Now Stream This: 'Mission: Impossible – Fallout', 'A Simple Favor', 'Climax', 'Vice', 'A Clockwork Orange', And More
(Welcome to Now Stream This, a column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.)
A long holiday weekend is upon us, marking the end of summer. What will you do? Get together with friends for an end-of-summer BBQ? Or stay the hell inside and watch movies? If the answer is the latter (and it really should be; screw going outside), you've come to the right place. These are the best movies streaming right now. Let's get streaming!
Now on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu
Release Date: 2018Genre: ActionDirector: Christopher McQuarrieCast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Kirby
One of the most exciting action movies ever made, Mission: Impossible – Fallout throws on crazy set-piece after another at you as Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt and his IMF team have to try to stop nuclear bombs from going off. Cruise, who is happy to put his life in danger for our entertainment, runs, jumps, and falls his way through one scene to the next. He's backed up by Henry Cavill and his glorious mustache, playing a shady CIA agent. Director Christopher McQuarrie knows just how to ratchet up the tension to create a thrilling, jaw-dropping experience that you won't soon forget.
For fans of: All the other Mission: Impossible movies, heart palpitations.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu
Release Date: 2018Genre: Dark ComedyDirector: Paul FeigCast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Rupert Friend, Jean Smart
If you skipped A Simple Favor in theaters because the trailers looked kind of lame, I'm here to tell you to give this movie a chance. Despite some lackluster marketing, this is a surprisingly fun, twisty, entertaining thriller-comedy. Cut from the same mold as Gone Girl, A Simple Favor involves a mystery involving a missing woman and the twists and turns that surround her. Blake Lively, decked to the nines in some killer outfits, is a mom who seemingly has it all. She's the envy of nerdy mom Anna Kendrick, who soon forms an awkward friendship with Lively. But when Lively goes missing, things start to get weird. Funny, sexy and stylish, A Simple Favor deserves to be discovered by people who ignored it.
For fans of: Gone Girl, martinis.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 2019Genre: Nightmarish Dance MovieDirector: Gaspar NoéCast: Sofia Boutella, Kiddy Smile, Roman Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Claude Gajan, Maull Giselle, Palmer Taylor, Kastle Thea, Carla Schøtt
An absolutely bonkers fever dream of a movie, Climax asks: what would happen if a dance company accidentally took a whole bunch of LSD? The answer, at least according to Climax, is pure anarchy. Nasty, violent, and darkly hilarious, Climax is a movie burning with energy and insanity. I promise you you've never seen anything like this unless you've taken a bunch of LSD and watched Dirty Dancing, Footloose and Step Up back to back, and then started peeling your own skin off.
For fans of: Utter insanity.
Now Streaming on Hulu
Release Date: 2018Genre: Dark Comedy BiopicDirector: Adam McKayCast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Justin Kirk, Tyler Perry, Alison Pill, Lily Rabe, Jesse PlemonsAdam McKay's Vice is one of those movies you either love or hate. Yes, it's blunt. Yes, it's unsubtle. Yes, it's over-the-top. But for me, it works. Christian Bale fully transforms himself into former Vice President Dick Cheney, who is – at least according to this movie – responsible for pretty much every single terrible thing happening right now. Like McKay's The Big Short, Vice is intended to be a wake-up call. A film that practically shouts in your ear: "We are fucked unless people start doing something!" Whatever you think of the film, that's a message worth listening to.For fans of: The Big Short, Dick, prosthetic make-up.
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 1971Genre: DramaDirector: Stanley KubrickCast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Miriam KarlinStanley Kubrick's nasty, controversial portrait of damned, doomed youth has aged into some sort of bizarre curiosity. The film is set in "the future", but feels oddly dated – and yet still as jarring and powerful as ever. Malcolm McDowell is superb as Alex DeLarge, leader of a violent gang of thugs who finds himself locked up and forced to reform. But is he really reformed, or just a diffused time bomb waiting to be activated again? Unsparingly brutal and screaming with style, A Clockwork Orange still has a palpable power.For fans of: Full Metal Jacket, milk bars.
