Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
TIE: 10. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV+ series)
Godzilla Minus One is out there collectively pleasing franchise fans more than any other Godzilla movie in existence, and before that comes to streaming, there is still the rest of this Apple TV+ series starring Kurt and Wyatt Russell, together again after all these years. Actually, the father and son portray the same Army officer, Lee Shaw, who has a special connection to the angry lizard that could help humanity finally rest easy about monsters once and for all. Or at least for a few moments, which ain’t nothing in an action franchise.
TIE: 10. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Doom (Disney movie streaming on Disney+)
Our own Mike Ryan wrote that this film didn’t do so shabby in the de-aging department, and it not only didn’t rest as heavily upon nostalgia as The Crystal Skull but also delivered a more satisfying finale while pulling off a reasonable runtime. James Mangold helmed Harrison Ford’s return to one of his most iconic roles, and the story begins back during World War II. Expect to see the story grounded in reality before things get far less real, fast. This movie embraces that audacity, and in doing so, it goes even further down that path to satisfy the hardcore Indy fans out there.
9. The Killer (Netflix film)
David Fincher swings and does not miss, and this methodical, cold-blooded assassin character is actually a role that Michael Fassbender was meant to embody, ever since he met a quick demise (RIP) in Haywire. This film is also obsessed with The Smiths (you gotta watch to find out), and this ends up being a movie that embodies an unlikely trinity for the ages. Fincher can do both blockbusters and Oscar fare in equal measure, but here, he’s rolling around in pulp and clearly digs what materializes. Although the subject matter is obviously unsettling, Fassbender’s steely bone structure was meant for films of this intensity. Thank you to Quentin Tarantino for making him a household name in the first place.
8. Obliterated (Netflix series)
The Cobra Kai creators (Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg, and Jon Hurwitz) concocted a more adult action/comedy series that takes place in Vegas, where things will not stay in Vegas if an elite special forces team doesn’t properly diffuse a deadly threat. Unfortunately, they believe that they do the job and then proceed get wasted, only to realize that the terrorist threat in question has not been eliminated. Cue the tipsy search for the real nuke — gotta hate it when that happens.
7. Lawmen: Bass Reeves: Season 1 (Paramount+ series)
White dudes are running this streaming list thus far, but here we are with Taylor Sheridan’s presentation of the most legendary Black U.S. Deputy Marshal in history. David Oyelowo portrays the title character, who is a frontier hero of the Post-Reconstruction era and beyond. During Reeves’ tenure, he captured thousands of the most frightening criminals in the land, and Sheridan pays tribute along fellow cast members including Dennis Quaid, Garrett Hedlund, and Donald Sutherland. Will this graduate into a full-on anthology series? Chances are good because everything that Sheridan touches on TV goes cowboy-viral.
6. Fargo (FX series streaming on Hulu)
Finally, this week’s episode delivered a Home Alone payoff that might or might knock Jon Hamm’s nipple rings right off. This series continues to show no shortage of fresh weirdness or inventive names that have been hitting since Molly Solverson brought this world to our TV screens. Jon Hamm loves to get weird, and somehow, that never gets old from the former Don Draper. Get him, Juno Temple.
5. Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures movie for purchase on Amazon Prime)
This movie isn’t yet available as part of a streaming service package, but it’s worth the rental or purchase fee to see Christopher Nolan’s cinematic return to brilliance after the lukewarm (and too-confusing) Tenet. An all-star cast of revolving door MVPs fills out this half of the unofficial Barbenheimer phenomenon, so you can watch Cillian Murphy along with Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon in this never-black-and-white story about the father of the atomic bomb. Actually, it’s worth singing out Alden Ehrenreich as a special MVP who has had a glorious year giving us every onscreen emotion possible in this film as well as Cocaine Bear and Fair Play.
4. Slow Horses (Apple TV+ series)
For sure, Gary Oldman eats plenty and farts too much here, but that’s not the only attraction. This show has had quick turnaround between seasons to keep Mick Herronthe’s series of Slough Horses novels coming at ya. Oldman is a failed spymaster, Jackson Lamb, who leads a gathering of British intelligence f*ck-ups including Olivia Cooke, who simply cannot be in enough TV shows right now. This show is for everyone who’s tired of spies simply being sexy things and wants to see them being utterly human while thrashing around in professional woes filled with dark comedy.
3. Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix series)
The recently revealed winner of this first season (and yes, there will be another) claims that she hasn’t been paid her millions yet, but Netflix must sure be glad that they decided to spend that money. This reality series did not always run smoothly, but that was to be expected, considering the original series’ bleak theme and tone. Viewers remain transfixed by this imitation-reality-show taking a stab at simulating those morbid events with plenty of controversy in the process.
2. Killers Of The Flower Moon (available for rental on Apple TV+)
This modest little flick from Martin Scorsese will eventually be part of the Apple TV+ streaming library, but understandably, this will first take the rental route in your home theater. Enjoy David Grann’s soaring subject matter coming to life with a powerhouse performance from Lily Gladstone and a butt-padded Leonardo DiCaprio. As well, enjoy or dislike Brendan Frasier’s polarizing performance while also absorbing a dark chapter in U.S. history that finally puts the Osage community’s ordeal front and center.
1. May December (Netflix movie)
This might be an Oscar movie for Netflix, even though the subject matter initially seems too tabloid-oriented at first glance. Julianne Moore portrays a character (Gracie) who is based upon Mary Kay Letourneau and is still married to her younger husband (Charles Melton). Their seemingly unending life of domesticity receives a throttling by Natalie Portman’s TV star, who is researching a new role and ends up becoming very personally (and uncomfortably) involved. It’s scandal upon scandal up in this joint.
