At the end of May, HBOMax launched and really elevated the streaming services to a new level. Along with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and the Criterion Channel, HBOMax is another streaming service that is loaded with infinite content.

Even with so many streaming services, the quality of content coming to streaming is possibly the best I’ve seen in a long, long time. Some true classics will be available for viewing, along with some fun genre fare and some new 2020 films.

Here are my picks for the best movies coming to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, the Criterion Channel, and HBOMax in June.

NETFLIX

Full list of everything coming to Netflix in June can be found here.

CAPE FEAR (Martin Scorsese, 1991)

Underrated in every way: an underrated Scorsese picture, an underrated Robert De Niro performance, and an underrated remake.

CASPER (Brad Silberling, 1995)

A silly, childhood classic that is still a technical marvel 25 years later.

CLUELESS (Amy Heckerling, 1995)

A timeless classic that could be argued as the greatest Shakespeare adaptation ever made.

DA 5 BLOODS (Spike Lee, 2020)

Spike Lee’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning BlackKklansman is a look at a group of African American vets who return to Vietnam to find the remains of their fallen Squad Leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide. One of my most anticipated movies of 2020.

THE DISASTER ARTIST (James Franco, 2017)

James Franco gives a brilliant, uncanny performance as the legendary Tommy Wiseau in this look at the creation of the midnight classic, The Room.

E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (Steven Spielberg, 1982)

Not much to say about this one other than it’s one of Spielberg’s best and bonafide cinematic masterpiece.

INSIDE MAN (Spike Lee, 2006)

Spike Lee’s fun and twisty heist thriller features a trio of stellar performances from Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Jonathon Demme, 1991)

As good as thrillers get, Jonathon Demme’s Oscar-winning masterpiece is one of my all-time favorite movies.

STARSHIP TROOPERS (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)

My favorite Paul Verhoeven film is a delirious, violent, darkly funny war satire.

WEST SIDE STORY (Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise, 1961)

A bright, lively, beautiful, stunning musical.

ZODIAC (David Fincher, 2007)

One of David Fincher’s best films, Zodiac is one of the best movies of the 2000’s.

AMAZON PRIME

Full list of everything coming to Amazon Prime in June can be found here.

CRAWL (Alexandre Aja, 2019)

A fun little thriller about a woman trying to survive a siege of alligators during a hurricane.

DIRTY DANCING (Emile Ardolino, 1987)

An 80’s classic.

GROWN UPS (Dennis Dugan, 2010)

It’s stupid and peak Sandler-is-on-vacation-movie, but it’s mindless, funny entertainment.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders, 2010)

As good as any Pixar movie, How to Train Your Dragon doesn’t get nearly the love it deserves as one of the best animated movies of the 2010’s.

KINGPIN (The Farrelly Brothers, 1996)

Featuring a great performance from Woody Harrelson and a scene-stealing performance from Bill Murray, Kingpin is the best Farrelly Brothers movie and a great sports movie.

KNIVES OUT (Rian Johnson, 2019)

One of the best movies of 2019, Rian Johnson’s whodunnit gets better with every viewing.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL (Brad Bird, 2011)

Featuring one of the best action sequences of the last decade where Tom Cruise climbs the tallest building in the world, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is one of the great action movies of the 2010’s and a perfect mix of a maniac director working with a maniac actor.

THE NATURAL (Barry Levinson, 1984)

One of the great baseball movies and a great Robert Redford performance.

SEX DRIVE (Sean Anders, 2008)

A wildly under-seen and utterly hilarious sex comedy.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (Spike Jonez, 2009)

A visually stunning, emotional adaptation of a childhood classic.

HULU

Full list of everything coming to Hulu in June can be found here.

THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (Rob Reiner, 1995)

A charming political romance featuring a pair of lovely performances from Michael Douglas and Annett Benning.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (Marielle Heller, 2019)

Tom Hanks becomes Mr. Rogers in Marielle Heller’s beautiful movie about love and forgiveness.

BUFFALOED (Tonya Wexler, 2020)

One of my favorite movies of 2020, Buffaloed is a wild and crazy crime film featuring an off-the-wall, brilliant performance by Zoey Deutch.

CASINO (Martin Scorsese, 1995)

A sprawling gangster epic from the crime maestro Martin Scorsese.

CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR (Mike Nichols, 2007)

A solid movie, but worth the watch for some solid Aaron Sorkin dialog and a top-tier Phillip Seymour Hoffman performance.

CLEMENCY (Chinonye Chukwu, 2019)

Alfre Woodard and Aldis Hodge are outstanding in this powerful, heart-wrenching look at the relationship between a warden and a death row inmate.

