Sure-Fire Streaming: Rush Hour, Stand By Me, Walkaway Joe, and more!
Rush Hour – Available On Netflix
This is perhaps one of my favourite comedies of all time. It never gets old, and it delivers the belly laughs I sometimes sorely need.
A buddy-cop comedy at its heart, it follows a Hong Kong inspector and an L.A.P.D. detective on a case to rescue the Chinese Consul’s kidnapped daughter.
But they’re also faced with a dangerous crime lord while on their mission. Unfortunately, the mild-mannered inspector and the loud, brash detective will have to sort through their differences if they’re going to break cases.
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker showcase incredible chemistry here, and the two are a match made in comedy heaven.
All three Rush Hour films will keep you smiling on any binge-watch day.
Stand By Me– Available On Netflix
There are few films more defining than director Rob Reiner’s absolutely incredible Stand By Me.
Based on Stephen King’s novel, it follows a group of young friends who find the body of a missing boy during a summer in their youth.
Featuring incredible performances from Wil Wheaton, the late River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and Kiefer Sutherland, it’s an absolute treasure.
I don’t think many movies defined my childhood like this one – save for Indy and Star Wars – and it’s always worth a rewatch if you’ve already seen it.
Stand By Me is an enduring classic, and one that I could never grow tired of.
Walkaway Joe – Available On Prime Video
So this is a slightly weird pick, in the sense that it seems I’m one of few critics who really, truly enjoyed it.
For me, an acting showcase is always worth seeing, and the performances in Walkaway Joe really lend themselves to a viewing.
Directed by actor Tom Wright in his debut behind the camera, it’s a slick, character-driven drama about a friendship between an older drifter and a young boy in search of his wayward father.
Oscar nominee David Strathairn stars as the titular Joe, a drifter with a past he’s trying to hide. He meets young Dallas, in search of the bar-dwelling poolhall junkie father who walked out on him.
Joe and Dallas become closer as they travel, and when they find father Cal, it becomes apparent money and living his own life are more important to him than fatherly duties.
So Dallas joins the pool tournament his father plans to win, in order to get the cash prize and teach his father a lesson.
Perhaps the best thing about Walkaway Joe is the interplay between the incredible Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Cal, and Strathairn. The two are dynamite together.
This may not knock your socks off, but it was well worth a 90-minute escape for me.
3:10 To Yuma – Available On Netflix
To see two fantastic living actors pair together in a remake of a timeless western classic is always a pleasure.
When the thespians are as formidable as Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, that makes it all the better.
The Oscar-nominated film about a rancher who agrees to hold a captures outlaw awaiting the Yuma train to court follows the struggles he faces as he tries to keep a handle on the prisoner.
Crowe and Bale are perfect, and Ben Foster is an absolutely fantastic baddie in any scenario. He’s especially good in this film.
It’s an early film of lauded director James Mangold, known for Cop Land, Girl, Interrupted, and Logan, and he hits it out of the park.
3:10 To Yuma is a triumph, and a rare remake that improves on the original.
Coming 2 America – Available On Prime Video
I’ll say right off the top after seeing this: The sequel does not match the original.
But at the same time, if you’re a fan of Coming To America – or classic Eddie Murphy in general – then you’ll find something to like in this one.
It follows our African monarch Akeem as he tries to find his long-lost American son, conceived during his first trip to New York.
He needs an heir, and because of tradition, none of his daughters fit the bill. This is a film both about changing outdated traditions and loving one’s family the right way.
Murphy is hilarious, as is the returning Arsenio Hall. But it’s the new talent that makes a true impact.
Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones, Wesley Snipes and Jermaine Fowler are hilarious, while returning players James Earl Jones and Shari Headley add to the proceedings.
There are surprises and cameos galore, and while it can sometimes feel like a retread, it’s a funny film in tumultuous times.