The Void
This 2016 film directed by Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie is an ode to the horror genre of the 80s, particularly to those films directed by John Carpenter, such as The Thing and The Prince of Darkness. The creature effects were crowdfunded on Indiegogo and raised $82,510, while the film's funding was done through traditional channels by the production company. The film follows a group of survivors that were trapped in a hospital by a gathering of hooded cultists and evil creatures.
The Void was premiered at the 2016 Fantastic Fest and later at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. In the film-review site Rotten Tomatoes, The Void holds a 76% approval rating, and almost all critics agree that "The Void offers a nostalgic rush for fans of low-budget 1980s horror — and legitimate thrills for hardcore genre enthusiasts of all ages."
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
This 2010 comedy horror film stars Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk as Tucker and Dale, two hillbillies living by themselves in a forest. They are mistaken by a group of college students as killers when one of the students hurts herself and they try to take care of her. The students attempt to avoid them at all costs, unwittingly causing their own deaths as a result.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 102 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review, while the average rating is 6.9 out of 10. The critical consensus states that "Like the best horror/comedies, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil mines its central crazy joke for some incredible scares, laughs, and—believe it or not—heart".
Moon
Being director Duncan Jones's debut, the 2009 film Moon follows actor Sam Rockwell, a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Moon. Thanks to the film, director Duncan Jones won a BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Moon was also screened as part of a lecture series at the NASA's Space Center Houston at the request of a professor. As Duncan recalls, he was asked why the base looked like a bunker and he answered: "Well, in the future I assume you won't want to continue carrying everything with you, you'll want to use the resources on the moon to build things' and a woman in the audience raised her hand and said, 'I'm actually working on something called mooncrete, which is concrete that mixes lunar regolith and ice water from the Moon's polar caps".
Pan's Labyrinth
This 2006 dark fantasy drama written and directed by Guillermo del Toro takes place in Spain during 1944, five years after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The main character of the film, Ofelia, discovers this magical labyrinth which is inhabited by several magical creatures and a mysterious faun, that serves as a sort of antagonist in the film.
Like many of del Toro's films, it's a political allegory as well as a gothic fantasy. The heady mix of whimsy and violence wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but it won enough fans to make $83.25 million worldwide and receive six Oscar nominations (of which it won three). Del Toro intended Pan's Labyrinth to be a thematic complement to The Devil's Backbone, his 2001 film set in Spain in 1939.
Beyond Skyline
This 2017 science fiction film is technically a sequel to 2010s Skyline, although all the characters are different and it seems to take place at roughly the same time than the first movie, just from different perspectives. The film is a series of big, explosive action beats, the kind of movie that features a lot of people screaming other people’s names as bad things happen.
Los Angeles cop Mark Corley, portrayed by Frank Grillo, is on leave from the force after his wife’s death, and he’s at war with his adult son Trent, who is lashing out because of his own anger and grief. Mark and his son are trapped on the Metro when a giant alien mothership attacks the city, hypnotizing Angelenos with some kind of blue-ray and sucking them up into the sky. Beyond Skyline is an enjoyably loopy thrill-ride, full of sudden shifts and turns.
Pandora
Clearly influenced by the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in March 2011, South Korean disaster blockbuster “Pandora” is the film no mainstream Japanese director dares to make. Imagining with harrowing realism a catastrophic man-made disaster, writer-director Park Jung-woo’s uncensored depiction of political incompetence taps right into his compatriots’ current mood of anger and mistrust toward their government amid President Park Geun-Hye's impeachment.
With thorough technical exposition, the film tracks how facilities can easily malfunction and inexorably devolve. Also atypical of Korean blockbusters, visual effects here are not employed to create pyrotechnics that is of tangential importance to the story. Instead, leading VFX company Digital Idea visualizes the full-metal anatomy of the nuclear reactor - from its looming outer form to its steampunk-like machinery inside - with a grim realism that makes the meltdown so galvanizing to watch.
Evolution
David Duchovny and Orlando Jones star as scientist buddies whose dreary days teaching in a university suddenly become eventful. The appearance of a meteor and briskly evolving extraterrestrial worms create massive interest in the scientific community. The scientists find their work complicated by the arrival of an expert and the odd involvement of a bumbling fireman. As the alien organisms grow to giant sizes, it becomes clear to everyone that their landing on Earth is less a cause for celebration and more of a reason for worldwide panic.
