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 American Hustle, Psycho, and The Bourne Identity, 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: April 8.
Drama: American Hustle
American Hustle is a supreme achievement in how to mix fact, fantasy, comedy, and crime into one cohesive film. Led by an absolutely superb cast of Hollywood heavyweights, it's an excellent addition to Netflix’s catalog, as well as a movie you can rewatch again and again.
Recruited by the FBI, two experienced con artists (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) are sent undercover to collect evidence against a corrupt New Jersey politician (Jeremy Renner)
With a cast that includes Bale, Adams, Renner, Bradley Cooper, and a memorably unhinged Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle is possibly the most star-studded ensemble you’ll find on Netflix right now. Aside from its amazing cast, it's also a fascinating, very loose retelling of one of the biggest political scandals of the 1970s.
Sci-Fi: The Thing
Not to be confused with John Carpenter’s original sci-fi classic, 2011’s The Thing acts as a prequel immediately setting up the events of its 1982 counterpart. While it’s certainly not as revolutionary as its predecessor, it's nonetheless a genuinely terrifying movie that relies comfortably on the basic plot elements of ‘82’s The Thing.
At a remote research base in Antarctica, a group of researchers uncover an alien spacecraft that landed on Earth thousands of years ago. As they begin to explore the ship, they discover the original passenger may have laid dormant in the frozen tundra, and is still alive to this day.
Between its setting and central storyline, you might jump to the conclusion that The Thing is little more than a rip-off repeating the same basic beats of Carpenter’s film. However, director Matthijs van Heijningen is careful to include plenty of plot points that help differentiate it from the ‘82 Thing, with plenty of surprises and grisly moments in store for fans of the original.
Action: The Bourne Identity
In the early 2000s, just five years out from his breakthrough performance in Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon managed to strike out on his own as a bona fide action star with 2002’s uber popular, The Bourne Identity.
Rescued by a fishing boat, a man suffering from severe amnesia (Damon) tries to piece together his past, all the while dodging the assassins who continuously pursue him.
It’s hard to say conclusively which is the best entry in the Bourne franchise, but The Bourne Identity may indeed be it. Introducing audiences across the globe to a relentless, inexplicably talented covert agent, Jason Bourne was essentially the John Wick of the 2000s, expertly played by Damon in each film.
Family: Shark Tale
Shark Tale may be one of DreamWorks’ most disappointing movies, but it hasn’t stopped it from climbing to the top of this week’s most-watched list for Netflix movies. While it has a tough time balancing its humor and storyline with its talented cast, though, it still makes for a generally decent family film.
After the son of an infamous great white shark (Robert De Niro) is accidentally killed, an opportunistic young fish (Will Smith) concocts a story asserting that he slayed the shark, helping him become a local celebrity.
With Smith, De Niro, Jack Black, Renée Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, and Ziggy Marley in the cast list, Shark Tale is absolutely loaded with strong players. Unfortunately, the movie’s middling comedy or animation doesn’t exactly rise to the occasion, although younger kids are sure to love it.
Thriller: 1922
In the grand scheme of his career, 1922 doesn’t rank as the definitively scariest Stephen King adaptation. However, its slower pace and more thorough examination of its characters makes it a decidedly underrated movie based on King’s work.
Learning that his wife (Molly Parker) is planning to sell their Nebraska farm, a cold-hearted farmer (Thomas Jane) convinces his teenage son (Dylan Schmid) to help him murder his mother and prevent the property from being sold.
Like The Shining, not everything is quite what it seems in 1922. The first half of the movie can be described almost as a Hitchcockian thriller, characterized by intrigue and murderous plots. By the film’s second half, 1922 takes on a far more macabre tone reminiscent of other King films, with Jane’s character witnessing increasingly disturbing events that may be real – or may be entirely in his head.
Horror: Psycho
The grandfather of all modern slashers, Psycho is perhaps the most famous movie ever directed by Alfred Hitchcock (which is certainly saying a lot when you realize his other movies include hits like The Birds, North by Northwest, and Vertigo).
Stealing away a significant amount of money from her employer, a secretary (Janet Leigh) flees into the California desert, eventually stopping at a motel owned by the elusive Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mysterious mother.
A direct influence on John Carpenter’s breakout slasher, Halloween, Psycho is consequentially responsible for the rise of everything from Friday the 13th to A Nightmare on Elm Street. With its overall narrative split cleanly in half, it’s a supremely shocking movie to watch to this day (not to mention downright terrifying with that string-heavy background score).
Sports: Friday Night Lights
Before it was a successful sports drama series, the 1990 nonfiction book, Friday Night Lights, served as the basis for a 2004 film. Like all the best sports movies, it’s an intense study of the athletes’ lives both on and off the field.
In the economically struggling Texas town of Odessa, the townspeople unite behind their shared love of football, and the valiant efforts of Odessa’s high school football team in its 1988 season.
One of the better teen movies of the 2000s, Friday Night Lights is also an excellent look at the immense pressure and gratification that comes with playing or watching sports. At once, it’s a form of escapism, used by some to combat the brutal hardships of life, yet is also responsible for intense stress felt by players and coaches, who are constantly hounded to win.
Biopic: Born on the Fourth of July
If you ever needed a selling point as to why Tom Cruise was such an undeniable star by the end of the 1980s, you need to see Born on the Fourth of July. A brilliant and thought-provoking biographical film from Oliver Stone, it’s a first-rate look at the life and influence of Vietnam War veteran turned anti-war activist Ron Kovic.
Paralyzed from the waist down from his service in Vietnam, the once idealistic Ron Kovic (Cruise) returns to America. Growing disillusioned with Americans’ indifference at veterans’ plights, he resolves to make a change, leading efforts to stymie America’s growing involvement in the war.
Perhaps the most effecting movie centered on the Vietnam War there is, Born on the Fourth of July truly allows you to see from Kovic’s eyes, relating to him and understanding his motivation in wanting to serve his country on a more profound level. By the time he returns home, we’re given a deeper look at the cold reality he faced in the turbulent late ‘60s American landscape, as well as his uphill battle adjusting to post-war life.
War: The King
An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henriad series, The King offers a loose retelling of Henry V’s rise to power, as well as his gradual maturation from a slovenly, unambitious young scoundrel into the mighty English king who conquered France.
With his emotionally distant father (Ben Mendelsohn) having recently passed away, the young prince Hal (Timothée Chalamet) learns to accept the burdens of leadership, spearheading England’s war against France.
More passionate fans of the Bard will likely be disappointed by the movie’s failure to retain Shakespeare’s original dialogue, but the translation to modern vernacular makes The King an approachable film for all audience members. The battles are heart-pounding, but the performances of the cast make this movie worth seeing, whether it’s Chalamet’s conflicted Hal or Robert Pattinson’s bizarre rendition of the French Dauphin.
Underrated: Conan the Destroyer
Teaming with a band of colorful adventurers, the larger-than-life barbarian Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) escorts a queen’s niece (Olivia d'Abo) to a distant, fabled island fortress.
In 1982, the cinematic fantasy genre was forever changed with the release of Conan the Barbarian, the bold, stylistic adaptation of Robert. E Howard’s legendary barbarian hero. Two years later, its sequel, Conan the Destroyer, made its way to theaters … although to decidedly less fanfare.
Some might view Conan the Destroyer as a bit of a let-down compared to the earlier film, but there’s an intrinsically kitschy nature to Conan the Destroyer that makes it a guilty pleasure to watch. Far more comedic than Barbarian, some critics like Roger Ebert went so far as to view Destroyer as a major improvement from the initial movie.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
source https://wealthofgeeks.com/movies-on-netflix-now/
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