Why the Nintendo Classic Mini is the most exciting game console of 2016
A tiny NES with 30 classic games for $60? Can't beat that
An Amazon Prime membership’s benefits go way beyond giving you super-speedy deliveries for free – there’s also a fantastic streaming video service included, offering up loads of movies and TV shows for instant viewing.
Like Netflix, Amazon is constantly adding fresh eyeball fodder to its streaming library, so much so that it can be difficult to keep up with all the new stuff. So, as we do with Netflix each month, we’ve decided to dedicate a regularly-updated article to what’s new – as long as we deem it worth watching, of course.
Looking for the latest thing to stream? Read on, and allow us to guide you through all the best recent additions.
And why not check all these out with a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime Video here.
Note: the newest stuff is at the top of the list, with material getting progressively older as you scroll down.
Blade Runner 2049
The sequel to Ridley Scott’s iconic cyberpunk thriller was a long time coming (30 years in fact), but most will find it worth the wait: Blade Runner 2049 counts among the most visually striking movies ever made, with Roger Deakins’ masterful cinematography bringing director Denis Villeneuve’s nightmarish vision of the future to life. As a whole, the film isn’t quite as noteworthy as its visuals.
At almost three hours it’s too ponderous for its own good, despite retaining the original Blade Runner‘s spirit through a mixture of thrilling action sequences, philosophical pondering and memorable characters – including a few familiar faces. Overall it works, just about, being held together by a competent detective yarn in which Ryan Gosling’s new-gen replicant seeks answers to a deadly riddle.
Straight Outta Compton
Dr. Dre has become a household name (as much for his billion-dollar headphones as his music, perhaps) but back in the 1980s he was just another struggling DJ in South Central Los Angeles – until he linked up with Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and Yella to form NWA, who quickly became one of the US’s best-loved – and most-hated – musical acts.
Inventing gangsta rap and making white America extremely uncomfortable, NWA and its rise is documented in this wildly entertaining biopic which has just re-dropped onto Netflix. While it may gloss over or skirt around some of the more distasteful occurrences in the group’s history, it’s a quick and engrossing primer on one of the most important acts in hip-hop history.
The Voyeurs
Is it possible to make a decent erotic thriller in the post-Me Too era? Judging by this new Amazon original movie, the answer is “maybe, but not like this”. An attractive young couple move into a loft apartment in downtown Montreal, quickly becoming obsessed by the goings-on in the swanky pad across the street, where an even more attractive young couple are up to all sorts – much of it involving no clothes.
If you’re thinking The Voyeurs is inspired by the likes of Rear Window or Sliver, you’d be right – but despite far more nudity and twists than either of those, it doesn’t really go anywhere truly shocking or exciting. But when the final reveal makes you burst out laughing rather than recoil in shock, can we really say it’s a terrible film? There’s a fair bit of entertainment to be had, even if the thrills aren’t quite there.
Kevin Can F*** Himself (S1)
This comedy-drama cleverly deconstructs the classic multi-camera sitcoms of the 1990s and 2000s by focussing on the downtrodden wife of the show’s schlubby, chauvinistic star by abruptly switching visual and writing styles. Basically, imagine if Leah Rimini in King of Queens was fully aware of how selfish and annoying Kevin James is, and how directionless her life was – and decided to do something drastic about it. Like murder…
Nine Perfect Strangers (S1)
The minds behind two recent Nicole Kidman-fronted suspense thrillers – Big Little Lies and The Undoing – have reunited. The result? A suspense thriller starring Nicole Kidman – albeit one that’s a little more in the slightly satirical vein of Big Little Lies than a straight-up whodunnit like The Undoing.
In Nine Perfect Strangers (based on the novel by Liane Moriarty) Kidman plays a mysterious, thickly accented life coach. She invites nine stressed-out city dwellers (played by a host of stars including Melissa McCarthy and Luke Evans) to her luxury retreat with a promise to heal them in both body and mind. But there’s much more on the menu than some plant-based meals and a spot of reiki – this guru’s techniques are a little more unconventional. And a lot more dangerous.
Sicario
Working both as a compelling crime thriller and a brutal examination of the United States’ War on Drugs and its latent effects on the cartel-run Mexican border cities, Sicario isn’t one for the faint-hearted or weak of stomach. Taut and tense, the plot works chiefly due to Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro, who sell their somewhat implausible characters through sheer force of performance.
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
Guy Ritchie’s low budget debut launched the acting careers of Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones, as well as establishing the director’s penchant for snappy dialogue, clever editing tricks and semi-comedic cockney crime capers. Viewed over 20 years on, its story of East End wide boys feels a touch hackneyed (no pun intended), the acting at times a tad wooden – but there’s an upstart energy here that hints at the success Ritchie was to soon after enjoy with his far superior follow-up Snatch.