Evolution was based on a story by Don Jakoby, who turned it into a screenplay along with David Diamond and David Weissman. The film was originally written as a serious science fiction horror film until director Reitman re-wrote much of the script. A short-lived animated series, Alienators: Evolution Continues, loosely based on the film, was broadcasted months after the film was released.
Wet Hot American Summer
Wet Hot American Summer is now a certified hit, but when it was released to theaters in July 2001, it didn’t do so well. The film about sexually and emotionally frustrated counselors on the last day at Camp Firewood wasn’t embraced by critics and was considered a “financial disaster” by director David Wain.
Nonetheless, the cast of Wet Hot American Summeris full of familiar faces, including Elizabeth Banks, who scored the part of Lindsay while she was working as a cocktail waitress in New York. Bradley Cooper, meanwhile, missed his graduation from The Actors Studio because of Wet Hot American Summer's production schedule.
Fullmetal Alchemist
For almost two decades, fans of Fullmetal Alchemist have watched creator Hiromu Arakawa rework his fiction from a manga (2001) into two separate anime (2003 and 2009). But last year, a new player was brought into the mix: director Fumihiko Sori, whose live-action adaptation of Fullmetal was released in Japan in December and also released on Netflix. The live-action Fullmetal, like the anime, follows the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, as they search for a Philosopher's Stone in the fictional European nation of Amestris.
The film manages to adapt the first chapter of a sprawling, earnest story about religion and science into a live-action sci-fi movie that feels complete, even to viewers who haven't seen the anime. It also keeps intact the original series' mode of storytelling, its core characters, and values, as well as the fact that it's a Japanese-written story set in a fictional European country.
Beyond the Gates
When their father disappears under inexplicable circumstances, his two sons, John and Gordon, return to the family’s immense video rental store to clear everything away with the help of Gordon’s girlfriend, Margot. The ill-fated trio soon finds the store’s rear office, where they come across a retro board game called Beyond the Gates.
If you're a fan of horror movies made during the 80s, it’s a sure bet that Beyond the Gatesis a movie you'll enjoy. With neon-colored sights and spookily synthesized sounds, the entire tone of Beyond the Gates is steeped in cinematic style from that heyday.
Spectral
A lot of the fascination with sci-fi movies stems from a successful blend of state-of-the-art science and technology with what might be considered an imaginable extrapolation of it. This high-tech sci-fi film was originally planned as a theatrical release but has finally been relegated to Netflix.
Spectral stages the film pretty much exactly like Aliens, building up a group of 16 indistinguishable and multicultural soldiers, then whittling them down to a few tough, angry survivors. There’s even a wide-eyed, traumatized little survivor-girl who plays the same part as Aliens’ Newt. For a mainstream supernatural-fantasy war film, Spectral is curiously devoted to rhapsodizing about science, and considering the moral implications of scientific discovery.
Officer Downe
Based on DC and Marvel comic book writer Joe Casey’s 2010 beloved graphic novel, Officer Downe has been adapted into a film by Slipknot co-founder M. Shawn Crahan. Kim Coates stars as Terrence Downe, an authority figure who at first glance appears to be completely impervious to pain, but then turns out to actually be a cop who lays down his life for the law over and over again, only to be reanimated in a secret lab beneath the police station and shoved back out into the criminally-charged world again.
In Officer Downe, however, the tone never quite shifts from one side to the other throughout the film. Crahan seems to want his audience to giggle, or perhaps even to feel sorry for his man of the law, who sacrifices his life almost every single day. Kim Coates does a terrific job of playing the cop who will do whatever it takes to get the job done, and loves to deliver one-liners along the way.
Beasts of No Nation
Directed by Cary Fukunaga -whose previous works include Jane Eyre, season one of True Detective, and the Central American migrant drama Sin Nombre -, Beasts of No Nation tells the story of Agu, a 14-year-old boy whose life is turned upside down when he loses his family in tribal violence and is recruited to become a child soldier. The film is based on the 2005 book of the same name by Nigerian author Uzodinma Iweala and set in a nameless West African country.
