New Movies On Demand: ‘Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street,’ ‘Mainstream,’ + More

Life is full of gray areas, but in the two films we’re featuring in this week’s New on VOD post, things are pretty black and white. Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street, is all about the rise of one of the most wholesome shows to be produced for television, Sesame Street. Meanwhile, thinks are a bit darker in Gia Coppola’s new film Mainstream, which examines the sordid behind-the-scenes world of a fictional influencer who lies his way to stardom at any cost. Both films are about, as we say in 2021, content creation, but they revolve around two very different means to that end.

Of course these are just two new titles out of many that are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, and through your cable service this week. There’s also Emilia Clarke’s latest feature Above Suspicion, which is based on the true story of Susan Smith, a busted drug dealer in a down-trodden Kentucky town who cooperates with the Feds and ends up having a deadly affair with one of the agents, played by Jack Huston. Come for Clarke’s southern accent, but stay for Thora Birch’s wig.

Check out what movies are available to buy or rent on demand now!

Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street

Joan Ganz Cooney’s name is not as recognizable as Jim Henson’s, but she is the woman ultimately responsible for Sesame Street‘s existence. Street Gang is the story of how Cooney, Henson, and their collaborators developed the idea for a TV show that was subversive, political, and made for kids. Those of us who will remember the earlier years of Sesame Street will delight in the footage showing classic skits, cast members and guests, but the story of how the show came to be is one of risks and overcoming seeming impossibilities to get this thing on air.

Where to stream Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street

Mainstream

Mainstream is all about the highs and lows of influencer culture. When Frankie (Maya Hawke) and Link (Andrew Garfield) team up to create a social media channel revolving around “No One Special,” featuring Link doing everyday stuff that happens to be slickly produced, their lives and the “No One Special” brand take off. And, as with so much of what’s on the internet, Link himself is not who he truly purports to be. The film is a satire of the type of celebrity found on YouTube and Tik-Tok, but rather than totally skewering it, it actually features some of the biggest personalities to have made a name for themselves on those channels, like Jake Paul and Patrick Starrr.

Where to stream Mainstream

To Rent:

Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street
The Little Things
Mainstream
The Paper Tigers
Initiation (2021)
The Unthinkable
A Ghost Waits
The Pedal Movie
Locked In
In The Earth
A Glitch In The Matrix

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.