I AM LEGEND (Francis Lawrence, 2007)

A smart and intense movie bolstered by a one-man showcase performance by Will Smith.

OUT OF SIGHT (Steven Soderbergh, 1998)

One of Soderbergh’s best, Out of Sight is a stellar crime film features George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez at their absolute best.

TRUE ROMANCE (DIRECTORS CUT) (Tony Scott, 1993)

Quentin Tarantino’s writing plus Tony Scott’s plus an all-star ensemble equal one of the wildest movies of the 90’s.

YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN (Dennis Dugan, 2008)

One of Sandler’s weirder movies, but really entertaining and funny.

DISNEY+

Full list of everything coming to Disney+ in June can be found here.

ARTEMIS FOWL (Kenneth Branagh, 2020)

Director Kenneth Branagh and a stellar cast of Colin Farrell, Josh Gad, and Judi Dench look to bring this YA adaptation to life.

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTING THIEF (Chris Columbus, 2010)

A fun but forgotten adventure film.

TARZAN ( Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders, 1999)

A late-90’s animated classic with a banging soundtrack.

CRITERION CHANNEL

Full list of everything coming to Criterion Channel in June can be found here.

*The Criterion Channel does things a little differently than every other streaming service. The Criterion Channel, a wonderful streaming service that focuses on independent, foreign, and under-appreciates movies, doesn’t just throw a bunch of random movies to stream. They get more creative, by having categories like “DOUBLE FEATURES” or “FILMS FROM…”, giving us curated lists of films that somehow blend together or feature a specific artist.*

DOUBLE FEATURES

CITIES OF SHADOW:

The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948)

In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)

A pair of noir murder mysteries presented by directors Josh and Benny Safdie.

FIGURES IN LANDSCAPES

Museum Hours (Jem Cohen, 2012)

Columbus (Kogonada, 2017)

Two movies that look at unexpected human connection between two people in which art, architecture, and environment serve as characters themselves.

DIRECTED BY MIKE LEIGH

Mike Leigh is a huge blindspot director for me. I’ve seen a couple of movies of his, all of which I’ve liked, yet have dove more into his filmography. Thanks to Criterion, nearly his entire filmography (the only films missing are his last two films, Mr. Turner (2014) and Peterloo (2018)) will be available to view, which has me very excited.

Meantime (1984)

High Hopes (1988)

The Short and Curlies (1987)

Life Is Sweet (1990)

Naked (1993)

Secrets & Lies (1996)

Career Girls (1997)

All or Nothing (2002)

Vera Drake (2004)

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

Another Year (2010)

SCORSESE SHORTS

Criterion just dropped this on Blu-Ray not too long ago. The collection features five Martin Scorsese short films from his time at NYU to through the early 60’s. Martin Scorsese is my favorite director ever, so seeing his early films has me very intrigued and excited.

JAZZ SHORTS 1929-1939

Another short film series, this one focusing on tune-filled shorts, featuring some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time in their electrifying prime. These films were made as preludes to accompany feature films and feature the legends of Jazz like Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday.

Black and Tan (Dudley Murphy, 1929)

St. Louis Blues (Dudley Murphy, 1929)

I Surrender Dear (Mack Sennett, 1931)

A Rhapsody in Black and Blue (Aubrey Scotto, 1932)

A Bundle of Blues (Fred Waller, 1933)

Sing, Bing, Sing (Babe Stafford, 1933)

Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho (Fred Waller, 1934)

Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (Fred Waller, 1935)

Artie Shaw’s Class in Swing (Leslie M. Roush, 1939)

Hoagy Carmichael (Leslie M. Roush, 1939)

HBOMAX

Full list of everything coming to HBOMax in June can be found here.

*HBOMAX is brand new, but it has already changed the game of streaming services. The content is so extensive and features something for everyone, whether its a Hiayao Miyazaki masterpiece, an Oscar winner from the last couple years, or a Hollywood classic, HBOMAX has it and their library is so expansive, it’s easily worth the price.*

AD ASTRA (James Gray, 2019)

One of the very best movies of 2019, James Gray’s moody space drama sticks with you long after it’s over.

ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING (Chris Colombus, 1987)

This 80’s gem is also a Chicago classic.

DOCTOR SLEEP (DIRECTORS CUT) (Mike Flanigan, 2019)

One of 2019’s most underrated films is a bizarre, haunting sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

FIRST MAN (Damien Chazelle, 2018)

Damien Chazelle showed us the difficulty and horrors of going to the moon in 1969 in stunning fashion.

FORD V FERRARI (James Mangold, 2019)

Another one of my favorite movies of 2019, Ford v Ferrari is a classic American sports tale featuring a pair of dynamic performances from Matt Damon and Christian Bale.