Aussie streaming service, Stan, has a fantastic library of movies to watch. Our On TV Tonight reviewers tell us their favourite movies on Stan right now!
THE WHALE
Why you should watch: Brendan Fraser won the 2023 Oscar for Best Actor for his dramatic role as couchbound Charlie, an online writing instructor living with chronic obesity, scarred by the profound wounds of grief and guilt, who now has a crystal-clear view of his secret intentions. Confined to his claustrophobic and musty apartment, Charlie has all the time in the world to contemplate the damaging faults of the past, fatherhood, and reconciliation. Because, more than anything, flawed Charlie longs for communication and reconnection. After all, he hasn’t spoken to his estranged, angry teenage daughter Ellie in years. This is a film about redemption in the end. Surprisingly, it is a film that does live up to all the hype surrounding it.
Director: DARREN ARONOFSKY
Cast: BRENDAN FRASER, SADIE FINK, TY SIMPKINS, HONG CHAU, SAMANTHA MORTON, SATHYA SRIDHARAN
THE GIVER
Why you should watch: Could one live in a world without colour, love or compassion? That’s not one I would wish to inhabit. In Phillip Noyce’s sci-fi drama Jonas lives in a seemingly perfect community without war, pain, suffering, differences, or choices until he is chosen to be a Receiver of Memories. Through an elder he sees memories of the past world, of joy, pain, and love. As Jonas receives these memories, he decides that all must re-learn to see colour, feel pain, and show and receive love, and Jonas becomes public enemy number one. An interesting film, I must say. It’s not perfect by any means but does give one food for thought.
Director: PHILLIP NOYCE
Cast: BRENTON THWAITES, JEFF BRIDGES, MERYL STREEP, TAYLOR SWIFT, ALEXANDER SKARSGARD, KATIE HOLMES
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
Why you should watch: I must admit that the last time I encountered Mission: Impossible was the 1966 TV version with Peter Graves and Martin Landau. But with the release of the latest Tom Cruise starring vehicle, I decided to take a look from the beginning. Stan has a number of these films to binge. Brian De Palma directs an explosive, action, stunt-filled epic where American agent Ethan Hunt who is under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organisation. It’s definitely a wild ride, with a talented cast attached. However, it did garner a Razzie for Worst Script!
Director: BRIAN DE PALMA
Cast: TOM CRUISE, JON VOIGHT, EMMANUELLE BEART, HENRY CZERNY, JEAN RENO, VING RHAMES, VANESSA REDGRAVE
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II
Why you should watch: I knew so little about the second film is the series, that I didn’t know it was filmed in the city of Sydney, Australia! Lots of familiar settings in this one. It’s yet another scenario for Hunt to save the world. Chimera is a deadly virus that will bear a grisly death unless you are given the antidote. The creator of Chimera is murdered, and the antidote is stolen by a disavowed I.M.F. Agent, Sean Ambrose. Enter Ethan Hunt and the beautiful Nyah Hall, who had a past dalliance with Ambrose. Their mission is to send Hall undercover to Ambrose and learn what she can for Hunt to bring down Chimera. More Razzie Awards followed for this one with Worst Remake, and Worst Supporting Actress for Thandiwe Newton, which is a bit harsh, but, yes, it wasn’t one of her best. Still, there’s a top director in John Woo, and lots of talented actors attached.
Director: JOHN WOO
Cast: TOM CRUISE, DOUGRAY SCOTT, THANDIWE NEWTON, VING RHAMES, RICHARD ROXBURGH, JOHN POLSON, BRENDAN GLEESON
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III
Why you should watch: On to No. 3, which, I must say, once again has a top director in J.J. Abrams, and a top-notch cast attached. Owen Davian kills an IMF agent that was sent undercover by the legendary Ethan Hunt, who has retired from combat missions. But he is assigned one last mission, to capture Davian, who is selling a toxic weapon called the rabbits foot. However, this mission is personal, putting Ethan’s fiancé Julia in grave danger. This film did a little better by not being awarded any Razzies. That’s the last of my Mission watching, I choose to abort my mission here, but you can binge on and on if you so desire.
