October 2025’s Best Streaming Titles: Star Wars, Night of the Living Dead, Austin Powers, The Sixth Sense, Chungking Express

How’s this for a premise: An unemployed puppeteer takes a job on a hidden floor in an office building where he discovers a door that transports him into the mind of actor John Malkovich. Make no mistake, Being John Malkovich is a bizarre film, and often quite disturbing in its tale of mental control, usurped identities, and immortality. But being the feature film debut of director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman, it’s quite unlike any other film you’ll see.

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.

Mel Gibson directs and stars in this epic blockbuster inspired by the life of William Wallace, who became a legend amongst his fellow Scots for his efforts to free Scotland during the 13th century. Although Braveheart takes a lot of historical license, it’s nevertheless a thrilling, even inspiring spectacle. Released in 1995, the film won numerous Oscars, including “Best Picture,” “Best Director,” and “Best Cinematography.”

Daniel Craig started off his tenure as James Bond with a bang in this reboot of the venerable spy movie franchise. As a newly minted “00” agent, Bond is assigned to track down a wealth financier who has been helping terrorists. Throw in a femme fatale or two, some excellent tailoring, and a slew of clever gadgets — not to mention Craig’s icy-yet-sympathetic portrayal of Bond — and you have a 007 film par excellence. (Read my review.)

More than forty years after its release, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark remains one of the greatest action/adventure movies of all time, and introduced one of cinema’s most iconic heroes: Indiana Jones, globe-trotting Nazi-punching archaeologist extraordinaire. Heavily inspired by the serials of the ’40s and ’50s, Indy’s movie debut finds him traversing the globe to find the titular biblical artifact before Hitler’s forces do. Raiders of the Lost Ark is filled with thrilling action set pieces and culminates in a truly unforgettable showdown between the forces of good and evil (read my review).

In this 1990 camp classic (read my review), a pair of drifters arrive in a Nevada town that’s plagued by mysterious killings — killings that turn out to be far more monstrous than previously thought. Tremors is worth it for the character of Burt Gummer alone, a doomsday prepper and survivalist played by Michael Gross. (Yes, Family Ties’ Michael Gross.)

John Candy was one of the most beloved actors of the ’80s and ’90s, thanks to films like Spaceballs, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, and Home Alone. But despite his success, Candy was beset by numerous health issues, including obesity and severe anxiety, as well as drug addiction, all of which led to his early death in 1994 at the age of 43. Colin Hanks’s documentary reflects on Candy’s career through interviews with those who knew him best, including fellow actors Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Dan Aykroyd. John Candy: I Like Me had its world premier at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received widespread acclaim.

Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne films) teams up with Matthew McConaughey in this film inspired by real events surrounding the 2018 Camp Fire. When a deadly wildfire breaks out in California, a bus driver (McConaughey) must do everything he can to save the children in his care. The Lost Bus premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival to widespread acclaim.

When a plane carrying dangerous criminals crashes in the Alaskan wilderness, it’s up to one U.S. marshal (Jason Clarke) to track them all down. But his job gets a lot harder when it’s revealed that one of the plane’s passengers is more than a simple criminal, and that the crash might not have been an accident. The film also stars Dominic Cooper, Haley Bennett, and Alfre Woodard.

The Star Wars anthology series returns with a new collection of animated titles from some of the best Japanese animators and studios. This seasons features work from Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell), Studio Trigger (Delicious in Dungeon), Wit Studio (Attack on Titan), and Polygon Pictures (Knights of Sidonia).

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star in this romantic comedy about a man who falls for a woman with amnesia, and strives to win her heart despite her memory issues. 50 First Dates also stars Rob Schneider, Dan Aykroyd, Maya Rudolph, and Sean Astin in a hilarious turn as a steroid-abusing bodybuilder. The film was a commercial success in 2004 and spawned remakes in India, Japan, Iran, and Mexico.

After she survives a terrible car accident, Mary Henry moves to Salt Lake City to work as a church organist. But upon arriving at her new home, she’s beset by strange and terrifying visions. Is she losing her mind, or is something more sinister going on? Largely overlooked when it was originally released in 1962, Carnival of Souls is now regarded as a horror classic.

Starring the voices of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Emily Watson, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride is a fanciful fairy tale about a young man who accidentally finds himself married to, well, a corpse. It’s certainly macabre and spooky, but what else would you expect from a Tim Burton film?

I didn’t really know what to expect the first time I watched Evil Dead 2, but I don’t think I was expecting it to be as over-the-top funny as it is. The legendary Bruce Campbell — in his most iconic role — is Ash Williams, who just wanted a romantic weekend with his girlfriend in a remote cabin, only to find himself facing off against unimaginable evil with nothing but a shotgun, a chainsaw, and a perfect blend of gore and slapstick comedy (read my review).

George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead might not have been the first zombie movie, but it’s arguably the first movie that comes to mind when somebody mentions the undead. Blending genuine scares with social commentary that’s as relevant today as it was back in 1968, Romero’s movie serves as the template for all modern zombie flicks.

When Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker for a remote hotel, he looks forward to writing his new book. But malevolent forces in the hotel have other plans, and soon, Jack begins sliding into a madness that threatens the lives of his wife and son. Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the 1977 Stephen King novel contains some of the creepiest and most indelible images in all of film history.

Guillermo del Toro directed the second film in the Blade series, which finds Wesley Snipes’ vampire hunter teaming up with vampire royalty to fight a menace that threatens both vampire and human society. Blade 2 is a vast improvement over the first Blade movie, thanks to del Toro’s direction and visuals, a hint of body horror, and Donnie Yen’s martial arts choreography. The film also stars Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, and Norman Reedus.

One of the greatest action movies of all time, period (read my review). 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.

Directed by the enigmatic Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life is a luminous and visually stunning treatise on God, mortality, heaven, grace, and the power of fathers to shape their childrens’ lives for better or worse. Jumping between the 1960s and 2010 — with a notable segue that depicts the creation of the universe and the age of the dinosaurs — The Tree of Life is about as ambitious and transcendent as cinema gets.

With its story about a young boy who can see dead people, The Sixth Sense is the movie that put writer/director M. Night Shyamalan on the map. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the movie features Haley Joel Osment in one of the best child actor performances of all time, and a solid supporting cast that includes Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, and Olivia Williams. And of course, one heckuva twist ending that blew audiences’ minds back in 1999 — and is still pretty effective even after multiple viewings (read my review).

Yeah, baby… Mike Myers’ original send-up of James Bond movies and ’60s swinger culture is very much a product of its time (the late ’90s). And though the sequels ran the joke into the ground (and then dug it up and re-ran it back into the ground), the original is still quite a lot of good fun, as Myers’ shagadelic super-spy must come to terms with the modern era after he’s re-thawed to take on the nefarious Dr. Evil (also played by Myers).

Directed by Richard Donner and produced by Steven Spielberg, The Goonies is about as good as a classic kids adventure film can get. When a group of social misfits on the verge of being kicked out of their homes discover a pirate treasure map, they see it as the perfect solution to their problems — if they can survive the elaborate booby traps and vicious criminals on their tail.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie star as a suburban couple whose marriage is on the rocks. But given that they’re rival assassins tasked with killing each other, it’s going to take more than just a few sessions of couple’s therapy. Directed by Doug Liman, Mr. & Mrs. Smith was one of 2005’s highest grossing films thanks to its blend of action, humor, romance, and of course, Pitt and Jolie’s star power.

Martin Scorsese’s dark tale about a mentally unstable cab driver who slowly succumbs to insanity as he drives through New York City’s slimy underbelly is one of the all-time great films, thanks to an iconic performance by Robert De Niro, Scorsese’s assured direction, and Bernard Herrmann’s harrowing soundtrack (his final composition before he died).

Based on Andy Weir’s best-selling novel, The Martian chronicles the efforts of astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) to survive on Mars after he’s presumed dead and left behind. But even as Watney struggles to stay alive, his NASA comrades and fellow astronauts are mounting a massive rescue effort. Released in 2015, The Martian received numerous awards and accolades, and was nominated for “Best Picture” and “Best Actor” at the Academy Awards (read my review).

Keira Knightley stars as an award-winning journalist who’s invited on a luxury cruise with some of the world’s most powerful people. When she witnesses a passenger being thrown overboard one night, her story is quickly discounted by everyone present, and when she keeps digging, her life is suddenly thrown into danger. Based on Ruth Ware’s best-selling novel, The Woman in Cabin 10 also stars Guy Pearce, Hannah Waddingham, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and David Ajala.

The Splinter Cell video games have lauded as some of the best games ever, and now they’re getting the animated treatment. Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) provides the voice of Sam Fisher, an aging counter-terrorism agent who is pulled back into the field to save a young operative. The series is being produced by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad.

When aliens arrive in Johannesburg, they’re forced to live in a rundown area called District 9 where they’re subjected to horrific living conditions. But when a mid-level bureaucrat gets mixed up in the unrest, he finds himself seeing the aliens in a new way. With its exploration of heavy themes like racism and apartheid, as well as its stunning visuals and action, District 9 has been called one of the best sci-fi movies of the 2000s.

When it was released in 1999, Fight Club generated no small amount of controversy due to its dark, seemingly nihilistic plot about a couple of guys (Edward Norton, Brad Pitt) who start an underground fight club that eventually grows into an anarchist cell. But all of the hullabaloo over the film’s darkness and violence overlooked the fact that it also made some valid points about the hollowness of consumerism and materialism (read my review). Since then, Fight Club’s reputation has grown, with some critics calling it a defining movie of the late 20th century.

When it was released in 1995, Heat was widely promoted as the first film in which Al Pacino and Robert De Niro appear on-screen together. And while that’s cool, that overlooked the fact that Heat is a scorching (npi) crime thriller about a gang of elite thieves (led by De Niro) and the police officers (led by Pacino) trying to stop them. Directed with panache by Michael Mann, the film oozes style and atmosphere, and features one of the best shootouts in movie history. In 2022, Mann announced that a sequel was in the works.