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 1984Genre: Epic Crime DramaDirector: Sergio LeoneCast: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, Treat WilliamsSergio Leone's epic spans almost 5o years and follows the story of David "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro) as he reflects on his past. Noodles was a Jewish gangster, and now, as an old man, he can't help but reflect on his tumultuous past. Once Upon a Time in America is one of those unapologetically long movies – the type that invites you to settle in and get comfortable and go along for the ride.For fans of: Casino, The Godfather, old age make-up.
Now Streaming on the Criterion Channel
Release Date: 1965Genre: Historical DramaDirector: Orson WellesCast: Orson Welles, Keith Baxter, Margaret Rutherford, John Gielgud, Jeanne Moreau, Norman Rodway, Marina Vlady, Fernando Rey
Hey, did you watch the trailer for The King this week? Did it catch your interest? Did you think, "I'd like to know more about that story!" If so, look no further than Orson Welles's Chimes at Midnight. Chimes at Midnight is a kind of prequel to William Shakespeare's Henry IV, but also draws text from Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Here, learn the story of Prince Hal (Keith Baxter) and his days getting drunk with John Falstaff (Orson Welles). Welles struggled to keep this film financed, and in the end, critics shrugged their shoulders at the results. Years later, though, Chimes at Midnight is hailed as one of the best films of Welles's career.
For fans of: Shakespeare, baby!
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 1993Genre: Horror SleazeDirector: Ivan NagyCast: Ted Raimi, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, Richard Schiff
Here it is: the sleaziest, trashiest movie ever made. Skinner has zero redeeming qualities, and I'm still not sure if that's a good or bad thing. This grainy, ghastly, ghoulish nightmare follows a serial killer (Ted Raimi) being tracked by one of his only surviving victims (Traci Lords). Meanwhile, a bored housewife (Ricki Lake) takes Raimi's killer in as a house guest. Filled with gory make-up effects and next to no morals, I promise you that Skinner is in a class of its own. And it's a very, very lower class.
For fans of: Feeling dirty.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime
Release Date: 2005Genre: Legal ThrillerDirector: Brad FurmanCast: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Michael Peña, Bryan Cranston, William H. MacyThe Lincoln Lawyer is really the film that kicked-off The McConaissance. The film that reminded audiences that Matthew McConaughey was actually an excellent actor, even though he'd spent a long time appearing in terrible rom-coms. Here, McConaughey plays Mick Haller, a shady lawyer who operates out of his car. One day, Mick lands the case of his career: defending a rich playboy (Ryan Phillippe) accused of attempted murder. It seems like a perfect opportunity for a big paycheck, but as the case wears on, Mick begins to uncover deeper, darker secrets.For fans of: The Client, The Verdict, handsome lawyers.
Now Streaming on Hulu
Release Date: 2019Genre: HorrorDirector: Josh LoboCast: A. J. Bowen, Scott Poythress, Susan Burke, Jocelin Donahue, Chris Sullivan
What is it about Christmas – and Christmas lights in particular – that's so creepy? Sure, it's the most wonderful time of year and all. And yet, Christmas lends itself perfectly to horror. There's something ominous about colored lights – especially the old school kind, with big fat bulbs – burning bright in cold darkness. I Trapped the Devil gets this, and strings up lights in nearly every scene. In this slow-burn creeper, Matt (A.J. Bowen), and his wife, Karen (Susan Burke), decide to pay an unannounced Christmas visit to Matt's brother Steve (Scott Poythress). They find Steve severely disheveled and the house a mess. But that's just for starters. Steve eventually drops a bombshell: he's managed to capture the devil – we're talking the real devil here, Satan himself – and lock him up in the basement. And sure enough, there is a guy locked up behind a big wooden door down there. The initial reaction is that Steve is clearly nuts and has kidnapped some innocent man. But then things start to get...spooky. Director Josh Lobo does an excellent job of doing so much with so little, and that's my favorite type of horror movie.
For fans of: Black Christmas, The Twilight Zone, acknowledging Christmas is kind of creepy.