Many people fall into the trap of never knowing what to watch even though there is a huge abundance of content out there on streaming services. If you need help getting started, this is the essential list of streamable content going into February 2021.

   Netflix is arguably the most popular streaming service in the world. For films on Netflix, GoodFellas comes to mind. GoodFellas is an American classic about the mobster Henry Hill as he recounts his time in the mafia. It follows him and how he always wanted to be a gangster, but later he has second thoughts about the business. Django Unchained is about a man named Dr. Schultz and how he freed a slave named Django. Django and Dr. Schultz set off to go and free Django’s wife. It is one of the best Quentin Tarantino movies ever made, and a great historical fiction piece. If you want to watch shows on Netflix, check out the critically acclaimed show Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad follows a man named Walter White who is a high school chemistry teacher who gets lung cancer. He reconvenes with an old troublemaker student named Jesse Pinkman and they go into the meth-making business together so Walter can pay off his medical bills. What keeps this show interesting other than the amazing writing is Walter’s brother in law, Hank, who is a DEA agent. Another great show on Netflix is David Lynch’s masterpiece, Twin Peaks. This show follows an idiosyncratic FBI agent named Dale Cooper. He is sent out to Twin Peaks, WA, to investigate the murder of a high school homecoming queen named Laura Palmer. Twin Peaks, like a lot of Lynch’s work, is for people who can appreciate abstract art and do not need a straightforward and easy story to follow. 

   Hulu has a limited selection of movies but has some awesome cult classics like Blade Runner. Blade Runner is set in 2019 (by 1982 standards) and it is about a company called Tyrell Corporation which makes robots called replicants. Replicants are designed to replicate human nature and to be more human than human. However, the replicants turned on the humans which is why the blade runners are sent out to kill the remaining replicants. No sci-fi movie has ever been this unique until the sequel, Blade Runner 2049. Hulu starts to shine when talking about shows. For shows, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is something that simply cannot be beaten. It is about five egotistic people who own a bar in Philadelphia. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is some of the best comedic television ever, because the characters are always the butt of the joke. They think that they are the best people, but in reality, they are some of the worst people and that is why they always make no friends other than each other.

   HBO Max has some of the best movies ever. Kicking off the month of February, Pulp Fiction will be added to HBO Max. Pulp Fiction is a movie that bends the rules of what a movie is thought of to be, and has influenced so much of cinema today. The movie is about three unique stories that chronologically take place in different times and they all come together at one perfect point in the ending. For that reason, it is one of the best movies to watch on HBO Max. Another favorite of mine that is available on HBO Max is Eraserhead. Eraserhead is about a man named Henry Spencer and how his girlfriend got pregnant with a mutant baby. This movie is simply a masterpiece because it demonstrates just how silence can say much more than words. The story of the movie is great, the movie is very artistic and has an avant-garde nature to it, and has one of the best film scores ever. HBO Max does not skimp on shows either with picks like The Sopranos. The Sopranos is about a mob boss named Tony Soprano. This show is amazing because it revolutionized the way people thought that a TV show should be. It was very controversial for the time because since it was on HBO, they could get away with a whole lot more than on NBC or ABC at that time. The show makes someone question whether or not this particular person is good or not. It has one of the best and most entertaining stories of any show that has been made. South Park is recognizable by pretty much everyone in today’s world. It features four kids named Eric, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny and their adventures in South Park, a small fictional town in Colorado. While the show on its surface is just an attempt to be as shocking and offensive as possible, on a deeper level this show actually brings some of the most brilliant social commentaries ever seen. This is especially seen in the new South Park Pandemic Special recently released. The plots of the stories in the episodes are very interesting and fun, while featuring some of the best parodies of politics, entertainment, and world events in general. It is the best comedy show ever created.

   It may be hard to get out of the show hole especially with the growing, maybe even overwhelming amount of content that is on streaming services. However, narrowed down just a tad, streaming services can offer tons of great content.