'Snowpiercer,' 'Whiteout' and more snowy movies to get you through a snow day

We're expecting a significant amount of snow Sunday and Monday, which means you might be stuck inside for a stretch. Here are four snowbound movies (available on most major streaming platforms) to help you pass the time:

SNOWPIERCER Years before his multiple Oscar-winner "Parasite," director Bong Joon Ho delivered this 2013 dazzler about a postapocalyptic society living on a high-speed train that perpetually circles a frozen Earth. As several economy-class passengers (including Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer) storm their way car by car toward the engine (encountering Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris and others), "Snowpiercer" unfolds as a Looney Tunes sci-fi satire of capitalism. (And where might you be on this hierarchical locomotive?) Bong argued with producer Harvey Weinstein over cuts and, amazingly, won — although the film received only a limited release.

THE GREY The title refers to the alpha male in a pack of wolves — or maybe it refers to Alaskan sharpshooter John Ottway (Liam Neeson). Good thing he’s among the survivors of a plane crash, because they’ve unintentionally landed in wolf territory. Director and co-writer Joe Carnahan combines his action-flick chops ("Smokin’ Aces," "The A-Team") with horror-level quantities of blood, then adds some macho pathos; the result is an uneven but often gripping survivalist thriller. The solid cast includes Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo and James Badge Dale.

THE HATEFUL EIGHT Quentin Tarantino’s Western from 2015 is set in 1877 and brings together eight strangers who shelter from a storm at a stagecoach stop. Tarantino shot it in 70 mm, but his screenplay is the thing here and his actors eat it up, especially Kurt Russell as bounty hunter John "The Hangman" Ruth, Jennifer Jason Leigh as his unhinged prisoner, Samuel L. Jackson as a Union Army veteran and Bruce Dern as a former Confederate general. Joining in the bloody mayhem are Channing Tatum, Walton Goggins and Tarantino favorites Tim Roth and Michael Madsen. The score, by Ennio Morricone, won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

WHITEOUT Full disclosure: This 2009 thriller was such a flop that even Moviefone voted it one of the year’s worst. And yet! Here’s Kate Beckinsale as Deputy U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko, in self-imposed exile at the Amundsen—Scott station in Antarctica. When a frozen body is found, Stetko has a murder to solve — and out here, there are only so many suspects. Kudos to the effects team for some suitably furious weather, and to co-star Tom Skerrit as the station’s grizzled old doctor. (Would you believe it took four screenwriters to name him Doc?) Manage your expectations, have a glass or two of something and "Whiteout" should keep you reasonably entertained for 101 minutes. Directed by Dominic Sena.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com