Newflix is our weekly look at notable new titles available on online streaming sites.

Nightcrawler (2014)
Directed by Dan Gilroy
$4.99 to rent on Amazon, $14.99 to buy
In his review of the film, Scott Tobias described Nightcrawler as “a case study in sociopathic initiative,” one “powered by a Jake Gyllenhaal performance that strips the varnish off the sweet, smiling, ingratiating persona that made him a star.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, Tobias! The film follows Gyllenhaal's Lou Bloom, an amalgam of self-help books and sociopathy who oozes ruthless ambition and, at first, has no real outlet for it. He starts the movie off as a petty thief, selling off stolen scrap metal and bikes, and soon turns his attentions to “nightcrawling,” finding human detritus instead, filming graphic scenes of Los Angeles car crashes, murders, carjackings, and robberies to sell to local news stations. Even during moments when the movie itself falters, becoming overly concerned with sharpening its moral message, Gyllenhaal is fantastic, a haunting antihero reminiscent of Patrick Bateman or Travis Bickle, all bug eyes and chilling grins that pull his skin taut against his bones. Watching it again, his lack of an Oscar nom is all the more confusing.

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Directed by Mike Figgis
Free for Netflix subscribers on Netflix streaming
The bleak story of Leaving Las Vegas—alcoholic loses job, moves to Vegas to drink himself to death, and falls in love with a prostitute who can’t save him—almost crosses the line into maudlin. But Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue sell the shit out of this story. This is classic Cage, deep in his role, completely disappearing into it. There’s no self-parody, accidental or otherwise, in his Ben. And Shue is equally stunning as a Sera, a woman who’s tired of being alone, who lies to herself about the state of her own life, who understands and accepts Ben’s decision to die, and who devotes herself to him otherwise. As Roger Ebert put it, “Leaving Las Vegas is not a love story...[it’s] about two desperate people using love as a form of prayer and a last resort against their pain.”

Ordinary People (1980)
Directed by Robert Redford
Free for Amazon Prime subscribers, $2.99 to rent
Robert Redford’s directorial debut and a four-time Oscar winner, Ordinary People is a peek behind the facade of the “perfect” middle-class suburban family. Timothy Hutton plays Conrad, a teen who can’t get over the tragic and premature death of his brother in a boating accident. He spends much of the film in therapy—this was one of the first movies to engage with therapy so sensitively and honestly—trying to work past his recent suicide attempt, stemming from the belief that he should have been killed instead of his brother. His parents (Donald Sutherland and a fantastic Mary Tyler Moore), particularly his mother, don’t know how to deal with Conrad or their own grief, and the family’s situation spirals out of everyone’s control. Several decades later, Ordinary People doesn’t hold up quite as well or hit as hard emotionally—there’ve been stronger movies about shattered, dysfunctional families, deep grief, and mental health made since—but there are well-drawn characters here, and sharp, engaging performances from Hutton, Sutherland, Moore, and Elizabeth McGovern as Conrad’s love interest.

In A World (2013)
Directed by Lake Bell
Free for Amazon Prime subscribers, $2.99 to rent
In A World is a deceptively simple movie. It follows director and writer Lake Bell as Carol, a voice coach who wants to hit it big as a voiceover artist for movie trailers. The most significant roadblock in her way? Her dad, Sam (Fred Melamed), who’s cornered the voiceover market for years and isn’t ready to hand over the chords. A large part of Sam’s reluctance to support Carol hinges on her femininity, and it soon becomes clear much of the male-dominated voiceover industry—including Sam’s protege, Gustav (Ken Marino), with whom Carol has a brief fling—feels the same way. On its surface, In A World is a low-key, charming, and sharp comedy, one that sheds light on an industry that’s rarely, if ever, been represented on screen. But ultimately, it’s about Hollywood’s inherent gender biases, and about cultural expectations unduly placed on women. Bell’s point is clearest in a late scene, when she leads a class teaching women how to stop speaking like “sexy babies.”

Also new to streaming: Play pool with Paul Newman in The Hustler (Amazon Prime)…Dustin Hoffman’s in a dress in Tootsie (Amazon Prime)…Fall in love with Laika’s latest, The Boxtrolls ($4.99 to rent on Amazon)…Feel free to disagree with Scott Tobias about Birdman ($12.99 to buy on Amazon)…And feel free to disagree with me about St. Vincent ($12.99 to buy on Amazon)…Take a ride with Ryan Gosling in Drive (Free on Crackle)…Get your Gwyneth fix with Proof (Netflix streaming)…Ty Burrell and Stephen Colbert voice-act in Mr. Peabody & Sherman (Netflix streaming)…Save the world with Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element (Amazon Prime)…Learn Will Smith’s moves in Hitch (Amazon Prime)…It’s Ali Larter vs. Beyonce in Obsessed (Free on Crackle)…Reese Witherspoon comes of age in The Man In The Moon (Hulu Plus)…Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine romance each other in Elsa & Fred (Netflix streaming)