Spawn, An American Werewolf In London and The Best Movies Free on Plex in November

From De Palma to An American Werewolf in London, check out our picks of the month streaming for free on Plex!

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Photo: Plex

This article is presented by Plex

As the seasons change once again, it’s a perfect time to snuggle up on the couch and dive into a first-time watch or an old familiar favorite. No matter what kind of movie or TV show you’re looking for this November, Plex TV has you covered. As temperatures start to plummet, it’s time to fire up Plex TV!

Plex offers a one-stop-shop streaming service offering 50,000+ free titles and 200+ of free-to-stream live TV channels, from the biggest names in entertainment, including Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Lionsgate, Legendary, AMC, A+E, Crackle, and Reuters. Plex is always overflowing with thousands of new and old familiar favorites on its platform and we’re here to happily select the cream of the crop.

This month, we’ve got engaging film documentaries, groundbreaking horror comedies, through-provoking character studies, and more! Head over to Plex TV now to stream the best free entertainment available and circle back here each month for Den of Geek Critics’ picks!

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De Palma (Starts 11/21)

Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s love letter to a true American outsider auteur, De Palma is a tribute to the bad boy of the New Hollywood movement, Brian De Palma. The documentary rightly relies on De Palma’s own words rather than too many talking head interviews, allowing the endlessly entertaining director and screenwriter to wax poetic. Exploring De Palma’s pioneering use of steadicam, his meticulously crafted action sequences, and more, De Palma is part retrospective and part film school, essential viewing for fans of the director and anyone with an appreciation for uncompromising filmmaking. 

Watch De Palma on Plex here

An American Werewolf In London

An American Werewolf in London is a favorite here at Den of Geek, but it wasn’t always so beloved. At the time of the horror comedy’s release, New York Times film critic Janet Maslin, known for her superb taste and measured reviews, wrote Jon Landis’ film off as “callow.” We’d argue those “callow” qualities are exactly what makes the film so endearing. A remake of The Wolf Man filtered through the sardonic voice that brought you Animal House, An American Werewolf in London follows two American travelers who fail to listen to the warnings of the superstitious locals, arrogantly assuming that the supernatural folktales of the Old World are something to laugh at. Boy, are they wrong. Introducing the idea of meta-commentary 15 years before Scream and featuring jaw-dropping, Academy Award-winning practical effects from Rick Baker, An American Werewolf in London is one of the best horror comedies ever made.

Watch An American Werewolf in London on Plex here

First Reformed (Starts 11/18)

No one would ever call Paul Schrader an optimist. The director and writer’s films are always heavy, contemplative works that routinely end with volatile characters committing acts of violence as a means of self-expression or redemption. Schrader’s 2017 film First Reformed fits that bill as well. A story about a pastor of a small congregation played by Ethan Hawke, the film shows what happens when a man of God has an unshakable encounter with an environmental activist that completely changes his worldview. A movie about faith, isolation, and politics, First Reformed is a hypnotic character study that asks hard questions and comes to shocking, thought-provoking answers.

Watch First Reformed on Plex here

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Spawn

Comic book adaptations have come a long way. An adaptation of Todd McFarlane’s beloved Image Comics antihero, Spawn follows Al Simmons, played by Michael Jai White, a mercenary who is double-crossed by his boss and killed. Once he arrives in hell, Al is given the opportunity to return to earth as a “Hellspawn” and lead an evil army. However, Al starts helping the people of earth instead, incurring the wrath of another one of hell’s agents, The Clown, played by a go-for-broke John Leguizamo. As a special effects-driven ‘90s film, a lot of the effects have aged quite poorly, but certain sequences are impressive to this day. Though there’s some terrible voice-over work and some head-scratching attempts at comedy, it’s interesting to see the attempts to sell Spawn as the next big comic book hero and reflect on the ways these adaptations have changed in years since. Even if you hate it, you have to admire the chutzpah of Spawn.

Watch Spawn on Plex here

Kung Fu 

Cool martial arts in a Western storytelling format, Kung Fu was a groundbreaking ‘70s series that likely inspired similar shows like The Incredible Hulk, and is now available to stream on Plex. Starring David Carradine, Kung Fu follows the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk who travels to America after the death of his Chinese master, armed only with his spiritual training and his skill in martial arts as he seeks his half-brother, helping innocents and beating bad guys along the way. Obviously, the whitewashing on Kung Fu is problematic by any standard, not just today’s, but as the series progressed, the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists praised the show as a great source of employment for the Asian acting community. Groundbreaking, but also showing how far we still needed to go in terms of representation on screen, Kung Fu is an interesting artifact.

Watch Kung Fu on Plex here