For as many streaming services as there is currently are, Netflix remains possibly the premiere platform to watch movies and television shows. The first mainstream streaming service there was, it’s a platform that continues to boast some of the finest and most noteworthy movies you’ll find anywhere.
With a streaming catalog mixed between Netflix original movies and endless amounts of well-known movies like Top Gun, The Sting, and Jerry Maguire, there’s no shortage of potential viewing options when it comes to Netflix’s impressive lineup of movies.
Here are some of the movies you can currently find streaming on Netflix that we’d recommend checking out.
Updated: January 17.
Action: Top Gun
One of the earliest movies to establish Tom Cruise as a legitimate action star, Top Gun is also one of the main breakout action movies of the 1980s. Today, its reputation has only grown more hallowed thanks to the groundbreaking success of its much later sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
Lieutenant “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is an unorthodox Navy pilot who loves taking risks. Recognizing his talent and hoping to curb his reckless streak, Maverick is sent to train at the prestigious Fighter Weapons School — an academy that sees some of the best pilots in the military enroll in their program.
We won’t lie, Top Gun: Maverick is a much better movie than the original Top Gun. The action in the former is more striking, the movie’s pace more balanced, with even the emotional undertones of the story far superior. As it’s a sequel, though, it’s probably worth watching Top Gun for anyone interested in seeing Maverick at some point in the near future.
Comedy: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Edgar Wright has been behind some of the best movies of this century, churning out such modern classics as Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver. Among Wright’s relatively lesser-known movies is his 2010 comedic action extravaganza, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (a movie that’s thankfully growing a larger and larger fan following as the years have gone by).
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is an aspiring bassist in an indie garage band who meets and falls in love with the mysterious Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Shortly after they begin seeing each other romantically, however, Scott learns that he’ll have to battle Ramona’s previous evil exes to ensure they can continue dating.
It’s really hard to not enjoy a movie like Scott Pilgrim. The film is just loaded with too much humor, too many stunning visuals, too many odes to video games, movies, comic books to not be taken in by its charm. At the end of the day, watching it is identical to the feeling you get from chugging Mountain Dew and popping into your local arcade — it’s that addictively fun.
Mystery: The Pale Blue Eye
Whodunits are in vogue this past year, having seen the release of such entertaining films as Glass Onion and See How They Run. A brand-new release to Netflix, The Pale Blue Eye is yet another mystery film that falls into the whodunit category, relying on a tight script, thrilling plot twists, and a generally great cast.
In 1830, retired investigator Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) is asked to return to service when a cadet at the West Point military academy is found dead. Looking into whether the death was a murder or not, Landor enlists the help of another cadet — a young man named Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling).
The Pale Blue Eye lacks the same overt humor as Glass Onion or See How They Run, making it relatively light in comedy or warmth. But at its heart, the movie still operates as a suspenseful tale of horror and mystery, the kind of tale Poe himself would’ve enjoyed writing during his lifetime.
Romance: Jerry Maguire
Even if you’ve never seen Jerry Maguire, there’s a 99.9% chance that you’ve heard the movie’s oft-quoted line, “Show me the money!”, at some point or another. To finally understand the context of that quote, we recommend going right to the source, watching Jerry Maguire if for no other reason than to finally get in on this 26-year-old joke.
After an epiphany about his workplace practices leads to his dismissal, a now independent sports agent (Tom Cruise) tries his best to secure his former clients, only managing to retain one: a disgruntled football player with a massive ego (Cuba Gooding Jr.).
As much a sports drama as it is a romance movie, Jerry Maguire is nonetheless a sharply-written and enjoyable movie that makes clever use of Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. in the main roles.
Biopic: Dolemite Is My Name
Beginning in the early 2000s, renowned comedian Eddie Murphy hit a major career slump that lasted for well over a decade. After a string of panned films, Murphy made his triumphant comeback with his 2019 film, Dolemite Is My Name.
Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy) is a struggling, middle-aged comic in 1970s Los Angeles. Upon creating the onstage persona of “Dolemite” for his act, Moore achieves immediate popularity, leading him to produce, write, and star in the cult blaxploitation film, Dolemite.
