This Week in Streaming (August 13th)

Jerod Ra'Del Hollyfield -


The Bikeriders (Peacock) The ideal place to see the best movie of the summer was definitely a theater, but even the living room treatment can’t dilute the power of director Jeff Nichols’s great American epic about the development and descent of a 60s Midwest biker gang led by a top-form Tom Hardy. As we said upon its release, it’s a gorgeous tragedy about American autonomy and the unshakable trauma of Vietnam.

Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip (Premium VOD Rental) Those geeking out over the trailer release for Jason Reitman’s new SNL movie could do worse than fill the time between now and October with Aaron Sorkin’s short-lived NBC dramedy about the crew behind a fictionalized version of the show negotiating the cultural role of broadcast TV in the mid aughts. Sorkin’s soapboxy “walk and talks” have never been more attuned, especially with Matthew Perry leading the way in the performance he should be remembered by. 

The Beast (The Criterion Channel) French maverick Bertrand Bonello provides the ultimate treatise on unbridled Big Tech in this time-hopping story of a woman (Léa Seydoux) searching for fulfillment and her elusive soulmate (George Mackay) in a world of rogue AI that perceives human emotions as a threat. Epic, unwieldy, and endlessly rewarding.