It's September, so fall is settling in, bringing in cooler temperatures, the start of a new school year, and a return to pre-summer routines. If said routines include enjoying a certain type of content on streaming platforms, you're in luck!
The entire TV & movie industry is still on forced hiatus due to the ongoing strikes – incidentally prompted by the non-transparent ways in which streaming platforms calculate revenue for talent. This leaves streaming with few options for new content until the conflict is resolved, which, in turn, means the classics are coming back into the spotlight.
As it's become tradition, we here at autoevolution try to be of help with a curated list of items that might pique your interest on the biggest streaming platforms, whether you're a fan of classic car movies, airplane dramas, cycling documentaries, or space-set movies. It's not much of a list this month, but it still includes a few gems. So dig in to find out what these are!
This is not exactly a car movie, but it packs enough car-related (and not only) action to get your attention and make for a few entertaining hours. Crank and the sequel High Voltage were both made during peak Jason Statham season when it seemed that no action movie was complete without at least a scene with the guy.
The premise is an odd one, and it adds to the charm of this small franchise. Statham is Chev Chelios, a professional assassin who's been injected with a poison that will kill him if his heart rate drops below a certain level. In other words, he must resort to all methods of keeping his heart rate high while he tries to track down the guy responsible and procure an antidote. Luckily, the bad guys are just as eager to take him out, so there's no shortage of adrenaline, either for Chelios or the viewer.
Produced by Prometheus Entertainment originally for HISTORY Channel, Ancient Aliens is either the most fun to hate-watch alien-based pseudo-documentary or the best choice to go down the rabbit hole, depending on where you stand on the idea of whether we are or not alone in this universe.
The series has reached its 19th season in 2023, so this kind of longevity in the ever-fickle media landscape says a lot in terms of its popularity and everlasting appeal. If you feel like a refresh or simply want to see what the fuss is all about (assuming you're new to the series), Seasons 6 and 7 will begin streaming on Netflix on September 15. Don't forget the popcorn and your tinfoil hat!
How's this for putting a novel spin on container homes? These past three years, you could hardly open a browser without at least one story on mobile or tiny living popping up. Tiny homes, van conversions, and container homes are still having a moment, so... maybe it's time for them to get the horror treatment?
It sure is. Nowhere, from director Albert Pintó, is a new Spanish thriller about one woman trying to escape her home country by hiding inside one of those giant shipping containers, but she ends up drifting at sea after the container is thrown overboard during a storm. Not much else is known about the project right now, so that means we'll have to tune in on September 29 to see how it plays out.
Whenever Martin Scorsese casts his favorite leading man, Leonardo DiCaprio, in a movie, he strikes Oscar gold. The same happened when he decided to bring Jordan Belfort's life story to the big screen in a movie that is considered a typical rags-to-riches story with a dash of the American dream, perverted by greed and illicit behavior.
In real life, Belfort drove a white Ferrari Testarossa, but in the film, DiCaprio's version of Belfort owns a Lamborghini Countach in a Bianco Polo finish. The Countach doesn't get enough screentime to become a character on its own, but it's still featured in a couple of scenes that have turned it into one of the most famous movie Countachs.
MAX
XXX (2002) and XXX: State of the Union (2005)
He may be known to a big chunk of the world population as Dom Toretto from the Fast and Furious movies, but Vin Diesel is also Xander Cage, aka xXx, an extreme sports athlete recruited by the U.S. government to help with a mission that should result in stopping a Russian gang from destroying the world.
XXX and State of the Union are typical mid-2000s action movies, with very little to offer in terms of acting and storytelling but a very big offering of heart-thumping action. If you can look past MAX's choice to skip one installment, Vin Diesel is here to deliver the entertainment – the best way he knows how.
Ride with Norman Reedus, Seasons 1-5
For whatever reason, celebrity bikers don't get the same kind of media attention as celebrity auto enthusiasts or car collectors do. Keanu Reeves, Jason Momoa, and Norman Reedus are perhaps the biggest exceptions to this, and as luck would have it, the first five seasons of Reedus' bike reality series are coming to MAX this month. As a bonus, the sixth season, for which you'll find the trailer below, premieres on AMC+ later this month.
Since 2016, Reedus has been doing Ride with Norman Reedus as a way to showcase his love of motorcycles, the bike culture around the country, and his famous biker friends. Even if you're not into bikes, this is an excellent opportunity to catch up with one of the most relatable TV stars of the day in his most off-guard moments and to get a glimpse into a tight-knight community that knows no physical boundaries.
HULU
Simulant (2023)
Because of the strikes, there isn't much new content on streaming, but this is an exception. As it happens, it's also a perfect fit in the ongoing conversation on AI and whether it's right to use it just because it exists by opening a discussion on humanoid robots and whether they have rights and, ultimately, humanity.
