KipMooney.com

Programming Note: This will likely be the last of these columns I’ll write for the year. My attempts at curation have failed to wrangle the massive behemoth of streaming into something manageable. I think there’s still a place for it, but not sure exactly what form it will take next. Thanks for reading.

FILM
Top Pick
Hit Man – Netflix 6/7
In a real conundrum here. On the one hand, this is one of my most anticipated movies of the year, and by all accounts a return to form for Richard Linklater. But it’s also indicative of the problem with Hollywood, that this well-regarded crowd pleaser was turned down by every major studio and instead will go to streaming after the smallest of limited releases. No one’s a bigger advocate of going to see movies in theaters than I, yet this will still likely be the way I end up seeing it.

New Releases
A Prince – Criterion
I.S.S. – Paramount+ with Showtime 6/3
*Let the Canary Sing – Paramount+ 6/4
*The Price of Nonna’s Inheritance – Netflix 6/4
*Under Paris – Netflix 6/5
*Am I OK? – Max 6/6
*Basma – Netflix 6/6
*Big City Greens: Spacecation – Disney+ 6/7
*No Way Up – AMC+ 6/7
*Protecting Paradise: The Story of Niue – Disney+ 6/8
Perfect Days – Hulu 6/6
Mothers’ Instinct – Prime Video 6/7
Poolman – Prime Video 6/7
Mob Land – Prime Video 6/10
Origin – Hulu 6/10
*Exhuma – AMC+ 6/14
*Clotilda: The Return Home – Disney+ and Hulu 6/17
*Here to Climb – Max 6/18
*Inheritance – Netflix 6/19
Bread & Roses – AppleTV+ 6/21
*Trigger Warning – Netflix 6/21
Prey (2024) – Hulu 6/22
*Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple – Max 6/22
Out of Darkness – Paramount+ with Showtime 6/24
The Old Oak – Prime Video 6/24
*I Am Celine Dion – Prime Video 6/25
*Drawing Closer – Netflix 6/27
Problemista – Max 6/28
*The Devil’s Bath – AMC+ 6/28
*A Family Affair – Netflix 6/28
*Fancy Dance – AppleTV+ 6/28
Freelance – Prime Video 6/28

*original title

Essential Viewing
1917 – Netflix
Anchorman – Hulu
Another Round – Criterion
The Barbarian Invasions – Criterion
Blazing Saddles – Paramount+
Borat – Hulu
The Breakfast Club – Netflix
Carlito’s Way – Starz
Chicago – Paramount+
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Max
Dazed and Confused – Criterion
Dog Day Afternoon – Paramount+
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Hulu
Fight Club – Hulu
Hausu – Criterion
High Noon (1952) – Paramount+
In the Bedroom – Paramount+
John Wick series – Peacock
Koyaanisqatsi – Prime Video
L.A. Confidential – Criterion
La La Land – Netflix
The LEGO Movie – Netflix
Minari – Max
Notting Hill – Starz
Office Space – Hulu
The Other Guys – Max and Peacock
Paris Is Burning – Criterion
Persona – Criterion
Philadelphia – Peacock
The Quiet Man – Paramount+
The Royal Tenenbaums – Criterion
Saving Private Ryan – Peacock
The Seventh Seal – Criterion
Shutter Island – Paramount+
Stand by Me – Prime Video
Terms of Endearment – Criterion
There Will Be Blood – Paramount+
Thief – Criterion
The Watermelon Woman – Criterion
Casino Royale (2006) – Paramount+ with Showtime 6/12
Carol – Netflix 6/17
Aftersun – Netflix 6/21

Spotlight Collection
Paul Schrader – Criterion
Like any filmmaker with this long a career, his movies are hit or miss. But when Schrader hits, as he’s done recently, few things are better. This assortment of movies includes some of his most acclaimed flicks, like Affliction, Mishima, Light Sleeper and Auto Focus. And there’s also some of his older work that I’ve never seen, including Blue Collar, Hardcore and The Comfort of Strangers. And for the morbidly curious, there’s also The Canyons, his misbegotten “erotic” “thriller” starring Lindsay Lohan and porn star James Deen. Someone on Letterboxd will almost certainly call this a “misunderstood masterpiece” in the next month.

