February is finally behind us, and with it, the year marches onward with a new slate of exciting movie releases to look forward to. We’ve got Bong Joon-ho’s satirical sci-fi thriller Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson, Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller Black Bag starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, the monster horror film Death of a Unicorn starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, and a lot more!
You don’t have to leave the comfort of your home to enjoy some good movies, though, as we’ve once again gathered up a list of this month’s best new streaming picks for you to choose from. We’ve got a Gen X classic starring John Cusack and Jack Black, an underrated schlocky mashup of two of the most terrifying movie monsters of all time, a beautiful romantic sports drama, and some other excellent films.
Here are the best movies new to streaming services you should watch this month!
Editor’s pick: High Fidelity
Image: Touchstone Home Entertainment
Where to watch: Hulu
Genre: Romantic comedy-drama
Director: Stephen Frears
Cast: John Cusack, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet
If ever there was a generational classic, High Fidelity is it. Stephen Frears’ adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel tapped into the zeitgeist of the waning ’90s counterculture, and while it wasn’t a runaway commercial success, it catapulted the profile of nearly everyone attached to it. John Cusack’s turn as Rob Gordon, the lovelorn proprietor of an independent record shop in downtown Chicago, is easily one of his most iconic. Jack Black’s breakout performance as Barry, Rob’s outgoing and comical employee, set the course for the then-little-known musician and actor’s eventual stardom. As if all of that weren’t enough, Lisa Bonet delivers a standout performance as a talented musician and eventual fling of Rob’s whose down-to-earth wisdom sets him on the course for what is eventually the film’s heartwarming resolution. High Fidelity is a classic for all these reasons and more, and if you somehow haven’t seen it yet, take this as your opportunity to do so. —Toussaint Egan
Image: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Genre: Action thriller
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin
Long before we embarked on his nearly decadelong Dune odyssey, director Denis Villeneuve directed this much smaller masterpiece of paranoia and tension. Sicario follows a cop named Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) who gets caught up in the U.S. government’s crusade against Mexican cartels. What she finds is Matt (Josh Brolin), a relaxed governmental operator with a limitless budget and no oversight; Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro), a veteran of the Colombia cartel with a grudge and an itchy trigger finger; and a whole host of legally dubious and incredibly violent covert ops.
It’s an excellent setup, and a fascinating story in itself, but the real highlight of Sicario is the way Villeneuve and legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins use the premise to create some of the most memorable and thrilling set-pieces of any movie in the 2010s. Midnight shootouts, apartment brawls, and car chases pop up all over the movie, but few moments in any movie have ever been as outstanding as Sicario’s border crossing sequence, which is reason enough to watch this movie if you haven’t. —Austen Goslin
Image: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Genre: Sci-fi action
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen
Let’s start with the most important information first: Most of the Alien franchise, and the first Predator movie, are now on Max. So, is Alien vs. Predator on this list because I secretly think it’s the best movie in either franchise? No. I do, however, think it’s a tremendously fun and very overlooked entry in the mid-tier horror canon of the 2000s. This movie is silly and schlocky, playing fast and loose with franchise canon, in a way that blockbuster IP movies rarely get to be anymore. There are probably four to five movies in these two franchises that you owe a rewatch to before you get to Alien vs. Predator, but my point here is that one way or another, you should make it to this movie, which also happens to be directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, making it great timing for his upcoming In the Lost Lands. They don’t make ’em like this anymore, and we’re much worse off for it. —AG
Image: New Line Cinema
Genre: Romantic sports drama
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Cast: Omar Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Alfre Woodard
I’m not all that into sports movies, nor am I particularly what one would call an enthusiast of romance. But something about Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball tugs at my heartstrings. Maybe it’s the decade-spanning story of Quincy and Monica, two childhood enemies turned friends who bond through their shared aspiration for basketball greatness. Maybe it’s the supporting cast, featuring Dennis Haysbert and Harry Lennix, who bring dimension and depth to their depiction of two middle-class Black families in the ’80s and ’90s. Whatever it is, Love & Basketball is an astoundingly moving and thoughtful love story that never fails to have me cheering by the end. —TE
Image: MGM Home Entertainment
Genre: Crime thriller
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky
Michael Mann is one of American cinema’s preeminent auteurs, a director responsible for some inextricably memorable, visually remarkable, and fascinating crime dramas with films like 2006’s Miami Vice, 1995’s Heat, and 2004’s Collateral. His 1981 debut, Thief, starring James Caan (The Godfather) as a professional safecracker and ex-con attempting to escape a life of crime and build a family with his wife stands as one of the many jewels in Mann’s long and storied career, packed with all the defining idiosyncrasies that he would go on to hone in the decades to come. From the film’s beautiful score by Tangerine Dream to its stunning nighttime cinematography of Chicago courtesy of Donald Thorin, Thief is a masterful neo-noir thriller charged with an overwhelming sense of inimitable style, character, and smoldering cool. —TE