December 2023’s Best Streaming Titles: “Reacher,” “Doctor Who,” “The Matrix,” “The Hunt For Red October,” “Wonder Woman”
Lee Child, the Doctor, Neo, Tom Clancy, Princess Diana of Themyscira, and more.
As Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, et al. add more content, it can be difficult to know what to look for amidst all of the new titles. I’ve compiled a list of particularly noteworthy and interesting movies and TV shows to add to your streaming queues in the coming month.
Amazon Prime Video
The Magnificent Seven (Dec 1)
Directed by John Sturges and inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven follows a motley group of seven gunfighters who are hired to protect the small Mexican village of Calvera from a gang of vicious bandits. Although a remake, Sturges’ film has been widely praised for its own merits, and is considered one of the greatest Westerns of all time. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it boasts a star-studded cast that includes Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and Eli Wallach.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Dec 1)
John and Jane Smith look like your typical suburban couple. But in reality, they’re contract killers working for rival organizations who have been tasked with killing each other. Will they be able to take each other down, or will their marriage get that old spark reignited? Directed by Doug Liman and starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as the titular assassins, Mr. & Mrs. Smith was a huge box office hit when it was released in 2005. Amazon is currently set to release a TV reboot starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine; it will be released in February 2024.
Asteroid City (Dec 12)
Wes Anderson’s latest film is set in the 1950s, and as is his wont, blends several highly stylized layers of narrative around extraterrestrials and UFOs in the American Southwest. And of course, as is Anderson’s wont, Asteroid City features many of his usual players, including Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, and Willem Dafoe alongside Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, and Bryan Cranston (to name but a few).
Reacher, Season Two (Dec 15)
Reacher’s first season was a total guilty pleasure; sometimes, you just want to see a beefy hero punch bad guys in the face without any qualms. Based on Lee Child’s novels, the Amazon original stars Alan Ritchson as a former military cop who now travels the country as a drifter who gets into various adventures along the way. In season two, Reacher investigates a series of mysterious deaths involving members of his former military unit. I think it’s safe to say that said investigation ultimately leads to a lot of bad guys getting punched in the face.