The Top 20 movies added to or extended on the streaming services this week:
1) 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS
The winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2007, this is one of the finest films ever produced in Romania. ~ Radio Times
Fierce, horrifying and brutal - this story of an illegal abortion in communist Romania is a masterpiece. ~ Guardian
Brilliant. Cristian Mungiu's drama set during Romania's communist regime is startlingly good viewing. ~ BBC
Tense, kinetic, intelligent and real; as if Paul Greengrass had remade Vera Drake. ~ Empire
Yes, there’s no escaping the fact: this is a very grim film. But it’s also a serious, terrifically made one that couldn’t be more sensitive to the individual and political ramifications of its horrific theme. ~ Time Out
The genius of director Ken Loach lies in his ability to point out the comic ironies and absurdities of existence while exposing the prejudices and injustices of working-class life. While a touch uneven, this is one of his most effective films. ~ Radio Times
Hope springs eternal on a Manchester housing estate - even if it shouldn't - as an unemployed plumber tries to find the money for his daughter's communion dress. The essentially political thrust is naturally developed without poking us in the eye with it.~ The Guardian
Though the film's plot is as simple as a fable, Loach undermines the potential for slapstick humour and saccharine sentiment. ~ AllMovie
With an emotional performance from the whole cast in this gritty working class drama, Loach sticks to doing what he knows best and does it well. Offering little in the way of escape, you can be assured that a happy ending looks unlikely. ~ Empire
Dark, dreamlike and dangerous, Guillermo del Toro's visionary project is a fairytale every bit as scary and moving as they were always meant to be. Compelling from first frame to last. ~ BBC
Dark, twisted and beautiful, this entwines fairy-tale fantasy with war-movie horror to startling effect. ~ Empire
Watching the unique explosions of Guillermo del Toro's mind realise themselves on screen is truly astounding. ~ Little White Lies
From his perfectly balanced screenplay to his assured skills as a visual storyteller, the fearless performances of an immensely talented cast, the sleepy lullaby that forms the foundation of Javier Navarrete's score, and special effects that have the power to dazzle and horrify, all the elements fall beautifully into place to form an genuinely affecting adult fairy tale. ~ AllMovie
Superbly acted, vividly beautiful, and uniquely imaginative, del Toro's mesmerising phantasmagoria packs a real emotional punch. This grim spin on Alice in Wonderland is one of his finest works. ~ Radio Times
This warm-hearted fish-out-of-water tale highlights the cultural differences (and underlying similarities) between a big city American capitalist and small town Scottish villagers. ~ AllMovie
Life-affirming and often laugh-out-loud funny, this is feel-good movie-making par excellence. ~ Empire
When is a rockumentary better than a biography? Francis Whately has created an unsurpassable trilogy of feature-length bio-docs, profiling the life of his subject. ~ Telegraph
The third film in Whately's Bowie trilogy, after David Bowie: Five Years and David Bowie: The Last Five Years is by far the most intriguing. ~ Financial Times
An affectionate portrait of how a singer ‘devoid of personality’ became Ziggy Stardust. ~ The i
Any reality-show wannabe who expects instant fame and fortune after spending ten minutes on Towie should be forced to watch Francis Whately's exceptional documentary.~ The Times
Pitched somewhere between The School of Rock and Full Metal Jacket (Full Metal Racket, perchance), this blisteringly told tale of an aspiring jazz drummer and his bullying mentor is a hugely entertaining, refreshingly subversive take on the well-worn "inspirational teacher" theme. ~ Radio Times
Sum up the plot and it sounds interminable. Watch the film and it will spit you out elated, exhausted and cheering for an encore. ~ Empire
The chances of a heart attack or spontaneous combustion during viewing are high. ~ The Times
Edgar Wright's infectious car-chase thriller will make you believe in magic. ~ The Telegraph
A hit of speed and cartoonish amusement, smoothly chauffeured on to the screen by the man behind Hot Fuzz. ~ The Times
An awe-inspiring piece of filmmaking that plays out as a musical through the lens of an action thriller. Sweet, funny and utterly original — you won’t see a film like it this year. ~ Empire
This high-revving thrill ride about a music-obsessed teenage getaway driver is a terrifically stylish piece of work with a banging soundtrack. ~ The Guardian
The songs are not merely background, but note-by-note choreography for the car chases and shoot-outs, and the retro soundtrack includes hits from Queen, T Rex, the Damned, and — of course — Simon and Garfunkel’s Baby Driver. ~ The Times
As for that “one killer track”, Queen fetishist Wright brilliantly turns to Brighton Rock to provide battling guitar accompaniment to a multistorey showdown of head-banging elegance. ~ The Observer
It's a triumph. It's as lightweight as a soufflé, yet as solid as a Ferrari. And it interweaves the inner and outer lives of its hero lightly but with real perception. ~ Financial Times
Calling any new film a “future cult classic” feels a bit off. After all, that kind of fanbase is meant to grow organically as movie buffs pore over key scenes and turn dialogue into memes. But this dazzling action flick is destined to be obsessed over long after it’s left cinemas. ~ NME
