Coming up in May, we’ve got a whole slate of new TV shows and movies head to Amazon Prime, including the fourth season of Boardwalk Empire and the first season of AMC’s critically acclaimed Humans. Check out our featured recommendations, and read on for the full list of new streaming content.
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Year: 1989
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Available: May 1
It’s hard to say what’s more impressive about Steven Soderbergh’s low-budget arrival as a film director: Basically a low-key indie talkie, sex, lies & videotape is as riveting as many thrillers, and filled with little world-building continuity touches that charm and convince. Also, the viewer comes away from the film totally believing Andie McDowell can act. In a time when some paths to indie cred are so well established, it’s easy to forget how important a role Soderbergh and his film had in blazing that path. —Michael Burgin
Age of Adaline
Year: 2015
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Available: May 27
Adaline absolutely succeeds as a Hollywood golden age highlight reel regarding the talent of its titular character’s actress. Sure, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford saw their fair share of celluloid waste, too, and Star Power can indeed generate a lot of heat—but the ingredients need to be worth cooking. Maybe there is, in fact, something inherently valuable in producing a sincere effort of escapism, to transport the audience to a different, less cynical, arguably “better” time.—Scott Wold
99 Homes
Year: 2014
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Available: May 9
Bahrani captures the ugliness and sadness of the outer margins of American society, and he’s assisted by Andrew Garfield, who gives his most barebones performance as this poorly educated, resilient single father. Living with his mother (Laura Dern) and young son in a motel, he swears he’ll get back their house—the one he grew up in—and the surprise comes in how guilt-free he is over his new career, foreclosing on homes…99 Homes stays with you. The agony it depicts and the almost inarticulate rage it expresses are too insistent to shake off. —Tim Grierson
Meet John Doe
Year: 1941
Director: Frank Capra
Available: May 1
Columnist Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) fabricates a “John Doe” letter, in which a depressed man says he’ll commit suicide after becoming so tired of America’s ills. To satisfy the public and appease the critics, the newspaper is forced to hire “Long John” Willoughby (Gary Cooper) to play the real John Doe. He sparks a grass-roots political campaign that eventually gets threatened by a financier (Edward Arnold), who’s looking for his own political gain. One line, delivered by Stanwyck, is especially memorable and is captured expertly by director Frank Capra (“If it’s worth dying for, then it’s worth living for”). —Nathan Spicer
May 1
3 Guys Named Mike
Airplane!
Airplane II: The Sequel
Bargee
Benny and Joon
Best Seller (1987)
Bitter Moon
The Bounty (1984)
Bully
Chinese Box
Code 46
Coming Soon (1999)
Corsair
The Criminal (1962)
Cry Of The Banshee
Diamonds Are Forever
Die Another Day
Dream A Little Dream
Election (1999)
Frankenstein (2004)
Ghost World
Goldfinger
The Heart of the Matter (1953)
Hoodlum (1997)
Le Sauvage (English Subtitled)
Leaving Las Vegas
Live and Let Die
Meet John Doe
Meet Wally Sparks
Men with Brooms
Molly (1951)
Mr. Music
Mystery Team
Never Say Never Again
Nothing But The Night
Octopussy
Pretty Boy Floyd
Racing Scene
The Red Violin
Rock and Roll Revue
The Second Coming of Suzanne
Sex, Lies And Videotape
She’s Having a Baby
Slow Burn (2000)
Southie
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
The Story Of Gilbert and Sullivan
Stranger Who Looks Like Me
The Living Daylights
The Man With the Golden Gun
The Mod Squad
The Spy Who Loved Me
Vice Versa (1988)
When Harry Met Sally
You Only Live Twice
The Young In Heart
May 6
Hot Pursuit (2015)
May 9
99 Homes
May 12
Creative Control (Amazon Original)
May 16
Humans, season 1
Where Hope Grows
May 21
Angry Boys, season 1
Banshee, season 2
Boardwalk Empire, season 4
Empire Falls, season 1
Hunted, season 1
Life’s Too Short, season 1
Lucky Louie, season 1
Mr. Show With Bob and David, seasons 1-4
Strike Back, season 3
Tell Me You Love Me, season 1
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, seasons 1-3
True Blood, season 6
May 27
Age Of Adaline
May 29
Indian Summers, season 1