Best movies On NOW: TV worth watching (January 2023)

All of the Indiana Jones movie are now on NOW TV but Raiders is our pick. It's one of the best movies of the 80s that needs no introduction. It's got everything you want. Indy! A big rolling ball! Nazis! Nazis whose face melt! Brilliant fun.

Image Credit: Disney

Promising Young Woman is a fantastic film that shines a cold light on 'good men' and their actions around women. Carey Mulligan is Cassie, someone scarred by their past who takes men to task for their actions with staggering results. It's an uncomfortable movie, that gets dark at times but an utterly essential watch.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

A film that pretty much plays out like one big car chase, Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the best action movies ever made. Director George Miller has performed miracles to get this movie made and it's all to see on the screen. The cast are brilliant and we may well see some of them again in the prequel Furiosa.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

The LOTR collection is now available on NOW and the movies are still a delight. We can't quite believe that the first movie is some 20 years old now! All three movies are worth a watch (and in one sitting, if possible) and if you are watching them on Sky, then you can also get them in 4K!

Image Credit: New Line Cinema

The original Jurassic Park trilogy is currently available to stream on NOW, as well as Jurassic World. Hopefully these will get you in the mood for the upcoming Jurassic World sequel, Jurassic World Dominion which is heading to cinemas in 2022. If we had to pick one, then it's got to be the original Jurassic Park - without a doubt one of the best monster movies ever made.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

Nobody really saw Bob Odenkirk as an action star until his turn in this explosive movie. Nobody is about a dad who gets mixed up in some Russian mafia business after his house is robbed. It's a fun, bonkers action movie with an all-star cult case, including Doc Brown himself Christopher Lloyd and the legend that is Michael Ironside.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

This sequel to A Quiet Place was never going to live up to the first movie, given the surprises that film offered but this is a decent continuation of the story that showcases the amazing survival skills of The Abbott Family who have mastered the art of silence. For a 'quiet' film there are certainly a lot of loud scares.

Image Credit: Paramount

Dune is an absolute feast for the senses. Its cinematography is lush and expansive, the music blistering and the direction outstanding. It's one of the best sci-fi movies in years and is surprisingly coherent, given the complexities of the novel(s). Plot wise, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet and his family travel to one of the most dangerous planets in the solar system to make sure its precious Spice is mined for good. What ensues is a journey that changes his life forever.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

Blade II is exceptional comic-book movie fodder. Directed by Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, it's a movie that adds more fantastical elements to the Blade franchise, one that ups the violence and really broadens the scope of the vampiric vigilante. From the set pieces, to the genius decision to have one of the Bros bros in as the main big bad, Blade II is brilliant fun.

Image Credit: New Line Cinema

One of the most profound movies of recent years, Nicolas Cage is phenomenal as a recluse who goes on a revenge trip when his prized truffle hunting pig is kidnapped. Despite the rather ludicrous plot, this is a fantastic movie and Cage's best performance in years.

Image Credit: Neon

Looper is a superb time-travel caper where Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a hitman that kills his victims in the future. What ensues is a tale that's sometimes hard to understand but stick with it and it will more than reward you.

Image Credit: Sony Pictures

The Raid may well be getting a remake but nothing will better this classic action flick. Made by welsh director Gareth Evans, with help from some of the best martial artists from Indonesia, the film is about an elite task force that have the job of ridding a tower block of a drug lord and his small army. What ensues is one of the best action movies ever made. Stunning stuff. Its sequel is also available to stream on NOW.

Image Credit: PT Merantau Films

A quasi-reboot The Suicide Squad is an adult-only superhero movie that doesn't hold back when it comes to vulgarity and some of the ol' ultraviolence. Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker and myriad other anti-heroes are forced to join secret Task Force X, where they go on a 'suicide' mission to retrieve a scientist. The results is a hot bloody mess that's fun to watch but not for the fint of heart.

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Not just one of the best Coen Brothers movies, but one of the best movies ever made. This is a stunning, stark watch. Based on the Cormac MccArthy that sees a drug trade go awry, the whole ensemble to characters are gripping to watch but standout is Javier Bardem, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance of the steely assassin with a terrible haircut.

This was originally an HBO movie but it could easily be shown on the big screen. Hugh Jackman puts in a fantastic performance as superintendent. Dr Frank Tassone who has seen his high school go up the ranks which is all well and good until we find out that its rise is all part of a huge embezzlement scheme. The most shocking thing about this story is that it’s based on actual events. Allison Janney also stars and, as always, is impeccable in her role as Tassone’s assistant.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

Based loosely on the childhood of director Kenneth Branagh, Belfast is a stunning film, showcasing the Troubles in Ireland through the lens of a small, passionate community. Jude Hill is Buddy, a child getting on with life while the world around him is in constant flux. Judi Dench is fantastic as is grandmother but it's his parents played by Caitríona Balfe and Jamie Dornan that are the real stars here - two people trying their hardest to give their children a life worth living.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

With Top Gun: Maverick doing, er, great guns on the big screen there is no better time to revisit the classic '80s movie. Cashing cheques his body can't cash, Tom Cruise is Maverick a young pilot chosen for the Top Gun flight school, where the best of the best train for air warfare. Yes, it's pure cheese but the action scenes still look fantastic.