The film stars Jordana Brewster (another Fast and Furious alum), Simu Liu, Robbie Amell, and Sam Worthington, and tells the story of a widow who tries to grieve her husband's shocking death by having a humanoid simulant take his place. Things go south, as they're known to do, when a hacker tries to jailbreak the simulant to get him to join an AI rebellion.
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
The fifth and last installment in the Die Hard franchise, and perhaps the best example that you can only take a pun so far. A Good Day to Die Hard is also the least popular installment in the franchise, but given Bruce Willis' retirement from acting on account of his health, it's a good way to relieve the glory days of Det. John McClane.
Directed by John Moore and starring McClane Jr. (Jai Courtney), the film is a mind-numbing collection of action scenes and explosions, with equally confounding plot twists, occasionally bad CGI, and one-liners that more often than not fall flat. But it's a McClane story, and it's a good way to pass the time.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
The Transporter (2002), Transporter 2 (2002) and Transporter 3 (2008)
Speaking of good ways of passing the time, here's a trio of 2000s classics starring Bruce Willis' British counterpart: just as bald, just as charming, just as deadly, but with a posher accent. Jason Statham is a professional Transporter who transports packages for clients without asking questions, which is exactly the kind of job that tends to get you into trouble with all the wrong guys.
Since the Transporter is into hauling goods, albeit not in an eighteen-wheeler and not exactly legal, all three films feature intense car action scenes, with an extra helping of butt-kicking, humor, and Statham charm. It's the best way to kill some spare hours, if you ask us.
97 Minutes (2023)
In keeping with the idea of killing some time, here's an airplane thriller that would have probably gone straight to video, if VHS was still a thing. A new production, it stars Alec Baldwin and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as two agents trying to solve a real-life trolley problem: shoot a nuclear warhead-carrying hijacked plane out of the sky, or allow Meyers' character 97 minutes to try and bring it down?
Not even the trailer can hide the disappointing post-production work on 97 Minutes, but if idle time is something you have an abundance of, maybe give it a chance?
Photo: Warner Bros.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Here's a summer early-fall entry that hardly needs an introduction: the fourth and most recent Mad Max installment in George Miller's iconic post-apocalyptic franchise. With spinoff Furiosa stuck in production limbo and having already blown past two deadlines (2023 and 2024 release dates), it's the best way to revisit the post-apocalyptic universe where gasoline, water, and fertility are trading currency – and the biggest valuables left in the Wasteland.
Fury Road introduced a bunch of new characters to those we already knew from the Mel Gibson trilogy and was able to amp the awesome factor by a gazillion for auto enthusiasts through extended action scenes with some of the most insane rat rods to ever grace the big screen. If gorgeous cinematography, excellent storytelling, and even greater acting won't get you to check Fury Road out, the fleet of rat rods and spectacular ways in which George Miller blows them up surely will.
Amazon Prime Video is digging deep into the archives this month and coming up with a rich offer that includes one of the most iconic and most influential Stanley Kubrick films ever made. 2001: A Space Odyssey is also a dividing piece, so make sure you go into it expecting atypical cinematic material, the kind that will get half the world singing its praise and the other half scratching their head at the purpose of it.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a story about humanity as it's a story about everything in the universe, featuring some of the most beautiful space sequences ever filmed. And yes, we're talking about a film that came out more than five decades ago. It's a must-see in the context of the current race to make space tourism into a thing, the rise of artificial intelligence, and for any respectable movie buff.
If Hulu's 97 Minutes feels too low-brow for you, this is the better version of a plane-hijacking thriller. Starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, and Brian Cox, this thriller is set partly onboard a flight to Miami and partly on the ground, where action abounds.
The plot is relatively simple, with Murphy's Rippner first charming and then kidnapping McAdams' Reisert and threatening her with killing her father so he can carry out a political assassination. Directed by horror master Wes Craven, Red Eye packs quite a punch in terms of hearty action, good acting, and a good story.
PARAMOUNT
Super 8
Aliens, military secrets, conspiracies, a mystery for the ages, and a tribute to old-school cinema and to Steven Spielberg's work all come together in Super 8, one of the most famous J.J. Abrams movies. Starring Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, and Kyle Chandler as leads, the film kicks off in the summer of 1979, when a group of kids are shooting a zombie movie on Super 8 mm film.
One night, a military train convoy is involved in an accident, which turns out wasn't an accident in the first place. Strange things start to happen in the area, which prompts the kids to try and solve the mystery. If this spoiler-free synopsis rings familiar, it's because Super 8 inspired the creators of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things.
Star Trek: Lower Decks (Season 4)
Trekkies, mark the date for September 7 because that's when the fourth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks premieres. This animated series (for adults only) is inspired by the "Lower Decks" episode in Next Generation and focuses on the adventures – and misadventures – of the support crew on Starfleet's least important ship, the U.S.S. Cerritos.
Set in 2380, one year after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), Lower Decks isn't a parody of Star Trek but rather part of the same universe – just populated with characters that happen to be funny sometimes in a very relatable way.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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