Joyful November, Polygon readers!
Halloween season is over, and now we transfer deeper into autumn and towards winter. The leaves are altering, the climate is getting colder, and nice new motion pictures hold getting added to new streaming platforms.
We’ve highlighted the very best of the very best of latest motion pictures on Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Hulu, and different streaming platforms in November 2022. It consists of outrageous motion comedies, gripping thrillers, spooky horror motion pictures, and extra — if there’s a temper you’re in search of, we’ve obtained a film for you.
Editor’s picks
Undertaking A
![Jackie Chan looks surprised while hammering something over a table in Project A.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zlqVXsKLLW4MJ6H83Ee0dsWrXBk=/0x0:1200x675/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24162844/project_a_1200_1200_675_675_crop_000000.jpg)
Picture: Golden Harvest
Style: Martial arts comedy
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung
Solid: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao
If I’m in search of a assured good time, there’s no higher wager than placing on a Jackie Chan film from this period. Within the Eighties and ’90s, he was working with childhood pals Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, persistently placing out electrical motion comedies that examined the bounds of motion cinema as a lot because it did the our bodies of Jackie and his fellow performers.
A historic martial arts comedy, Undertaking A is about in Nineteenth-century Hong Kong and follows Jackie as an keen Marine Police Sergeant who desires to cease a gaggle of pirates.
Moreover being an absolute blast, it’s a landmark film for a variety of causes. Undertaking A was the beginning of the legendary Jackie Chan Stunt Workforce, as Jackie honed his motion additional into the stunt-heavy, comedic model he turned identified for. It was the primary time Jackie, Sammo, and Yuen Biao co-starred in a film collectively. And the clock tower stunt (you’ll comprehend it if you see it) stays one of the vital well-known from a profession full of memorable ones. —Pete Volk
Undertaking A is out there to stream on Paramount Plus.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
![A man (Jude Law) in a leather pilot’s jacket holding a pistol stands next to a woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) in a tan jacket staring up at something off-screen.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K6SnIV33FvuCDhAncpAz-RjcMRk=/0x0:1280x720/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x720):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24162034/image_w1280.jpg)
Picture: Paramount Dwelling Leisure
Style: Sci-fi
Run time: 1h 47m
Director: Kerry Conran
Solid: Jude Regulation, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie
I’ve an avowed affinity for retro sci-fi throwbacks and fashionable homages to pulp journey serials — as is evidenced in my enduring love for exhibits like Batman: The Animated Collection, Large Man and Rusty the Boy Robotic, and movies like Gattaca and Darkish Metropolis. So it’s a surprise to me how I let a gem like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, director Kerry Conran’s 2004 debut, slip previous me when it was first launched.
Conceived along with his brother, manufacturing designer Kevin Conran, the movie takes place in a technologically superior 1939 and follows an intrepid mercenary aviator (Regulation) and his journalist ex-flame (Paltrow) as they gallivant throughout the globe in a race to cease a nefarious scientist from terrorizing the planet along with his military of big flying robots.
All the things about this film looks like an anomaly of its time. It sounds unattainable, within the 12 months 2022, {that a} first-time director-producer duo might persuade a rich Italian movie producer to bankroll an authentic sci-fi property for $70 million. It sounds much more preposterous that the movie would star three A-list actors on the controversial peak of their respective reputation, or that Sky Captain’s progressive use of “digital backlot” filmmaking would go on to encourage related motion pictures, like 300, Sin Metropolis, Casshern, and Tarsem Singh’s Immortals. And but, all of this and extra is true. Wonders by no means stop on the planet of tomorrow.
In case you’re feeling up for a rollicking enjoyable sci-fi throwback à la Buck Rogers meets Indiana Jones, think about Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow your ticket to journey. —Toussaint Egan
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is out there to stream on Prime Video.
New on Netflix
Moneyball
![A man in a navy blue polo (Brad Pitt) wearing a blue hat while standing on the side of a baseball field.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/avQ-5A6u_ZLgpZ63K34CleKX4NU=/0x0:1280x720/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x720):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23101627/AAAABSqHocNmcbPyGxHfrqlHHTUrS4vGsUJLWu82MHniMq9beyOlHnBApOfCOqGwVxugPwyd8hPak3sLOua0OPKfFk_u0ugb.jpg)
Picture: Columbia Footage
Style: Sports activities drama
Run time: 2h 13m
Director: Bennett Miller
Solid: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
There’s no motive Moneyball ought to work in addition to it does. I say this as somebody who beloved the e book — there may be nothing cinematic concerning the supply materials. It’s a narrative primarily instructed via numbers and spreadsheets, with little deal with the sorts of characters that sometimes get featured in sports activities tales (specifically, star athletes or profitable underdogs).
