Happy Friday and welcome back to Smash Cut, the internet’s most consistently inconsistent movie newsletter. If you’re new here I’m your host Karl. Every Thursday I recommend my favorite movies available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, or HBO Max. Think of me of that friend you text on a weeknight when you just poured yourself a bottle of wine and want a movie to cry to. Love, Karl.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by our gorgeous friends at Paramount+. Try Paramount+ free for one week and stream some of my faves like Babylon, Black Bear, Top Gun: Maverick, Scream, and much more.

Today’s movie: Rye Lane ❤️‍🩹

▶︎ Streaming on Hulu

What it’s about: Quiet pushover Don (David Jonsson) and energetic extrovert Yas (Vivian Oparah), two recently-singly twenty-somethings, fatefully meet in an art gallery. What starts as a stroll through their neighborhood Rye Lane turns into a mission to get back at their exes, karaoke jam, and maybe romance? Here’s the trailer.

Why you should watch it: There’s magic in the way that director Raine Allen-Miller portrays the South London neighborhood Rye Lane. It’s a splash of color and music and personalities. As Don and Yas stroll through the neighborhood, much like Jesse and Celine in Vienna in Before Sunrise, there’s something interesting going on in the background. Whether it’s kids playing or a couple arguing there’s life happening around them. Meanwhile, Dom and Yas’ lives are on pause. Their conversation, constantly charming, funny and poignant, challenges both of their beliefs around love and intimacy. With quippy one-liners, hilarious flashbacks, and two nightmare exes, Rye Lane is impossible resist.

🎬 Raine Allen-Miller // 🖊 Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia // 🎭 David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah, Simon Manyonda, Karene Peter, Benjamin Sarpong-Broni, Malcolm Atobrah, Alice Hewkin, Poppy Allen-Quarmby

🍷 Loved Rye Lane or already watched it? Try:

When Harry Met Sally | Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) share a ride from Chicago to New York City where they’re both starting new chapters of their lives. Over the course of their journey they discuss love, sex, and friendship — little do they know that conversation will go on for eleven years. Streaming on HBO Max.

Bonus: Babylon 🎭

▶ Streaming on Paramount+ (Click here to try free for seven days)

What it’s about: Starting in the 1920s silent-era of movies and ending in the 50s Golden Age, Babylon follows a group of dreamers from New Jersey-born aspiring actress Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) and Mexican-American film assistant Manny Torres (Diego Calva) through the rise and fall of silent movies — and the magic (and mess) of Old Hollywood. Here’s the trailer.

Why you should watch it: By the time the title card for Babylon roars onto screen we’ve seen every bodily fluid imaginable—blood, sweat, tears, cum, bile, spit, shit (both human and animal). There’s song, dance, contortion, acrobatics, and an elephant. Welcome to Hollywood circa the late 1920s. The film industry is hitting its stride and dreamers from all over converge to have their hopes crushed and realized. But that’s what all of the films in director Damien Chazelle’s short but prolific filmography are about—people fighting to realize their dreams. As Jean Smart’s character describes Nellie, Babylon is “a confluence of bad taste and pure magic.” Read my full review here.

📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.

A quirky rom-com ❤️ to stream this weekend