Aaron covers what’s exciting and new in the world of home entertainment and streaming TV. Previously, he wrote about entertainment for places like Rotten Tomatoes, Inverse, TheWrap and The Hollywood Reporter. Aaron is also an actor and stay-at-home dad, which means coffee is his friend.

Bugonia

Yorgos Lanthimos is back with another mind-breaking drama, with Emma Stone in the lead. In Bugonia, Stone plays the CEO of a drug company who is kidnapped by two conspiracy theorists who believe she’s actually an alien intent on destroying Earth. Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis also star.

• Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
• Stars: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis
• Runtime: 118 min

RoboCop

What happens when a police officer is killed in the line of duty, only to be brought back to life as a crime-fighting cyborg? 1987’s violent satire, RoboCop, happens. Peter Weller stars as Murphy, the titular character. Once memories of his death begin flooding back, RoboCop adds vengeance to his programming of cleaning up the streets. 

• Director: Paul Verhoeven
• Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy
• Runtime: 102 min

The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese directed this 3-hour biopic about Jordan Belfort, the young stockbroker who became super-rich at a young age, only to be arrested by the FBI for fraud and market manipulation. That’s already an interesting premise and thanks to the enignmatic cast, led by Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan alongside Jonah Hill as an unhinged sidekick, this movie never slows down. 

• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
• Runtime: 180 min

The Fabelmans

Director Steven Spielberg drew on his own childhood to bring to life this semi-autobiographical film about a boy who falls in love with cinema. It’s a coming-of-age story about the power of movies and how his parents’ difficult divorce helped inform his art.

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Stars: Michelle Williams, Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano
• Runtime: 151 min

Misery

Rob Reiner’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel explores fandom gone too far. James Caan plays novelist Paul Sheldon, who ends up being held hostage by “his biggest fan,” Annie Wilkes. There’s hardly any blood or gore here, but this is absolutely a top-notch horror film. Kathy Bates won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes — her breakout role.

• Director: Rob Reiner
• Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
• Runtime: 107 min

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Based on John le Carré’s novel of the same name, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a slow-burning Cold War espionage drama about an intelligence leak in British Intelligence and the man who seeks out the Soviet mole. The writing and directing deliver on all fronts, and the stacked cast elevates the experience to a whole new level. Gary Oldman stars alongside the likes of John Hurt, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones and Stephen Graham.

• Director: Tomas Alfredson
• Stars: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch
• Runtime: 127 min

The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy follows a stuntman named Colt Seavers who is sent on a mission to find a missing movie star. The key to this movie’s success is the chemistry between its two stars, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Big action sequences and plenty of laughs make this a pretty great popcorn flick. And yes, if you’re thinking this sounds familiar, it’s inspired by the TV show of the same name from the 1980s that starred Lee Majors.

• Director: David Leitch
• Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke 
• Runtime: 126 min

The Commitments

The Commitments follows music promoter Jimmy Rabbitte, who takes it upon himself to create an R&B group to address a void in the Dublin music scene. He has one problem: The group he assembles consists entirely of Irish folks with no experience in that specific music genre. Well, they do it anyway. The result is a surprisingly energetic, heartfelt and uplifting movie.

• Director: Alan Parker
• Stars: Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Andrew Strong, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy
• Runtime: 118 min

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the first full-length feature starring the legendary comedy group. The movie takes place during the time of King Arthur and follows the group as they embark on a quest to find the Holy Grail. This is one of those movies that should be considered required viewing for comedy fans. 

• Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
• Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin
• Runtime: 91 min

How to Train Your Dragon

Taking inspiration from the beloved 2010 animated classic, this new adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon holds up. It’s the same world and plot as the original, and it follows a Viking boy who befriends a dragon, much to the chagrin of his powerful father. Thanks to the strong CGI effects, expansive world building and attention to character detail, this is a rare example of a live-action remake that improves upon its animated counterpart. 

• Director: Dean DeBlois
• Stars: Mason Thames, Gerard Butler, Nico Parker, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison
• Runtime: 125 min

Sicario

Sicario, which stars Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin, takes viewers deep into an escalating drug war at the US-Mexico border. The drama is tense, and the action is grueling, which makes sense considering that Taylor Sheridan wrote the script and Dune visionary Denis Villeneuve directed the movie. 

• Director: Denis Villeneuve
• Stars: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya
• Runtime: 121 min

3:10 to Yuma

The movie 3:10 to Yuma is an epic modern-day western. It’s a remake of the 1957 western of the same name (and both are inspired by a short story by Elmore Leonard). James Mangold directed the 2007 version in which Christian Bale plays Dan Evans, a rancher who takes on a job to guide outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to a train that’ll transport him to prison. As you may expect, it’s not an easy task. Ben Foster. who’s excellent as the villainous Charlie Prince, also stars alongside Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol and Alan Tudyk.  

• Director: James Mangold
• Stars: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman, Dallas Roberts, Ben Foster, Peter Fonda, Vinessa Shaw, Gretchen Mol
• Runtime: 122 min

Point Break

In Point Break, a gang of renegade surfers don the masks of ex-presidents and rob banks. And they’re pretty good at it, too. Enter FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), a young and brash law enforcement officer who goes undercover and infiltrates the group and cozies up to its leader, Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), to take them down. Kathryn Bigelow directed this over-the-top action movie, which was a memorable role for Swayze and a star-making turn for Reeves.

• Director: Kathryn Bigelow
• Stars: Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey, Lori Petty, 
• Runtime: 122 min

Shrek

Shrek was the first movie to win the Academy Award for best animated feature. It’s sort of crazy to think that animated movies weren’t recognized by the Oscars until 2001, but Shrek deserved the win. The voice performances of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy are on point and deliver delightful comedy and memorable pop culture moments. The movie helped usher in a new era of CGI effects and put DreamWorks on the map. More than two decades later, it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable watch.

• Director: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
• Stars: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz
• Runtime: 90 min