Agu is numbed by horror and hardened by the brutality he has witnessed and perpetrated. The Commandant (portrayed by Idris Elba) trains him and his comrades to be “warriors”, which is to say, war criminals. While the film, like the book, does not turn away from the atrocities they commit, it also doesn’t allow you to forget that they’re children.
The Fundamentals of Caring
In The Fundamentals of Caring, Paul Rudd plays Ben, a former writer who's trying his hand in being a caregiver to his first-ever client, Trevor. Trevor is as confused and frustrated as any teen, with the added complexity of his muscular dystrophy diagnosis. In an effort to connect with Trevor and shake up the boy's prescribed existence, Ben takes him on a field trip to see some of America's weirdest roadside attractions.
The film is based on a novel by Jonathan Evison and which was published in 2012. The novelist didn't adapt his own work for the movie. The Fundamentals Of Caring was written and directed by Rob Burnett, who happens to be the President and CEO of David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. But Evison has also appeared in the movie credits for having penned the novel the film is based on.
The Invitation
The Invitation is an intriguing movie, which curiously takes place over the course of only one evening in a Beverly Hills mansion. Will and his girlfriend, Kira, join Will’s old friends for a dinner party. Hosting the party is Will’s ex-wife Eden and her boyfriend David, together with their friends Pruitt and Sadie. As the evening wears on, Will can’t help but shake the fact that there is something wrong and off with Eden and David and their two friends.
The film is incredibly brilliant, possibly boasting the best final shot of any film in 2016. It’s emblematic of our current western society and culture that has erupted in extreme violence. Thus, The Invitation is a taut, Hitchcockian thriller that cuts at sophisticated living in L.A. In Karyn Kusama's words, "There is a real sense of people coming to Los Angeles to reinvent their lives, to reinvent their identities, and I think that allows for a lot of fringe elements in a way that contribute to a lot of different belief systems".
Creep
In the new found-footage horror movie Creep, Mark Duplass plays a man dying of cancer, and Patrick Brice is a videographer who he hires to film his ruminations for his unborn child. For the first half of the film, the movie is more interested in tracking the relationship that develops between the two protagonists than in delivering chills.
Brice and Duplass originally began working on Creep under the working title Peachfuzz but chose to rename the film. The thing is that the relevance of the title Peachfuzz came later in the movie's plot, and they did not want viewers to "spend the first half-hour trying to figure out why the movie is called Peachfuzz and not pay attention to the very intricate details".
The Survivalist
Set in the near future, when overpopulation has led to widespread starvation and the breakdown of society, director Stephen Fingleton’s spare, striking debut feature takes a minimalist approach to the post-apocalyptic thriller genre. Director Stephen Fingleton concentrates on quiet character moments to explore the themes of loyalty and betrayal, both central throughout the film.
Martin McCann stars as the title character, a nameless man in his thirties, who has been living in an isolated cabin in the Northern Irish countryside for the past seven years. This lonely peace is shattered by the arrival of two women, Kathryn and her daughter, Milja. Very interesting dynamics take place inside the cabin, where Kathryn secretly pressures the reluctant Milja to betray the Survivalist so they can take over his land.
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
This movie features Macon Blair's debut as a director; until then, he had been known for his acting roles in films such as Blue Ruin and Green Room. With its mouthful title and roller coaster vibe, this loony thriller stars Melanie Lynskey as a mild-mannered woman who refuses to let simple housebreaking go unsolved, resulting in a bloody and unpredictable ride for all the people involved.
This is a film about the utter indifference and outright hostility that people encounter every day, and about how decent people suffer and suffer, almost always silently, until they finally snap. The movie never escalates beyond a high simmer, though, and once we get to the inevitable climax, you will probably start to tally up all the missed opportunities.
The Green Room
The new film from the immensely promising young director Jeremy Saulnier pits a rock band against a bunch of neo-Nazis in the Pacific Northwest. The neo-Nazis lock the band's members in a green room and plan to kill them after they witness something that they shouldn't have. The film brutally toys with your sympathies as the band members descend into hell, find unlikely allies, and then try to climb their way back out again.
