Get the cinema experience at home with these 12 streamable blockbusters

Get your home cinema night poppin…

Prime Video

Free with your Amazon Prime account (which is just Dhs16 per month and comes with big online shopping perks). There’s also currently a free 30 day trial.

Bohemian Rapsody (2018)

This touching tribute to Freddie Mercury and the band Queen, charts the ascent of a flamboyant musical genius. Despite the group coming under pressure from the record label, warring egos and ‘creative differences’, the show must go on. Bohemian Rapsody stars Rami Malek in an Oscar-winning performance as Mercury, breaking-free from the traditionally narrow range of roles offered to people of Middle Eastern heritage in Hollywood and establishing himself as Champion.

Inglorious B*sterds (2009)

Set in occupied France during World War II, this Quentin Tarantino flick is a masterclass in character acting. American officer Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) recruits a band of rebels to begin a guerilla insurrection against the Nazis. The gang is joined by fellow freedom fighters German actress and undercover agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), and theatre owner Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent). Christoph Waltz’s performance as SS Colonel Hans Landa in the movie’s opening scene is one of cinema’s finest.

The Truman Show (1998)

Ever have the feeling that the whole world is a stage, and you’re its central character? The brilliant Truman Show, explores what is perhaps the logical consclusion to the unchecked course of Reality TV. A man, Truman Burbank played by Jim Carrey, is the unwitting and unaware subject of a TV show. Born and raised under the stare of a hidden camera armada, every interaction within his world is orchestrated by a director, instructing a cast of actors and props in a town-sized set. But what happens when the subject begins to suspect, there’s something beyond the world he knows?

Man on Fire (2004)

John Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a bodyguard with an impressive CV, but has fallen into some negative behavioural habits. While protecting a family in Mexico, the young daughter (Dakota Fanning) is kidnapped by the cartel. Creasy then embarks on a one-man rescue mission that features some of the best vengeance-action sequences seen in modern cinema. No squad, no Bat Cave, no Q, no superpowers: just one man against the mob.

Watchmen (2009)

A superhero movie that breaks all the superhero movie rules. This dark DC comic book adaptation is set in an alternate earth timeline, where individuals with special powers helped shift the balance of power, and the outcome of global conflicts. The main section of the plot unfolds in a parallell 1980s America, where Nixon has a won a third Presidential term and ‘costumed vigilantism’ has been outlawed. It’s a Film Noir-style murder mystery, with a group of ‘retired’ superheroes on a quest to uncover the puppet masters of a conspiracy to eliminate their kind.

OSN

OSN is available to stream in the UAE at Dhs35 per month.

Hamilton (2020)

This epic Disney musical is a work of historical fiction that gives voice to the story of the very real American Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton. This movie representas a bit of a departure from the other entries on the list, in that it takes the form of a live Broadway recording of the 2015 theatrical show of the same name. After being orphaned on the Caribbean island of Nevis, Hamilton makes his way to America. Catchy melodies and slick raps narrate the titular character’s journey through the American Revolutionary War, and beyond – into Statesmanship of the free and independent United States of America.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we felt uncomfortably obliged to include at least one romantic comedy. So here it is. Following a rough break-up with Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), Peter (Jason Segel) heads to Hawaii for a change of scenery and an opportunity to get his ex out of his head. Unfortunately, Ms Marshall is holidaying at the same resort and has brought her new beau, British rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). But it’s not all uncontrollable crying and awkward luaus, Peter develops a friendship with hotel concierge Mila Kunis and a romance begins to blossom. Keep an eye-out for Paul Rudd’s mesemerising cameo as a surf instructor that’s hit one too many big waves. Thirsty for more? You can also find the movie’s loose sequel Get Him to the Greek on the same platform.

The Godfather (1972)

Ranked by many as the greatest film trilogy of all time — The Godfather has got everything you could want from an impromptu movie night. Drama, suspense, murder, betrayal, love and loyalty, just like in any family really. Minus the murder. The retelling of the Mario Puzo saga begins with the marriage of mafia boss Don Vito Corleone’s daughter, a day when favours are traditionally granted to friends of the family. Ripples from the day’s events lead to an all-out war between mob families in New York and despite initially rejecting the ‘family business’ Vito’s youngest son Michael is pulled into the criminal underworld by a series of brutal attacks on his kin.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Tom Hanks plays Forest, Forest Gump, a man who shares his life story and a box of chocolates from a bench at a provincial bus station. As a child, Gump is classified as being of sub-average intelligence, a fact that certainly doesn’t hamper his achievements. Gump goes on to play for the All-American football team, is awarded the Medal of Honour for his bravery in the Vietnam War, makes shroud business investments and does multiple coast-to-coast runs across the US – but can he ever get his crush, Jenny (Robin Right) to text him back? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Netflix

Netflix is available to stream in the UAE at prices from Dhs29 per month.

Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A historical drama that echoes eerily prescient parallels to recent political happenings. In 1968, a group of Vietnam War protestors are arrested and charged with starting a riot. When the trial begins, it’s clear that dangerous political bias is rife in the courtroom, and to have a chance of winning their case, they might have to take on the legal system itself.

Uncut Gems (2019)

This little cinematic gem features Adam Sandler in a very un-Adam Sandler role. The usually-almost-exclusively-comedy-focused actor and filmmaker puts on a dramatic face for this movie about a jewelry dealer in New York’s diamond district. Sandler plays the lead character, Howard Ratner a charismatic trader of precious stones with a celebrity clientele, and a tragic gambling addict. After securing a rare black opal smuggled out of Ethopia, Ratner spots an opportunity to escape his mounting debt to dangerous loan sharks, all he needs is this ‘one last bet’ to go his way.

Annihilation (2018)

This is one of those sci-fi movies that comes around every few years and breathes new life, and original ideas, into the genre. Lena (Natalie Portman) is a cellular-biology professor, who joins a team of scientists tasked with heading into a mysterious Earth-based phenomenon called ‘The Shimmer’. Lena is driven by desperation to save her husband, who fell sick during a previous mission into the void, but the deeper her unit gets, the more bizarre this mysterious world seems to become.

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