The Other Guys
Before Adam McKay was tackling weighty subjects like big finance, media empires and politics (in The Big Short, Succession and Vice respectively), he was churning out killer mainstream comedies with his buddy Will Ferrell; The Other Guys is just as enjoyable the much better-known Anchorman. A clever twist on buddy cop movies (albeit one that actually ticks off all the genre’s tropes), the film sees Ferrell’s pen-pushing desk jockey detective partnered up with testosterone-fuelled meathead Mark Wahlberg.
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
The second of George Romero’s zombie series, Dawn of the Dead is one of the most iconic and influential horror movies of all time. When an outbreak of the undead ushers in the fall of civilization, a small band of survivors decamp to a giant abandoned shopping mall in a bid for safety – only to discover that the shambling hordes also find themselves drawn to this palace of consumerism.
You’d have to be braindead to miss Romero’s satire, yes – but there’s so much else going on here that it hardly matters. Zack Snyder’s 21st-century reimagining isn’t a patch on this for atmosphere, and the practical effects and synth score give it an eerie atmosphere you simply don’t get with modern horror flicks.
NB: Interestingly, the movie is available on Prime Video in two different versions: Romero’s 127-minute theatrical cut (linked below) and the 119-minute European cut by Italian horror maestro Dario Argento, which trims out some of the more comedic scenes.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford’s first, and best, Indiana Jones movie is a globe-trotting blockbuster set the standard for all adventure flicks since. A throwback to the swashbuckling serials of producer and writer George Lucas’ childhood, it sees Ford’s bullwhip-brandishing archaeologist strive to locate the Ark of the Covenant ahead of the Third Reich, who plan to use the ancient artefact’s fabled powers to conquer the world.
The camerawork, special effects and ‘cultural depictions’ have noticeably aged somewhat since 1981, but when a film’s this good it’s easy to look beyond that. This is Hollywood filmmaking at its purest: an entertaining, fast-paced and iconic movie that the whole family will adore.
Battle Royale
This cult classic is set in a future Japan where teenagers are so badly behaved that once a year, exasperated adults drop a randomly selected high school class off on a deserted island and make them all fight to the death. If that sounds like a pretty harsh punishment for talking during double maths, it’s best not to overthink things: just enjoy the carnage as petty grudges turn bloody, friends become enemies and our heroes try to escape from this deadly game.
Having provided inspiration for everything from The Hunger Games to Fortnite, Battle Royale is an essential watch for any fan of edgy world cinema.
The Matrix
If you’ve never seen The Wachowskis’ modern sci-fi classic, take our advice and “jack in” (not being rude, honest) to Prime Video right now. It isn’t just a great action movie – it’s packed with cultural touchstones, cod philosophy, ultra-stylish camera work and still looks amazing over two decades after it came out.
Keanu Reeves has never been Reevesier than here as hacker Neo, an office-bound drudge who finds himself drawn into a reality-shattering adventure full of flying bullets, mind-blowing martial arts sequences and early CGI that hasn’t aged like vinegar. Whoa!
The Tomorrow War
Prime Video’s latest exclusive new movie is a sci-fi blockbuster starring Chris Pratt as a man sent 30 years into the future to battle monstrous aliens. The premise sounds ludicrous but trust us: you don’t want to ponder the science of The Tomorrow War too deeply – just sit back and enjoy the ride.
There are heavy hints early on that the whole thing is an allegory for the coming chaos wrought by climate change, but any nuance is quickly tossed aside in favour of shallow sentimentality and CGI-driven action sequences. Pratt was much more likeable in the “schlubby comic relief” phase of his career, and you may well end up rooting for the aliens by the time the final reel begins. Still, if you want to give your fancy 4K telly a workout, you could do a lot worse.
Bosch (S7)
If you know, you know. Amazon’s best original drama series bar none, Bosch has been quietly going about its business for the best part of a decade. A multi-threaded police procedural focussing on gruff and highly principled Hollywood homicide detective Harry Bosch, this show is buoyed along by its complex characters and feeling of authenticity.
In this, its final season, Bosch finds himself investigating a deadly arson attack and the murder of a high-profile white-collar criminal – a case that takes him right to the heart of Los Angeles’ corrupt establishment. Fans mourning the end of a great series can take some comfort in the fact that this season is as good as any of those preceding, and that Bosch himself is rumoured to be returning in a future spin-off show.
Deepwater Horizon
Based on the real-life offshore rig explosion from 2010, this thrilling disaster movie will give both your screen and your speakers a thorough workout.
