Your Week In Streaming, Movies And TV: From Normal People To Hugo Weaving’s Latest Movie

What’s streaming…

We mentioned Normal People last week but this show has since taken off to the point where it’s now pretty much the only show anyone is talking about. You can tell a series is popular when people start buying what the stars are wearing and this has been happening, big time.

The male lead, Connell Waldron, wears a linked silver chain and this type of chain has now become wildly popular with sales of this type of chain increasing by 200 per cent on eBay.

The chain even has its own Instagram account now – called connellschain – and at the time of publishing this story, the account has 55.4K followers but this figure is on the rise. So we guess it’s safe to assume a whole lot of people are tuning in to watch this show.

All this fanfare aside, the show is actually riveting viewing and it’s been praised by many for revealing a different side to what it’s like when you’re dating these days. It’s all about teenage love and the show is an adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling book of the same name.

Treat yourself if you’re one of the few people around who haven’t seen Normal People already but be forewarned, the show does feature a lot of sexual action. Oh and yes, you better go out and buy a chain right now…

Normal People is streaming on Stan now.

It’s about time for some laughs

Stan is coming up with some good material and opening tonight is the Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival – a series which pokes fun at what our lives have been like in lockdown via some of the best comedians we have in Australia.

Each of the four episodes shows at least six different comedians performing short standup comedy spots, captured by cameras delivered to their homes.

Comedian’s taking part include: Wil Anderson,Cal Wilson, Nazeem Hussain, Dave Hughes, Zoe Coombs Marr, Tommy Little, Geraldine Hickey, Dilruk Jayasinha, Steph Tisdell, Aaron Chen, Sam Campbell, Michelle Brasier, Nath Valvo,Tom Ballard, Randy Feltface, Claire Hooper, Becky Lucas, Sam Taunton, Nikki Britton, Demi Lardner and Tom Walker.

This all comes about after the cancellation of many of our biggest comedy events including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival so we have Stan to thank for keeping comedy alive.

The Stan Original Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival premieres tonight, Saturday, 9 May at 7pm. It’s a four part series and each week a new one will be streamed.

Game of Thrones still exclusively on Foxtel

News is that this week Foxtel won a bidding war with Stan to hold onto the exclusive Australian rights for HBO content. This is a big win for Foxtel because it means you can’t watch HBO content anywhere else in Australia – so shows like Game of Thrones, Big Little Lies and Chernobyl are all still exclusively on Foxtel and Foxtel NOW.

Not content with that, Foxtel is also rumoured to be entering the streaming market with a new service, possibly called Binge. Foxtel boss, Patrick Delany, confirmed the new service will launch within six weeks when he spoke to The Australian this week. So stay tuned on this one.

This week in movies?

The latest movie from Hugo Weaving is out on video-on-demand platforms now for your entertainment

Our much-loved and well-known actor, Hugo Weaving, has a new movie out called Hearts and Bones. But because cinemas are closed right now it’s gone straight to video-on-demand platforms like iTunes.

In various interviews, Weaving has said it’s sad because he personally loves going to the cinema, but he’s added he’s very proud of the film and hopes as many people as possible see it.

In the movie, Weaving plays a world-weary photojournalist with a lot of emotional baggage because of all the war zones he’s covered. It’s been reviewed as a very humane and interesting movie and looks like it’s well worth watching.

Hearts and Bones is available to download on all major platforms including iTunes.

Mother’s Day movie marathon

You can settle in and enjoy Mother’s Day at home this weekend with loads of endearing and funny movies being streamed in honour of mothers everywhere.

Foxtel Movies Romance is showing two heart-warming rom coms on Sunday evening with the first being Mama Mia! and the second, Mother’s Day with Jennifer Anniston, Kate Hudson and Julia Roberts.

Or if you want a bit more adventure, try some Mummy mayhem in the afternoon with The Rock in The Scorpion King, followed by Brendon Fraser in The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

All of these movies are showing on Foxtel on Sunday.

This week in TV…

Get some more of Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery when it returns to the ABC on Wednesday nights on 20^th May

Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery returns for its eighth season on Wednesday 20 May 8pm on ABC and then on iview. In this show, Zemiro traverses the country to meet her guests who come from around Australia.

“Little did we know when we were filming this 8th series of Home Delivery that the world would soon be in lockdown,” Zemiro says. “Presenting these shows to an audience now feels a bit more special. I’m so thrilled we can share with you eight brilliant people walking us through their past and reflecting on the future… a future they had no idea would include Coronavirus.”

“There’s a bittersweet quality in watching those musings now,” she adds. “Personally, I’m moved also by my physical closeness to each guest and how that is no longer possible. Our guests come from Science, IT, Politics and more particularly the Arts, an Industry that has become so vital in keeping our spirits alive in this lockdown period. Enjoy.”

The new series kicks off with a trip down memory lane with Australia’s favourite boffin, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, while other guests include, maverick Senator Jacqui Lambie, comedian, social media queen and bushfire heroine Celeste Barber, actor and activist Yael Stone, comedian Craig Reucassel, legendary film director Gillian Armstrong, billionaire software entrepreneur Scott Farquhar and singer-songwriter Casey Donovan.   

In the show, Zemiro takes her guests to visit significant sites from their formative years and they ponder their lives and the paths they have forged so far, sharing personal stories from their childhoods to the present day, giving the viewer a great insight into their lives.

Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery will air on ABC TV on Wednesday 20^th May for a series of 8 weeks and will stream on iview.