The Best Movies Streaming Right Now: Worth, King Kong, Titus, The Social Network, A Glitch In The Matrix

(Welcome to Now Stream This, a weekly column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.)

Welcome back, streamers! The weekly edition of Now Stream This is here, hot off the virtual press, featuring five movies you might want to stream this weekend. They include a drama based around 9/11, an underrated monster movie remake, a wild Shakespeare adaptation, a supervillain origin story, and a documentary about brains in jars. 

Now Streaming on Netflix

Release Date: 2021

Genre: Drama

Director: Sara Colangelo

Cast: Michael Keaton, Amy Ryan, Stanley Tucci, Tate Donovan, Shunori Ramanathan, Laura Benanti

"Worth" is based on the true story of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which was tasked with allocating financial resources to the victims of 9/11. Michael Keaton is Kenneth Feinberg, a famous lawyer put in charge of the task along with his law partner Camille Biros (Amy Ryan). The analytical Feinberg sees all of this as a matter of facts and figures, but when he starts talking to the families of the victims he realizes this approach won't fly. It certainly doesn't sit right with Charles Wolf (Stanley Tucci), a man who lost his wife in the attacks, who refuses to let Feinberg approach his job with such emotionally cold distance. "Worth" is not a great movie, and it has some serious flaws. It's ultimately the story of a rich guy who learns to care about others, and honestly, that's not exactly the type of story we need more of right now. But I'm a sucker for this kind of talky analytical drama, where great actors sit together in rooms and rattle off reams of dialogue at each other. The film is cut from the same cloth as the (superior) "Spotlight," which also featured Keaton and Tucci. And if you liked that movie I think you'll like this one, too. 

For fans of: "Spotlight," "Dark Waters," Micheal Keaton and Stanley Tucci acting their asses off. 

Now Streaming on HBO Max

Release Date: 2005

Genre: Beautiful Monster Movie Action Drama

Director: Peter Jackson 

Cast: Andy Serkis, Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody

After "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Peter Jackson had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, and what he wanted was to remake "King Kong." The end result is a truly epic movie that's twice as long as the original. Some called it bloated, and you know what? It is. But that doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile film. Jackson crafted a beautiful movie about adventure, romance, movies, and monsters. The set-up is the same as the original – a group of people sail to a remote island and bring a gigantic ape back to New York City. But Jackson overloads the film with little subplots and sprawling details that may turn some off, but will thrill others. Give this one another chance, folks.

For fans of: "The Lord of the Rings," "Jurassic Park," ice-skating monster apes. 

Now Streaming on The Criterion Channel

Release Date: 1999

Genre: Shakespeare, baby!

Director: Julie Taymor

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming, Colm Feore, James Frain, Laura Fraser, Harry Lennix, Angus Macfadyen, Matthew Rhys, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Julie Taymor's truly unhinged adaptation of "Titus Andronicus" takes one of Shakespeare's most ultra-violent plays and reworks it into a stunning, strange, scary phantasmagoria. Full of surreal visuals, gorgeous costumes, and over-the-top performances, this is the story of a renowned general who slowly goes bonkers as his entire world crumbles around him. This is Shakespeare for people who don't like traditional Shakespeare adaptations, a gory, sexy, and weird extravaganza. 

For fans of: "Natural Born Killers," "Frida," people carrying their own severed hands between their teeth. 

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Release Date: 2010

Genre: Drama

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella

"A movie about Facebook? That sounds dumb!" That was pretty much the reaction across the board when "The Social Network" was announced. And then we all saw the movie and had to eat crow. David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin put together a film that defined the internet age, telling the story of Mark Zuckerberg's meteoric rise. These days, the film feels like a supervillain origin story. I can distinctly remember that after "The Social Network" came out and found acclaim, many people – including Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the damn movie – claimed that the story was unfair to Zuckerberg and he wasn't as bad as the movie made him out to be. Now, all these years later, we know that "The Social Network" actually took it fairly easy on Zuckerberg, who was much more morally bankrupt than we could've ever dreamed. 

For fans of: "Moneyball," "Steve Jobs," friend requests. 

Now Streaming on Hulu

Release Date: 2021

Genre: Documentary

Director: Rodney Ascher

Are we living in a simulation? It's an intriguing theory, and there are days where I think such a thought is insane, and others where I think, "Ya know what, maybe that theory is on to something." Rodney Ascher's frequently disturbing documentary focuses on several people who are fully convinced we're all just brains in jars, living in a "Matrix"-like simulation where nothing is real, including some of the people we see in our day to day lives. Ascher's approach here is a little too in your face – he covers interview subject faces with Snapchat-like filters that turn them into robots, or aliens, or other weird things, and there are digital recreations that practically scream in your face. In other words, I didn't love this. But I found it too fascinating to ignore, and I think you might feel the same. 

For fans of: "Room 237," "The Matrix," derealization.