The director, born in Alexandria, Virginia, grew up making lo-fi monster movies in his parents’ backyard. His first professional feature, the 2007 comedy-horror Murder Party, had a bit of buzz, though hardly enough to bring in the big bucks. Saulnier does put his unlikely heroes through the wringer, and with an almost sadistic glee: it seems that he loves throwing seemingly inept people into extreme situations.
Absolutely Anything
The 2017 film was produced by Bill Jones and Ben Timlett. Jones directed Absolutely Anything from a script he wrote with Gavin Scott 20 years earlier. This film follows Simon Pegg while he takes on the lead role of a teacher which has been handed with magical powers by aliens. The director chose to cast fellow Pythons John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, and Michael Palin to play the aforementioned extraterrestrials.
The screenplay by Jones and Gavin Scott centers on Pegg's disillusioned teacher Neill Clarke, who is gifted by aliens with powers to do "absolutely anything". With a simple wave of his hand, he finds he can wipe out classrooms of badly behaving students, as well as bring people back to life. But he experiences mishap after mishap while struggling to master his new skills. Do you need yet another reason for watching this film? Well, Robin Williams features the voice of Clarke's faithful dog.
Look Who's Back
Based on Timur Vermes’ bestselling 2012 novel of the same name, Look Who’s Back begins with a simple premise: What if Adolf Hitler inexplicably reappeared in present-day Berlin? What if a poof of smoke dropped the very confused dictator into the public park where his bunker once stood? How would contemporary Germans react to the sudden return of their nation’s most notorious yet infamous native son?
Director David Wnendt told The Guardian that their idea was to find out how people would react to Hitler and his ideas today, as well as to find out whether these ideas would have a chance of succeeding. Masucci is the latest of a long list of an estimated 120 actors to have played Adolf Hitler on the big screen over the past 75 years, beginning with Charlie Chaplin, who portrayed Adenoid Hynkel, a thin disguise for Hitler, in his 1940 satire The Great Dictator.
The Tiger Hunter
This 2016 film follows Sami, an aspiring engineer, from his rural Indian village to a job opportunity in Chicago. Taking place in 1979, Sami has but two ambitions: to win the love of his childhood sweetheart and to achieve the social status of his father, a celebrated tiger hunter who died when Sami was a child.
When Sami ends up living in a tiny co-op with two oddball roommates and taking a job as a lowly mail clerk, what ensues is a series of adventures involving outlandish schemes, an arch-nemesis in an absurd office environment, and a variety of misfits that Sami may soon call friends. With a likable cast and a wholesome message about the true meaning of success, The Tiger Hunter might balk at the harsher details of immigrant life, but it has a generosity of spirit that lifts everyone up.
A Serious Man
The Broadway actor Michael Stuhlbarg gets his big-screen break playing Larry Gopnik, a professor of theoretical physics whose life reaches a menopausal climacteric with his son's approaching bar mitzvah and the astonishing announcement from his wife (Sari Lennick) that their marriage is over.
A Serious Man is about nothing less than the search for meaning. Is there an order in the universe? Larry begins to think not. Finally, in desperation, he goes back to the faith he’s come to ignore and asks his rabbis for advice. The answer he gets is that life is an unsolvable mystery. Both actors are probably giving the Coens what they want, as the brothers have always liked performances to be big.
Christine
Rebecca Hall gives a career-best performance in this deeply strange real-life story, written for the screen by Craig Shilowich and directed by Antonio Campos. Hall plays Christine Chubbuck, a Florida TV news journalist who in 1974 took her own life with a gunshot, live on air. Her own persistence, stubbornness, lack of tact and inability to compromise create a perfect storm together with her terrible loneliness, obsessive crushes, and her feeling that her career is being hemmed in and crushed.
Christine was apparently unhappy in her love life, was generally depressed, and was deeply frustrated with her career. On the other hand, her more thoughtful and discursive story ideas were perpetually junked in favor of sensationalism espoused by macho management. The recorded footage of this horrible event was locked away in corporate vaults, never to be seen again.
Blame!
The original manga for Blame! started back in 1998 and there really hasn’t been anything like it before or since. The movie is based on the quest of Killy, who wanders an almost infinite structure known as "The City", looking for a human with Net Terminal Genes. The film was released on Netflix on May 20th, 2017. But although the Blame! manga debuted 20 years ago, the story has been updated and changed in many ways to better suit the new medium.