Heat packs more into one cop movie than the entire genre output of the last five years. It is a big film with big themes, and if it never quite makes the profundity it so hungrily seeks, it still goes straight to the head of the list of essential viewing. You've rarely had it so good. ~ Empire
Heat isn't only Michael Mann's peerless lesson in how to make clusters of concrete and glass look beautiful, it's also an eloquent study of loyalty, commitment and good guy/ bad guy duality. ~ Total Film
The most purely horrifying horror movie ever made. ~ Empire
Fans of today's gore-and-guts shockers may be surprised to learn that this notorious shocker is among the least bloody of modern horror films. But looks can be deceiving. It still packs quite a punch, and may well be the scariest film ever made. ~ AllMovie
Time has not dimmed the shock value of this seminal classic from director Tobe Hooper that's based on the same real-life case that inspired Psycho. This scream-filled chiller, which was finally granted a certificate from the British Board of Film Classification for its 25th anniversary re-release, tells the story of five unfortunate Texas teenagers who come across a demented family of murderous cannibals. ~ Radio Times
A first-class piece of sweat-inducing cinema. Morally retrograde it may be, but then so are nightmares. The point is that this one, though often crude and raw, really leads the imagination. What also works in its favour is that it doesn't pretend to do anything more than scare the pants off you. ~ The Observer
Hooper's unrelenting assault on the senses is one of the most streamlined, sadistic horror movies ever made. ~ Total Film
Chinese master Zhang Yimou's first foray into wuxia (swordplay martial arts) will inevitably invite comparisons with Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but Hero could be judged as superior on a number of levels. ~ Radio Times
You'll be hard pressed to find anything as visually dazzling as this in cinemas ever. ~ Empire
This is one of the finest films about innocence ever made, a perfect picture of a time when the cinema was the only source of laughter and joy. ~ Sunday Times
It's a movie about movies for absolutely anyone who loves movies. ~ Total Film
Winner of the 1990 Oscar for best foreign language film, this is both an unashamedly sentimental rite-of-passage picture and a charming reminder of the lost magic of cinema-going. ~ Radio Times
Breaking through anti-arthouse prejudice with its simple love of cinema, this is worth a look even for those who can't stand foreign films. And then there's the exhilarating kiss-clip finale. ~ Empire
A modern rarity: an adventure thriller which proves that science fiction can tell us as much about the world we live in as any social documentary.~ The Telegraph
The brilliant feature film debut from South African Neill Blomkamp is a towering achievement. A thundering blitzkrieg of seat-rattling entertainment with a sociopolitical message; a cerebral sci-fi and apartheid allegory that is as heavily armed with provocative ideas as it is with armour-piercing, tank-splattering torpedoes. ~ The Times
This is smart, silky, sensitive, and funny old-school movie magic.~ Empire
Jason Reitman's film is so ambitious you can't shake the feeling he's trying to create "The Great American Movie," a summation of where we are right now. Up in the Air is so truthful, poignant, and entertaining, so assured with its adherence to classical Hollywood structure, that he just might have pulled it off.~ AllMovie
This tender but unflinching examination of the tension between individual happiness and family obligation neatly condenses a large ensemble, a lengthy backstory and a lot of subtext into two delightfully cinematic hours.~ AllMovie
With a young Leonardo DiCaprio nominated for an Oscar after his breakthrough performance here, it was clear he would go on to be a successful actor. Johnny Depp puts in a reliable performance as the put-upon son who finds solace in the company of waitress, Juliette Lewis. All three deliver memorable performances along with a strong supporting cast.~ Empire
Jack Black amps it up to 11 and keeps the energy pulsing throughout in this fun and funky kids' comedy from Richard Linklater, the director who brought you Dazed And Confused.~ BBC
More satisfying than a crunching power chord. A raucous crowd pleaser with a pumping soundtrack, some awe inspiringly talented kids, and perfect comic performances. Charming.~ Empire
Rock 'n' roll purists may lament the inevitable absence of the sex 'n' drugs components, but this is expertly crafted escapism and a near perfect family movie.~ Radio Times
This raw, intense animation from veteran Polish director Mariusz Wilczyński is a fiercely miserable fable that mixes realism with a kind of dreamlike sleep-talking. It is rough, fragmented, angry, often brilliant with its own kind of aesthetic brusquery and paingaunt beauty amid the smoky smudge of memory; gaunt beauty amid the smoky smudge of memory.~ The Guardian
An absorbing treatment of an intriguing subject, Robert De Niro and Robin Williams star in this powerful dramatisation of neurologist Oliver Sacks's book, based on his real-life success in "awakening" patients who had been trapped in a comatose state for over 30 years after contracting sleeping sickness in the 1920s.~ Radio Times