Guillermo del Toro has proven himself with fantastical arthouse fare like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone. However, his adaptation of Mike Mignola’s acclaimed Hellboy comic is proof that the director is skilled at more straightforward action stuff, as well (read my review). Well, maybe “straightforward.” In Hellboy, a demonic-looking superhero and a clandestine government agency square off against Nazi occultists who want to summon extra-dimensional horrors that will bring about the end of the world.

I don’t think anyone was asking for a followup to 1995’s Jumanji, but we got one anyway, and it turned out to be pretty good. When a group of high school students find themselves sucked into a video game, they’re only way out is to complete a dangerous quest to save the mystical world of Jumanji. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungl‪e‬ is a surprisingly fun film that contains as many laughs as it does action sequences (read my review).

Released at the height of Will Smith’s box office dominance in the ’90s, Men in Black stars Smith as the latest recruit of a shadowy organization that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Paired with a veteran agent (played with cranky glee by Tommy Lee Jones), he must prevent an alien menace from destroying the world. Men in Black is topnotch Hollywood blockbuster entertainment, filled with sci-fi action, imaginative alien designs, and most importantly, Smith and Jones’ wise-cracking comedy chemistry.

In this harrowing adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, a hunter discovers a bunch of drug money and decides to keep it — which puts him in the sights of a psychotic hitman (Javier Bardem, in a chilling performance). Meanwhile, the only one who might save him is an aging, world-weary sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones, also giving a fantastic performance). No Country for Old Men may not have the quirky humor that the Coen Brothers are best known for — O Brother, Where Art Thou? this most certainly is not — but its depiction of human evil and darkness is captivating and provocative in its own right (read my review).

There was a time when my friends and I considered Swingers to be the ultimate guys’ movie, but don’t let that turn you off from this clever, winsome ’90s comedy. In Doug Liman’s directorial debut, Jon Favreau (who wrote the script) plays a struggling actor and comedian who’s reeling from his last relationship. Vince Vaughn plays the ladies’ man trying to help Favreau get over his broken heart with the help of parties, a trip to Las Vegas, and lots of swing music.

An incredibly gut-wrenching depiction of how racism and hatred corrupts, American History X stars Edward Norton as a former neo-Nazi who, upon leaving jail, attempts to prevent his younger brother from making the same mistakes he did. Director Tony Kaye disowned American History X due to studio tinkering but there’s no denying the film’s power, especially Norton’s performance.

Kurt Russell stars as Jack Burton, a cocky, loud-mouthed trucker who finds himself in way over his head (though he won’t admit it) when he’s caught up in a war between rival Chinatown gangs, a war that soon becomes supernatural. One of John Carpenter’s best films, Big Trouble in Little China is a rowdy, hilarious ode to classic kung fu films (read my review). As Burton, Russell delivers one of his most iconic performances, with James Hong and Victor Wong stealing the show as rival Chinese sorcerers.

It’s always a risk when talking about The Crow; the tragic on-set death of Brandon Lee has become so interwoven with the movie’s mythos that enjoying it can seem disrespectful. But the fact is that The Crow remains a singular movie of the ’90s, as stylized and goth-y as can be, with intense action and a brooding soundtrack featuring a host of alt-rock superstars (read my review). Lee is absolutely perfect as the titular character, a musician brought back to life to avenge the death of his fiancé, which only adds to the movie’s poignancy.

In this spiritual sequel to 1992’s El Mariachi, Antonio Banderas plays a lonesome mariachi with a deadly secret — and a guitar case full of guns. Completely ludicrous and over-the-top, Desperado is filled with countless action sequences that are held together entirely by Banderas’ charisma.

David Fincher’s twisty thriller The Game stars Michael Douglas as a man who seems to have it all, only to have it all stripped away when he finds himself caught up in a game run by a shadowy company that begins to destroy his life. I still remember vividly the first time I watched The Game, and how its twists and turns totally blew me and my friends away (read my review).

Starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, The Mummy is a delightful throwback to the classic action serials of the ’30s and ’40s. When an Egyptologist discovers a map to a hidden city, she enlists the aid of an American soldier of fortune to help her, not knowing that they’re about to face a slew of supernatural threats. Filled with cutting edge (for the time) special effects, and more importantly, a sense of fun and adventure, The Mummy is popcorn cinema par excellence.

A troubled yet brilliant mathematician uses chaos theory and supercomputers to understand how the stock market works. In the process, he’s drawn into the world of Jewish mystics seeking after the true name of God. Darren Aronofsky’s Pi is compelling on multiple levels thanks to its intriguing plot and themes, surreal visuals (aided by the film’s black-and-white cinematography), and pulsing electronic soundtrack.

In this pair of stories set in mid-90s Hong Kong, writer/director Wong Kar-wai explores love, loss, and alienation with a stellar cast that includes some Hong Kong cinema’s best and brightest: Brigitte Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Faye Wong, and Tony Leung. Wong is particularly charming as the impetuous young woman who begins to insert herself into the life a lovelorn cop played by Leung. Along with its dazzling cinematography and a soundtrack that includes music from The Mamas & the Papas, The Cranberries, and Cocteau Twins, Chungking Express is a delightful gem of a film (read my review).