Now Stream This: ‘BlacKkKlansman’, ‘The Sisters Brothers’, ‘The Hateful Eight: Extended Version’, ‘Detour’ and More

(Welcome to Now Stream This, a column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.)

The time has come again to round up the bet movies streaming right now. We have a new platform in our midst, too! The Criterion Channel recently launched, and it does not disappoint. While I’ll alway pine for FilmStruck, I’m happy to have this alternative. So read on to see some great movies streaming on the Criterion Channel, Netflix, and more. These are the best movies streaming right now. Let’s get streaming!

The Best Movies Streaming Right Now

1. BlacKkKlansman
Now Streaming on HBO Go

Release Date: 2018

Genre: Biographical Crime Drama

Director: Spike Lee

Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace

Spike Lee has been cranking out great movie for decades, but he delivered one of his very best with last year’s BlacKkKlansman. Based on the unbelievable true story of Ron Stallworth, the story follows rookie cop Stallworth (John David Washington) after he becomes the first black cop on the Colorado Springs Police Department in the 1970s. Working with fellow cop Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), Stallworth manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan. The set up is complicated: Ron talks with the Klan members on the phone, while Flip, pretending to pretending to be Ron, meets with them. This set up is ripe for comedy, and Lee does add plenty of comedic touches to the narrative. But this is ultimately no laughing matter, and slowly but surely, Lee pulls the rug out from the audience to deliver a gut-punch of an ending that will leave you stunned.

For fans of: Do the Right Thing, Inside Man, getting angry.

 

2. The Sisters Brothers
Now Streaming on Hulu

Release Date:

Genre: Weird Western

Director: Jacques Audiard

Cast: John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed

John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed all together in one movie? Sounds like a hit, right? Wrong! The Sisters Brothers was one of 2018’s biggest flops, which is a damn shame, because it’s wonderful. This strange, surreal, melancholy Western from Jacques Audiard follows hired guns the Sisters Brothers (Reilly and Phoenix) as they attempt to intercept a prospector (Ahmed) who has invented a new way to find gold. Also on the trail of the prospector is a private detective (Gyllenhaal). Gyllenhaal’s character strikes up an unlikely friendship with Ahmed’s prospector, and the two decide to work together. But the Sisters Brothers are still coming. That set up may make you think you know where this story is going, but trust me, you don’t. The Sisters Brothers is loaded with wonderful surprises, and a touching performance from John C. Reilly. If you missed it in theaters, and I’m sure you did, please make sure you watch it now.

For fans of: True Grit, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, facial hair.

 

3. The Hateful Eight: Extended Version
Now Streaming on Netflix

Release Date: 2015

Genre: Western Mystery

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern

Dealing with deep-seated American-centric racism and misogyny, Quentin Tarantino‘s The Hateful Eight was perhaps released too soon. I distinctly remember critics calling it far too brutal when it opened in Christmas 2015, but had it hit theaters a year later, the reaction might have been much different. That’s not to say the movie isn’t brutal – it is. But in telling this story of the ugly side of America, Tarantino was almost predicting the political and cultural landscape to come. The story strands eight strangers in one location during a snow storm, and then proceeds to violently bump them off. Who’s the killer? Only soldier-turned-amateur-detective Samuel L. Jackson can solve the case. Maybe. The Hateful Eight has been on Netflix before, but the streaming service is now releasing the Extended Version, which has never been available for home viewing before. This extended cut, which runs 187 minutes, played in a Roadshow format in select theaters, before a (somewhat) shorter 168 minute cut rolled out to wider theaters shortly after.

For fans of: The Thing, Murder on the Orient Express, coffee.

 

4. Detour
Now Streaming on The Criterion Channel

Release Date: 1945

Genre: Noir!

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage

The noir-iest of noirs, Detour is a pitch-black comedy of errors that finds one poor sap making one terrible choice after another, raking up a body count in the process. Tom Neal plays a bitter piano player who doesn’t want to leave foggy New York for sunny California, even though his dame want to head out there to become a movie star. She hit the bricks and leaves the piano man behind, but his urges get the better of him. What’s a poor ivory tickler to do but hitchhike his way from the Big Apple to Tinseltown? The hitchhiking goes swell at first. But then Neal’s character gets picked up by a loud-mouth schlub who happens to up and die during the journey. Terrified that people will think he bumped-off the stiff, Neal decides to assume the dead man’s identity and steal his car. What could go wrong? Everything! Because as he continues on his journey, Neal picks up a hitchhiker of his own – a wild hellcat played with fiery menace by Ann Savage. Things get worse from there. Operating on a shoestring budget, Detour manages to wring a whole lot out of very little, a characters spit out hard boiled dialogue and puff away on cigarettes. This movie is an absolute blast.

For fans of: Red Rock West, Body Heat, big mistakes.

