Here’s what’s coming to Hulu this month!
Hulu has been stuck in the third place position when it comes to movie streaming behind Netflix and Amazon Prime because most people still see them strictly as a home for next-day television. They have movies too, though, and more than a few of them are terrific gems that make Hulu a destination for more than just TV.
The complete list of new movies hitting Hulu this month — January 2018 — is below, but I wanted to highlight the best of the bunch along with several others worth seeking out.
The Best
Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 was one of 2017’s many critical darlings that failed to find much of an audience in 2017, but unlike most of them it seems destined to find a growing fan base in years to come. It’s the visionary director’s tenth film and comes after a brilliant run of titles in a row including Arrival, Sicario, Enemy, Prisoners, and Incendies. All are varying degrees of greatness, but his best remains 2009’s Polytechnique (arrives on Hulu starting 1/15). The film explores the horrific mass shooting that occurred at a Montreal university in 1989, and it’s a devastatingly powerful watch. The shooter targeted women specifically, and the film offers a terrifying look at the most nightmarish outcome of male entitlement. As horrifying as it is, from the build-up to the attack itself, the film and performances instill a beautiful sliver of hope in spite of the pain.
New Releases
I wasn’t much of a fan of Vin Diesel’s first two XXX adventures and therefore skipped the latest — the concept of James Bond as an X Games champion does little for me — but those who’ve seen XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (hits Hulu on 1/13) are still singing its praises as a big pile of stylish fun. I do enjoy dark comedies, though, and to that end I can happily recommend Ingrid Goes West (1/22) for like-minded film fans. Aubrey Plaza gives a terrific performance balancing laughs and mental instability as a fan obsessed with a social media celebrity played by Elizabeth Olsen. It’s a dark tale, and while it loses its way a bit in the third act the film still delivers a damning commentary our star-obsessed culture. Like Villeneuve’s film above, Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit (1/24) tackles a horrific real-life incident from the relatively recent past without flinching. Unfortunately, though, similarities end there as it fails to build emotional connections before tearing the world apart and instead delivers a increasingly cruel stream of frustrations and brutalities.
For Charles Bronson Fans
Charles Bronson is an action mainstay with great movies spread across the decades from the 50s through the 80s (and technically dipping into the 90s with a terrific supporting turn in Sean Penn’s The Indian Runner). Three of Bronson’s films are new to Hulu this month starting with the vicious serial killer thriller, 10 to Midnight, which sees him playing a detective on the trail of a Ted Bundy-like madman. It’s nasty fun. Bronson re-teamed with director J. Lee Thompson a few years later for the lighter but still entertaining Murphy’s Law. Bronson plays a cop — again — forced to balance his pursuit of his wife’s murderers with babysitting duty for a foul-mouthed young woman. It tries a bit too hard for laughs at times, but Bronson’s charms shine through. The third Bronson film hitting Hulu this month is a lesser affair in general, but what Assassination lacks in R-rated thrills it (almost) makes up for in the always sweet pairing of Bronson and Jill Ireland.
Have Time to Kill?
Sometimes you sit down to watch a movie and are happy to see it’s only ninety minutes long, but other times? You want the story to continue. Those who fall into the latter group will be happy to see six franchises available to stream this month including Full Moon’s four-film Subspecies series about a vampire’s quest for blood and love. Keeping with the genre trend, Canada’s Cube trilogy offers up a bloody slice of sci-fi/horror while the Look Who’s Talking trilogy explores the horror of adult brains transplanted into baby skulls. Those looking for lighter fare might enjoy the animated shenanigans of an undead canine in All Dogs Go to Heaven and its sequel (both coming to earth on 1/31) or the totally wicked joys of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey. Lastly, all four films in the epic anti-bully adventures of The Karate Kid are ready to stream their way into your dojo too.
