What’s new on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crave, CBC Gem and Criterion

A weekly round-up of the new movies and TV series on Netflix, Crave, Amazon Prime Video, CBC Gem and Criterion Channel

Before we start with the new arrivals for the first week of 2021, it’s important to note that the end of the year traditionally means the end of many streaming contracts and the beginning of many new ones, so the archival / catalogue content on most platforms is bound to radically change overnight. Some of these changes are announced ahead of time, but some platforms (notably Amazon or Tubi, which is not covered here for lack of original programming) are harder to track. Suffice to say that your well-curated watchlists may take a hit in the new year.

New on Netflix

Nicolas Cage hosts The History of Swear Words (Jan. 5), a six-part Funny or Die production in which a different swear word is explored by Cage, comedians and linguistics experts in a talking-head format reminiscent of something like I Love the ’90s or Girl Code. Although it’ll be nice to see Cage in something comedic and not shot in Bulgaria, my guess is he shot all of these in the same afternoon. Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus host The Minimalists (Jan. 1), a series about throwing out all of your shit and presumably eating Soylent in a 300-square-foot tiny house you bought from Elon Musk. Vanessa Kirby and Shia Labeouf star in Pieces of a Woman (Jan. 7), the English-language debut from Kornel Mundruczo. The drama, which centres on a grief-stricken woman and was partially shot in Montreal, was fairly well-reviewed on the festival circuit. It was considered an awards hopeful for Netflix for a time, but recent accusations of abusive behaviour against Labeouf have pretty much nixed that idea.

As I mentioned above, it’s a big day for the catalogue portion of Netflix. Highlights being added to the service this week include First Man, The Aviator, In the Cut, the first two John Wick films, The Blues Brothers, the entire Mummy series and both of the Ted films.

New on Amazon Prime Video

No original programs are hitting Amazon Prime Video this week, though fans of overwrought expository narration can experience all eight seasons of Dexter again. Notable movies hitting Prime this week include Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900, The Firm, Face/Off, Donnie Brasco, The Last of the Mohicans, The Quick and the Dead, The Truman Show and Wonder Boys.

New on Crave

Crave subscribers can stream the newest season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which begins airing on Jan. 1 at 9:30 p.m. On the same day, you can stream Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island starring Pete Davidson as well as Nisha Ganatra’s The High Note, a music industry dramedy starring Dakota Johnson and Tracee Ellis Ross. On Jan. 4, you can begin streaming 30 Coins, a horror anthology series from cult Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia (Perdita Durango, Witching & Bitching). Adam Beach and Nathaniel Arcand star in Monkey Beach, an adaptation of the novel of the same name from Eden Robinson (Trickster) which hits the service on Jan. 6.

New on CBC Gem

Season 2 of the hit British show Call the Midwife is available to stream as of today. It’s the only thing hitting CBC Gem, who are presumably saving their breath for the rest of the month.

New on Criterion Channel

Criterion Channel has the exclusive streaming premiere of The Ghost of Peter Sellers, in which Peter Medak revisits the disastrous aborted shoot of Ghost in the Noonday Sun, a Sellers-starring pirate movie he directed some 40 years ago. It’s accompanied by a 10-film retrospective of the work of Sellers, from 1955’s The Ladykillers and to the little-seen 1973 family film The Optimists. To further complement the release of Medak’s documentary, you can also stream his most highly acclaimed film, 1972’s Palme d’Or-nominated The Ruling Class starring Peter O’Toole. Other highlights include Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding (Jan. 6), Fritz Lang’s Ministry of Fear (Jan. 7) and Isaac Julien’s Frantz Fanon: White Skin Black Mask. ■

See what’s new on Netflix Canada here.

For what’s new on Crave, click here.

Find out what’s new on Amazon Prime Video here.

For what’s new on CBC Gem, click here.

See what’s new on Criterion Channel here.

For more film and TV coverage, please visit the Film & TV section.

A weekly round-up of the new movies and TV series on Netflix, Crave, Amazon Prime Video, CBC Gem and Criterion Channel