November is here. Put away the pumpkins, get out the turkeys and, if you’re feeling wild, the other holiday decorations too. The holiday season is upon us. A time to stay home and stream to your heart’s desire. Yes, it’s time for the Nerd’s Watch, the place to find out all the best genre titles coming to Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, and more. Plus, we do the work for you. This isn’t a simple copy-paste of everything coming to every service. It’s something more.
What follows is a list of the best stuff on all the big streaming services. We look at all those long, annoying lists and whittle them down to a few dozen titles that we think are noteworthy this month. Some are new, some are old, but either way, we’ll tell you why you should care. Or at least joke about it.
Insidious Chapters 1-3 (November on Netflix)
Halloween may be over, but spooky season never ends. With the most recent Insidious movie now available on demand, Netflix is adding the first three to its catalog. Oddly, though, they’re out of order. the first film arrives November 15 while Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 arrive November 1.
Looper (November 1 on Netflix)
We love The Last Jedi. The Knives Out films are great. But even so, Looper might be our favorite Rian Johnson movie to date. The wild, time-travel action film with Joseph Gordon Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt just begs for rewatch after rewatch.
The Mummy (November 1 on Netflix)
With the new film now shooting, it’s the perfect time to go back to 1999 and watch Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in this super-fun period monster adventure.
Resident Evil (November 1 on Netflix)
No, not the new one. Not yet. This is the 2002 original starring Milla Jovovich. Not quite as good as the Zach Cregger one that came out earlier this year, in our opinion, but certainly more faithful to the game’s story. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is also coming to Netflix the same day.
Stand by Me (November 1 on Netflix)
By Stephen King standards, Stand by Me is pretty tame. It’s just a group of young boys walking through the woods looking for a dead body. But King himself has said this Rob Reiner classic is maybe his favorite film adaptation of his work, ever, and we don’t disagree.
Weekend at Bernie’s (November 1 on Netflix)
On a list of movies from the past that would never, ever, in a million years get made today, Weekend at Bernie’s makes the cut. It’s probably not at the top of the list, but the idea of two guys walking around with a dead body to basically steal from him somehow felt totally okay at the time. Today? Not so much. Which is why we love it.
Obsession (November 17 on Netflix)
The year’s biggest horror movie has already made a lot of new fans on Peacock but this month, it’s finally hitting Netflix, which means an entirely new audience will get to meet Bear, Nikki, and the twisted work of Curry Barker.
Happy Feet (November 1 on Paramount+ and HBO Max)
You might know George Miller as the man who brought Mad Max and Furiosa to life, but did you know he also dabbled in children’s films? It’s true. Happy Feet, a film about a penguin that loves to dance, is his movie. And guess what? It’s fantastic.
Hook (November 1 on Paramount+)
Steven Spielberg’s polarizing take on Peter Pan is coming to streaming this November. Robin Williams plays Peter as an adult, forced to return to Neverland when Captain Hook, played by Dustin Hoffman, kidnaps his kids. You either love or hate this one, and we love it.
It’s a Wonderful Life (November 1 on Paramount+ and Peacock)
It’s only November, but the holiday classics are coming to streaming. We’ll highlight a few, including maybe our favorite of all time: this 1946 classic about a man who finds out what life would be like if he’d never been born. Plus, it’s on Paramount+ and Peacock, so you can bet it’ll be the actual version. Not that other version.
Scrooged (November 1 on Paramount+)
While Paramount will hope you head to theaters to see their upcoming iteration of A Christmas Carol, we’d say stay home and just watch this one. Bill Murray stars in maybe the meanest, funniest adaptation of the classic story as a TV executive we love to hate.
Dune (1984) (November 1 on HBO Max)
Long before Denis Villeneuve turned Frank Herbert’s Dune into a bona fide hit, another visionary filmmaker took a crack at it, with completely different results. David Lynch’s Dune is very weird and not as good as Villeneuve’s but it’s still wildly watchable. Especially if you pair it with…
Jodorowsky’s Dune (November 1 on HBO Max)
This stunner of a documentary tells the story of a third visionary filmmaker, Alejandro Jodorowsky, as he tries to adapt the same book. His version never happened, with Lynch instead getting the gig, but it’s still an incredible story and film.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (November 1 on HBO Max)
With J.A. Bayona likely to return for the next Jurassic World movie, it’s as good a time as any to revisit his first journey into the franchise, this part-island adventure, part-haunted house thriller.
Rise of the Guardians (November 1 on HBO Max and Peacock)
Think of it as the animated fairy tale Avengers. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Sandman all team up with Jack Frost to bring down a villain named Pitch Black. Not to be confused with Guardians of the Galaxy or Rise of the Beasts.
The Wolverine (November 1 on HBO Max)
After X-Men Origins: Wolverine, many would have assumed the iconic Marvel character was done. Enter director James Mangold, who took Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in a new, more focused, character-driven direction that resulted not just in this great film, but Logan as well.
The New Planet of the Apes saga (November 2 on HBO Max)
Four films have been released in the Planet of the Apes franchise in the past 15 years and, this month, they’re all coming to HBO Max. They’d make a pretty fantastic marathon, too, because they’re not just all really good; they actually kind of get better with each one. There’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024).
Babe (November 1 on Peacock)
Unless you were around in 1995, it’s hard to even fathom the impact Babe had on filmgoers at the time. This was the era of Pulp Fiction, Braveheart, and Jurassic Park. Then here comes this little movie about a talking pig that made hundreds of millions of dollars and was nominated for Best Picture. It was simply unfathomable. But totally warranted, because Babe is amazing.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (November 1 on Peacock)
We all probably remember that Hollywood made The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, yes? We may even remember that movie being a big enough hit that a sequel, Prince Caspian, was released. That wasn’t as big a hit, though, so what you may not remember is that there is actually a third movie too, which is coming to streaming this week. Just in time for Greta Gerwig’s new take on the franchise, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.
Jingle All the Way (November 1 on Peacock)
If the holiday season is upon us, it’s time to revisit Arnold Schwarzenegger trying to get Anakin Skywalker (aka Jake Lloyd) a highly sought-after action figure called Turbo Man. It’s just the rules.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (November 1 on Peacock)
Steve Martin and John Candy star in this Thanksgiving classic that is definitely not in any way an io9 movie. However, it’s one that we all seek out each November, so this is more of a public service announcement than anything else. Peacock is the way home.
The Princess Bride (November 1 on Peacock)
Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride isn’t a holiday movie. And yet, there’s just something so warm and comforting about this romantic adventure that it almost feels like it should be. A perfect film for this time of year, or any time of year, really.
The Spy Kids saga (November 1 on Peacock)
Director Robert Rodriguez basically pivoted his entire career in 2001 with Spy Kids. Before that, he was known for making R-rated action and horror movies. But then he said, ” What if I made this clever, sci-fi family film?” And the result was huge. The first three films of the series, and almost certainly the best three, are all coming to Peacock.
The Hunger Games franchise (November 14 on Peacock)
Want to get ready for the new Hunger Games movie by rewatching the originals? Peacock has got you. It’s got the previous five films in the franchise all arriving just about the same time as the new one. There’s The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, and even The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Alien: Romulus (November 21 on Peacock)
Did you catch 2024’s amazing new Alien movie? The one set between Alien and Aliens with all the awesome action and creatures you crave? Well, if not, Peacock now has it, and it’s super fun.
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.
