Welcome to Stream And Stream Again, a monthly column highlighting films and TV series new to streaming catalogs that are of special interest to The A.V. Club’s staff—and hopefully to you, our readers. Here are three film series (and two bonus films) new to streaming this July.
The Jaws series (July 9, Amazon Prime)
On cable, Jaws (1975) is ubiquitous. But, as of this writing, it’s only available digitally as a rental. That changes on July 9, when Amazon Prime adds the entire Jaws series—including Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3 (1983), and Jaws: The Revenge (1987) as well as the original summer blockbuster itself—to its streaming service. That comes a few days late for a 4th of July Jaws marathon, but you’ve got all summer to watch the filmmaking quality deteriorate before your very eyes with a Jaws marathon. Alcohol recommended, to put you in the only appropriate mindset to experience Jaws: The Revenge.
The Jurassic Park series (Netflix, July 1)
What Jaws is to Generation X, Jurassic Park is to their millennial counterparts. Both franchises were launched by Steven Spielberg blockbusters, they’re both about nature gone amok, and they both—well, they both drop off sharply in quality after their initial game-changing installments. In other words, who needs rollercoasters when you can get that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach by marathoning Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), and Jurassic Park III (2001) on Netflix?
The Dolemite series (July 3, VOD platforms)
In no universe were the Dolemite movies box-office hits, but for a certain type of filmgoer, they’re blockbusters in their own right. Previously only available on DVD and Blu-ray, Rudy Ray Moore’s style-rich, continuity-poor blaxploitation action-comedy Dolemite (1975) makes its VOD debut on July 3 from a new HD restoration. Also debuting on digital is Dolemite sequel The Human Tornado (1976), along with the unrelated, but still crazy fun Disco Godfather (1979), starring Moore as a cop-turned-disco DJ who takes it upon himself to personally rid the streets of a sinister new drug called PCP. Then there’s Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil’s Son-In-Law (1977), in which Moore plays a stand-up comedian who’s murdered, then brought back to life by Satan himself in exchange for marrying his “clock-stoppingly ugly daughter.” Another one best enjoyed with a frosty beverage of your choice.
They’re not part of a series, but two box office flops-turned-cult classics also debut this month on streaming: Jennifer’s Body (2009), a film that almost killed its director’s career upon its release and is begging for critical reappraisal nearly 10 years later, debuts on HBO Go/Now July 1. Clue (1985) debuts on Hulu that same day, just in time for the season where falling asleep in a deck chair—or anywhere outdoors, really—produces the sensation of flames on the side of one’s face.