Mark Wahlberg leads a star-studded cast as the head electrical engineer of the titular semi-submersible rig, a gargantuan floating drill that roams the Gulf of Mexico exploring potential oil wells. When one of those wells blows out, the resulting catastrophe pitches Wahlberg and the rest of the crew into a terrifying fight for survival.
Leave No Trace
Haunted by his experiences in Iraq, Will lives with his 13-year-old daughter Tom in a heavily wooded park on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. Living off the grid and (mostly) off the land, the pair generally avoid other people – until the modern world comes for them.
Despite moving along in a quietly naturalistic, meandering fashion, Leave No Trace is a hugely powerful story of love and survival with fantastic performances from Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie in the lead roles. But don’t take our word for it: it’s currently the most-reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes to hold a critics’ approval rating of 100 percent.
Saint Maud
Writer-director Rose Glass’s startling debut film wears the clothes of a horror movie but might instead be viewed as an exploration of loneliness and its dangers. Born-again Christian Maud is a private nurse, assigned to a cancer-stricken former dancer after leaving her previous job under a cloud. As she gets to know her new charge, she decides her purpose is not only to ease her pain, but save her immortal soul.
The Mauritanian
Debuting on Amazon Prime, this 2021 release is part legal drama, part political polemic. It tells the true story of Mohamedou Slahi, the eponymous Mauritanian and a victim of the United States’ directionless War on Terror. Accused of being a recruiter for the 9/11 hijackers, but never actually charged with any crime, Slahi (played superbly by the BAFTA-nominated Tahar Rahim) finds himself in Guantanamo Bay and at the mercy of the authorities’ “enhanced” interrogation techniques. When his cause is taken up by Jodie Foster’s crusading lawyer, she uncovers the truth behind the secretive, extra-legal American prison, and decides winning Slahi’s case isn’t just about freeing one innocent man, but defending the rule of law itself.
Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan’s recreation of the British and French armies’ evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 is an audio-visual masterpiece, richly served with moments of both quiet grandeur and epic spectacle.
With comparatively little dialogue, few CGI effects and an enemy that’s never directly seen, Nolan conjures up the hopelessness of the surrounded British Expeditionary Force, trapped between the sea and the German army and prey to horrifying attacks from the air, and the heroism of soldiers, sailors, pilots and civilians caught up in a desperate situation. Hans Zimmer’s score, meanwhile, remains a masterclass in understated power.
Elysium
Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to District 9 boasts a starrier cast in Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, but retains the earlier film’s mix of gritty sci-fi and social conscience. When Damon’s downtrodden worker suffers a lethal dose of radiation, he realises his only hope is to get to one of the Med-Bays used by the upper classes. Only problem is, the upper classes have abandoned Earth for a luxurious orbital space station – and they’re not about to let any old pauper in. Come for the spectacular visuals, stay for the scathing political message.
Call Me By Your Name
Taking place over one long 1980s northern Italian summer, Call Me By Your Name is a coming-of-age story about an outwardly precocious teenager (Timothée Chalamet) who falls for an older American (Armie Hammer) that comes to stay at his family’s holiday home.
To reveal any more would spoil the joy of this wonderful movie, which drifts warmly, hazily and lazily along like the perfect summertime. One of the few popular movies about a gay relationship that doesn’t use the sexuality of its participants as a plot point, it conveys a universality that puts it among the finest films of the past few years.
Invincible (S1)
Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman brings another of his comic books to the screen. This animated series concerns a young superhero coming to terms with his newfound powers – and dealing with the fact that his dad is the most powerful and famous masked crusader on the planet. Stephen Yuen, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Mahershala Ali and Mark Hamill are among the all-star voice cast.
I Care a Lot
Proof that it’s possible to make an engaging film even when none of the characters are “good” or particularly likeable, I Care A Lot stars Rosamunde Pike as legal guardian Marla Grayson, a ruthless, driven predator who makes a killing by exploiting the elderly people she’s supposed to be looking out for. Her latest ward (Dianne Wiest) looks like a goldmine, but turns out to be a doorway to trouble – thanks to some unlikely connections with the criminal underworld. Peter Dinklage and Eiza González also star in this viciously black but deliciously enjoyable comedy.
Jurassic Park
We’re probably not telling you anything you don’t already know, but the original Jurassic Park is a near-perfect blockbuster movie that pioneered special effects without becoming mere cinematic spectacle. Steven Spielberg’s mastery of pacing, camera, editing and sound is on full display here, as the resurrected attractions in a dinosaur theme park take advantage of a cascading series of disasters to turn on their captors.
