January 2025’s Best Streaming Titles: Severance, Heat, Interstellar, Wallace & Gromit, Prey
Lumon Industries, Pacino vs. De Niro, black holes, Wensleydale cheese, the Predator, 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.
Apple TV+
Severance, Season Two (Jan 17)
It’s been a long time coming, but the second season of Apple’s acclaimed sci-fi series is finally here. When we last saw the “Innies,” they were on the verge of making some dramatic discoveries concerning their lives outside the walls of the mysterious Lumon Industries. But not everything, or everyone, is as it seems. Severance’s first season was a smash hit — read my review — meaning its cast and crew have set a very high bar for season two.
Amazon Prime Video
Benny & Joon (Jan 1)
I have a soft spot for this movie about a quirky relationship between a Charlie Chaplin-obsessed man and a woman suffering from mental illness (presumably schizophrenia). I watched it countless times in high school with my friends, and it’s all kinds of cute and earnest — so folks prone to cynicism beware. It also popularized The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” which might honestly be a strike against it, depending on how you feel about the song.
The Blues Brothers (Jan 1)
When Jake and Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) learn that their old orphanage needs $5,000 to keep going, they decide to track down the members of their old blues band and put on a show to raise the money. Along the way, they’ll demolish a shopping mall, enrage a country band, take on some Nazis, and cause massive vehicular chaos across the state of Illinois. Arguably one of the best Saturday Night Live films, The Blues Brothers is a true cult classic.
Coffy (Jan 1)
The iconic Pam Grier is Coffy, an ER nurse who uses her feminine wiles to take out the city’s pimps, pushers, and mob bosses to avenge her sister’s death. One of the most famous “Blaxploitation” films, Coffy has garnered acclaim over the years for Grier’s portrayal as a strong, Black female heroine; she would play similar roles in Foxy Brown and Sheba, Baby. Coffy is one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite movies, and he would later cast Grier in 1997’s Jackie Brown.
Edge of Tomorrow (Jan 1)
In this time twisty sci-fi actioner, Tom Cruise plays a disgraced soldier who’s quickly killed while trying to defend Earth from mysterious alien invaders — only to discover that he now relives the same day over and over again. Not only does this allow him to become a super-soldier Groundhog Day-style, but it might also be the key to defeating the aliens once and for all. In the hands of a lesser cast and crew, Edge of Tomorrow’s premise could be ridiculous and boring, but that is most certainly not the case here.