The Blame! film gets around the absent dialogues from the manga by largely telling the story from the perspective of the human settlers of a small, isolated village. Desperate and running out of food, a group of townsfolk comes across Killy after being chased by murderous safeguards while scrounging for supplies. Their stories intertwine when they learn of a factory that can potentially create both a large supply of food and a synthetic version of the gene Killy is searching for.
The Vault
A ruthless armed gang led by sisters Leah and Vee plan on taking down a neighborhood bank. They make all of the terrified customers and employees kneel on the floor, and one nerdy guy with a mustache (portrayed by James Franco) tells them there is a secret vault, one floor below the main bank concourse, that is crammed with millions of dollars.
Of course, there’s a reason no one goes in the basement vault, and the robbers release something ancient and evil when they break into it. Before you know it, people are seeing shapes that don’t show up on the security cameras and doing awfully gory things to themselves. Now, the robbers and employees have to escape something much worse than a federal crime.
Cold in July
The Texan crime drama from Jim Mickle (who directed the horror remake We Are What We Are) is based on a 1989 thriller by Joe R Lansdale. Michael C Hall plays Richard, a married man with a kid, who manages a picture-framing store. One night, he and his wife wake up to hear an intruder in the kitchen. The violent outcome brings Richard into fateful contact with grizzled ex-con Russell and flamboyant private detective Jim Bob.
As for the performances, they're ripe and rich, even though the three core characters sometimes appear to be starring in entirely different movies. While Johnson has a hoot building on the self-parody that has given his career a second wind, Shepard plays it straight as the man with little to say and even less to lose. But it's Hall who steals the show, pitching it just right as an emasculated antihero seduced by the dinosaurs of old-school machismo, learning ugly lessons about what it means to walk like a man.
Super Dark Times
This 2017 drama and thriller film was directed by Kevin Phillips and stars young actors such as Owen Campbell and Charlie Tahan. The film follows an inseparable pair of teenage boys and best friends who lose their innocence out of jealousy, violence, and paranoia after a terrible and traumatic accident.
Phillips shot the film in Kingston, New York, in the Hudson River Valley, whose verdant hillsides and quiet, residential streets imbue Super Dark Times with a calmness that belies the terror and forces everyone in town, whether consciously or not, to reckon with evil.
The Boy
More often than not, the idea of the inanimate object coming to life and wreaking havoc is more frightening than the actual execution. It’s a tricky thing to pull off: drawing shivers from turning a childhood plaything into something truly menacing vs. eliciting giggles at the sheer silliness of the proposition.
Lauren Cohan (The Walking Dead) stars as Greta, a pretty, young American who travels to a remote English village to take a job as a nanny for an 8-year-old boy. When Greta meets the rigid, conservatively dressed Heelshires, who look more like the grandparents of an 8-year-old boy than the parents, she receives a strict list of rules and a routine to which she must adhere. She also meets the boy himself – who isn’t a boy at all but rather a china doll with a prim wardrobe of tiny suits and cardigans and a glassy stare. Spooky!
The Tiger
The tale is set in 1935 under Japan’s occupation of Korea and revolves around actor Choi Min-Sik's hunter, who’s been retired since his wife passed away. The Japanese have set about killing every native Korean animal they can find, on the orders of a bloodthirsty commander played by Ren Osugi, who has a particular liking for displaying stuffed Korean tigers.
From a technical standpoint, the movie is a gorgeous affair, with stunning cinematography of the Korean mountains, and the tiger itself comes in the form of a particularly impressive CGI creation. While the tiger may look and move remarkably natural, its instincts seem to be armed with an amazing ability to single out Japanese officers and subject them to the grizzliest deaths.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
The Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years A Slave has debuted with this movie based on a true story. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is based on William Kamkwamba’s autobiography, a Malawian innovator and engineer. The movie shows us William as a young boy who is expelled from school because his parents couldn’t pay the tuition.
Threatened with famine and drought in his village, the boy ends up sneaking in the library to find a way and build a windmill so he could save his village. The movie is uplifting and mixes topics like family, culture, religion, tradition and technology.