 

5. Dead Silence
Now Streaming on Shudder

Release Date: 2007

Genre: Puppet Horror

Director: James Wan

Cast: Ryan Kwanten, Judith Roberts, Donnie Wahlberg, Amber Valletta

James Wan is an unstoppable force now, directing big blockbusters and producing the highly successful Conjuring franchise. If only the crowds had turned out for his 2007 scary puppet movie Dead Silence, the world might be a better place. A throwback to Hammer Horror films, Dead Silence follows a young man (Ryan Kwanten, who is admittedly dull here) who returns to his home town and encounters the ghost of Mary Shaw (Judith Roberts), the world’s most evil ventriloquist. Mary and her puppets, who may or may not be alive, is out to kill anyone who gets in her way. Why? Why not! She’s a crazy puppet lady ghost! This movie is silly and scary, and Wan directs the hell out of it.

For fans of: Magic, The Conjuring, puppets!

 

6. Drive a Crooked Road
Now Streaming on The Criterion Channel

Release Date: 1954

Genre: Noir (again)

Director: Richard Quine

Cast: Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster

More noir goodness courtesy of the freshly launched The Criterion Channel. Drive a Crooked Road gives Mickey Rooney one of his darkest roles, and he nails it. The Mickster plays a short, angry auto-mechanic who longs to be a race car driver. One day, a real dish (Dianne Foster) comes strolling into Rooney’s garage and asks him to help fix her car. Soon, she’s inviting him out to the beach, and the two have struck up a relationship. But it’s all a shame: Foster’s character is using Rooney in order to force him into being the getaway driver for a heist. This is twisted stuff, and you’ll be surprised at how much this 1954 movie gets away with.

For fans of: Drive, The Driver, Mickey Rooney awkwardly taking his shirt off in public.

 

7. The Hole in the Ground
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video 4/27

Release Date: 2019

Genre: Horror

Director: Lee Cronin

Cast: Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall

Lee Cronin‘s Irish horror film The Hole in the Ground leans heavily on LOUD NOISES, but you know what? It works. This movie is frequently pretty damn scary. In the film, single mom Sarah (Seána Kerslake) grows suspicious after her son Chris (James Quinn Markey) vanishes one night, only to reappear as if nothing happened. Chris begins to act strangely, and Sarah becomes convinced the boy isn’t her on at all, but some kind of malevolent imposter. There’s nothing particularly new here, but Cronin is adept at milking every creepy, tilted, shadowy angle to its full effect, and the score by Stephen McKeon will give you goosebumps.

For fans of: Orphan, The Descent, never, ever wanting to have children.

 

8. Split Second
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Release Date: 1992

Genre: Sci-Fi

Director: Tony Maylam, Ian Sharp

Cast: Rutger Hauer, Kim Cattrall, Alastair Neil Duncan, Pete Postlethwaite, Ian Dury, Alun Armstrong

Trash of the highest caliber, Split Second wants to be both Alien and Blade Runner, but doesn’t have the brains of either. Instead, it has Rutger Hauer running around as a fast-food loving cop on the trail of a serial killer. But there’s a twist: the killer isn’t human! It’s either an alien or some sort of demon – it’s never made clear. But it sure as hell looks like the Xenomorph from Alien, with a little Venom thrown in as well. Oh, and here’s the best part: this giant monster uses a shotgun. It also sends notes to the cops, taunting them, like some generic human serial killer. Because sure, why not? Movies!

For fans of: Deep-fried cheese.

 

9. About Time
Now Streaming on Netflix

Release Date: 2013

Genre: Rom-Com-Dram(a)

Director: Richard Curtis

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander, Margot Robbie

About Time is sappy, yes. But it’s also quite sweet, and funny, and charming. I know people take one look at that trailer above and roll their eyes in a detached, ironic way. But listen: I’m about as cynical as they come. If I can get behind this movie, anyone can. Domhnall Gleeson plays a man who learns he can travel through time to certain moments in his life. This soon leads to Gleeson meeting the love of his life, played by the always underrated Rachel McAdams. From there, Gleeson attempts to set certain events right with his time travel gifts, but learns that there are some things that are out of his control. It sounds a bit convoluted, but writer-director Richard Curtis manages to iron out all the kinks.

For fans of: Groundhog Day, Happy Accidents, Rachel Freakin’ McAdams.

 

10. Six Degrees of Separation
Now Streaming on Hulu

Release Date: 1993

Genre: Drama

Director: Fred Schepisi

Cast: Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Mary Beth Hurt, Bruce Davison, Ian McKellen

One of Will Smith‘s first dramatic roles came in this 1993 adaptation of a play by John Guare. In Six Degrees of Separation, Smith plays Paul, a young man who winds up wounded on the doorstep of an affluent couple played by Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland. Paul claims he’s friends with their Ivy League college kids. He also claims he’s the son of Sidney Poitier. But none of that is true. Paul is a con man, but he’s a charming con man, and he’s able to work his way into the lives of Channing and Sutherland. This all makes for a curious, fascinating film, and Smith turns in a genuinely great performance.

For fans of: Terms of Endearment, Ordinary People, the pre-Big Willie Style era.

The post Now Stream This: ‘BlacKkKlansman’, ‘The Sisters Brothers’, ‘The Hateful Eight: Extended Version’, ‘Detour’ and More appeared first on /Film.

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