What to watch this weekend August 9, 2024: Movie awards contenders
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck have both won Oscars for Massachusetts-set movies; Damon for writing “Good Will Hunting” with Casey’s brother Ben, and Casey for acting in the tragic drama “Manchester by the Sea.” Damon and the Afflecks’ latest Boston-set team-up, heist comedy “The Instigators,” is unlikely to win them any additional gold, but it’s a fun ride nevertheless. (Casey’s a lead actor and co-screenwriter and Ben’s a producer on the film, which hails from Matt and Ben’s Artists Equity production company.)
Damon — reuniting with his “Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman — stars as Rory, a financially strapped middle-aged man who decides to give heisting a shot. He teams up with Cobby (Affleck, who wrote the script with Chuck Maclean) for some scores, and then gets his therapist Donna (Academy Award nominee Hong Chau) involved against her will. How does that make her feel? Not good! The cast also includes heavy hitters like Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, and Rob Gronkowski. Yes, this movie is so Boston that Gronk is in it. “The Instigators” is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Here are some other movies to stream this weekend:
“The Bikeriders”: Writer-director Jeff Nichols’ 1960s-set crime drama is now on Peacock after a modestly successful theatrical run. Austin Butler and Jodie Comer star as a couple who are members of a biker gang run by Johnny (Tom Hardy), and the film charts the club’s rise and fall. The film ended up not being the awards player it was originally hoped to be, but it could still be a longshot contender in a few categories, most prominently Best Actress for Comer.
“One Life”: This based-on-a-true-story drama tells the story of Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who played an important role in the rescue of primarily Jewish refugee children from Czechoslovakia in 1938 in the lead-up to World War II. He was an ordinary man who did an extraordinary thing. He’s played in 1938 by Johnny Flynn and in 1988 by Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins, reflecting on his life and worrying about what became of the people he helped. The film is another one that’s unlikely to contend for major awards, but it has a pedigreed cast that also includes Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Olin, and Jonathan Pryce. “One Life” is streaming on Paramount+.
“Despicable Me 4”: The year’s third-highest-grossing film so far is now on VOD. The fourth installment in the “Despicable Me” series (not counting the “Minions” spinoffs) follows Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) as he tries to keep his family safe from his old rival Maxime Le Mal (voiced by Will Ferrell), who wants to turn Gru’s son into a cockroach. It’s not an Academy Awards contender, but if you buy it on-demand for your kids, you might become a Parent of the Year nominee.
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