Snowpiercer
South Korean and Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho based his action thriller on a French graphic novel. The action is set in a train which spans the entire globe which is now a huge iceberg. The post-apocalyptic thriller shows us a gritty Chris Evans that revolts against the high-class citizens aboard the train.
Snowpiercer features famous actors like Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton and Ed Harris. The movie has received a lot of critical acclaim, but it was also the most expensive Korean production ever, having a budget of $40 million.
Lawless
Based on a real gangster story, Lawless is a fast, violent movie with a plot that takes place in the prohibition era. Bootlegging Bondurant brothers run their business during this time, defying the rules and dealing with the authorities that try to shut them down.
Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain, and Shia Laboeuf star in the movie, so it’s obvious Lawless is a pleasure to watch. The movie has a smooth story, it’s entertaining, and the performance is perfect.
The Lobster
Never have we imagined Colin Farrell in the role of a single man with some extra weight, looking for a suitable partner in a world where couples are the norm. The actor plays the role of David, a middle-aged man that is transferred to the Hotel to find a mate within 45 days.
If David cannot form a relationship in that period, he will be transformed into an animal of his choice. His brother for instance, is a dog. Those that are into absurdist dystopian movies and Kafkaesque way of thinking, The Lobster will be a great movie for you. It’s a black comedy that has seen a lot of success, with around 60 nominations for various film festivals, three awards at Cannes (and more in other festivals), and $18 million in the Box Office.
The Siege of Jadotville
The Siege of Jadotville shows a different face of the war, where the ones highlighted are the heroes and events that go unnoticed. The movie plot revolves around the Irish 35 Battalion ‘A’ Company who are sent to Congo.
The 150 “war-virgins” (only young soldiers) sent on a U.N. mission think their job is only to secure positioning, but the battalion realizes they have to go against around 3000 mercenaries led by seasoned French commandants. Expect to see a fast-paced movie, featuring Jamie Dornan and Guillaume Canet.
The Edge of Seventeen
One of the best teen comedy so far, The Edge of Seventeen has made its way on Netflix for all of you that want to unwind and check out some awkward high school juniors like Nadine (played by Hailee Steinfeld). Nadine goes through a roller coaster of emotions, showing and reminding us all why we thought life was unbearable at that age.
After Nadine’s dad passes away and feels she’s losing her only friend, the only things that keep her cool is her temperament and humor. Meanwhile, you are the spectator in the front line, watching the story unfold in front of your eyes.
Okja
We talked about director Bong Joon-ho and his expensive Snowpiercer, so we’re now looking at a $50 million budget (from Netflix) movie. While the movie looks simple, the story is great, even though it’s about a “super pig” experiment. Koreans genetically modify pigs and send them to farms. What makes the this story so interesting?
On one farm, a little girl becomes best friends with one of the super pigs, Okja. When it’s time for the company to take back their super pigs, the girl and an animal advocacy group fight to keep Okja at the farm. The Netflix movie has an excellent cast, among which we see Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano and Tilda Swinton.
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
The movie might have Adam Sandler in a role we all know - the divorced man called Danny - notice how most of his roles are like that similar? However, this time, Danny moves with his father (Dustin Hoffman), who is also going through a rough time.
And if Dustin Hoffman is not reason enough to watch this movie, then we have Ben Stiller in the role of Danny’s half-brother. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) is a beautiful display of family, and director Baumbach did a great job of making it all feel genuine.
A Most Violent Year
The crime thriller A Most Violent Year might feel a bit slow, but it has Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac as the main stars. The plot takes us back in the 1980s New York, where Abel Morales (Isaac) is the owner of a fuel distribution company.
He competes against corrupt and violent competitors while the feds are keeping a close eye on him. His wife (Jessica Chastain) is the daughter of a mobster, which makes it difficult for Abel not to resort to some rather unlawful methods. Will Abel surrender to corruption? We’ll let you find out on your own.
20th Century Women
Director Mike Mills, the one that was behind Beginners and Thumbsucker, strikes again with his comedy-drama 20th Century Women, which happens to feature some big names, such as Annette Bening, and Greta Gerwig.
The story starts in 1979, spanning across many generations where Dorothea Fields (Bening) realizes raising a son on her own is quite difficult, which is why she asks for help from two other women. All the three women are from different generations, and the movie theme debates the belief that “only a man can raise a man.” We see all three women playing their own role in the boy’s life, with the whole plot being based on director Mike Mill’s upbringing.