Image Credit: Paramount

This one is a lot of fun. While we aren't going to give the plot away here, the movie manages to honour the previous Ghostbuster films while updating saga with a younger, likeable cast. Director Jason Reitman has done his dad Ivan - the director of the original movies - proud with his rendition of Ghostbusters, something that's even more poignant after Ivan's recent death.

Image Credit: Sony Pictures

Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the most enjoyable Marvel movies from Phase 4 of the MCU. If you have managed to stay away from spoilers so far, then good for you: all we say is that this adventure is a mind-bending one with familiar faces and a rather poignant character arc for Spidey. This one comes highly recommended.

Image Credit: Disney

Those going into this one expecting another breezy effort from Edgar Wright will be in for a shock, but Last Night In Soho is a horror-tinged blast. It marries the darkness of the 60s with the perils of the modern world well, with its tale of Eloise, Thomasin McKenzie, seemingly able to time jump into 60s Soho, where she is embroiled in the life of the mysterious Sandy (Anya Taylor-Joy. Saying more would spoil the fun.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

It was met with lukewarm reviews when it hit the big screen but there is a lot of fun to be had with Uncharted, a loose adaptation of the hit video game franchise. Tom Holland is as likeable as ever as explorer and thief Nathan Drake and while the plot - which involves looking for a lost fortune of treasure - doesn't make much sense, it's a fun and exciting watch.

Image Credit: Sony Pictures

We nearly didn't put Gunpowder Milkshake in this list, as the first time we watched it we were underwhelmed but after another viewing we're glad we gave it a second chance. This tale of a mother (Lena Heady) and daughter (Karen Gillan) hitman team is A LOT of fun.

Image Credit: Sky

The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain is a beautiful, eccentric piece of filmmaking by Will Sharpe who made the equally fantastic Landscapers TV show and will soon star in the second series of White Lotus. This movie is based on the true tale of Louis Wain (Benedict Cumberbatch), an artist who made a living (and his name) painting cat pictures. There's much more to the tale than this, though, which also stars Claire Foy and Toby Jones and is narrated by Olivia Coleman.

Image Credit: StudioCanal

The Batman is a stunning slice of film noir, taking Batman back to his detective roots and giving him a menacing villain who feels all-too real in today's world. It's a hard, brutal watch sometimes but Robert Pattinson is impressive in the cape and cowl, while Colin Farrell is unrecognisable as The Penguin.

This super smart thriller from Steven Soderbergh was shot during the pandemic, but it suits the plot fo the film. Zoë Kravitz plays a worker at a smart speaker company whose job it is to make sense of verbal instructions the speaker gets stuck. This involves her listening to snippets of dialogue - and one of the conversations she heres sounds like a murder. It's Conversation for the Alexa world and we had a lot of fun watching it.

Image Credit: HBO Max

This one went under our radar when it was on the big screen but The Duke is a delight. This true tale of a taxi driver who is constantly trying to fight for worker's rights in Newcastl decides to do something that will finally get him noticed: stealing one of the most famous paintings of all time. Jim Broadbent is superb as the ageing anarchist, while Helen Mirren is ace has his steadfast wife. Brilliant stuff.

Robert Eggers is known for his uncompromising movies. The Witch and The Lighthouse are unique in their look and terrifying in their detail. The Northman swaps scares for brutality and is an epic look at Norse mythology. Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman and Anya Taylor-Joy all star in this vicious Viking saga.

You know exactly what you are getting with Godzilla Vs Kong - two heavyweight monsters knocking 10 bales of the good stuff out of each other. Yes, there is a plot somewhere but this is all about the fight scenes and they are utterly superb.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

Sean Baker has made some wonderful offbeat movies - please go seek out The Florida Project and Tangerine - and Red Rocket follows this tradition, adding a bit more dark comedy to the mix. The premise is that an ex adult film star heads home, to a town that doesn't really accept him. With mostly amateur actors taking the roles, this is a funny and sometimes cruel film.

There are better biopics but The United States Vs Billie Holiday is all about Andra Day's sublime central performance, which recently won her a Golden Globe. We see Holiday go through the 30s to 50s garnering acclaim for her voice but she becomes a target of the government and spirals out of control.

Image Credit: Hulu

While many TV shows don't transition to the big screen that well, this isn't the case with People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan. It's a fantastic continuation of the series and there is good reason they are in Japan: their song Heart Monitor Riddem is used on a game show in the country and this gives them a great excuse to try and make it in the country.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

This film adaption of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical is a woozy, wonderful movie that is packed with fantastic songs, choreography and heart. About trying to find a better a life and make the best out of what you have, In The Heights will have you both singing and crying.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

We went into this one apprehensive as it felt too soon to reboot the Scream franchise, but this quasi sequel is a lot of fun and manages to upend the expectations of the horror genre. While it's great to see many of the old cast back, the new characters are the ones that really shine here.

Image Credit: Blumhouse

Will Smith was a deserving Oscar winner for his role as the father of Venus and Serena Williams, who has a meticulous plan to turn his daughters into tennis greats. The movie is a heartwarming look at what you can do with passion, drive and talent - even when the odds are stacked against you.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

It may have flopped on the big screen, but the latest Matrix movie is a real treat. Now, don't go in expecting more of the same. The Matrix Resurrections feels like a remix and a rewrite of the original with some fun knowing moments that are more out of a Black Mirror episode than a Matrix movie. Stick with it, though, and you will find a lot to like here.

Image Credit: Warner Bros