‘Coming 2 America’: Feast your eyes on these new movies on Amazon Prime
A few years ago, when streaming services were just getting into the original content game, it felt as if Netflix was hogging the spotlight. Somehow, even though Amazon Studios was producing new movies and showing them on Amazon Prime, the service didn’t seem to get as much recognition as its main competitor.
These days, the playing field is closer to being even and Amazon Prime is constantly updating its catalogue with new movies from Amazon Studios. Amazon Originals may not be released at the same pace as Netflix Originals, but they’re at least getting about as much attention – from audiences & critics.
So what new Amazon Original Movies have been added to Amazon Prime recently? Let’s take a look.
Coming 2 America
Amazon Prime’s biggest 2021 release so far is a sequel over twenty years in the making. Part of the recent Eddie Murphy renaissance that started with 2019’s Dolemite Is My Name, this Coming to America sequel reunites Murphy with past co-stars Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos, and James Earl Jones. New additions to the cast include Wesley Snipes, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones and a myriad of celebrity cameos.
The plot of Coming 2 America deals with Murphy’s Prince Akeem’s discovery that he unknowingly sired a son during the events of the first movie (the logistics are sketchy at best, but let’s try to roll with it). Hilarity ensues when Akeem is tasked with making contact with his son and bringing him to the kingdom of Zamunda so he can become part of the royal family.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
Last year, Hulu had Palm Springs. This year, Amazon Prime has The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, as new time-loop movies continue to show up for streaming. The new Amazon Original is based on a Lev Grossman short story, adapted by Grossman himself and directed by Ian Samuels. The film stars Kathryn Newton & Kyle Allen.
You may be familiar with Grossman’s work if you’re a fan of his book series The Magicians, which was later adapted into a successful TV show. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is another example of the author’s imagination, as two teens trapped in a time-loop use their predicament to create the titular map, thinking it might be their way out. Does romance bloom while they do this? We’re not telling.
Bliss
Nobody would blame you for assuming Bliss is a run-of-the-mill comedy. The poster simply shows us Owen Wilson & Salma Hayek – two actors who’ve been in their share of comedic vehicles – staring directly at us. Look closer, however, and you’ll notice Wilson & Hayek each seem to be split in two. That’s appropriate, since this Amazon Original is actually a sci-fi drama about people living in two different realities.
Mike Cahill’s Bliss continues the filmmaker’s interest in telling low-key high-concept science fiction stories. He did it in 2011 with Another Earth, in 2014 with I Origins, and now Cahill’s back at it with his own take on a concept similar to The Matrix. Are Owen Wilson & Salma Hayek’s characters delusional, or is there really a world beyond this one? You have to watch Bliss to find out.
One Night in Miami . . .
Regina King’s directorial debut has been racking up accolades since critics had a chance to see it at the Venice Film Festival last year. Amazon Prime users had access to the Amazon Original on Christmas Day, and its popularity has continued growing since. One Night in Miami . . . has had a pretty healthy awards season run too – a fact that may entice even more people to watch it.
The film is based on Kemp Powers’s stage play of the same name (Powers was in charge of the adaptation), and follows the events of the titular night, when Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke get together to celebrate Clay’s latest boxing victory. What ensues is a heated discussion about race and a public figure’s responsibility to affect social change. Of course, it was going to get awards!
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Have you seen any new movies on Amazon Prime that you’d recommend to others? Let us know in the comments!