The Place Beyond the Pines
Ryan Gosling is the star of this emotional and gritty movie. He plays the role of Luke, a stunt driver that learns he is the father of a newborn child. This realization makes him want to provide for his kid. However, robbing banks is not the right way.
Eva Mendez plays the role of the mother and we also get to see Bradley Cooper as the police officer that is involved in a two-generations conflict. The Place Beyond the Pines' plot revolves around themes like the father-son relationship and long-term consequences.
Good Time
We bet you’ve never thought you’d see Robert Pattinson in the role of a loose criminal that would do anything to get his brother out of jail! The movie is fast paced and will keep you so immersed into the story you won’t even have time to catch your breath.
The way New York’s criminal underworld is pictured in the thriller is incredible, as the directors meant to make Good Time “actually dangerous.” It’s definitely a movie worth watching on Netflix.
As Good As It Gets
Jack Nicholson’s and Helen Hunt’s performance in As Good As It Gets brought the movie two Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress. The romantic comedy directed by James L. Brooks shows us Nicholson’s charming side.
Nicholson plays the role of a homophobic romance novelist that ends up interacting with his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). The comedy might be outdated, but the cast’s acting is so great that we don’t even care the movie is from 1997!
Ex Machina
With a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Ex Machina is a must-watch Sci-Fi masterpiece that although it was released five years ago, it now feels like a classic. Alex Garland’s directorial debut is incredibly successful due to the theme it debates,
Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac are part of the stars we see in the main roles. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) and Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) end up evaluating and breaking the limits we know about artificial intelligence, showing us what would mean to control your creation and what it means being human.
Hugo
Another famous movie from Martin Scorsese is Hugo, the adaptation of Brian Selznick’s novel that got 11 Oscar nominations and won five of them. One of Scorsese's most critically acclaimed movies, Hugo is a film you watch with your family.
With a cast like Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chloë Grace Moretz and other great actors, Hugo shows us a new face of the Academy Award-wining director. The movie (his first 3-D film) takes us into a magical world where a boy tries to unlock a secret his father has left him.
The Irishman
With a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the 3.5-hour movie directed by Martin Scorsese is not just ambitious, but also expensive. The movie is based on Frank Sheeran’s life, the man that worked for the Mafia.
What else makes the movie one of the best Scorsese work and one of the best 2019 movies? The recipe for a successful movie has as main ingredients legendary actors Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. The Irishman is definitely a must-watch movie.
The Death of Stalin
Looking for a funny political comedy with Steve Buscemi as the star? Look no further, we’ve got The Death of Stalin, a dark comedy, but it’s very different from what we’ve seen so far in this genre. We see a perfect mix of comedy, absurd situations and plenty of smart jokes.
Indeed, the chaos after Stalin’s death was a perfect plot to create the absurd situations we see in the movie. The random assassinations within the Stalinist Soviet Union and the lack of trust we see in The Death of Stalin are what makes this a hilarious dark comedy.
Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story
In the documentary about the first professional black racing driver Willy T. Ribbs, we learn about the difficulties he had to go through during the 70s and 80s. Even with the people that disrespected him, Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story is proof that his determination is what helped him become a champion in those trying times.
Ribbs also had his supporters that recognized his talent, which is why we shouldn’t see Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story as a sad movie. The inspiring documentary will send some shivers up your spine even before you realize you are only halfway through the first hour.
Under the Skin
With an actress like Scarlett Johansson and the originality of Jonathan Glazer’s adaptation of the science fiction novel written by Michael Faber, Under the Skin is a masterwork. Even Stranger Things has taken inspiration from some of the movie’s visuals.
Critics acclaimed the movie when it was released and it kept growing in fame as time passed. An essential theme in the movie is the search for answers to the impossible questions about humanity.
John Carter
Another movie adaptation from sci-fi adventure stories is John Carter. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ stories from the beginning of the 20th century, this movie is great and should be on your to-watch list.
We get to see Taylor Kitsch in the role of a Confederate Army captain that is sent to Mars. Better prepare your popcorn because it’s filled with a lot of action and some violence, but not more violence than what you get to see on Star Wars movies.
