November 2024’s Best Streaming Titles: Silo, Aliens, Dune: Prophecy, Arcane, Knives Out - Opus (2024)

Apple’s adaptation of Hugh Howey’s acclaimed sci-fi novel has been a minor hit for their streaming platform. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the remaining members of humanity live in a vast underground silo and follow a set of draconian rules that keep them safe. Not surprisingly, revelations begin to challenge what they know about their situation. Silo stars Rebecca Ferguson, Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo, and Tim Robbins.

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.

Alfonso Cuarón’s gripping dystopic movie (adapted from the P. D. James novel) is set in a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction because of global infertility. It boasts some solid performances, particularly from Clive Owen as a former activist tasked with escorting a young refugee who may hold the key to saving humanity. It also boasts some bravura filmmaking in the form of some brilliant single-shot sequences, including a thrilling car chase.

In this harrowing neo-noir, the city of Boston is galvanized when a young girl is abducted. At the center of it is small-time private investigator Patrick Kenzie, whose quest to find the girl takes him from the city’s seediest neighborhoods to its loftiest halls of power. With its taut pacing, ominous atmosphere, and solid performances from Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris, and Amy Ryan (who received an Oscar nomination for her performance as the young girl’s unstable mom), you’d never tell that Gone Baby Gone was Ben Affleck’s directorial debut.

Make no mistake, Johnny Mnemonic is not a good movie. Adapted from the William Gibson short story, it stars a pre-Matrix Keanu Reeves as an information courier who carries secret information in his brain and must escape the clutches of a villainous mega-corporation. Confession: I’m a sucker for ’90s-era cyberpunk and computer movies. They’re totally ridiculous, and yet, at the same time, there’s something charming about how dystopic they thought the future would be. (Surprise twist: It could be argued that today is far more dystopic than any imagined cyberpunk future.)

When her boyfriend screws up a delivery for a local gangster, Lola has just 20 minutes to find the 100,000 Deutschmarks necessary to save his life. But as the film progresses, it shows the various ways that Lola’s Quixotic quest might unfold, for better or worse. With its kinetic non-linear plot, pulsing soundtrack, and striking lead performance from Franka Potente — who would later star in the Bourne movies — Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run was one of 1998’s most celebrated films.

I’ve never read any of the James Patterson novels that serve as the source material for Amazon Prime’s latest original series. However, I’ve been a fan of Aldis Hodge ever since Leverage. Hodge stars as Washington, D.C. detective Alex Cross, who is trying to track down a serial killer — only for the killer to turn the tables and start tracking him. Cross was produced by Ben Watkins, who also produced longtime Opus favorite Burn Notice.

Neil Gaiman’s darkly fantastical storytelling and Henry Selick’s stop-motion animation are a match made in movie heaven. Coraline’s titular heroine dreams of a nicer, more magical home — which is exactly what she gets when she discovers a portal to another world. Of course, given that this is Neil Gaiman we’re talking about, things soon get dark and weird, and Selick’s clever visuals are a perfect tool for conveying that (read my review).

John Williams is one of the most iconic composers of all time, having written music for such films as Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park — to name just a few. This documentary delves into the man’s life and work, and features interviews with his famous collaborators, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

The Merc with a Mouth teams up with everyone’s favorite adamantium-packing mutant in this epic crossover that finds Deadpool recruited by the Time Variance Authority (last seen in Loki). Of course, things soon go to hell, leaving it up to the dysfunctional pair to save the multiverse. Since its release in July 2024, the film became on the year’s highest grossing films as well as the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.

Ridley Scott’s original Alien was as much a horror movie as it was a sci-fi flick. But with Aliens, director James Cameron decided to throw in lots of action, as well. Set nearly 60 years after the original film, Aliens finds Ellen Ripley returning to the moon where the xenomorphs were first encountered in order to investigate why the human colony there has gone silent. Joining her are a colorful bunch of Colonial Marines, and they’ll need all of the firepower they can muster to deal with what awaits them.

In order to inherit his father’s Fortune 500 hotel chain, an infantile young man (Adam Sandler) must complete all 12 school grades in six months’ time, or else the chain will go to his rival. Along with Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer, Billy Madison helped establish Sandler’s cultural dominance in the mid-to-late ’90s after his departure from Saturday Night Live and has since become a cult classic. The film also stars Bradley Whitford, Bridgette Wilson, Steve Buscemi, and the late, great Chris Farley and Norm Macdonald.

