This is the time of year to cozy up on the couch, catch up on your watchlist, and forget about the terrifying weather outside. It’s difficult to distinguish the good from the bad, though, because there are so many films that come and go from the top streaming platforms.
Every week, I go through the newest films available on streaming services to highlight the ones that are truly worth your time. This week’s top picks are two thrilling adventures: the Tom Cruise-led swan song “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and the nostalgic sci-fi movie “Tron: Ares” on premium video-on-demand services. George Clooney and Adam Sandler are featured in a charming dramedy on Netflix that serves as a self-indulgent jab at Hollywood. Although “Tron: Ares,” Disney’s nostalgic concoction of high-tech spectacle matched to the melody of Nine Inch Nails, didn’t exactly dazzle critics, viewers were far more receptive. It’s not exactly the kind of blockbuster I’d advise people to rush to see in cinemas, despite how amazing the special effects are in IMAX. It’s an eye-catching but unmemorable follow-up that seems like it was created in a lab just to appeal to Gen Xers and divorced dad rock lovers.
Ares, played by Jared Leto, is a virtual warrior who defies orders and enters the real world to pursue Greta Lee, the formidable adversary of his creator. The lure of living off the grid is greater than what he risked. With all the extravagant set pieces and high-octane spectacle you would expect, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is a fitting conclusion to one of Hollywood’s most lasting sagas. Even if this eagerly anticipated Part 2 retains some of the bloat from its predecessor, it nevertheless produces some of the franchise’s most stunning set pieces, which is no small accomplishment considering its past. Since his untimely death in 1997 at the age of thirty, American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley has become almost legendary among music lovers. The new documentary “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg uses childhood home videos, archive material from the 1990s, and interviews with his closest friends and family to shed light on the man, his music, and his legacy. Have tissues on ready because the story will undoubtedly be as heartbreaking and wonderful as Buckley’s music. Come March, Adam Sandler’s new Netflix film “Jay Kelly” might be the first to earn him a supporting actor Oscar nomination. In Noah Baumbach’s most recent charming drama, he steals the show. Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair debuted at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, but since Harvey Weinstein convinced Tarantino to divide it into two parts for financial gain, it has become a rare object of devotion for movie buffs.
Although Quentin Tarantino’s original vision is now accessible to the general public, that print from the Cannes festival, replete with French subtitles, already plays pretty frequently at one of his Los Angeles movie houses. It’s also the ideal way for a new generation of moviegoers to see it, and it’s just as magnificent as the movie’s admirers had anticipated. There is a 15-minute interval built in, so those who are concerned about the length need not worry! Before facing Bill directly, she sets out on a brutal quest for retribution, tracking down members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The 2003 film might be my new favorite of 2025, which is definitely unfair to other films that were released this year.
What other critics have to say: See it! Sean Burns of WBUR succinctly summarizes it “Kill Bill is electrifying, frustrating, revealing, impeccably crafted and about as thrillingly, embarrassingly self-indulgent as one might expect from a prodigiously gifted, grown adult man given seemingly limitless resources to make a four-and-a-half-hour movie about a team of sexy female assassins named after poisonous snakes.” Additionally, according to Mark Dujsik of MarkReviewsMovies.com, the 22-year wait was worthwhile.
This version has very slight but significant differences. An full scene and another limb are removed at the point where it would have switched from Volume 1 to Volume 2, along with some lengthy dialogue. Additionally, a significant revelation intended to persuade viewers to return is now postponed until the dramatic last act, which is undoubtedly far more successful.
The renowned “House of Blue Leaves” scene, in which the Bride battles the Crazy 88, was notably depicted in black and white to earn an R-rating because it was so extravagant and graphic.
We return to Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team, which includes Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg, immediately following “Dead Reckoning,” as they continue to race to stop a rogue AI called as the Entity. The plot is exactly as convoluted as it was in the first section, but the unrelenting action more than makes up for it. Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, the previously unreleased original vision of the picture that unifies both volumes and adds, subtracts, and remixes some parts, is one of the new alternatives in theaters this weekend. Another hilarious imitation of Downton Abbey is called Fackham Hall.
Disney’s Tron: Ares and Angel Studios’ Truth & Treason are available for purchase or rental at home. Uma Thurman’s amazing performance, which the Academy entirely disregarded both years the films were eligible, is the most stunning aspect of watching the movie in one sitting. It is difficult to picture Thurman not receiving a nomination if they had been released as one, as was initially planned. The direction of her career after Kill Bill and the fact that she did not receive a nomination are both extremely astute; if Oscar voters had witnessed it uninterrupted, the outcome would have been quite different.
It is a heavenly experience to watch Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair at a theater in 2025. Kill Bill is perhaps the most distinctively Tarantino movie in his body of work because it feels the most
Additionally, a new film starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler is available on Netflix, and the most recent (and purportedly last) installment in the Mission: Impossible series finally arrives on Paramount+.
There are more, so keep reading—there’s always something for everyone!