Best Movies to Stream This Week

Directed by Carroll Ballard (“Fly Away Home”), this family film tells the story of a young boy who builds a relationship with a stallion after the two are stranded on a desert island. The movie was nominated for two Oscars and was given a Special Achievement Award by the Academy for sound editing.

The semi-fictitious account of “Frankenstein” (1931) director James Whale’s final days has a 95% Freshness rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was nominated for three Oscars and won one for its screenplay. It became available on Amazon Prime Video on April 5 and is also available to stream on Hulu.

The second of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films continues to follow The Bride (Uma Thurman) as she seeks revenge against a band of assassins and her former lover Bill, who all attempted to murder her. The movie was well received by critics and audiences alike, with many finding it to reach a deeper emotional level than its hyper-violent predecessor.

The 2011 documentary explores the work of sushi master Jiro Ono and his world-renowned Tokyo restaurant. The movie is now available to stream on Netflix and Hulu, as well as Amazon Video for $0.99

Director Rob Reiner (“Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride”) and writer Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail”) teamed up to produce this classic rom-com. The movie stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as longtime friends flirting with the idea of becoming more than just friends.

“The Miracle Worker” is the true story of a teacher (Anne Bancroft) who works with a deaf-mute young woman (Patty Duke as Helen Keller) to help her communicate. “The Miracle Worker” was a television program that became a hit on Broadway and was made into a motion picture. Bancroft won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Duke won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The film has a 100% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 88% of audiences liked “The Miracle Worker.”

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Robert Altman directed this movie about a private investigator who becomes involved in the murder of his own wife. The flick has an exceptional 97% Freshness rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an 88% approval rating from users on the site.

Beloved arthouse director David Lynch stepped away from the dark and surreal themes of his usual work to make this G-rated, family-friendly drama in 1999. “The Straight Story” tells the true story of Alvin Straight who rode a lawn mower across state lines to visit his ailing brother. Lead actor Richard Farnsworth was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance.

The original vampire tale from Sweden won over 98% of critics and 90% of users on Rotten Tomatoes. Now available to stream on Hulu, the movie will especially appeal to fans of atmospheric horror.

The drama about a group of largely impoverished children living in an Orlando motel earned actor Willem Dafoe an Oscar nomination. The movie is available to stream on Netflix, and it can be rented on Amazon Video for $0.99.

Those who missed “Little Women” in theaters — it was originally released on Christmas 2019 — now have a chance to watch it on Amazon Video. The movie about a group of sisters in the years following the Civil War stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, and Timothée Chalamet. It received positive reviews from 95% of critics and 92% of audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Goldfinger” is the quintessential James Bond film. It has a great theme song by Shirley Bassey, cold-blooded henchmen (Oddjob), a master criminal (Auric Goldfinger), memorable Bond girls (the doomed Jill Masterson), the iconic Aston Martin sports car, and it features the first time Bond utters his most famous line: “A martini. Shaken, not stirred.” “Goldfinger” holds a 98% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes and is the highest rated Bond film on the film aggregation website. It can be streamed on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.

Danny Boyle directed this entertaining tale of an orphan in Mumbai played by Dev Patel who dazzles television audiences with his knowledge on the Indian version of the television quiz show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and is wrongly accused of cheating. Eight Oscars went to the film, including one to Boyle and two others to A.R. Rahman for Original Score and Original Song. “Slumdog Millionaire” has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and 90% of audiences enjoyed the movie. The film can be streamed on Amazon Prime and HBO Now.

“The Social Network” tells the story of the Harvard University students who created the social media phenomenon Facebook. Three Oscars went to the film, including Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay to Aaron Sorkin. The movie has a 96% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, whose Critics Consensus calls the film a “riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest.” The movie can be streamed on Netflix and, for an additional fee, on Amazon Video.

The Bruce Willis action flick has maintained a fantastic reputation over the 32 years since its release and is currently the 125th top rated film on IMDb. Centered around NYPD cop John McClane who must combat a group of terrorists who have overtaken an LA office building, the movie is available to stream for HBO subscribers.

Mike Nichols won his lone Best Director Academy Award for the counterculture classic that made Dustin Hoffman — who is playing a disillusioned college graduate — a star and featured a trove of Simon & Garfunkel songs. The movie is on Amazon Prime Video and enjoys an 86% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 90% of audiences like the film.

“Sweet Smell of Success” is director Alexander Mackendrick’s cynical story of a powerful newspaper columnist (Burt Lancaster) who hires an ambitious public relations man (Tony Curtis) to break up the romance of his sister. The film noir, co-written by heavyweights Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, has a 98% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 92% of audiences enjoyed the movie, which can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

Long before “1917” gave modern audiences an idea of the horror of WWI, there was “The Big Parade,” a silent classic from 1925 that starred John Gilbert as the American doughboy fighting the Germans in France. The motion picture’s ambitious and jarring battle scenes helped set the standard for how war movies would be made. Helmed by noted director King Vidor, “The Big Parade” has a 100% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 91% of audiences liked the film, which can be seen on Amazon Video.

This 18th century French period piece explores the relationship between young painter Marianne and her subject Héloïse. It currently has a 98% Freshness rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a similarly appreciative 92% from audience members. While the movie was just released in the U.S. in February 2020, it is already available for streaming on Hulu.

“Paths of Glory,” directed by Stanley Kubrick, is in the pantheon of anti-war films. Kirk Douglas plays an officer in the French army during WWI who confronts a mutiny among the ranks of his troops, while his superiors seek glory regardless of the carnage. The classic has a 95% rating among critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. “Paths of Glory” can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

Martin Scorsese’s searing look at the dissolution of America’s cities in the 1970s stars Robert De Niro as a cab driver on the verge of snapping over the chaos around him. Jodie Foster plays the teenage prostitute De Niro tries to save from the streets. “Taxi Driver” has a 97% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 93% of audiences liked the movie. The film can be seen on Netflix.

This newly-released Netflix original tells the story of photographer Estevan Oriol and tattoo artist Mister Cartoon who worked with numerous hip-hop artists and other celebrities. The documentary features Snoop Dogg, George Lopez, and Kobe Bryant, among others.

Viewers seeking to buckle in for a longer film may want to watch the three-hour Western epic “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” One of the best spaghetti westerns ever made, the movie has a 97% approval rating from both critics and users on Rotten Tomatoes. It is newly available on Netflix and can also be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

Sidney Lumet’s drama is about 12 jurors battling over the guilt or innocence of a minority youth charged with murder. Nearly all of the film takes place in one room, yet the story is no less compelling, effectively putting America’s attitudes about race and ethnicity in the mirror. The film failed to win any awards at the 1958 Academy Awards but has lived on as a classic, with stars such as Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman, and Martin Balsam among those playing in the film. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film registers a 100% Freshness rating among critics, and 97% of audiences like it. The film can be seen on Amazon Prime Video.

The winner of Best Picture at the most recent Academy Awards is now available to stream on Hulu. Reception of the South Korean film has been near universally positive, especially among critics, who have given it a 99% Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie tells the story of a lower-class family that dupes a wealthier family into employing them with unexpected results.