The first week of March brings a whole host of new things to look forward to: the slow and safe thawing of winter, the launch of a major new streaming platform in the form of Paramount Plus, and a host of new streaming titles to choose from.
The exclusive streaming premiere of the 2019 feature film debut by experimental filmmaker Matthew Rankin will take place in March The twentieth century, the arrival of the most important new releases in the form of Raya and the last dragon on Disney Plus, along with the return of several cult favorites in the form of Joe Cornishs Attack the block and Mel Brooks’ The young Frankenstein.
Read on for 11 of the best movies new to streaming services this January. There is something for everybody.
Attack the block
Joe Cornish’s 2011 sci-fi horror comedy Attack the block Stars aheadwar of stars Celebrity John Boyega as Moses, the leader of a gang of Ne’er-Do-Wells from a South London city council who is forced to stop a starved hoard of alien monsters from seizing his home. With great support services courtesy of the future Doctor Who Star Jodie Whittaker and Shaun of the DeadNick Frost, Attack the block is a wild ride and the definition of a must-watch. – Toussaint Egan
Attack the block will continue to be streamed Hulu and Amazon Prime.
Back to the Future
Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future is one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. While the trilogy as a whole is widely hailed as one of the greatest of all time (yes, that includes the third one!), You can’t go wrong with a new watch from the original. Michael J. Fox, in his career-defining role, plays Marty McFly, a 17-year-old student who was accidentally sent 30 years back in time using a time-traveling DeLorean that his eccentric scientist friend Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd). -TO
Back to the Future will continue to be streamed Amazon Prime.
Constantine
Keanu Reeves stars in Francis Lawrence’s 2005 paranormal action horror film as John Constantine, a veteran demonologist and exorcist caught in the middle of a proxy war between heaven and hell on earth. When the policewoman Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) comes to Constantine to prove to her that her sister’s mysterious death was not a suicide, the two get caught in a centuries-long conspiracy to unleash Lucifer’s mammon with the spear of fate. -TO
Constantine will continue to be streamed HBO max.
Corpse bride
Tim Burton’s 2005 animated stop-motion musical Corpse bride follows Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), the son of wealthy fishmongers. On the eve of the arranged wedding to his fiancé Victoria (Emily Watson), Victor accidentally marries Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), the partially exhumed corpse of a woman murdered at her own wedding. It’s hilarious, impressively well animated, and an often overlooked entry in Tim Burton’s canon. -TO
Corpse bride will continue to be streamed HBO max.
Demolition Man
Marco Brambilla’s 1993 science fiction action film Demolition Man stars Sylvester Stallone as LAPD Sergeant John Spartan, a risky cop with a reputation for highly unorthodox practice and undue collateral damage. Spartan was framed early on by his criminal archenemy Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) and sentenced to over 30 years in prison. When Spartan awakens to the strange new world of 2036, where Taco Bell Nacho Supreme rules and toilet paper has inexplicably been replaced with three clams, he must gather the San Angeles Police Department to thwart the newly-escaped phoenix and bring him to justice. -TO
Demolition Man will continue to be streamed Hulu.
Raya and the last dragon
The newest computer-animated action-fantasy adventure from Walt Disney Animation Studios Raya and the last dragon follows the title warrior princess, voiced by Star Wars: The Last Jedi Kelly Marie Tran stars as she embarks on a journey to find the mythical last dragon Sisu (Awkwafina) and save her shattered home, Kumandra, from a dark, malicious threat. Co-directed by Don Hall (Great Hero 6) and Carlos López Estrada (Blind spotting), the film is the first of Disney’s premier animated cartoons to premier simultaneously in theaters and via streaming through Disney Plus’ Premier Access service. -TO
Raya and the last dragon will continue to be streamed Disney Plus.
Happy
In this thriller written by Brea Grant and written by Brea Grant, an SXSW-approved thriller finds a self-help writer who preaches the word of independence and resilience and tries to keep up with the violent actions of a man who enters their house every night breaks in to kill them. The surreal and powerful director Natasha Kermani brings a nightmare world out of everyday misogyny – in which the words “that’s the way it is” are almost as deep as a knife – without the message disturbing the creeping fear of the situation. – –Matt patches
Happy will continue to be streamed Shudder
The social network
David Fincher’s cool direction and brisk, choppy pace give this story of starting Facebook a nervous edge, but the real winner is Aaron Sorkin’s script, which is based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires. Sorkin has heavily fictionalized the facts to serve his purposes, telling a story of greed, betrayal, and the deep pettiness and neediness of Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg with surprising passion). Therefore, the film should not be viewed as a historical document. But as a fictional account of a young man who violates all moral boundaries, is at the head of a bold new social media empire, and is still not satisfied, it can’t be beat. It’s entertaining and tragic at the same time, and polished on all levels, from the whip-crack dialogue to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ driving score. – Tasha Robinson
The social network will continue to be streamed Hulu and Netflix.
Training day
Antoine Fuqua Training day is one of the most famous crime films of the early 20th century. Ethan Hawke plays Jake Hoyt, an idealistic LAPD narcotics officer charged with shadowing Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris, played by Denzel Washington in his first Oscar-winning performance. If somehow you’ve never seen it before Training day, and Denzel’s quotable closing speech, drop it all and plan to see this one. -TO
Training day will continue to be streamed Netflix.
The twentieth century
Matthew Rankin’s comedic biopic of William Lyon Mackenzie King (Dan Beirne), the real-life politician who, as during the 10th Prime Minister of Canada, held three non-consecutive terms, is a supposedly ahistorical dream of Dada fever that shines through the prismatic lens of the German expressionist cinemas are channeled and mock the war propaganda of the middle of the century. Buckle up for this one it will strange. – TE
The twentieth century will continue to be streamed Criterion channel.
The young Frankenstein
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate FactoryGene Wilder stars in Mel Brooks’ cult comedy horror parody film The young Frankenstein as the mad scientist Frankenstein (um, Fronk-en-steen) in his tenacious pursuit of resuscitating his misunderstood creation (Peter Boyle) from the dead. -TO
The young Frankenstein will continue to be streamed Hulu.
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