May 2024’s Best Streaming Titles: “The Blues Brothers,” “Dark Matter,” “Doctor Who,” “Keanu,” “New Jack City”
A mission from God, sci-fi thrills, new TARDIS adventures, Key and Peele, a ’90s crime epic, 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
Airplane! (May 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.
The Blues Brothers (May 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.
Bottle Rocket (May 1)
1996’s Bottle Rocket may have been Wes Anderson’s first film, but even then, his aesthetic was pretty well-established in this story about a group of hapless would-be thieves whose plans all go awry. Bottle Rocket was also the acting debut for Luke and Owen Wilson, who would become regular members of Anderson’s retinue.
Capote (May 1)
After hearing about the brutal murder of a Kansas family, acclaimed author Truman Capote becomes fascinated by the story, and insists on traveling to Kansas to document it for his next book (which would eventually become In Cold Blood). The late Philip Seymour Hoffman gives a bravura performance as Capote, portraying the author as a charming and talented man who is not above using manipulation to achieve his own selfish goals for fame.
Lone Wolf Mcquade (May 1)
Chuck Norris is J.J. McQuade, a former Marine and Texas Ranger who walks softly and carries a really big gun — which will come in handy when he has to square off against an arms dealer (David Carradine). One of Norris’ most iconic and successful films, especially for its “buried alive” scene, Lone Wolf Mcquade would eventually serve as the inspiration for Walker, Texas Ranger a decade later.
The Night of the Hunter (May 1)
After their mother is wooed by a charismatic preacher, her two young children soon realize that he’s up to no good and only searching for their father’s buried treasure. What follows is a truly remarkable film, filled with chilling performances — especially Robert Mitchum as the evil preacher and Lillian Gish as the children’s only hope — and striking, dreamlike visuals that imbue the film with a fairy tale-ish vibe.