The I was a late convert to Netflix. It took the first too items on my list to get me two sign up, but I am glad I did.
Here's my current top 70. They might not al be available in your regions, but it's worth having a look if you are reminded or intrigued.
The Two Popes, with Antony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce impersonating Pope Benedict and the future Francis in imagined meetings, but ones that draw their dialogue from their own real writings and quotes. Maybe thought a bit specialist, but I really don't think so. The acting is superb.
Springsteen On Broadway, a man, a piano, a guitar, sometimes Patti joins in too as he tells his life stories illuminated by his music, sings his songs, illuminated by his stories – and his passions.
Inception, Christopher Nolan’s mind bending SF thriller, with de Caprio,
Blackklansman, Spike Lee’s retelling the true story of the infiltration of a black LA cop into the KKK back in the 70’s, shockingly relevant today. The film is dedicated to Heather Heyer, and opened in the US on the anniversary of her death, hit by a car in Charlottesville, VA while protesting against the Unite the Right rally there on Aug 12. 2017. Starring John David Washington and Adam Driver.
The Trial of the Chicago Seven. Aaron Sorkin’s script and a great cast make some sense out of the chaotic Chicago ‘riots’ and political trial of the Yuppies and Black Panthers who were jointly charged with inciting it. Topical?
The Truman Show, Jim Carey , not gurning here, in Peter Weir’s intriguing parable.
I Lost My Body, a delightful French animation.
Okja, I love Bong Joon Ho’s movies, all the way back from his 2006 Host to Parasites, and this one has Tilda Swinton and Paul Dano in it. Another parable, this one on our consumer society, made with wit and affection.
Children of Men, Alfonso Cuaron’s brilliant take on P D James (non-crime) novel, with Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore.
Ex Machina, one of the most intelligent movies about A1, written and directed by Alex Garland, with Domhnall Gleeson. Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander.
Being John Malkovich, Charlie Kaufman's truly bonkers movie, with John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and the eponymous Malkovich.
The Imitation Game. The tragedy of Alan Turing’s persecution frames the WW2 Bletchley Park Cyber-breaking story. Cumberbatch as Turing is, as usual, brilliant.
The Martian, a Ridley Scott SF movie, but a long way from Alien, with a very realistic – and surprisingly funny – account of what surviving on, and being rescued from, Mars might mean, with Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain heading up a great cast.
The Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Alejandro Iñárritu’s movie looks like one shot, but that’s not the point. Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Andrea Risborough play together rather wonderfully – and Keaton is brilliant.
The Big Lebowski the cult Coen Brothers/Jeff Bridges ‘Dude’ movie. Love it or loath it. I love it.
Your Name, a Japanese anime, poignant, funny, beautifully drawn, and rather mysterious.
The Theory of Everything, biopic of Stephen Hawkins’s life, work and marriage, largely drawn from his first wife’s account, played by Felicity Jones. Eddie Redmayne deserved his Oscar.
O Brother Where Art Thou. Great Coen Brother’s script and Direction, George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake work so well together, and the music is gorgeous.
True Grit, the Coen’s adaptation of the book, not a remake of the film, with Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and the amazing young Hailee Steinfeld.
Captain Fantastic is not a Marvel superhero movie, but Viggo Mortenson leading his family in a very ‘off-grid’ life. Funny, moving and thought provoking. .
Atonement. Saoirse Ronan’s breakthrough movie and a wonderful adaptation of a great novel, directed by Joe Wright, (The Darkest Hour, Hanna.)
Bridge of Spies. Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance star in Spielberg’s pretty true telling of the fate of a top 1950’s Russian Spy who was exchanged for the U2 pilot Gary Powers. If you go down to my full review you will see what Spielberg did not/could not say about the spy’s real identity, maybe because the CIA/FBI were too embarrassed to admit it.
The Handmaiden; Chan-wook Park adapted Sarah Water’s novel Fingersmith, set in Victorian London, to the 1930’s Korea. This is a corkscrew narrative, and (properly) erotic.
All Is True. The later years of Will Shakespeare, when he retired from London to be with his wife and daughters. Ken Branagh (who also Directed of course), Judi Dench and a scene stealing Ian McKellen.
