What's New To Streaming In November 2022
Denzel solves a mystery and Aubrey Plaza goes west in our weekly recommendations
It’s the first week of the month, so you know what that means. It’s a new to streaming edition of DYLA! We’re hitting you with the best of what’s new to Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and more in November. Today we’re recommending an underseen 90s noir starring Denzel Washington and a terrific Aubrey Plaza indie.
If you missed it earlier this week, check out Drew’s November New Movie Preview from Wednesday. There’s plenty of upcoming attractions to get excited about. As always, read, share, and tell a friend about DYLA!
Drew recommends…
Devil in a Blue Dress (streaming on Hulu)
If you take young mid-90s era Denzel, add a breakout Don Cheadle performance, and drop them in a throwback Los Angeles noir mystery, you should have a hit on your hands with potential for a sequel. Unfortunately, that’s not how it went down with Devil in a Blue Dress, which was overlooked by audiences in 1995, failing to earn back its $27 million budget. Fortunately, this noir gem has been rescued from history’s dustbin because it’s simply too good to be forgotten.
In post-World War II L.A., Denzel plays “Easy” Rawlins, a man so desperate for work that he takes a job searching for a missing woman, despite having no experience as a private investigator. Easy’s search sends him into a criminal underworld of violence, mystery, and very powerful people. It’s a classic noir setup that just happens to feature a black WWII veteran as its central character. Denzel is never not interesting on screen, but Easy is one of his most impressive performances, which sees him combining a youthful hunger with that charismatic command that has become his trademark.
And yet, Don Cheadle almost steals the movie from him. As Easy’s volatile friend “Mouse,” Cheadle gets a juicy part that lets him play both loyal buddy and loose cannon criminal. Their scenes together crackle with familiarity and unpredictability. While the plot isn’t necessarily easy to follow (how many noirs are?), the chemistry between Denzel and Cheadle – or Denzel and anyone, to be honest – elevates Devil in a Blue Dress above just a convoluted yet compelling yarn.
The end of the movie (no spoilers, I promise) feels like it should’ve naturally led into a sequel, but the film wasn’t profitable enough to make it happen. With a recent release from the Criterion Collection last summer, Devil in a Blue Dress looks poised to live on with a proper legacy as one of the best noirs of the last few decades.
Billy recommends…
Ingrid Goes West (streaming on HBO Max)
Aubrey Plaza has always come across as a little unhinged and Ingrid Goes West gives her all the tools to maximize that side of her. Our titular character, Ingrid, is obsessed with an internet influencer Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). Taylor lives that perfect curated life and after a series of breakdowns by Ingrid she heads out west to try and mimic a lifestyle she deeply desires.
From frame one we get a clear sense of what this dark comedy is going to be. A not-so-subtle look at the millennial influencer culture that took the world by storm. Overnight these “celebrities” inundated our social feeds without notice and while this world is clearly destructive in many ways we can’t help but be enticed by this unearned status. Ingrid Goes West hits a little too close to home as a lover of celeb culture. The bright lights of the movie star world is what entices me more generally, but there are a multitude of “internet famous” people that I would love to emulate. They will remain nameless as to not reveal too much about my phone/social media habits. The dynamic between Ingrid and Taylor is magnetic. As the fake persona of both characters begins to fade away more and more honest interactions happen, revealing how creepy both these characters' lifestyles are.
The lens of this movie is seen through Ingrid and she is generally used as our cautionary figure, but director Matt Spicer does a solid job making it ambiguous as to which character is more destructive. Ingrid Goes West could have been a cold lambasting of this internet culture, but by the end our dark comedy hits emotional depths that are not expected. Making an unassuming indie comedy more polarizing than expected.
New To Streaming In November 2022
Netflix
Moneyball
Notting Hill
Oblivion
The Pink Panther
Training Day
Up in the Air
Captain Phillips (November 6)
Amazon Prime
10 Things I Hate About You
American Gigolo
Face/Off
Fruitvale Station
High Fidelity
Kingdom of Heaven
Once Upon a Time in the West
Primal Fear
Road to Perdition
The Expendables
The Cabin in the Woods
Cyrano (November 23)
Hulu
28 Weeks Later
8 Mile
Adaptation
Along Came Polly
Cast Away
Dawn of the Dead
I Am Not Your Negro
Julie & Julia
Mamma Mia!
Office Space
The Patriot
The Perfect Storm
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Punch-Drunk Love
Say Anything
Shaun of the Dead
Saw franchise
Warm Bodies (November 10)
HBO and HBO Max
50 First Dates
Caddyshack
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Neighbors
Raging Bull
Se7en
See How They Run
While We’re Young
Don’t Worry Darling (November 7)
Ben Is Back (November 21)