“Down these mean streets (of streaming), a man must go who is neither tarnished nor afraid.”
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The streaming era is a boon for fans fan of crime films past and present, there’s no doubt about it, but with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, and the others bringing new movies in every month and discarding others, it can be hard to keep track of what to watch and where to do it. That’s why we’re dutifully walking those mean streets for you, providing a handy monthly guide to the best new crime and mystery films coming to a streaming service near you. Watch them once, twice, however many times you like, and we’ll be back in a few weeks with more discoveries based on our intensive investigation of all the new arrivals and releases.
Brick (Netflix)
Rian Johnson’s 2005 directorial debut is quietly headed toward becoming a neo-noir classic and its return to Netflix won’t hurt the case any. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as the eye who goes down the mean streets of a Southern California high school in search of an old flame now in danger. Brick packs more style and attitude into a scene than most movies can muster over two hours, and after streaming once, chances are you’ll find yourself going back through not for the clues, though the clues are many, but for the uncanny atmosphere, noir to the core and yet unlike anything in the annals of crime movies.
The Third Man (Netflix)
Quite possibly the greatest noir ever made, and now yours to stream once again. Written by Graham Greene, directed by Carol Reed, and starring Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli (though the real star is the anticipation of Orson Welles’s appearance), The Third Man holds up, decade after decade, as the ultimate crime film, as an American westerns author comes to occupied Vienna hoping for a job from his friend, only to find that the friend is a racketeer, recently murdered. The perfect movie for honing your cynical / borderline nihilistic worldview.
Chinatown (Amazon)
If The Third Man holds the crown as the greatest noir, Polanski’s 1974 neo-noir has long been a top contender for the title (and may take the decision on some judge’s cards). Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway dominate the film, and rightfully so, but part of the fun of re-watching to your heart’s content is discovering all the secondary and tertiary characters who just jump off the screen, from John Huston’s Noah Cross to Perry Lopez as Lou Escobar to Polanski’s own cameo as one of the most insidious knife men ever recorded on film.
Primal Fear (Amazon/Hulu)
Was there ever an actor better suited than Richard Gere to playing a high-priced sleazy/charming attorney on the come? And he isn’t even the star of this one, not really. That title goes to the (then) newcomer Ed Norton, who plays a young man taken in and abused by a high-ranking member of the Catholic Church, then locked up on a murder charge. You probably remember this as the thriller where Norton does a multiple personality bit, but really it’s a lot more than that, one of the more complex and morally searching films of the mid-90s.
Goodfellas (HBO)
Scorsese. That tracking shot at the Copacabana. Those suits. All that voiceover—so, so much voiceover. Goodfellas is the 1990 film that inspired a hundred imitations (homages, if you like), but holds up as a crowning achievement of gangster cinema and is eminently watchable. Whether you tune in for the early shots of the old neighborhood or the famous “Funny how? Do I amuse you?” scene, chances are you’ll end up watching to the final credits.