This first of the modern live-action adaptations of C.S. Lewis’ beloved fantasy series gets a little too action-heavy at times, and it unfortunately modifies (and ruins) its most famous and crucial line (the one about tame lions). But overall, Andrew Adamson’s adaptation of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe does an admirable job of capturing the spirit of Lewis’ novel.

National Treasure is a perfectly serviceable family adventure flick starring Nicolas Cage as a historian obsessed with finding a vast treasure hidden by America’s Founding Fathers. The movie’s depiction of American history may be fanciful to a fault, but does it really matter when you get to see Cage exploring ruins and escaping centuries-old traps that would make Indiana Jones green with envy?

2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog was, to be perfect honest, far more enjoyable than it probably had any right to be. After the titular groundhog escapes to Earth from his own planet, he does his best to live in secret and under the radar. But when his super speed catches the eye of an evil scientist — played by Jim Carrey in all of his scene-chewing glory — he must use his powers to protect his new friends. The first Sonic movie was successful enough to inspire a sequel in 2022, and a third one’s on its way.

All Clark Griswold wants to do is have the best possible Christmas with his family. His perfect holiday plans are challenged, however, by the arrival of some redneck cousins, bickering family members, yuppie neighbors, and his stingy boss. Originally released in 1989, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has since come to be considered a Christmas comedy classic up there with A Christmas Story and Scrooged.

Starring Clint Eastwood in one of his most iconic roles, Dirty Harry finds the titular police inspector trying to track down a vicious killer. Partly inspired by the actual Zodiac Killer case, Dirty Harry was a massive (and controversial) success upon its release in 1971, and spawned four sequels that ran all the way to 1988.

Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic is based on the true story of Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta), a mob associate who eventually became an FBI informant. The film follows Hill’s introduction to the mob life, and his rise and fall in the gang through the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. The film was nominated for multiple Oscars, eventually winning “Best Supporting Actor” for Joe Pesci’s performance as the unhinged Tommy DeVito.

Scientists figure out a way to clone extinct dinosaurs, and the first thing they do? Why, create an amusement park on a remote island, of course. What can go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out, and it’s up to some paleontologists and Jeff Goldblum’s chaos mathematician to find a way to survive when life, uh, finds a way. Jurassic Park is a summer blockbuster in the best way possible.

Clint Eastwood’s award-winning Unforgiven — among other things, it earned Oscars for “Best Picture” and “Best Director” in 1993 — works as both a deconstruction of the Western epics that helped make Eastwood’s career, as well as an excellent Western in its own right. Eastwood plays a reformed bandit and murderer who returns to his violent ways in order to save his family, but at what cost to his soul?

Set 10,000 years before the events of the Dune novel, Dune: Prophecy chronicles the origins and rise of the Bene Gesserit, the enigmatic sisterhood that seeks to control the galaxy from the shadows — and ensure a new future for humanity. Everything about the Max original series looks pretty impressive so far, and perfectly in keeping with Denis Villeneuve’s films. And like the movies, Dune: Prophecy boasts a pretty solid cast that’s headlined by Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, and Mark Strong.

Directed by Garret Price, this documentary highlights the ever so smooth sounds of yacht rock, and the artists that made them, including Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, and Toto. The film also explores the genre’s legacy, and its lasting impact on rock and R&B.

When it arrived in 2021, Arcane’s first season was widely acclaimed for its vibrant artwork and animation, steampunk aesthetic, thrilling action sequences, and elaborate world-building. The series’ second and final season looks to build on all of that as tensions rise between utopian Piltover and oppressed Zaun, mirroring the conflict between two sisters on opposite sides of the law. Meanwhile, one man’s research into forbidden arcane technologies could end up destroying them all.

In this classic time travel movie, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) accidentally ends up in the year 1955 courtesy of a souped up, plutonium-powered DeLorean. His shock upon arriving in the past is compounded when he meets his parents as teenagers, his future mother falls for him, and he squares off against the school bully. Since its 1985 release, Back to the Future has become a pop culture phenomena, inspiring video games, a theme park ride, and even a stage musical.

Matt Damon stars in this thriller based on Robert Ludlum’s 1980 novel about a man who awakens with no memory but soon finds himself the target of the American intelligence community. Luckily, he possesses a set of deadly skills that will come in very handy. Also starring Run Lola Run’s Franka Potente, The Bourne Identity helped kick off the Bourne franchise, which delivered some of the best action/thriller films of the 2000s.

One of the greatest action movies of all time, period. Bruce Willis stars as John McClane, a sardonic detective from New York who’s visiting his estranged wife in Los Angeles for a Christmas party at her office. And then, wouldn’t you know it, a bunch of terrorists break up the party and hold everyone hostage. It’s up to McClane to take on the terrorists — who are led by Alan Rickman at his most suave — armed with little more than some one-liners. Suffice to say, the terrorists don’t stand a chance.