Under the Shadow
Babak Anvari’s directorial debut takes us in 1980s Tehran, a time which reflects Anvari’s childhood fears. Narges Rashidi stars as Shideh, a medical student who is forbidden to continue her studies after she got involved in revolutionary politics.
While her husband has to go to the front, she has to protect their daughter. If the bombing and the fighting wasn’t enough to worry about, the two are haunted by an evil genie. The line between supernatural and the terrible events in the real world are blurred in the critically acclaimed film that you can watch on Netflix.
The World is Not Enough
If you want a James Bond movie where the big baddie is a diabolical woman, then The World is Not Enough should be on your list. It’s exciting, and Pierce Brosnan shines in this movie, even the American film critic Roger Ebert acknowledged it: “a splendid comic thriller, exciting and graceful, endlessly inventive.”
Another reason why this movie is great is that it’s the only Bond movie where Elektra, the maniac oil heiress and negative character, is killed in cold blood.
Taxi Driver
We will not stop from adding Martin Scorsese movies on this list because, let’s face it, if you’re planning to watch great Netflix movies, then you should definitely watch Taxi Driver. It’s also the only time when you get to see a young Robert De Niro featuring a Mohawk haricut!
Robert De Niro’s character shows us a man at the edge of sanity. Insomniac ex-Marine Travis Bickle is a taxi driver and he’s about to snap. He cannot connect with those around him, showing us how powerful and frightening is sadness and the inability to communicate with others.
Lethal Weapon
You may have seen some of the movies in the franchise, but Netflix has all the four movies, which means you can definitely run a Lethal Weapon marathon, starting with the 1987 original and ending with the fourth title, which got released in 1998.
Danny Glover and Mel Gibson reinvented the cop action movie through their roles as Riggs and Murtaugh, influencing most of the flicks we see in the current action movies.
Minority Report
Philip K. Dick’s books are awesome, mind-blowing and confusing, which is why Steven Spielberg’s 2002 adaptation Minority Report is a movie you’ll want to watch. Plus, it has Tom Cruise in it!
Tom’s character heads a project called PreCrime. Using that tech, he can predict crimes before they take place. However, one of these crimes place the main character in a tight situation. Check out the thrilling movie on Netflix and you won't be disappointed.
The Social Network
The 2010s had a lot of great movies, among which we saw The Social Network getting released. Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay and David Fincher’s directorial work have created a flawless movie about the rise of… well, the popular social network and media platform we all know.
It is difficult not to resonate with the movie plot and it’s also incredible to look at what everyone (thought they) knew about the Internet.
Sin City
Already a classic, the 2005 action adventure drama is based on Miller’s graphic novel. What makes Sin City so popular and thrilling is that we have never seen such a movie. It breaks the boundaries when it comes to the medium.
Moreover, the movie also draws its power from the huge, well-chosen cast. We’re talking about including Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Benicio del Toro, Elijah Wood, and Jessica Alba among many others.
How to Change the World
If you like documentaries, How to Change the World will teach you a great deal about the formation of Greenpeace in 1971. The film follows the environmentalists and activists from Vancouver, British Columbia trying to stop commercial whaling in the Pacific and disrupt U.S. nuclear testing in Alaska.
Watching How to Change the World, you will get to see not only how the organization was formed, but also the hardships they faced against human abuse of the natural world. Themes such as idealism vs. anarchy, leadership and so on are also displayed in the documentary.
We the Animals
Jeremiah Zagar adapted Justin Torres’ semi-autobiographical novel into a film that takes out the heart-breaking theme and only keeps Torres’ prose wild. The book might be heart-wrenching, but the movie sends another message.
We the Animals is a movie that shows us the sexual awakening and creativity of the author. Talented young actors like Evan Rosado, Isaiah Kristian, Josiah Gabriel, Sheila Vand, and Raúl Castillo are part of the cast, making the movie plot follow a natural flow.
A Ghost Story
Considered an artistic achievement, A Ghost Story is an interesting, twisted and sad story that even though it comes with very little dialog, it immerses you in a creepy world.
Starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck are a loving couple that are hit by a terrible tragedy, and even if the movie’s beginning is pretty slow, it will leave you mind-blown.