Hidden Gems
50/50 – Max
About Time – Peacock
Bandits – Max
Brokeback Mountain – Peacock
Burn After Reading – Netflix
Far from Heaven – Peacock
Girlhood – Criterion
How Do You Know – Starz
If Beale Street Could Talk – Peacock
It Follows – Hulu
Jennifer’s Body – Peacock
A Knight’s Tale – Prime Video
Limbo (2020) – Peacock
The Lookout – Paramount+ with Showtime
Lord of War – Hulu
Money Monster – Hulu
Nights and Weekends – Criterion
Open Water – Max
Over the Hedge – Hulu
Saved! – Peacock
The Skin I Live In – Max
State and Main – Criterion
Sugar – Max
The Terminal – Peacock
Tomboy – Criterion
Water Lilies – Criterion
Keanu – Max 6/3

Nostalgia Picks
Galaxy Quest – Paramount+
Pretty in Pink – Paramount+

FILM
Top Pick
The Zone of Interest – Max 4/5
The absolute best of movie of 2023, bar none. It just won two well-deserved Oscars (Best International Feature and Best Sound) and is a must-see for everyone. But it’s a challenging film, so put your phone away, turn out the lights and prepare to see evil.

New Releases
Anselm – Criterion
Mambar Pierrette – Criterion
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines – Prime 4/2
The Treasure of Foggy Mountain – Prime 4/2
Wish – Disney+ 4/3
Lord of Misrule – Hulu 4/4
*Música – Prime 4/4
*Baghead – AMC+ 4/5
*Girls State – AppleTV+ 4/5
*How to Date Billy Walsh – Prime 4/5
She Came to Me – Hulu 4/5
Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar – Max 4/6
The Exorcist: Believer – Prime 4/9
The Channel – Hulu 4/12
*The Greatest Hits – Hulu 4/12
*Mayhem! – AMC+ 4/12
Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story – Hulu 4/18
*Late Night with the Devil – AMC+ 4/19
Migration – Peacock 4/19
*Rebel Moon, Part Two: The Scargiver – Netflix 4/19
Saw X – Starz 4/19
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 1 – Max 4/22
Barber – Hulu 4/25
Boy in the Walls – Hulu 4/25
*Infested – AMC+ 4/26
The Holdovers – Prime 4/29

Essential Viewing
The Adventures of Tintin – Prime
After Hours – Criterion
American Graffiti – Netflix
An American Werewolf in London – Starz
The Aviator (2004) – Prime
The Big Lebowski – Hulu
Black Swan – Max
Born on the Fourth of July – Netflix
Bridesmaids – Peacock
Captain Phillips – Hulu
Carlito’s Way – Peacock
Chinatown – Prime
Cloud Atlas – Paramount+
Dazed and Confused – Peacock
The Fifth Element – Hulu
Four Weddings and a Funeral – Peacock
Galaxy Quest – Paramount+ with Showtime
The Godfather – Peacock
The Godfather Part II – Peacock
Heat (1995) – Criterion
The Host (2006) – Hulu
Infernal Affairs – Max
Inherent Vice – Paramount+
Inside Job – Prime
Inside Man (2006) – Netflix
Jacob’s Ladder (1990) – Paramount+ with Showtime
The King of Comedy – Paramount+
The Last Temptation of Christ – Prime
Lost in Translation – Max
Magnolia – Paramount+
The Matrix – Netflix
Mission: Impossible – Peacock
Mission: Impossible III – Peacock
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – Peacock
The New World – Max
Notting Hill – Peacock
Ocean’s Eleven – Hulu
Once upon a Time in China – Max
Out of Sight – Prime
Planes, Trains and Automobiles – Paramount+
Rosemary’s Baby – Prime
Saturday Night Fever – Paramount+ and Prime
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – Max
A Serious Man – Max
Snatch – Prime
The Social Network – Max
Spider-Man – Peacock
Spider-Man 2 – Peacock
Team America: World Police – Paramount+
Titanic – Prime
To Catch a Thief – Prime
To Die For – Starz
Tombstone – Peacock
Tropic Thunder – Peacock
The Watermelon Woman – Max
Little Women (2019) – Hulu 4/22

Spotlight Collection
One Night – Criterion
I love movies that take place during one crazy night, and Criterion has rounded up some of the best of these across all genres. Their lineup includes Before Sunrise, Collateral, My Dinner with Andre, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as well as the original Night of the Living Dead and Assault on Precinct 13.

Hidden Gems
Inland Empire – Max
Juliet, Naked – Max
The Kingdom (2007) – Starz
Life of Crime – Peacock
Love & Sex – Starz
Paul – Peacock
Ricki and the Flash – Starz
Ricochet – Starz
Source Code – Max
The Station Agent – Paramount+ and Prime
Take Shelter – Hulu
Testament of Youth – Starz
The Truth About Charlie – Prime
Yes, God, Yes – Hulu 4/22
Isn’t It Romantic – Hulu 4/28

Nostalgia Picks
Billy Madison – Peacock
Happy Gilmore – Netflix and Peacock
The Land Before Time – Netflix
Liar Liar – Peacock

*original title