8 Shows & Movies on Pluto TV That Are Hard to Find Anywhere Else
TV Insider has been scouring the libraries of all the best free streaming services the digital platform world has to offer to find out what they have that their competitors — free or subscription-based — simply don’t. This time, we have turned our focus to Pluto TV, which not only has a boatload of live channels that are geared towards specific genres, news providers, and even specific shows, but it also has a heaping library of on-demand options in film and television.
After exploring what Tubi, Freevee, and The Roku Channel have to offer, here’s a look at the movies and shows you’ll only find streaming (without rental or purchase cost, at least) on Pluto TV right now.
Inside Llewyn Davis
This quiet drama is one of the Coen Brothers’ many critical successes and stars Oscar Isaac as the titular folk singer who struggles to achieve success or stability. Like O Brother, Where Art Thou? there are nods to the ancient literary struggles in The Odyssey, and the film was praised for its thoughtful, moody, and musical moments.
Hot Rod & Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
If you’re looking for an Andy Samberg double feature that’ll leave you doubled over for hours, you’re in luck: Both of these hilarious comedies (each directed by The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer) are on the free streamer. The first, released in 2007, features him as Rod Kimble, an amateur stuntman who tries to raise money for his heart operation with a massively ill-advised stunt. The pic is a who’s who of comedic greats, like Bill Hader and Danny McBride, and set the tone for the actor’s slapstick prowess. The second pic, released in 2016, was a massive critical hit, featuring Samberg as Conner Friel, a pop artist who has an existential crisis when his second album proves to be a flop.
Kung Fu Hustle
This 2004 martial arts comedy (by Stephen Chow, who also made Shaolin Soccer) was an instant classic upon release because it’s got a little something for everything: massively entertaining fights, engaging characters, wild landscapes, and some truly laugh-out-loud humor. The story centers on a poor villager who aspires to join a vicious street gang but discovers something more within himself … with the help of a few kooks he encounters.
Magnolia
This 1999 Paul Thomas Anderson film is something of a time capsule of its era, with a web of intertwining stories rippling and connecting to an other very simple narrative about an estranged family. It’s one of those love-it-immensely-or-hate-it-intensely movies, but it’s a must for any wouldbe film aficionado to explore.
Everybody Wants Some!!
This Richard Linklater original film premiered over two decades after its spiritual predecessor, Dazed and Confused, but it might as well have come out at the exact same time because it, too, is a coming-of-age dramedy about a bunch of reckless teenagers — only this time, it’s the first day of school, not the last. The critically revered movie features some fan-favorite stars, including Glen Powell, Tyler Hoechlin, Ryan Guzman, Zoey Deutch, Wyatt Russell, and Austin Amelio.
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Julia Louis-Dreyfus would receive her second Primetime Emmy Award (of a zillion) for this CBS sitcom, which ran for five seasons from 2006 to 2010. In it, she starred as — you guessed it! — Christine, a divorced woman living with her brother (played by the highly underrated Hamish Linklater) and maintaining a strong relationship with her ex-husband (Clark Gregg), all while mothering her young son, running a gym, and trying to have and do it all.
Halloween: H20
Josh Hartnett is returning to his horror roots in pics like Trap and shows like Black Mirror, and the film that made him a household name in the first place is this 1998 standalone sequel to Halloween, featuring him as John, the son of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), whose remote boarding school is attacked by the Shape aka Michael Myers. The movie doesn’t fit in the current timeline of the modern Halloween movies, but it’s a fun and gory romp that features a lot of famous faces (including Michelle Williams, LL Cool J, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and even Janet Leigh).
Still Standing
This early aughts CBS sitcom centered on a middle-class couple in Chicago who were high school sweethearts but are now raising children together, despite their own immaturities — all while trying to keep the sparks in their marriage alive. The characters are relatively simple — you have the blue-collar add, the overtired mom, the nerdy son, the sassy teen daughter, the oddball youngest child, and, of course, the sister-in-law who hangs out a little (OK, a LOT) too much.
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