If you want proof that 2024 is flying by, stop and realize that spring is almost over. The season of flowers, perfume, cheer, and a fresh start is about to end, so you should definitely make the best out of these last weeks. Luckily, there are more than a few movies to enjoy during these last few days of bliss.
The best movies on Amazon Prime include everything from romantic stories, exciting adventures, and a few bittersweet tales. These movies are perfect for the last days of spring, capturing the feeling of bittersweetness for what is ending and excitement for what’s coming. So say goodbye to April showers and pollen with these movies, which will help you go into the summer with a new outlook.
Nicholas Galitzine has become Prime Video’s go-to heartthrob, and the rom-com The Idea of You is his latest collaboration with the streamer. The film stars Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway as Solène, a soon-to-be-40-year-old gallery owner who goes to Coachella and meets 23-year-old pop singer Hayes Campbell (Galitzine). A torrid romance soon follows, but complications surrounding his fame and her life will make things difficult.
The Idea of You is one of the best rom-coms to watch on Prime Video. It focuses generously on Coachella, one of spring’s main events, and features a timeless and feel-good romantic story that’s hard to resist. Its premise is utterly ridiculous, but Michael Showalter’s earnest approach and the electrifying chemistry between Hathaway and Galitzine go a long way to sell it. Flawed but well-meaning, The Idea of You is a great choice for a spring afternoon.
The Idea of You is available to stream on Prime Video.
Oscar-winner and French icon Juliette Binoche stars in Lasse Hallström’s romantic dramedy Chocolat. She plays Vianne, a woman who wanders Europe with her 6-year-old daughter, Anouk, following the North wind. In 1959, they arrive at a fictional French town and open a chocolaterie at the beginning of Lent, attracting curiosity, doubt, and envy from the residents, who slowly begin warming up to her as she influences their lives.
Chocolat features a spectacular cast, including Alfred Molina, Lena Olin, Carrie-Anne Moss, and a scene-stealing Judi Dench. Set during Lent and the subsequent weeks, the film is an ode to the changing power of spring and its ability to inspire change. Binoche is irresistible as Vianne, a role that earned her an Oscar nomination. Chocolat is sweet, charming, and heartwarming, even if a bit formulaic. Alas, like a great-tasting albeit familiar chocolate, the film gets the job done.
Chocolat is available to stream on Prime Video.
Galitzine cements his place as Prime Video’s go-to leading man with another rom-com, the LGBTQ+ love story Red, White & Royal Blue. Based on the bestselling eponymous novel, the film chronicles the romance between Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the president of the United States, and Henry, prince of England.
A love letter to the sort of nonsensical yet sweeping rom-com that popularized in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Red, White & Royal Blue is a love story for the new age. Galitzine and Perez share the type of chemistry rom-coms would kill for, greatly elevating an otherwise silly premise. Red, White & Royal Blue is perfect for any occasion and every month of the year, but why not watch it in spring, when the flowers are in bloom and love is in the air?
Red, White & Royal Blue is available to stream on Prime Video.
Before Anya Taylor-Joy lit up the big screen in George Miller’s Furiosa, she had her breakthrough as a leading lady in Autumn de Wilde’s period romantic comedy Emma. Based on Jane Austen’s seminal classic novel, Emma. follows the titular character, a “handsome, clever, and rich” young woman who enjoys making love matches switch her friends. However, her certainty is challenged by a series of events that even she can’t foresee.
Rising on the strength of an effervescent and commanding Taylor-Joy, Emma. is the perfect period romance for Gen Z. Its colorful, flowery, sunny aesthetic is perfect for the spring months, as it’s the timeless story about the young matchmaker whose ways are far more flawed than she thinks. With a stellar cast that also includes Mia Goth, Johnny Flynn, Josh O’Connor, and Callum Turner and a witty and quirky script, Emma. does Austen proud.
Emma. is available to stream on Prime Video.
Oscar-winners Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon star in the classic baseball rom-com Bull Durham. Costner plays “Crash” Davies, a veteran catcher hired to train rookie but promising pitcher Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). Meanwhile, baseball groupie Annie Savoy (Sarandon) struggles because of her relationship with Nuke and her growing attraction for Crash.
Few things say “spring” as much as baseball, and few films say “baseball” as perfectly as Bull Durham. Costner and Sarandon are explosive together, one of the all-time great ’80s couples: ridiculously attractive, playful, witty, sexy, and cute. Together, they are everything an on-screen couple should be and more, taking an already compelling sports story and elevating it to the next level. Bull Durham is a classic of the sports and rom-com genres, and an evergreen picture that will never grow old.
Bull Durham is available to stream on Prime Video.
China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.
According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?