The uninspired sequels (the first two of which you can also stream on Amazon) have shown that there’s much more to making a great movie than a great idea (what if dinosaurs and humans could interact?), but this is a rare occasion when a mega-budgeted box office smash feels full of heart.
Life
A team of astronauts on the ISS rendezvous with a satellite carrying soil samples from Mars, delighted when they discover microscopic signs of life within. That joy swiftly turns to concern when the Martian organism, dubbed “Calvin”, turns out to be intelligent, resourceful, capable of rapid growth and determined to stay alive – no matter the cost to its new captors. It’s b-movie stuff really, but with a strong cast (including Ryan Reynolds, Jack Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson), excellent visual effects and some disturbing twists and turns, this tense creature feature doesn’t disappoint.
Greenland
In this disaster movie, the stakes couldn’t be higher: with an interstellar “planet killer” comet on course to wipe out almost all life on Earth, our hero Gerard Butler must get his estranged wife (Morena Baccarin) and young son to the safety of an underground bunker in (yes, you guessed it) Greenland.
It’s true that there’s nothing particularly original going on here, but Greenland is a finely-honed race-against-time thriller that successfully conveys the magnitude of its threat. From violent looters to failing technology to flaming rocks from the sky, Butler and Baccarin find themselves beset with an array of perils – even before the coming impact that may wipe out humanity completely.
Breakdown
The oft-overlooked 1997 thriller stars Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan as Jeff and Amy, a married couple driving through the US Southwestern desert as they relocate from the East Coast to start a new life in California. When their car’s engine dies, a passing trucker offers Amy a lift to the next payphone, but when Jeff eventually finds his way to the meeting spot she’s nowhere to be found, the locals don’t seem keen on helping him find her – and there’s the distinct sense that something darker is going on. And it is, of course!
Breakdown works thanks to Russell’s relatable everyman performance, the quiet malignancy of the late J.T. Walsh as the film’s antagonist and writer-director Jonathan Mostow’s relentless up-cranking of tension.
Vikings (S6 Part II)
This long-running historical drama (think Game of Thrones with more face tattoos and fewer dragons) finally hits its home stretch with this final batch of episodes. Viewers who have been with it since its glorious early days back in 2013 will doubtless lament the fact that the saga is coming to an end – but unlike many series it’s at least signing off before it becomes totally irrelevant and/or careens off the rails.
Focussing on the reign of Bjorn Ironside and the adventures of his half-brothers Ivar and Ubbe, this final series (like the ones before it) takes plenty of huge liberties with real history in the name of entertainment, but succeeds through its crowd-pleasing representation of the spirit of Norse raiders and explorers.
Don’t Breathe
A lot of the most memorable horror movies are memorable precisely because there’s some kind of killer (literally) gimmick in place, and that’s very much the case with Don’t Breathe. When a trio of teen tearaways breaks into the home of a blind old codger, they don’t count of him also being a ruthless ex-soldier with superhuman hearing, a vicious guard dog and a burning desire to keep the contents of his basement a secret. Cue an hour and a half of toe-curling tension.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Writer and director Martin McDonagh’s follow-up to In Bruges comes with a similar mix of pathos, violence and pitch-black comedy, as Frances McDormand’s grieving mother challenges the cops of her small southern US town to step up and catch her daughter’s murderer.
Such direct action – she purchases space on the titular three advertising billboards to publicly shame the police – brings her into conflict with Woody Harrelson’s respected chief and his bigoted, immature and angry deputy Sam Rockwell, sparking off a unpredictable sequence of events and an unforgettable conclusion. We won’t spoil any of that, but suffice to say the Oscars won by McDormand and Rockwell for their roles were well-earned, and this movie will likely stay in your head for a long time after the credits roll.
Watch Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri on Amazon Prime Video
Hannibal (S1-3)
Mads Mikkelsen is, quite frankly, one of the most watchable actors of his generation, and never more so than when in the immaculate suits of this TV incarnation of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. As per the original books, Lecter is a psychiatrist brought in to assist FBI profiler Will Graham, but it’s not long before the doctor is taking advantage of his position and manipulating the fragile Graham. This is pretty high-brow stuff, chock-full of startling imagery, Lynchian characters and dinner scenes that will make your stomach growl – a little unsettling once you know what’s in most of them.
The Shallows
Already seen Jaws and fancy a more up-to-date cinematic take on the endlessly popular human-versus-shark trope? Then check out The Shallows, a stylish, sun-drenched thriller in which a carefree surfer dudette played by Blake Lively finds the perfect Mexican beach to catch a few waves: surrounded by jungle, it’s gorgeous, secluded, unspoilt – and watched over by a mean fish with a heck of an appetite. Engaged in a deadly battle of wills with the shark, Lively finds out just how far she can go to survive.
