MUST-WATCH: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical, and a lost horror film enter the Top 10!

By James Mackin

A horror film that was missing for nearly 50 years is one of the latest films to enter the MUST-WATCH Top 10! But will it top the list, or will the film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical clinch that spot? You’ll have to keep reading to find out!


In The Heights

Streaming platform: VOD

This first film is for all the musical lovers, and Lin-Manuel Miranda fans!

In The Heights is the first musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and original star of Hamilton. He produced this film, which is directed by Jon M. Chu (who also directed Crazy Rich Asians). This stars Anthony Ramos (of the newest season of In Treatment) as Usnavi, an undocumented bodega owner in the predominantly Hispanic neighbourhood of Washington Heights in northern Manhattan. He dreams of heading back home to the Dominican Republic, but love, music, and the passion of the Heights might just keep him there. Starring a bunch of Latinx actors including Melissa Barrera (from Vida), Stephanie Beatriz (from Brooklyn Nine-Nine), as well as some non-Latinx actors like Corey Hawkins (from Straight Outta Compton), this is a modern throwback to the good old Hollywood studio musicals!

You can watch this film now on your VOD service of choice now!


To the Ends of the Earth

Streaming platform: VOD

Here’s one for the arthouse crowd!

To the Ends of the Earth is a new film from acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (who directed famous horror films like Pulse and Daguerrotype). This latest film stars Atsuko Maeda (who was one of the members of girl group AKB48) as the host of a travelling tv show filming her latest episode in Uzbekistan. She spends her time heading around the country, searching for a mythical fish, looking for the finest local cuisine, and trying to free captive goats. She also has dreams of being a singer, but her reality keeps bringing her back down.

This film is also available on your VOD service of choice now!


Lupin (Season 1, Part 2)

Streaming platform: Netflix

Assane Diop returns!

The second half of the first season of Lupin is here! It’s the most popular French language show on Netflix, and with a twisty plot like this, how couldn’t it be? These new episodes sees Diop (played by Omar Sy of the Intouchables and X-Men: Days of Future Past), a professional thief who styles himself after the famous character Arsène Lupin getting closer to obtaining his goal of revenge on industrialist Hubert Pellegrini (played by Hervé Pierre from Paul Verhoeven’s upcoming Benedetta). However, Pellegrini is getting closer to discovering ‘Lupin’ as he’s come to be known by the French public.

All 5 episodes of this part are on Netflix!


Kajillionaire

Streaming platform: Crave

If you’re looking for crime in a lowkey tone, here’s the film for you!

Kajillionaire is the latest film from indie darling Miranda July (the director of Me and You and Everyone We Know and the Future). This film stars Evan Rachel Wood (from Westworld) as Old Dolio Dyne, the emotionally stunted daughter of a couple of conmen (played by Richard Jenkins of Step Brothers and Debra Winger of Terms of Endearment). The three of them pull off a bunch of cons together, until one day they meet Melanie (played by Gina Rodriguez of Jane the Virgin). Melanie teams up with them, leaving Old Dolio feeling left out and unloved.

You can check this film out on Crave!


The Amusement Park

Streaming platform: Shudder

And now, a never-before seen film from the 70s to cap off this week’s MUST-WATCH!

This film was commissioned by the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania to showcase the tragedy of elder abuse, and it’s created by George A. Romero. For those who don’t know who he is, he’s a legendary horror director who made one of the first popular zombie films, Night of the Living Dead. The Amusement Park isn’t pure horror, but rather creates horror from aging in America. It stars Lincoln Maazel (who also appeared in Romero’s Martin) as an elderly man who takes a trip to a local amusement park, and suffers a great deal of abuse while others are having fun. This film was thought lost for decades when the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania chose to shelve it, but some hard working film curators found and restored it!

The 53 minute film is available to watch on Shudder now!

680 NEWS’ MUST WATCH TOP 10

10. To the Ends of the Earth – VOD

9. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – VOD

8. The Underground Railroad – Amazon Prime Video

7. Kajillionaire – Crave

6. The Amusement Park – Shudder

5. Bo Burnham: Inside – Netflix

4. Lupin (Season 1, Part 2) – Netflix

3. Loki – Disney+

2. Spiral: From the Book of Saw – VOD

1. In The Heights – VOD

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