My month of streaming
I’m not the biggest fan of the colder seasons, however, autumn and winter are known to be the best time for watching cozy movies, so I had to put together an appropriate watchlist. Turns out, September ended up seeing spooky season come early for me.
Prime Video, Netflix, Paramount+, Disney+, HBO Max and more came to my rescue, filling my evenings with cult classics such as The Craft (1996), as well as dark and thrilling blockbusters like The Dark Knight (2008) and one of my favorite horrors Misery (1990).
September has been another great month of movies, but above all, it’s set up the rest of my spooky season viewing perfectly – roll on October!
Director: Darius Marder
Age rating: R
Runtime: 120 minutes
Where to stream: Prime Video (US); Prime Video, BBC iPlayer (UK); Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Binge (AU)
Riz Ahmed put everything into his character in Sound of Metal, which quickly emerged as one of my favorite movies of the past month. It’s been on my watchlist since it landed on Prime Video a long time back, and it did more than live up to its rave reviews.
In Sound of Metal, every musician’s worst nightmare comes to life. Metal drummer Ruben (Ahmed) has used his love for music to help him overcome a drug addiction, but after years of loud gigs his hearing starts to deteriorate. When a doctor tells him his condition will get worse over time, Ruben fears the end of his career.
To help him comes to grips with what will become his new life, his partner Lou (Olivia Cooke) refers him to a rehabilitation center for the deaf, hoping that he will learn to live with his new condition as opposed to view it as a disability – but Ruben has other plans to chase a cure.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Director: Tim Burton
Age rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Where to stream: Paramount+ (US); Prime Video (UK); Netflix (AU)
If Tim Burton was ever going to produce a movie-musical, of course it would be Sweeney Todd – it has his name written all over it. While it’s not my personal favorite movie-musical adaptation (you’ll find that below), I still think it’s a staple movie to help you settle into the new season.
Before he became Sweeney Todd, Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) was once a successful London barber with a wife named Lucy and daughter Johanna (Jayne Wisener). When the evil Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) accuses Barker of a false crime, he’s exiled to prison and Turpin steals his wife and daughter from him.
Now returning to London under the name Sweeney Todd, he forms an odd relationship with pie maker Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), opening a barbershop above her kitchen where he plots to get revenge on Turpin using sinister measures.
Misery (1990)
Director: Rob Reiner
Age rating: R
Runtime: 107 minutes
Where to stream: HBO Max (US); BBC iPlayer (UK)
What else can I say about Misery that isn’t just pure praise for Kathy Bates? There isn’t, for me she’s the backbone of the movie and makes it such a thrilling character study, bringing one of Stephen King’s most interesting characters from the page to the screen. It’s one of the most-deserved Oscar wins.
Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is the best-selling author of the Misery series of novels, and has just completed his latest book. After getting caught in a blizzard accident on the way to New York City, he’s rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes (Bates), who just so happens to be Paul’s number one fan.
Now bed-bound and unable to walk, Paul is nursed by Annie who he allows to read his latest manuscript, but her sinister colors come to the surface when she discovers he’s killed her favorite character. She grows increasingly controlling and holds Paul hostage, forcing him to rewrite his latest story, but his plan to escape proves to be quite challenging as Annie turns out to be more intuitive than he thought.
Batman Begins (2005)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Age rating: PG-13
Runtime: 140 minutes
Where to stream: HBO Max (US); Prime Video (UK); Prime Video, HBO Max, Stan (AU)
Superhero movies are not my cup of tea – studios love to churn them out one after the next – but I’ll always have time for heroes like Spiderman and Batman, the latter of whom makes for perfect early autumn viewing.
I found Nolan’s Batman trilogy sitting in Prime Video’s library, and despite being told to skip over Batman Begins and jump straight to The Dark Knight (2008), I’m glad I ignored those voices.
After experiencing the murders of his parents at a young age, billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) develops a thirst to fight injustice. As an adult he relocates to central Asia, training in martial arts under the watchful eyes of mentors, and returns home to Gotham City where he creates Batman – a persona designed to instill fear into the city’s most sinister criminals.
