You may be asking yourself: does Raf ever get tired of combing through all of the streaming services to find us awesome movies to watch?
The answer is obviously an emphatic “no”. Providing my ScreenAge Wasteland pals with movies to revisit or introducing them to new films they otherwise wouldn’t have seen is among my greatest pleasures in life. This month, like every month before, and every month to follow, I spent some time reaching into the depths of Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Hulu, and Paramount Plus to find some worthwhile movies to watch this month.
Netflix: Yesterday (2019)
With news of planned biopics for each of the members of The Beatles, they’ve been top of mind for many, including me. Yesterday does a great job of scratching the Beatles itch, featuring many of the band’s most enjoyable hits. Sure, there’s that bizarre John Lennon scene (I don’t mind it), and the notion that Ed Sheeran is the modern day arbiter for what great songwriting is. But it’s otherwise still a wonderfully pleasant, easily agreeable love story (featuring the always charming Lily James).
FOR FANS OF: A Hard Day’s Night; Bohemian Rhapsody; Across the Universe
Prime Video: The Handmaiden (2016)
Recently on ScreenAge Wasteland’s Canon Podcast, we reviewed Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy and I recommended The Handmaiden as a companion film. That’s because it’s a great film. Whether you’re well versed in Korean cinema and ready for your next hit, or brand new to what the country has to offer, The Handmaiden is sure to blow you away. It’s a thriller unlike any that I’ve seen before. It’s a visually bold and narratively brave treat that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
FOR FANS OF: Oldboy; Saltburn; Basic Instinct
Max: Malcolm X (1992)
This bold, audacious, and lengthy biopic is the pinnacle team-up of long time collaborators Spike Lee and Denzel Washington (side note: I can’t wait to see their upcoming reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low for Apple+). Washington’s performance is among the best in his storied career. A strong argument can be made that he should have won his Oscar for this. He commands the screen as the legendary Civil Rights leader in a way that only can. Lee’s direction is as crisp as it’s ever been. This film in the hands of any other director wouldn’t pack the same necessary punch that it does with Lee’s singular voice.
FOR FANS OF: Selma; Bamboozled; Oppenheimer
Hulu: Triangle of Sadness (2022)
The oddities of Triangle of Sadness is where it finds its best footing. The narrative structure is boldly unconventional. Characters are bizarre and rarely easy to identify with. There’s an extended sequence featuring vomit, and shit spewing out of toilets. There are also pirates, and a big name Hollywood actor makes a brief appearance in a small role. However, the true magic of this movie is it’s ending – an ending I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I first saw it. It’s an absolutely perfect punctuation on a wild movie, utilizing a popular EDM track to haunt and inspire viewers.
FOR FANS OF: The Menu; Snowpiercer; The Square
Paramount Plus: Silence (2016)
Martin Scorsese’s run over the last 15 years or so has been absolutely dynamite. Few directors have four films as good as Wolf of Wall Street, Silence, The Irishman, and Killers of the Flower Moon. The fact that Marty put together that string of bangers in his 70’s and 80’s is absurd. The least well known of the four is Silence, which features the best performance of Andrew Garfield’s career as a Portuguese priest trying to spread the word of god in feudal Japan. The spiritual and human conflict of Silence are as poignant as anything Scorsese has done in his career. The guy is a master of the medium. Silence is proof of that.
FOR FANS OF: The Last Temptation of Christ; Ran; The Last Samurai
Make sure you check out all of these awesome options and let us know what you think. Also, be sure to let us know the best hidden gems you’ve streamed recently. Share in the comments and help us expand the list!
See you next month!