Murphy has always been a skilled comedian, but Dolemite Is My Name gives him a chance to shine bright as an actor. In the role of Moore, Murphy encapsulates all the fading artistic hopes one has as they get older, and the creative frustrations they feel not being good enough to merit success.
Crime: The Sting
After the death of their mutual friend, two professional con men (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) team up to steal away the fortune of a sadistic, amoral gangster (Robert Shaw).
In 1969, the cinematic world saw the fateful pairing of Paul Newman and Robert in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt of their day, their sensational chemistry helped drive Butch and Sundance into the Western staple it is today.
Four years later, the two struck lightning yet again, starring in the spiritual successor to Butch and Sundance in the celebrated film, The Sting. Far sillier and more lighthearted than the counterculture nature of their previous collaboration, The Sting raked in pretty much every critical award it could back in 1973, the movie having gained a coveted reputation in the years since.
Drama: Tully
Struggling to care for her three young children, single mother Marlo (Charlize Theron) forms a close friendship with her nanny (Mackenzie Davis), finding solace and temporary escape during their time together.
Charlize Theron is one of those actors able to completely transform herself from film to film. In one movie, she can convincingly play a post-apocalyptic road warrior; in another, a prostitute turned serial killer driven to murder out of financial necessity.
In still another, she can play a mother doing her best to raise her kids and maintain her mental health (the basis of which forms the plot of Tully). Tenderly heartfelt in her lead role, Theron believably embodies the happiness and frustration one feels as a single parent, from the longing to finally have some quiet time to the outright joy experienced from spending time with her kids.
Thriller: Play Misty for Me
The late great Jessica Walter is more often associated with her starring role on Arrested Development, playing the embittered, alcoholic matriarch of the Bluth family to a T. But it’s also important to acknowledge some of Walter’s past contributions to the world of entertainment, including her terrifying portrayal in Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me.
After a casual romantic fling with one of his fans (Walter), a radio DJ (Eastwood) discovers that he’s being stalked and terrorized by the woman, who’s since developed an unhealthy obsessive love for him.
It’s not often you see Eastwood star in a thriller, but Play Misty for Me is not your typical Eastwood film. It’s a tense, Hitchcockian nightmare looking at toxic relationships before the term was even invented, led by some fantastic, believable performances from Eastwood and Walter.
Sports: The Longest Yard
We understand if Adam Sandler isn’t your cup of tea. Like his fellow SNL alumni like Will Ferrell or Mike Myers, many of his movies appeal to a very niche audience. Still, for those who can’t stand the juvenile characters Sandler plays in films like Billy Madison, there may be something to enjoy in The Longest Yard.
Sentenced to serve three years in a Texas prison, former NFL quarterback Paul Crewe (Sandler) is presented a unique challenge by the Warden (James Cromwell). Trying to keep the prisoners in their place and boost the morale of his guards, Crewe is offered the chance to coach a ragtag football team of inmates, building up to a game between the guards and Crewe’s team.
A remake of the 1974 Burt Reynolds classic, The Longest Yard is an ensemble sports comedy that you don’t even have to be a sports fan to enjoy. Rounding out the cast with a mix of comedians, underrated actors, and former pro wrestlers like Chris Rock, William Fichtner, Terry Crews, Kevin Nash, and Steve Austin, it’s a rowdy and rambunctious movie that’s the perfect definition of a crowd-pleaser.
Underrated: Spider-Man 3
Finally managing to secure balance in his private and professional lives, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) contends with a new problem when a strange alien entity bonds with him, warping his personality and draining him of his empathy.
We’re not going to get dramatic and call Spider-Man 3 an underrated masterpiece or the unsung jewel of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series. As many critics of the original Spider-Man movies quickly point out, it’s far and away the weakest entry in Raimi’s trilogy.
While elements of the movie are inexcusably disastrous (it’s no accident so much about this movie has become a meme), there are some features that should be singled out for praise. Flint Marko’s transformation into the Sandman and Maguire’s Spider-Man waking up to find himself in the black Spidey suit, in particular, stand tall as two of the finest moments in any of the three films.
What’s more, in a post-No Way Home universe, where the possibility of seeing Maguire’s Spider-Man again is all too real, Spider-Man 3 is probably required viewing for any MCU fans at this point.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
source https://wealthofgeeks.com/movies-on-netflix-now/
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