Enlisting the help of cop James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and district attorney Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), Wayne embarks on a mission to defeat doctor and ruthless drug dealer Jonathan Crane aka The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), who’s out to destroy the city by making its citizens lose their minds.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Age rating: R
Runtime: 100 minutes
Where to stream: HBO Max (US); Prime Video (UK); Prime Video, HBO Max, Stan, Foxtel Now, Binge (SU)
As soon as I finished Batman Begins, I streamed The Dark Knight after only adding it to my watchlist a few days prior. It was a very long watch to say the least, but one that brought the dark and brooding atmosphere that I was looking for – not to mention that Heath Ledger is unstoppable as The Joker.
In the year after he dons his new identity as Batman, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has proved to be a reliable asset for preventing organized crime across Gotham, but hasn’t been popular with newly-elected district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) who has his own agenda to combat Gotham’s crime bosses.
When a new criminal mastermind named The Joker (Ledger) arrives on the streets of Gotham City, he plans a series of attacks against the people of the city to grab the attention of Dent and Batman – but which one of the two will be the first to defeat The Joker?
The Craft (1996)
Director: Andrew Fleming
Age rating: R
Runtime: 100 minutes
Where to stream: Prime Video (US and UK); Netflix, Paramount+, Stan (AU)
I should put myself in time out for having never watched The Craft before, but that’s all changed now. I was always aware of its status as a autumnal cult classic, but it exceeded all of my expectations.
Teenager Sarah (Robin Tunney) moves to Los Angeles for a fresh start following a troubled background, bringing her telekinetic gift with her. When she starts school at St. Benedict’s Academy she’s a fish out of water, but she catches the attention of three other troubled school girls, all of whom are fascinated by the practice of witchcraft.
As the four girls bond, they discover that they have a shared gift in sorcery which they use for their personal gain, but some of the girls get drunk with power resulting in grave consequences.
Return to OZ (1985)
Director: Walter Murch
Age rating: PG
Runtime: 110 minutes
Where to stream: Disney+ (US, UK and AU)
Since its release in the mid ’80s, Return to Oz has gained a reputation of being one of the most terrifying children’s movies ever made – which is mainly down to the Wheelers. But for me, Return to Oz is a dark fantasy staple, and one that I can always count on to get cozy.
When she returns to Kansas after being swept in a tornado, all Dorothy Gale (Fairuza Balk) seems to do is think about the land of Oz, which she loses sleep over each night. Concerned for her health, Auntie Em (Piper Laurie) sends her to a doctor at a mental institution, where from Dorothy escapes with the help of a mysterious girl.
After getting lost in a storm, she amazingly finds herself back in Oz, but it’s very different from the first time she visited. All of the friends she made before have been turned to stone in the Emerald City under the new rule of the Nome King, who she sets out to defeat along with a new band of helpers.
The Sound of Music (1965)
Director: Robert Wise
Age rating: G
Runtime: 174 minutes
Where to stream: Disney+ (US, UK and AU)
I woke up one morning with an indescribable urge to rewatch The Sound of Music – my favorite movie-musical of all time – and it was the perfect way to kickstart a Sunday. Despite the movie’s 3-hour runtime, it never seems that long to me, which is a reflection of how many times I’ve watched it.
Set during the last years of the 1930s in Salzburg, Austria, Maria (Julie Andrews) has longed to become a nun since she was a child, but often finds herself getting things wrong and falling into trouble. To give her some clarity about her future at the convent, Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) finds Maria a job as a governess for the seven children of Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), who runs his home like one of his military bases.
At first, her presence is not welcome by the children who play practical jokes on Maria, but when she teaches them the art of song a unique bond blossoms between her and the children, bringing music back into the Von Trapp home. As the Captain learns to bring down his guard, Maria unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with him.
Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
Director: Gabor Csupo
Age rating: PG
Runtime: 96 minutes
Where to stream: Disney+ (US); Netflix, Prime Video (UK)
If you watched Bridge to Terabithia as a kid like I did, it’s likely that you still haven’t gotten over the heartbreak that this movie brings. But outside of it being one of the saddest children’s movies, it’s a warming tale of letting your imagination run wild in a world that can be so gray at times.
Jesse Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) comes from a poor family, struggles with bullies in school, and his love for drawing is the only adventurous thing in his life right now. That’s until new girl Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb) joins his school, who’s bold and quirky outlook on life is ridiculed by the other kids in the class.
The two of them start to hang out after school, venturing into the woods and building their own imaginary world they coin Terabithia. Along the way, Jesse learns some valuable life lessons which he learns to apply to the struggles he faces daily.
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