But thankfully, there’s been enough good movies actually released recently this year that you should have no problem finding something great to watch. If the world were ending and I could only save one movie, I would pick Titanic. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet star in the most beautiful love story of our time – which takes place during one of the most devastating disasters of our time.
The final scene features perhaps the most iconic dance move of all time (that lift!). Is a spoof of the disaster film genre, particularly Zero Hour (1957). In this parody, a man who is afraid of flying must pull himself together to save the day when the pilots on his flight get sick. It’s got a million jokes free movie sites per minute and some of the funniest lines ever written, including “I am serious…and don’t call me Shirley.” Airplane! Is, by many people’s estimation, one of the funniest movies ever made, and there’s not much else left to say. Sure, comedy is subjective, but it’s impossible not to laugh at this one.
Thanks to the Wachowskis, we all took the red pill, and we’ve never regretted it. You’ve voted it your favourite Kubrick movie, which makes sense to us. It is arguably his greatest gift to cinema, an infinitely ambitious vision of a space-faring future whose narrative centres on the most pivotal moment in human evolution since some ape-man first bashed another ape-man with an old bone. Michael Mann’s starry upgrade of his TV movie LA Takedown squeezed every last drop of icon-juice out of its heavyweight double-billing, bringing Pacino and De Niro together on screen, sharing scenes for the very first time.
Instead, they and the friends who joined them are trapped by torrential rain. After the mysterious storm passes, the world is changed, with the entire building floating on an ethereal sea, and a new child in their midst. It’s easy to imagine that the elevator pitch for The Sea Beast was “Moby Dick meets How to Train Your Dragon”—and who wouldn’t be compelled by that? Set in a fantasy world where oceanic leviathans terrorize humanity, those who hunt down the giant monsters are lauded as heroes. However, after an attempt to destroy the colossal Red Bluster goes disastrously wrong, Jacob and Maisie are stranded on an island filled with the creatures, and they find that the monsters may not be quite so monstrous after all. A rollicking sea-bound adventure directed by Chris Williams—of Big Hero 6 and Moana fame—it secured its standing as one of Netflix’s finest movies with a nomination for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars.
Drive is a super slick and stylized action drama in which the main character barely talks — he doesn’t even have a name — and the violence is plentiful. It was Ryan Gosling’s first foray into the grumpy action hero archetype that he’s played many times since, most recently in Gray Man. ‘Artistic violence’ is not a phrase I’d ever expect to use, but it’s the best way to describe this movie. – These are all great movies, but I won’t call them “the best movies ever made.” Just movies that are crucial viewing for a ~varied and comprehensive~ film vocabulary. Considered one of the best British films of all time, Trainspotting follows a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh, Scotland who try and fail to integrate themselves into “normal” society.
In Spielberg’s case, there were several films that had love (including Minority Report and West Side Story), but none that united all six of us in full-throated enthusiasm. In other cases, as in Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, Malick’s The New World and The Tree of Life, and Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, there were ardent supporters but also just-as-ardent detractors. A woman wakes up in a cryonics cell after a few weeks in suspended animation. She doesn’t remember her name, age, or past except for a few disturbing flashbacks. But one thing she knows—courtesy of an annoying talking AI—is that she has just over an hour before she runs out of oxygen. Oxygen is as claustrophobic a thriller as it gets, and manages to find that rare sweet spot of being static and unnerving at once.
As ever, though, QT’s at his best in claustrophobic situations, with the tavern scene ramping up the tension to almost unbearable levels. Which was a medium sized hit when it came out in 2000, but the soundtrack album was a massive success and won a Grammy for album of the year. The album was ubiquitous for years it seems, but now neither the album or the movie are cited much anymore, at least as far as I’ve seen. Thelma & Louise is an unapologetically, explicitly feminist movie, which was kind of rare for the time period (the ’90s, lol).