Keep reading for a look at all of this month’s new arrivals:
January 1st
- 10 to Midnight (1983)
- A League of Their Own (1992)
- All Is Lost (2013)
- American Ninja (1985)
- Anger Management (2003)
- Art of the Prank (2015)
- Assassination (1987)
- Avenging Force (1986)
- Babel (2006)
- Baby Mama’s Club (2010)
- Beyond the Sea (2004)
- Bloodsport (1988)
- Big Driver (2014)
- Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
- Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
- Black Rain (1989)
- Bolero (1984)
- Brothers (2009)
- Burning Blue (2014)
- But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)
- Capote (2005)
- Cold Mountain (2003)
- Coming Soon (1999)
- Cool World (1992)
- Cross Bronx (2004)
- Cube (1998)
- Cube 2: Hypercube (2003)
- Cube Zero (2005)
- Daddy Day Care (2003)
- Dangerous Curves (1989)
- Down in the Delta (1998)
- Drop Dead Sexy (2006)
- Evolution (2001)
- Excess Baggage (1997)
- Flawless (1999)
- The Fourth War (1990)
- Frailty (2001)
- Freedom Writers (2007)
- The Future (2011)
- Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College (1991)
- Green Street Hooligans Underground (2005)
- Grizzly Man (2005)
- Hamlet (1990)
- Hercules in New York (1970)
- Highway (2012)
- Horsemen (2009)
- Hot Rod (2007)
- Hustle & Flow (2005)
- I Spy (2002)
- Invaders from Mars (1986)
- Invasion U.S.A. (1985)
- Ironweed (1987)
- The Karate Kid (1984)
- The Karate Kid: Part II (1986)
- The Karate Kid III (1989)
- Kill the Irishman (2011)
- Liz & Dick (2012)
- Look Who’s Talking (1989)
- Look Who’s Talking Now (1993)
- Look Who’s Talking Too (1990)
- Love & Death (1975)
- Love Story (1970)
- Missing in Action II: The Beginning (1985)
- Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
- Murphy’s Law (1986)
- My Boss’s Daughter (2003)
- The Next Karate Kid (1994)
- Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)
- Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (2012)
- Ninja III: The Domination (1984)
- P.O.W. The Escape (1986)
- P2 (2007)
- Paper Heart (2009)
- The Parent Trap (1961)
- The Parent Trap (1998)
- The Perfect Weapon (1991)
- The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
- Platoon Leader (1988)
- The Pom Pom Girls (1976)
- The Presidio (1988)
- Pretty Bird (2008)
- Primitive (2011)Punch Drunk Love (2002)
- Requiem for a Dream (2000)
- Reservoir Dogs (1992)
- Revenge of the Ninja (1983)
- Revolutionary Road (2008)
- Richard the Lionheart (2013)
- Saturday Night Fever (1977)
- Secretary (2002)
- Shirley Valentine (1989)
- Show of Force (1990)
- Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
- Sliding Doors (1998)
- Songcatcher (2000)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- Step into Liquid (2003)
- Street Smart (1987)
- Subspecies (1991)
- Subspecies 2 (1993)
- Subspecies 3 (1994)
- Subspecies 4 (1998)
- Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
- Thelma & Louise (1991)
- Total Recall (1990)
- Two Family House (2000)
- Uncommon Valor (1983)
- War (2007)
- Witless Protection (2008)
- Words and Pictures (2013)
- The Wraith (1987)
- Zodiac (2007)
January 2nd
- Cruel and Unusual (2017)
January 3rd
- The Game Changer (2017)
January 6th
- Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait (2017)
January 7th
- Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)
January 8th
- Frank (2014)
January 11th
- These Final Hours (2013)
January 13th
- XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (2016)
January 15th
- 12 O’Clock Boys (2013)
- Advanced Style (2014)
- Afterimage (2016)
- The Alchemist Cookbook (2016)
- Are We Done Yet? (2007)
- Are We There Yet? (2005)
- Bending Steel (2013)
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
- Coherence (2013)
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
- Dogs on the Inside (2014)
- Meek’s Cutoff (2010)
- Polina (2016)
- Polytechnique (2009)
- The Queen (2006)
- Sex Guaranteed (2017)
- Soul on a String (2016)
- We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
- Wendy & Lucy (2008)
January 18th
- Barista (2015)
January 19th
- My Best Friend (2016)
January 21st
- School Life (2017)
January 22nd
- Espionage Tonight (2017)
- Ingrid Goes West (2017)
January 24th
- Detroit (2018)
January 25th
- Sword of Vengeance (2015)
January 27th
- Crash Pad (2017)
January 29th
- Beside Bowie (2017)
- Halloween Pussy Trap Kill Kill (2017)
January 31st
- All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989)
- All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (1996)