The Best Streaming Titles Arriving in March 2017

Mel Brook’s satire of the Western film is a comedy classic — though its treatment of racism (and flatulence) may be jarring for modern audiences. When a new sheriff rides into the small town of Rock Ridge, its citizens are shocked to learn that he’s Black. However, he may just be their best hope when a greedy lawyer wants to destroy their town to make way for a new railroad.

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).

Netflix’s latest Marvel series, following Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, follows a young man who returns home after spending years abroad following the tragic death of his parents. He also happens to be a billionaire heir and in possession of some serious fighting skills. Sound like any other heroes you know? In all seriousness, Netflix’s Marvel series have all been topnotch productions, despite occasionally suffering story issues (I’m looking in your direction, Luke Cage). What’s more, this one features a guy with explosive punches and lots of martial arts action. I’m sold.

This Netflix original movie has an intriguing premise: What if science had proven the existence of an afterlife? In The Discovery, this news leads to a suicide epidemic as people try to get to the other side. Against this morbid backdrop, two people — played by Rooney Mara and Jason Segel — fall in love. The Discovery was written and directed by Charlie McDowell, who also directed 2014’s acclaimed The One I Love.

Dr. Buckaroo Banzai is many things: physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, rock star. He’ll need all of those talents, as well as his brave comrades in the Hong Kong Cavaliers, to save Earth from the evil Red Lectroids, who’ve been trapped in the 8th dimension by the Black Lectroids of Planet 10. If any part of that description sounds like the best movie ever, then you’ve probably already watched this multiple times. If you haven’t, then you’re in for a treat: Buckaroo Banzai is cult cinema par excellence.

Wax on, wax off… If you’re a child of the ’80s then you know the plot by heart: a lonely kid gets picked on by some ruthless karate bullies, he’s taken in by an old Japanese man who teaches him karate in a rather unorthodox fashion, and he uses the crane kick to dispense justice. Oh, and there’s that awesome soundtrack featuring Survivor, Bananarama, Joe Esposito, and… Gang of Four?! (All three of the Ralph Macchio Karate Kid movies are coming to Hulu on March 1.)

I never saw the appeal of the Taken movies starring Liam Neeson, especially considering The Man From Nowhere is such a better former-special-agent-out-for-revenge kind of movie. The Man From Nowhere slow burns for the first 30 minutes or so, and then bang! — all hell breaks loose as the hero takes on an organ-trafficking gang to save a young girl. Won Bin is excellent as the emotionally damaged yet extremely lethal agent (he won “Best Actor” at the 2010 Korea Film Awards for this role), the villains are appropriately slimy and despicable, and the action is fast and brutal. Being a South Korean film, there’s plenty of melodrama but that only enhances the film’s intensity and poignancy.

True story: When I was in high school, a friend let me borrow a copy of Terminator 2 that he’d recorded off HBO. Not only was the movie mind-blowing in terms of special effects and action, but it was one of my first brushes with fan obsession. I must’ve watched the movie ten times in a single week. (I’m surprised that VHS tape survived the ordeal.) Decades later, the movie still holds up as an action masterpiece, and the unstoppable liquid metal T-1000 — played excellently by Robert Patrick — remains one of movie sci-fi’s best and most cleverly devised antagonists.

Amazon Prime’s offerings in March are pretty slim, but I’m particularly excited about this. I missed it the first time around, but this “documentary” about a group of vampires trying to make it in the modern world, looks like brilliant horror comedy à la Shaun of the Dead. The movie comes by way of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, the guys who’ve also given us other acclaimed comedies like Flight of the Conchords and Eagle vs Shark. Waititi is the director of the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok.

This is the penultimate season of the acclaimed Canadian sci-fi series about a young woman who discovers that she’s one of a series of clones. Tatiana Maslany won “Best Lead Actress” at the 2016 Emmy awards for her lead role in Orphan Black… or is that lead roles?