10 movies you need to watch on Netflix right now
Most of the movies were released in 2010, but I thought I’d take the time to highlight 10 little-seen gems you can get right now from Netflix. You’ll save money and find some great movies if you use my list to fill your queue.
10) Mysterious Skin– My favorite director (Gregg Araki) and his best film. Mysterious Skin is about two boys brought together by a horrible childhood trauma. At times graphic, disturbing, but full of beauty and hope, it is one of the best films of the decade. Joseph Gordon Leavitt (not that kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun anymore) is amazing.
9) Dead Man’s Shoes– Paddy Considine is excellent in this brutal revenge drama from director Shane Meadows. The film is about a brother’s quest for revenge after his mentally challenged brother is brutalized by some Midlands thugs in the seedy UK countryside. Some critics mistakenly called this arthouse torture porn, but it’s light years better and more compelling than anything the overhyped Eli Roth could come up with.
8) brittleness-Frailty is a horror gem starring and directed by Bill Paxton. A harrowing story of a seemingly loving father who believes that he and his children are the hands of God. He searches for people he thinks are demons and cuts them to pieces. Fine period details and acting, especially from the youngsters, Frailty is about religious devotion gone haywire and turning into madness. You must see it.
7) In Bruges – In Bruges has the best script of last year and some of the best performances of Collin Farrell’s career. Smart and brutal, funny but extremely violent, it’s the movie that Guy Ritchie keeps trying to make, and keeps eluding him. One of the best movies of last year.
6) Smiley Face – Director Gregg Araki’s latest film is a hilarious stoner comedy starring the brilliant Anna Faris. Sublimely goofy movie that went straight to DVD, though it’s a lot funnier than a lot of comedies opening in theaters these days.
5) Rules of Attraction – A sharp, sharply funny look at some nasty and bratty college students, courtesy of author Bret Easton Ellis and writer/director Roger Avary. This is probably the best of the Ellis film adaptations to date (American Psycho with a fantastic Christian Bale is another must-see), and despite its loathsome characters, I loved every shocking and entertaining moment in the film.
4) sexual desire – The teen sex comedy is updated with hilarious results. Surprisingly, it was a box office flop, but it was easily the funniest movie of last year. The leads are likeable and funny, and James Marsden almost steals the entire movie as the homophobic character of the bullying older brother. Seth Green provides strong support as a sarcastic, smarmy Amish who knows it all. RUMPSRINGA!
3) Mirror Mask– Alice in Wonderland meets The Wizard of Oz through Neil Gaiman. MirrorMask is an exciting and well-acted fantasy film intended for teens and adults. The worlds created are completely original and star Stephenie Leonidas is perfect as the goth emo punk who wants to run away from her creepy circus existence and gets more than she bargained for.
2) Refund – Original and visually stunning comedy-drama about a young man who breaks up with his pretty girlfriend and discovers that he has the ability to stop time. His insomnia gives him the opportunity to paint random subjects with frozen time and the film can be creepy in the wrong hands, it ends up being charming and something worth looking for. All props go to the director for making a low budget feature look like something with a bigger budget.
1) This is England – Writer/director Shane Meadows returns with an autobiographical look at his childhood and his alliance with a young gang of skinhead thugs. Well-acted, sometimes hard to watch, and utterly compelling, This Is England may be about the UK, but its themes of racial bigotry and hate could take place anywhere, in any country, at any time. It could have been called This is America. The film is brilliant, blisters things.