However with a pointy script by a extra restrained Aaron Sorkin, a fantastic solid anchored by Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the clever determination to go deeper into the backstory of A’s common supervisor Billy Beane to tell his standpoint, Moneyball is without doubt one of the higher baseball motion pictures that’s ever been made. For baseball followers, what’s occurred to Main League Baseball within the years since (and significantly the way in which homeowners deal with their budgets) will possible shade a number of the film in several methods. However I’d argue time has solely made Moneyball stronger. —PV
Moneyball is out there to stream on Netflix.
Oblivion
![A man sits on the end of a cliff overlooking a vast landscape with gigantic floating machines sucking up water from the ocean in the distance.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rEVV9Y7ov1lYWYmpp5Ltf3F37UU=/0x0:1920x805/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1920x805):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24162920/oblivion_movie_screencaps.com_1447.jpg)
Picture: Relativity Media/Common Footage
Style: Sci-fi
Run time: 2h 15m
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Solid: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko
9 years earlier than he soared to the heights of the field workplace with Prime Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise starred in his first collaboration with director Joseph Kosinski: a sci-fi motion thriller set on a postapocalyptic Earth.
Set within the 12 months 2077, Oblivion facilities on Jack Harper (Cruise), a technician despatched on a mission to safe sources for humanity’s profitable colonization of the moon Titan and to fend off a horde of scavenger aliens selecting via the remnants of civilization. When Harper discovers a girl (Olga Kurylenko) who mysteriously crash-lands in an escape pod, he defies the considerations of his associate Vika (Andrea Riseborough) to seek for solutions to not solely Earth’s long-buried previous, however the thriller of his personal stressed desires.
Although removed from an instance of revolutionary storytelling, sci-fi or in any other case, Kosinski’s postapocalyptic action-adventure is a sparse but nonetheless crowd-pleasing spectacle. As was the case along with his earlier movie — 2010’s Tron: Legacy — Kosinski’s background as an structure graduate leads to a movie that boasts a wide ranging vista photographs and beautiful technical artwork design that looks like a wedding of idea artist Ron Cobb and the epic romantic work of Caspar David Friedrich.
Automobile designer Daniel Simon, who collaborated with Kosinski beforehand on the Tron sequel, returns to as soon as once more knock it out of the park with the design of Harper’s “Bubble Ship” — to at the present time one in every of my favourite ship designs of all-time. In case you’re in search of a stunning, melancholy sci-fi journey that’s gentle on story however heavy on vibes and orchestral synthwave music, Oblivion is a sound alternative. —TE
Oblivion is out there to stream on Netflix.
New on HBO Max
Richard III
![A man in military attire (Ian McKellen) holding a cigarette in his mouth in a lavish hall with candles and crowds in the background.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4vd7cgCeJCJMhg7-zI04wsYX0ag=/0x0:1200x675/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x675):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24162905/717bd4a45c14ed0bd77363192660480d.jpg)
Picture: Warner Dwelling Video
Style: Shakespeare adaptation
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Richard Loncraine
Solid: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent
Who higher to incarnate the Bard’s most notorious villain on the silver display screen than Ian McKellen, one of many biggest dwelling thespians? The 1995 movie adaptation of Richard III transposes the setting of the tragic historic stage play from 1471 to the Thirties, reinventing the movie’s namesake into an aspiring fascist vying to usurp the throne of England for his personal achieve. McKellen’s efficiency, as might be anticipated, is phenomenal, respiratory new life into one of the vital closely quoted and often portrayed characters in Shakespeare’s oeuvre with a sly magnetism and devilish glee all his personal.
The entire supporting performances are incredible, although particular point out is warranted for Robert Downey Jr.’s flip as Queen Elizabeth’s short-lived brother Rivers, in addition to Jim Broadbent’s function as Richard’s conniving ally the Duke of Buckingham. If for no different motive, you must watch this model of Richard III as a result of it opens with a tank demolishing the workplace of King Henry VI and ends with an artillery battle outdoors a ruined Battersea Energy Station. —TE
Richard III is out there to stream on HBO Max.
