5 Netflix Picks is our weekly list of random movies we recommend you move to the top of your queue, from comedy to romance to horror and everything in-between.
So, here we are again and it’s time to think about what to watch on Netflix this week. Well, no worries, We’re here to fill in the blanks with another great selection of movies to get you from Monday to Friday in the best entertainment. On tap this time is a pretty diverse collection of movies from comedy to action to romance and even a timeless classic. Let’s wind things up with a comedy favorite from more than twenty years ago that still brings the big laughs. Set up the TV trays and get comfy, it’s …
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MONDAY: Swingers
MONDAYOkay. Let’s add some style to this list. Kicking your week off in Lindy Hop hoopla is this classic 1996 comedy from Doug Liman, the guy who brought us The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow of all things. Here, he skips the action packed bravado of those films for something altogether less shooty, centering the story on high kicks and twirly-twirls. You know what I’m talking about. It’s Swing, and back in the 90s, it was all the rage, here starring future director Jon Favreau (who wrote the screenplay) and his best pal Vince Vaughn. Half romance and half bromance, this very funny movie is still right in step and achingly fun to watch, with fast-talking dialogue and plenty of cool cat groove. And of course, answering machines. Vegas, baby!
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TUESDAY: East of Eden
TUESDAYYou know the name. You heard of the film. But have you actually seen it? James Dean stars in his film debut, the only movie of his three completed he actually saw before his untimely death. He plays Caleb, brother to Aron (Richard Davalos), sons in 1917 California to a religious farmer. Trouble brews between them when Cal becomes attracted Aron’s girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris), causing a rift that violently divides them. Elia Kazan‘s epic drama, based on John Steinbeck‘s novel of the same name, earned Dean an Academy Award nomination (posthumously) and is considered one of the greatest movies ever made. Sweeping, grandiose and larger-than-life, it’s a terrific snapshot of a different time in movie making, with beautiful cinematography and masterful direction. It’s a classic film you need to see.
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WEDNESDAY: The Bone Collector
WEDNESDAYAs we learned last week, Denzel Washington can do no wrong, and here, he proves it by not even moving. Director Phillip Noyce spins a clever and often very tense thriller about a young, rookie patrol cop played by Angelina Jolie, who discovers a mutilated body in an old railway bed, revealing some rather impressive forensic skills at the site. This leads expert Lincoln Rhyme (Washington), who is bed-bound from an accident that left him a quadriplegic, to have her be his eyes in investigating further. The case becomes a gruesome collection of troubling evidence as the killer continues his spree while police draw near. While it might not break ground in the genre, and co-star Queen Latifah is woefully underused, this is still a terrific bit of detective work with strong performances and creepy direction.
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THURSDAY: Heathers
THURSDAYYou’ve probably heard of this movie once or twice over the years, read that it was dark and quirky, or that it had some sort of wacky impact way back in the 80s, though you no doubt just shrugged and moved on. Well no more, dear reader. It’s time to put a notch in that belt and tick this classic off the list, because Heathers is indeed a minor masterpiece, a cult classic well deserving of the praise. It stars a very Winona Ryder (whom many of you may know now as the mom on Stranger Things), as Veronica Sawyer, a member of a group of girls who, aside from her, all have the same first name: Heather. They are the mean girls, despite their popularity, and when Veronica begins to think she ought to break from the pack, she gets aligned with rebellious outsider Jason “J.D.” Dean (Christian Slater). Things then go way out of control. A wickedly sharp black comedy, this is a scathing attack on well, just about everything. They don’t make ’em like this anymore.
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FRIDAY: Man Up
FRIDAYSimon Pegg has had a truly diverse run on the big screen, from sci-fi epics like the Star Trek series to his now classic zombie movie Shaun of the Dead, to his stint with Mission: Impossible. The guy’s everywhere, and he does rom-coms, too. This 2015 Ben Palmer-directed comedy is by now means groundbreaking, and certainly comes loaded with plenty of standards we’ve seen before, but … there are some nice twists here and the excellent cast of Pegg opposite the always enchanting (and funny) Lake Bell makes this a treat. She plays a woman who takes the place of stranger’s blind date (Pegg), and in the process, ends up believing she’s found the perfect guy. Has she? Despite some obvious conventions and a slightly unrealistic public display of affection in the end that sort of doesn’t fit, there are some truly great moments in this little gem (including this absolutely stellar one). A perfect Friday night flick.