October 2022’s Best Streaming Titles: “Spectacular Spider-Man,” “Mysterious Benedict Society,” Godzilla, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Spidey, Disney+‘s eccentric family adventure, the Big G himself, the Soggy Bottom Boys, 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. So I’ve compiled a list of particularly noteworthy and interesting movies, TV shows, etc. to add to your streaming queues in the new month.
Amazon Prime Video
Hackers (Oct 1)
Hackers is completely unrealistic in its depiction of computers and technology. And yet, it’s one of the best computer movies ever made because of its over-the-top sense of style and joyful, anarchistic idealism. (I highly recommend reading this oral history of the film’s genesis and production.) Yeah, I can nitpick and mock its depiction of hacking and how computer networks and interfaces work. But secretly, I totally wish all of that stuff really did work (and look) like it does in Hackers.
Source Code (Oct 11)
Colter Stevens has been tasked with preventing a terrorist bombing. To do so, he must relive the last eight minutes before the bombing over and over again. But what begins as a military simulation is slowly revealed to be something much stranger and more disturbing. Directed by Duncan Jones (Mute, Moon) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, and Vera Farmiga, Source Code is a sci-fi thriller with some interesting twists and philosophical ideas.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (Oct 1)
The Universal Soldier films, in which dead soldiers are brought back from the grave for dangerous missions, are far from high art. But Day of Reckoning stands out thanks to its surreal and even nightmarish atmosphere. Scott Adkins stars as a former soldier driven to avenge his family’s murder, only to be drawn into a bigger and stranger conspiracy. The film also stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, who reprised their roles from earlier Universal Soldier films.
The Peripheral, Season One (Oct 21)
Based on William Gibson’s acclaimed sci-fi novel and produced by the folks behind HBO’s Westworld, The Peripheral stars Chloë Grace Moretz as a young woman who uncovers a terrible, earth-shattering revelation lurking in an alternate reality. Given that this is based on a Gibson novel, I’m expecting some trippy albeit dystopic concepts — and what I’ve seen so far from the trailer seems to bear that out.