January 2024’s Best Streaming Titles: “Pulp Fiction,” “Masters of the Air,” “Godzilla,” “Dr. Strangelove,” “John Wick”
Quentin Tarantino, WW2 drama, the king of monsters, precious bodily fluids, Keanu Reeves, 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 newly added titles. Every month, I compile a list of particularly noteworthy and interesting movies and TV shows to add to your streaming queues.
Amazon Prime Video
Airplane! (Jan 1)
What remains to be said about this, one of the greatest comedies of all time? Its near-endless supply of sight gags, absurdities, cameos, and slapstick humor is something for the ages. From Robert Stack’s battle with a bunch of Hare Krishnas to Lloyd Bridges’ glue-sniffing, from the epic disco battle to the jive translation, Airplane! has everything you could possibly want in a movie, and then some.
Mad Max (Jan 1)
In the near future, Australia is a wasteland filled with roving motorcycle gangs. Law and order is maintained by the highway patrol, but just barely. Max Rockatansky is the patrol’s top officer, but when his family’s threatened by one of the gangs, he tosses aside the law for a rampage of revenge. Filmed in 1979 for a few hundred thousand dollars, Mad Max held the Guinness record for the world’s most profitable film — and helped reinvigorate Australia’s film industry. More importantly, though, it launched one of the most action-packed film franchises of all time.
Mission: Impossible (Jan 1)
Thanks in large part to Tom Cruise’s willingness to risk life and limb, the Mission: Impossible movies have arguably become our best modern action movie franchise (sorry, James Bond). Compared to the franchise’s most recent entry, the first Mission: Impossible movie might seem a bit sedate and underwhelming — but make no mistake, it’s still a solid spy flick in its own right.
No Country for Old Men (Jan 1)
In this harrowing adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, a hunter discovers a bunch of drug money and decides to keep it — which puts him in the sights of a psychotic hitman (Javier Bardem, in a chilling performance). Meanwhile, the only one who might save him is an aging, world-weary sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones, also giving a fantastic performance). No Country for Old Men may not have the quirky humor that the Coen Brothers are best known for — O Brother, Where Art Thou? this most certainly is not — but its depiction of human evil and darkness is captivating and provocative in its own right (read my review).
Pulp Fiction (Jan 1)
I was a college freshman when Pulp Fiction arrived in theaters, and it was everywhere. Tarantino’s twisty, twisted morality play about hitmen, gangsters, drug addicts, boxers, and a mysterious briefcase blew everyone away with its snappy dialog, retro aesthetic, and celebrated performances (including John Travolta in a career-resurrecting performance). In particular, the diner conversation between Jules and Vincent is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.