The Little Prince, a delightful French animated retelling of the classic.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. I think this is the best Martin McDonagh movie so far (and I love In Bruges) with outstanding performances from, among others, Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell.
Paddington/Paddington 2. So funny, so heart warming, so persuasive, so richly appealing to children and adults, both have great performances from star studded casts. If you haven’t seen Paddington do yourself a favour, and do.
The King’s Speech. A fine movie about a severely dysfunctional family, and how an unlikely therapist helped one member recover. With Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham-Carter.
The Soloist a true and redemptive story about a genius musician on the streets, with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downie Jnr.
Rush is about the rivalry between the F1 racing drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauder, well impersonated by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. This and Le Mon 66 are a matching pair, and if you like racing you should not miss either. In fact if you like well made movies about competitive men you also shouldn’t miss them.
Changeling and another fact based story, this one about a single parent woman whose young son disappears, and is then found by the FBI. Except that she says it is not her son. Clint Eastwood directed and Angelique Jolie acted the mother’s role with great conviction.
The Life of Brian. Some of the jokes are so well known they are now clichés, but only because they are so funny. In fact the Monty Python crew knew their subject well, which is why they could satirise it so well. ‘It’ is not, of course, Jesus, but blind religiosity.
Out of Africa. Karen Blixen’s autobiographic tale of running a farm in Africa, with another amazing personification of a real woman by Meryl Streep, ably assisted by Robert Redford and Klaus Maris Brandauer.
Midnight Cowboy. When this first came out we had just seen Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin in The Graduate, and seeing him here as Rizzo showed us what a great actor he is. Jon Voigt is pretty good too.
The Social Network. I will watch anything written by Aaron Sorkin, from The West Wing, through The News Room. Jesse Eisenberg is brilliant – but his performance maybe persuaded some folk that he is actually like Zuckerberg, the way Brando’s in On the Waterfront led some to think that mumbled in real life too.
Galaxy Quest maybe the best sf comedy ever, with Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman Allan spoofing themselves and Star Trek.
Winter’s Bone. Jennifer Lawrence’s first leading role, as a 17 year old trying to find her bail-jumping father in order to save the family home; set amidst modern American poverty-stricken rural desolation. One of the movies I most admire.
The Prestige. Christopher Nolan’s adaption with Hugh Jackman and Christopher Bale (not to mention Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, David Bowie and Andy Serkis) in a typically complex thriller set in the world of magicians.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Such a classic. Jack Nicolson at his absolute best in this adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel. I am certain that Ken Kesey did not write his book, nor Milos Forman make the film, thinking of Frank McMurphy as Christ, the Nurses as Pharisees, Billy as Judas or Chief Broom as Peter, but for me (using my post-modernist license) they provide a powerful and challenging way to see the passion of Christ.
A Star is Born (2018) I was a late convert to Lady Gaga (it took hearing her duetting with Tony Bennet to do that), but her singing and acting her are better (IMHO) than Judy Garland’s and Bradley Cooper’s Directing, music and acting match her equally.
Shadow, Zhang Yimou made some of my favourite Chinese movies, including Hero and House of Flying Daggers with their brilliant use of colour. In Shadow, another historical wuxia movie, he used black and a million shades of grey instead,. Visually stunning – if a bit confusing plot wise at times.
Captain Fantastic, Not a Marvel superhero movie, but Viggo Mortenson leading his family in a very ‘off-grid’ life. Funny, moving and thought inspiring.
Groundhog Day, one of my all-time favourite movies, and (ironically) watching it again and again is fine. Bill Murray’s top act?
Lost in Translation is as different as could be, but Bill Murray is almost as good in this one.
Enola Holmes is Sherlock’s younger sister, with Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavil and Fiona Shaw. Millie Bobby Brown leapt to fame five years before - at the age of 11 - in the series Stranger Things(also on Netflix). Here she masters the art of ‘breaking the fourth wall’ with ease and wit. Unending fun.
Jojo Rabbit Written and Directed by Taika Waititi, Jojo is in the Hitler Youth, and Hitler is his imaginary friend, but no friend of his mother (Scarlett Johansson) who is hiding a Jewish girl. Do you expect this to be funny? It is, it really is.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Another Taika Waititi movie, set in his native New Zealand, where Sam Neil, a curmudgeonly Foster parent has to take his young ward into the bush to save him from a vengeful Social Worker.