Bone Tomahawk
Genres get hacked up as much as the poor cast members in S. Craig Zahler’s brutal debut film, which starts out like a Western but slowly descends into a nightmarish horror – albeit one with some great comedic dialogue and character moments.
Kurt Russell leads a talented cast as an upstanding sheriff spurred into action when a group of cave-dwelling Native Americans kidnap two of his townspeople – and things don’t go particularly well from there. There’s an old-school video nasty feel to Bone Tomahawk that you don’t often see in modern movies (you’ll know the scene we’re referring to if you’ve seen it), not to mention a refreshing tendency to take its time, allowing you to get properly acquainted with its characters and its world.
Diego Maradona
Having previously delivered award-winning profiles of Amy Winehouse and Ayrton Senna, Asif Kapadia turns his documentarian gaze on the most mercurial footballer to ever grace the game: Diego Armando Maradona.
The Argentine magician’s recent death might make this superb 2019 film even more poignant, but Kapadia’s signature mix of voiceovers and archive footage tells a gripping story from the get-go. In some ways it’s a classic rags-to-riches tale: a poor kid from the slums of Buenos Aires winds up winning the World Cup and leading unfancied Napoli to a brace of Italian Serie A titles. But it’s also a Greek tragedy, with Maradona’s very human failings – hubris and need to be loved – setting this god-like figure on a path to self-destruction.
The Expanse (S5)
The fifth and likely penultimate season of Amazon’s fantastic sci-fi series has made landfall, giving seasoned fans and newcomers alike the perfect lockdown binge material. We won’t get into spoilers here, but The Expanse‘s sweeping, multi-character story and its clever mix of intrigue, action and visual grandeur invite comparisons with Game of Thrones (albeit, you know, set in space), and this season sees old conflicts between uneasy allies Earth, Mars and the Belt threaten to reignite, even as much greater threats lurk in the darkness.
Pan’s Labyrinth
A film about fairies, fauns and fantastical underground kingdoms might not seem like prime scary movie fodder, but Mexican maestro Guillermo Del Toro’s knack of infusing reality with the otherworldly has never been more captivating than in Pan’s Labyrinth. Some of the beasts young Ofelia encounters as she attempts to complete the tasks set for her by the guardian of the labyrinth are the stuff of nightmares, while above ground her homicidal army general stepfather is arguably scarier than them all. Pan’s Labyrinth is like Narnia reimagined by Ernest Hemingway.
I’m Your Woman
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel‘s Rachel Brosnahan stars in this taut crime drama which is both set in and feels like it could have been made in the 1970s. And that’s a good thing! Brosnahan plays a disaffected woman who, when her criminal husband apparently goes missing after double-crossing his partners, must suddenly go on the run with their baby. Having never had to fend for herself before, she’s forced to learn a few things – and confront some uncomfortable truths about her life.
Amores Perros
Before Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu became a heavy hitter in Hollywood (he’s the director behind Oscar-winners The Revenant and Birdman) he made his first feature film Amores Perros in his native country – and it was very much a sign of things to come.
Telling three separate stories that literally collide in bone-crunching fashion on the streets of Mexico City, it’s a debut that demonstrates skills far beyond a first-time director and plonked Gael Garcia Bernal well and truly on Hollywood’s radar. Just make sure you cover Fido’s eyes during the dog-fighting scenes – you don’t want him getting any ideas.
Whiplash
Watching an indie movie about jazz drumming might not sound like the most riveting way to spend an evening but trust us: Whiplash is no ordinary indie movie about jazz drumming.
Miles Teller plays a New York music college student determined to become one of the skin-bashing greats. The only problem? He’s never good enough to impress his insanely demanding band conductor, played in Oscar-winning form by J. K. Simmons. Simmons’ monstrous mentor dominates the film right through to the unforgettable final reel. We doubt you’ve ever seen a music movie that exhibits this much blood, sweat and tears.
Color Out of Space
Adapted from the 1927 short story by cosmic horror master H.P. Lovecraft, Richard Stanley’s movie (his first since being fired from the famously troubled production of The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1996) sets the tale in modern day New England but retains the same sense of existential dread in the face of incomprehensible forces.
Nicolas Cage plays a man attempting to keep his father’s old farm working and his quarrelling, troubled family happy. But his quotidian problems rapidly fade into the background when a strangely coloured meteorite crashes into his property, seemingly affecting (or infecting?) every living thing in the vicinity. It’s fairly standard B movie stuff, yes – but the brilliant visuals, moody soundtrack and intense pacing make it a diverting, troubling watch.
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
