5 Netflix Picks: What To Watch This Week Begins With A Bank Robbery

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.

Netflix keeps loading up its already dense library with even more to watch, and while it continues to steer more and more toward episodic series and original content, there’s still plenty of full-length movies on deck to look forward to. As such, we once again go digging into the depths to find you great entertainment for the week. This time, we’ve got an all-time classic that should pump you up with patriotic pride, along with a colorful children’s choice, something on the historical end and a look behind the life of one of our greatest modern minds. But first, we start the week with some good old-fashioned criminal mischief. 

MONDAY: Hell or High Water

Here’s a thriller that snuck up on a lot of critics and audiences, not getting the usual big ticket fanfare and promotion your average big name movie gets yet nonetheless slowly won over everyone. It’s a clever modern western with a smart story, smarter characters, and a heaping helping of memorable performance from the likes of Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges, and Ben Foster. While it has it’s pacing flaws, director David Mackenzie manages to give this tale of bank robbing brothers looking to save the family farm a sharp edge. It’s not your typical shoot ’em up and maybe some will wish it was, but it works better as a moody character study than a guns blazing crime film. Well worth a watch, this is a small gem in the genre.

TUESDAY: The Dirty Dozen

Your favorite part of the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan rom-com Sleepless in Seattle is – of course – that scene when the guys express their love for the 1967 war film The Dirty Dozen. Don’t even try and say it isn’t. Well it’s high time you got around to knowing why. Director Robert Aldrich‘s classic movie about a collection of nefarious criminals and troublemakers gathered together to take on a suicide mission into Word War II Germany and take out top officers before D-Day is an epic good time. Starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson and many more, this is the epitome of golden age war movies with great writing, greater action and, as mentioned, a memorable moment with a grenade. We just made your Tuesday night 100% more explosive. You’re welcome.

WEDNESDAY: Coraline

It’s family night and this week we’ve got a widely-acclaimed stop-motion film from underrated director Henry Selick, most known for The Nightmare Before Christmas. It tells of a young girl named Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning), who moves with her family to an old house in a different neighborhood. She meets a new friend, who gives her a handmade doll with button eyes. Cool enough, but what’s this? The doll then comes alive and leads Coraline to a secret little door in the living room, opened with a button key that reveals … well, you’ll have to find out, but it’s a little dark and filled with imagination, making this as fun to look at as follow. Just stop and admire the creative passion behind this project and soak up, once again, some truly innovative animation. 

THURSDAY: The Other Boleyn Girl

Let’s get historical. Well, a little at least. Based on the fictionalized story of the Boleyn sisters by Philippa Gregory, the movie is directed by Justin Chadwick and follows the reckless lives of Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman), and Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson). It involves a creepy family plot for Anne to be the mistress of the king (Eric Bana), hopefully to give him a son, while he becomes sexually infatuated with Mary, despite her marriage already to another. It’s good to be the king. Stylish and rich with period details, the film is a sweeping, dramatic work with excellent performances and direction, giving the not so true tale plenty of vroom. Nitpickers steer clear, all others, feast.

FRIDAY: The Theory of Everything

Grab your thinkin’ caps and cinch ’em up tight cuz to close out the week, we’re gettin’ all smarty up in this list. Everyone knows the late great Stephen Hawking and maybe at least some of his remarkable contributions to science. But have you seen this award-winning biopic from director James Marsh? If you haven’t (or even if you have), then good news, you’re about to (again). Detailing the life of the famed physicist (played by Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne), it’s an intimate portrait of a complex and compelling figure, whose battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis didn’t diminish both his passion for knowledge and a lovely literature student named Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). A deeply personal and challenging experience, this is a truly moving story based on Wilde’s own book. Read more about our thoughts on this movie here.