The Best Movies Streaming Right Now: The Many Saints Of Newark, Titanic, Capricorn One, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Mask Of Zorro
(Welcome to Now Stream This, a weekly column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.)
Welcome back to Now Stream This, the weekly streaming column that wants to solve the eternal question: "What the hell should I watch tonight?" Every weekend, I'm here to give you some suggestions, because I want you to enjoy the wonderful world of streaming movies. In this edition, we have a prequel to a classic TV show, a big sweeping romance from Jim Cameron, a vampire hang-out movie, a sexy blockbuster, and a movie where NASA is evil.
The Many Saints of Newark
Now Streaming on HBO Max
Release Date: 2021
Genre: Mob Drama
Director: Alan Taylor
Cast: Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Michael Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga, An "r" that looks like a gun
"The Sopranos" gets the prequel treatment with "The Many Saints of Newark." This crime saga takes us back to Newark in the late '60s and early '70s, and introduces us to Dickie Moltisanti (a great Alessandro Nivola), the guy who served as a mentor and father-figure to young Tony Soprano (played by Michael Gandolfini, doing a brilliant and often eerie interpretation of the character his late father made famous). Dickie thinks of himself as a good guy who tries to do good things, but his violent temper and sociopathic tendencies keep getting in the way. This film will play well with "Sopranos" fans, but it's also a solid enough drama that it will work if you've somehow never seen the show.
For fans of: The Sopranos, GoodFellas, lots of wigs and fake noses.
Titanic
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 1997
Genre: Romance, but with a big ship! (Of course, the biggest ship of all is a relationship)
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton, That one dude who says he can "smell ice"
Hell yes, let's all admit it, "Titanic" rules. James Cameron's big sweeping romantic movie was a huge deal – it cleaned up at the box office and won tons of Oscars. However, I'll admit that I went through a period where I didn't want to admit I liked the movie. It was beneath me, somehow. Or so I thought. Then I grew the hell up and realized I was being silly, because this is a damn good movie. Not only is it a technical marvel full of still-great special effects and production design, but it's a captivating story. Is it all a bit simplistic? And is James Cameron cribbing from other works for his story? Sure, but that doesn't make "Titanic" any less enjoyable. So come aboard the film that features a lowly poor person (Leonardo DiCaprio) falling in love with a rich lady with a giant hat (Kate Winslet).
For fans of: A Night to Remember, Legends of the Fall, watching Kate Winslet spit.
Capricorn One
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 1978
Genre: Thriller
Director: Peter Hyams
Cast: Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook, and, uh, well, this is awkward, O.J. Simpson
This thrilling little bit of paranoia asks a very important question: what if the folks at NASA were evil? In "Capricorn One," a team of astronauts are about to blast off to Mars. However, at the last minute, a problem is detected with the life support system and the astronauts are asked to leave the ship. However, the mission still continues, with the spacecraft headed off on its own, automated. The reason: NASA thinks that if they canceled the mission, the government would cut their funding. They plan to dupe the public into thinking the mission went according to plan while the astronauts hide out on Earth. However this plan backfires in a big, big way when the spacecraft ends up exploding upon re-entry – something the entire world is very aware of. Now NASA is faced with a crisis: they can either admit that they faked the whole thing and that the astronauts are alive and well, or they can straight-up murder the astronauts and continue with the cover-up. NASA opts for the latter, deadlier option – and the astronauts flee for their lives. Also, here's the cherry on top: the real NASA helped out with this movie. That's right, the folks at NASA read a script that depicted them as murderous villains, and said, "Sure, let's do this." Anyway, what follows is a big chase movie, featuring one of the most thrilling air chases I've ever seen. One of the astronauts tries to get away in a crop-duster, leading to a sequence where helicopters chase the small plane all through several canyons. They used a real plane with a real pilot for this sequence, and the stunt work is so jaw-droppingly crazy that it made me feel like I was going to throw up. It's amazing no one got hurt.
For fans of: Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, the uncomfortable film roles of O.J. Simpson.
Only Lovers Left Alive
Now Streaming on The Criterion Channel
Release Date: 2013
Genre: Vampire Romance
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi, John Hurt, Lots of long hair
A tragically hip vampire film, "Only Lovers Left Alive" features two of the most believable vampire actors ever: Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. They're ancient vampire lovers dealing with the modern world, and also dealing with Swinton's messy, bratty younger sister, another vampire, played by Mia Wasikowska. This is a Jim Jarmusch movie, which means the plot is secondary and everything is very shaggy and laid-back, and that's all part of the charm. If you're looking for traditional vampire frights here, you're out of luck. But if you're looking for very cool bloodsuckers who lounge around all day strumming guitars and sucking on blood popsicles, you're in for a good time.
For fans of: Dead Man, The Addiction, vampire hang-out movies.
The Mask of Zorro
Now Streaming on Hulu
Release Date: 1998
Genre: Action-Adventure
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stuart Wilson, Matt Letscher, Lots of sex appeal
Once upon a time, Hollywood blockbusters based on existing IP could be fun and sexy! Not anymore, though. Everything now is bland and gray and designed to sell theme park tickets. But back in the day, we got movies like "The Mask of Zorro," an incredibly entertaining adventure pic that asked, "What if we made a new Zorro movie and it was sexy as hell?" Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are both hot as heck here, burning up the screen, fighting with swords, and smooching. Really, what more do you need? In this new take on Zorro, the original Zorro – played by Anthony Hopkins – gets locked away in a dungeon for years. Eventually, he busts out and decides to train a new Zorro. He finds his potential student in the form of a smelly, unshaven thief, played by Antonio Banderas. Eventually, Banderas cleans up nice and starts training to be Zorro. It's crazy fun, and it's a shame the sequel – "The Legend of Zorro" – is kind of a dud. Oh well, we'll always have this one.
For fans of: The Mummy, Indiana Jones movies, hot people using swords.