Director: J.J. ABRAMS
Cast: TOM CRUISE, MICHELLE MONAGHAN, VING RHAMES, PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, BILLY CRUDUP, JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS, KERI RUSSELL, MAGGIE Q, SIMON PEGG, EDDIE MARSAN
INSOMNIA
Why you should watch: As Christopher Nolan is the man of the moment with the release of Oppenheimer, it’s an opportune time to delve into Stan’s vault and revisit one of his best, starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams who are also at their best here. In Nightmute, Alaska, 17-year-old resident Kay Connell is found murdered. As a favour to the local Nightmute police chief, two Los Angeles Robbery Homicide police detectives, Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart, are called in to assist in the investigation. Dormer begins a relationship with the murderer, keeping secrets for each individual’s benefit. But young local detective, Ellie Burr, begins to piece the story together on her own. An excellent film with the opportunity to see Robin Williams in a serious role.
Director: CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
Cast: AL PACINO, ROBIN WILLIAMS, HILARY SWANK, MARTIN DONOVAN, PAUL DOOLEY, LARRY HOLDEN, MAURA TIERNEY, TASHA SIMMS
THE GHOST WRITER
Why you should watch: There’s intrigue aplenty and some unexpected plot twists in this crime drama from Roman Polanski. Ewan McGregor stars as an unremarkable ghost-writer who has landed a lucrative contract to redact the memoirs of Adam Lang, the former UK Prime Minister. After dominating British politics for years, Lang now lives on an island, in luxurious, isolated premises complete with a security detail and a secretarial staff. Soon, Adam Lang gets embroiled in a major scandal with international ramifications that reveals how far he was ready to go in order to nurture UK’s “special relationship” with the USA. But before this controversy has started, the ghost-writer gets unmistakable signs that the turgid draft he is tasked to put into shape inexplicably constitutes highly sensitive material.
Director: ROMAN POLANSKI
Cast: EWAN MCGREGOR, PIERCE BROSNAN, OLIVIA WILLIAMS, KIM CATTRALL, TOM WILKINSON, ELI WALLACH, JON BERNTHAL
OUR KIND OF TRAITOR
Why you should watch: Staying with Ewan McGregor, he stars here in this John Le Carre spy thriller, with the patriarch of the Skarsgard acting dynasty, Stellan. When Perry and his wife, Gail, cross paths with the charismatic Dima on their Moroccan holiday, the forceful Russian is quick to challenge Perry to a friendly game of tennis. But this innocuous contest is not all it seems. Dima is a long-time servant of the Russian mafia, whose new boss, ‘The Prince’, wants him and his family dead. His only hope is to ask the unsuspecting Perry to broker him sanctuary with the British intelligence services, in return for exposing a vein of corruption that runs right to the heart of the City of London. Great viewing if you’re a lover of the espionage genre.
Director: SUSANNA WHITE
Cast: EWAN MCGREGOR, STELLAN SKARSGARD, NAOMIE HARRIS, DAMIAN LEWIS, ALICIA VON RITTBERG, SASKIA REEVES, MARK GATISS
KILL THE MESSENGER
Why you should watch: Based on a true story, it’s interesting to see Jeremy Renner step out of the Avengers, to star as journalist Gary Webb. In the mid-1990s, Webb uncovered the CIA’s past role in importing huge amounts of cocaine into the U.S. that was aggressively sold in ghettos across the country to raise money for the Nicaraguan Contras’ rebel army. Despite enormous pressure not to, Webb chose to pursue the story and went public with his evidence, publishing the series “Dark Alliance”. As a result, he experienced a vicious smear campaign fuelled by the CIA. At that point Webb found himself defending his integrity, his family, and his life. One of the disturbing aspects of this story is to see how Webb was pilloried and slandered by other news publishers at the time, basically due to their not having the guts to run the story in the first place and bowing to pressure from the CIA.
Director: MICHAEL CUESTA
Cast: JEREMY RENNER, RAY LIOTTA, ANDY GARCIA, ROSEMARIE DEWITT, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, ROBERT PATRICK, LUCAS HEDGES
SWINGERS
Why you should watch: To lighten things up a bit we turn to this wonderful film, that was the writing debut of Jon Favreau who, as most will know, has gone on to become part of the Marvel Universe. He wrote Swingers as a vehicle for himself and his best mate, Vince Vaughn, who is at his coolest here. They look so young! Favreau is luckless, struggling actor Mike, who is emotionally shattered after losing his girlfriend, but is pushed back into the L.A. social scene via the help of cool, worldly, outgoing actor/buddy Trent. This is essentially a movie about boys doing boy stuff, but I know lots of girls who love this movie. There’s an excellent soundtrack and Favreau is surrounded by a few of his talented mates, which makes this a great viewing.
Director: DOUG LIMAN
Cast: JON FAVREAU, VINCE VAUGHN, HEATHER GRAHAM, RON LIVINGSTON, PATRICK VAN HORN, ALEX DESERT