The Conjuring” (2013). Director James Wan and screenwriters Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes limn the story of one family’s struggle with evil spirits taking over their household, aided by real-life “demonologists” Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Demons get a presumption of truth and the run of the plot, while the solemn rite of exorcism is reduced to a kind of voodoo practiced by entrepreneurial ghostbusters with dubious credentials in cobwebbed New England basements. A skewed view of Catholic faith practices, intense action sequences, mild gore, fleeting profanity, intense but nonviolent scenes involving children. 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.

Saturday, Oct. 17, 7:46-10:03 p.m. EDT (Cinemax) “Mickey 17” (2025). On the run from a brutal loan shark, a hapless misfit (Robert Pattinson) manages to join a space mission to a distant planet by agreeing to become an “expendable,” someone who can be repeatedly killed and recreated via advanced 3D printing technology. During the course of the journey, he falls for a security officer (Naomi Ackie) and gets caught up in the machinations of a villainous politician (Mark Ruffalo) and the would-be dictator’s equally ruthless wife (Toni Collette). Writer-director Bong Joon Ho’s hard-edged, downbeat sci-fi black comedy offers observations on class, colonialism and corruption but human interest and entertainment value are wanting. Mostly stylized but sometimes gory violence, considerable sexual content, including a casual encounter at the start of a premarital relationship, rear male nudity in a nonsexual context, narcotics references, several uses of profanity, about a dozen milder oaths, pervasive rough and frequent crude language, an obscene gesture. 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.

Saturday, Oct. 17, 8-10 p.m. EDT (TCM) “Rear Window” (1954). Stylish thriller in which a Manhattan photographer (James Stewart), immobilized by a broken leg, idly passes the time watching his neighbors across the way until witnessing a murder, then uses his girlfriend (Grace Kelly) to catch the killer (Raymond Burr). Director Alfred Hitchcock gradually notches the level of suspense to fever-pitch in the conclusion. Much menace and a stylized act of violence. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.

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

Streaming Now:

Looking Ahead:

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