An exploration of the origins of the “conversion therapy” movement—a harmful and medically denounced process through which religious groups try to “cure” homosexuality—may not make for light entertainment, but this searing look at the practice and its roots is darkly compelling. Director Kristine Stolakis speaks with key founders of the movement and survivors of the often brutal treatments that arose over nearly half a century and offers insight into both. Pray Away is a difficult watch at times—especially for LGBTQ+ viewers—but it shines an important light on the movement and the damage it causes. GSVariety put the worldwide rental for The Greatest Show on Earth at around $18.35 million (with $12.8 million coming from the United States[53]) a year after its release; however, Birchard puts its earnings at just over $15 million up to 1962. It is likely that Birchard’s figure is just the North American gross rental, and includes revenue from the 1954 and 1960 reissues.
Paul’s journey is one of naivete crushed by the relentless machinery of war and state and an awakening to the way soldiers are chewed up in the name of politicians and generals. Director Edward Berger’s take on the material is the first to be filmed in German, which adds a layer of authenticity to a blistering, heart-rending cinematic effort that drives home the horror and inhumanity of war. This gleefully entertaining giant-monster movie eschews tearing up the likes of New York or Tokyo in favor of director Roar Uthaug’s (Tomb Raider 2018) native Norway, with a titanic troll stomping its way toward Oslo after being roused by a drilling operation. But the striking Nordic visuals and the titular menace’s ability to blend in with the landscape allow for some impressively original twists along the way.
It’s got one of Morgan Freeman’s most beloved performances and one of the best movie lines of all time in “Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’.” Beyond that, it’s a thoughtful reflection on the effects of a life in prison that’s just as resonant today as it was almost 30 years ago. With the kids back at school and schedules getting busier, you can always fall back on the best family movies on Netflix for a little family time. But nobody wants to waste that time scrolling for something everyone can agree to watch. The actor-turned-screenwriter Jason Segel and his collaborator Nicholas Stoller first teamed up for this romantic comedy from the producer Judd Apatow. Segel stars as Peter, a sad-sack composer in a perpetual funk after his breakup with the title character (Kristen Bell), a famous TV actress. In an attempt to escape his depression, he takes a vacation to Hawaii — only to find Sarah at the same resort with her new beau (Russell Brand), a pretentious British pop star.
After an attempt to impress him leads to social disaster, Stacy is enraged when BFF Lydia (Samantha Lorraine) dates him instead, and soon everyone’s lives are spiraling out of control in the kind of deranged, cruel ways only teenagers can manage. Director Sammi Cohen perfectly captures the heightened melodrama that paints everyone’s teen years, while delivering emotional moments at all the right points. Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights, and merchandising.
If that doesn’t sell you, perhaps the fact that it won Best Animated Feature at the 2023 Academy Awards will. Directed by Leonard Nimoy’s son Adam Nimoy, this looks at the life and career of the famed Star Trek actor and the pop cultural impact of his role as the highly logical science officer of the USS Enterprise. Despite having begun as a Star Trek anniversary project, For the Love of Spock evolves into a celebration of Nimoy’s life beyond the bridge of a famous spaceship. Shapeshifter Nimona can become anything she wants, a gift that causes people to fear and shun her. If society is going to treat her like a villain, she’s going to be one, so she decides to become the sidekick of the hated black knight, Ballister Blackheart. D. Stevenson’s groundbreaking graphic novel, Nimona is more than just another fanciful fantasy—it’s a tale of outsiders and exiles, people trying to do right even when their community rejects them, and the joy of finding their own little band along the way.
Viewed through today’s lens, it’s also a haunting look at the effects of domestic violence. Frustrated by the world’s collective inaction on existential threats like climate change? Maybe don’t watch Don’t Look Up, director Adam McKay’s satirical black comedy. A bleakly funny indictment of our times, bolstered by a star-studded cast fronted by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, Don’t Look Up is, somewhat depressingly, one of the best portraits of humanity since Idiocracy.
The film takes place almost entirely in the jury room, which really serves to show off the film’s screenplay and the performances of the cast. Sometimes, the simplest things are the most effective, and 12 Angry Men certainly proves that. Casablanca is one of those movies that everyone knows about, even if they’ve never seen it.