New on Hulu
Silent Hill
![A still from the movie Silent Hill showing the “Welcome to...” sign shrouded in fog](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ivyOZRXgWUhpsnt6hb19WgRHnKw=/0x0:3504x2332/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3504x2332):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23076544/silent_hill_sign.jpeg)
Picture: Sony Footage Leisure
Style: Horror
Run time: 2h 5m
Director: Christophe Gans
Solid: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden
An underrated gem of a online game adaptation, the Silent Hill film takes a number of the finest components of the sport and provides a blunt, however efficient, central metaphor in addition to a always shifting sense of its personal horror dynamics. As my colleague Austen Goslin places it, it guidelines.
None of this makes for a refined metaphor, however in a film that features monsters like Pyramid Head, it most likely shouldn’t be. Nonetheless, it’s an efficient one — and it’s one which was nonetheless largely misplaced on viewers when the film got here out in 2006, an period dominated by post-Noticed-sequel “torture porn.” Mix that with the truth that the film took a number of artistic liberties at a time when the sport collection was nonetheless in its heyday, and it’s no shock that this stays one of many hidden online game film gems.
And with a brand new Silent Hill sport on the way in which, what higher time to revisit this than now? —PV
Silent Hill is out there to stream on Hulu.
New on Prime Video
The Manchurian Candidate
![Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber in The Manchurian Candidate](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OG24Aep7ltvITVl8MAkXjDQ6JlE=/0x0:1198x625/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1198x625):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22662277/The_Manchurian_Candidate_2004.jpg)
Picture: Paramount Footage
Style: Conspiracy thriller
Run time: 2h 10m
Director: Jonathan Demme
Solid: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep
Subsequent Tuesday, Nov. 8, is election day right here in america, so what higher time than now to observe a paranoid political thriller concerning the machinations of multinational firms and the coopting of American democracy?
Denzel Washington stars within the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate as Bennett “Ben” Marco, a U.S. Military main stricken by disturbing recurring visions of time serving within the Gulf Struggle. When Ben begins to suspect that Raymond Shaw (Schreiber), his former comrade and a vice presidential candidate, is being manipulated in a nefarious plot to take over America, his suspicions draw the ire of Shaw’s mom, Eleanor (Streep), a robust senator who will cease at nothing to make sure her son’s ascent to energy.
Composed of succesful performances, skillful cinematography, and visuals soaked in psychological dread, The Manchurian Candidate is a gripping thriller that may linger with you lengthy after it’s over. —TE
The Manchurian Candidate is out there to stream on Prime Video.
One of the best of the remaining
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance & Woman Vengeance
![Kang-ho Song as Dong-jin Park holding a knife and drenched in water in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R4w7cJPSu7gOJjrjRlQSJ9CYSNE=/0x0:1600x900/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1600x900):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23395665/Korean_SympathyforMrVengeance_02_1_1600x900_c_default.jpg)
Picture: Tartan Video
Style: Thriller
Run time: 2h 9m (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance); 1h 54m (Woman Vengeance)
Director: Park Chan-wook
Solid: Music Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance); Lee Younger-ae, Choi Min-sik, Kim Si-hoo (Woman Vengeance)
The second film in Park’s vengeance trilogy, Oldboy, is essentially the most extensively identified and celebrated, however the different entries are simply as worthy of your time. The primary, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, is my private favourite of the three, a couple of younger manufacturing unit employee who embarks on a harmful scheme to try to pay for a lifesaving medical process for his sister. They’re each streaming through the New York Metrograph’s at-home choices (and Park’s latest film, my favourite of the 12 months, is now out in theaters). —PV
Woman Vengeance and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance can be found to stream on Metrograph.
499
![A man in Conquistador armor (Eduardo San Juan Breña) sties on a railway track between a group of young men in hoodies.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GHvYqqOuiJzPnkMs0MVzKAdOaK4=/0x0:4096x1716/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4096x1716):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24162862/1.jpg)
Picture: La Maroma Producciones/The Criterion Channel
Style: Docudrama
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Rodrigo Reyes
Solid: Eduardo San Juan Breña
The 12 months is 2021, almost 500 years since Hernán Cortés’ conquest of the Aztec Empire. A ghostly conquistador (Breña) washes ashore on the coast of Veracruz, displaced out of time. Retracing Cortés’ route from Veracruz to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, now present-day Mexico Metropolis, the conquistador is pressured to reckon with the legacy of colonialism past his lifetime, a legacy of real-life tragedies wrought by the failed conflict on medication, ongoing humanitarian crises, and the harbinger of larger horrors to return. —TE
499 is out there to stream on Criterion Channel.