Based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s book, Hidden Figures tells the true story of three female African-American mathematicians and their previously unsung work at NASA during the height of the “Space Race.” This inspirational film stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, and Kevin Costner.

A modern adaptation of Michael Bond’s stories about a marmalade-loving bear who travels from “darkest Peru” to live with the Brown family in England might seem a bit odd. But the truth is, Paddington is an absolute delight of movie. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, and Ben Whishaw as Paddington’s voice, it’s full of good-natured, big-hearted fun as the lovable bear gets into all sorts of adventures while trying to avoid capture by an unhinged taxidermist (Nicole Kidman). The film received widespread critical acclaim, winning “Best Feature” at the British Academy Children’s Awards.

This 1990 western stars Tom Selleck as Matthew Quigley, an American sharpshooter who’s hired by an Australian land baron (Alan Rickman). But when he learns that he’s been hired to kill the indigenous Aboriginal population, Quigley refuses and instead, opts to use his deadly skills to take on the baron and his men. Quigley Down Under also stars Laura San Giacomo and Ben Mendelsohn.

Now here’s a slice of prime ’90s Hollywood “so bad it’s good” cinematic fluff. In Demolition Man’s vision of the future, criminals are reprogrammed while in cryogenic stasis, leading to a utopian society. Until a psychopath breaks free, that is, and — of course — there’s only one man who can stop him. Come for the gratuitous violence and cheesy one-liners, stay for Wesley Snipes’ scene-chewing and Sylvester Stallone’s “man out of time” shtick.

Based on the ’60s-era TV show of the same name, The Fugitive follows a man (Harrison Ford) who is wrongly accused of killing his wife, and goes on the run to prove his innocence. The film was a critical and commercial success, thanks to strong performances by Ford and Tommy Lee Jones as the U.S. Marshal trying to bring him in, some impressive action sequences, and a suspenseful plot. Trivia: The Fugitive was the first American film screened in China in decades.

Rian Johnson teamed up with Daniel Craig for this utterly delightful murder mystery whodunit. When a famed — and wealthy — mystery novelist apparently commits suicide, private detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) is hired to investigate, but the case grows increasingly convoluted and deadly. Knives Out boasts a star-studded cast, including Ana de Armas, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, and Michael Shannon, all of whom are obviously having a blast with Johnson’s witty script and clever direction. Knives Out subsequently spawned two sequels, 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and 2025’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

Starring Wesley Snipes, Chris Rock, Ice-T, Mario Van Peebles, and Judd Nelson, New Jack City chronicles the rise of a vicious drug gang and the detectives determined to take them down. Upon its release in 1991, the film was a critical and commercial success and had a massive influence on the hip-hop and R&B scenes. The soundtrack, which featured songs by Ice-T, Keith Sweat, Color Me Badd, and 2 Live Crew, dominated the Billboard charts and quickly went Platinum, selling over a million copies.

In Satoshi Kon’s mind-bending final film, technology allows researchers to enter other people’s dreams. But after a “dream terrorist” steals the technology and starts using it, the line between dreams and reality threatens to unravel. Filled with stunning animation, a plot that’ll keep you guessing, and a trippy Susumu Hirasawa soundtrack, Paprika is anime par excellence (read my review).

Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut is a stylish and bloody film about a group of thieves trying to find the mole in their midst after a heist goes wrong. Reservoir Dogs features all of the usual Tarantino-isms — whip-smart (and profane) dialog, pop culture references, non-linear storylines — and has been called the “greatest independent film of all time” by some.

In this time twisty sci-fi actioner, Tom Cruise plays a disgraced soldier who’s quickly killed while trying to defend Earth from mysterious alien invaders — only to discover that he now relives the same day over and over again. Not only does this allow him to become a super-soldier Groundhog Day-style, but it might also be the key to defeating the aliens once and for all. In the hands of a lesser cast and crew, Edge of Tomorrow’s premise could be ridiculous and boring, but that is most certainly not the case here.

Malcolm is a geek who just wants to hang out, play punk rock, and discuss ’90s hip hop with his friends. Oh, and get into Harvard University. But that’s easier said than done for a kid living in the hood, especially when he gets caught up in a drug deal gone bad. Starring Shameik Moore (who voiced Miles Morales in Into the Spider-Verse), Dope is a truly fresh coming-of-age film filled with solid performances and a killer soundtrack.