Edward Scissorhands. When did you last watch it?
The Graduate, or this?
Catch Me if You Can. Di Caprio and Hanks, and an amazingly true story- with a genuinely left field ending.
American Beauty. I still have some unease about this movie. We had a very fierce discussion about it and a Film and Faith Weekend when it first came out, but there are just so many great moments and performances I have to recommend it.
Citizen Kane. Is this the ‘Paradise Lost’ movie? The one everyone knows about, but very few seem to have actually watched? I mean, have you read it? I studied it art A level, but would not say I had actually read it!
One problem is that nearly all the things that were innovations in Kane have become commonplace, so we can forget how great it was – and still is.
Memento. Easily over looked, but Christopher Nolan let us know with this film that a new star had risen.
Toy Story 4. I said on my blog that after winning 3 Gold Medals with the trilogy this was not necessary, but it was a worthwhile ‘Victory Lap’. Pixar’s technical expertise had taken steps forward by the time they came to TS4, and it showed.
The Usual Suspects. Another classic, and still commands our attention.
Hidden Figures. The true story of the team of black women who were the human ‘computers’ behind NASA’s great achievement putting John Glen ingo space.
Portrait of a Lady On Fire. A rather beautiful French movie, set the 18th century Brittany, using the dynamic of a portrait artist and her sitter to explore feminism among other contemporary issues. I cannot remember if there are any speaking parts for men, and I certainly did not miss them.
The Grand Budapest Hotel. Almost every shot is a cinematic masterpiece with great jokes and a reminder how comic actor Ralph Fiennes is.
Get Out. I saw Daniel Kaluuya 9 years ago in a BBC series, and knew he must go far. He starred in this just before making Black Panther. A Jordan Peele thriller/horror about racism, but much more sophisticated than that sounds.
The Princess Bride. William Goldman wrote Butch Cassidy, All the President’s Men, The Stepford Wives – and this, Directed by Rob Reiner, honouring and subverting the fairy tale tradition, as a farm boy turns Pirate, and climbs the Cliffs of Moher to be re-united with his love. Made in 1987, but still quoted. Cary Elwes, Robin Wright and Mandy Patinkin.
About Time. A Richard Curtis charmer, with Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy doing what they do well, in a gentle romance with a science fiction twist.
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Joker. Controversial, disturbing, and I think truly tragic, with an Oscar winning performance by Joaquin Phoenix. I had to see this movie 3 times before I could come to terms with it.
Inside Out. Pixar strike again, showing us some of the emotions ( Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger) that battle for control in the mind of a young teenage girl when she and her family move across America.
Le Mans 66 The story of Carroll Shelby, the American sports car designer (The Shelby Cobra) and his English driver Ken Miles, hired by Henry Ford II to build a car and beat Ferrari at Le Mans. Matt Damon and Christopher Bale, star, with Caitriona Balfe as Mile’s wife. This is not only a brilliant racing movie, but a strong human drama, made with wit and heart.
And the TV series
Black Earth Rising; Hugo Blick wrote this about the Rwanda tragedy and it fall out, with Michaela Cole, John Goodman and Fiona Shaw. (I have Blick’s An Honourable Woman on disc, with Maggie Gyllenhaal, which is as good.
Staged. 15 min episodes with David Tarrant and Michael Sheen being ‘themselves’ in lockdown, talking over skype about the play they are not rehearsing. If you like them you will love this.
Lupin. A French thriller, inspired by an early 20th French series of novels about a ‘Gentleman Thief’, similar to du Maurier’s English toff, Raffles. But this Lupin is a modern Afro-Frenchman, with an immigrant father, raised out of poverty, and looking for very specific justice. Oman Sy, a stand-up comedian who starred in Untouchable a few years ago- also on Netflix now, seems like Luther/Sherlock Holmes/Batman.
Criminal. Written by the man who wrote Lupin, and some of Killing Eve, each episode is set in the same Police Interview room. Some great ‘guest performances.
And of course, The Queen’s Gambit. I love the performances, the chess (Gary Kasparov made sure the games were ‘proper’) and the exact evocation of the times and fashions.
