The 12 Best Netflix Movies You Haven't Seen Yet
Hey newsletter fam!
Thanks for checking out another edition of "No Content For Old Men." Back by popular demand is my top 10 Netflix movie recommendations, but this time with a twist. We all know the service is home to classics like Taxi Driver and There Will Be Blood, crowd pleasers like Groundhog's Day and Back to the Future, comedies like The Other Guys and Get Him to the Greek and rom-coms like Sleepless in Seattle and The Notebook. You don't need my recommendations to know you should watch those.
Where I thought I could be helpful is pointing out 12 under-the-radar movies, ones you hopefully haven't seen (or heard of!), which you can throw on this week and enjoy. Note for the other cinephiles out there: I didn't go as obscure as I could have...these are for the most part movies that are "known" amongst the film community but based on conversations with friends have not reached a mass audience.
Once again I'll be giving my full explanations on my podcast, which is now available on Apple Podcasts! Subscribe on your phone so you never miss an episode! Also available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, PocketCasts and RadioPublic. Apple Podcasts soon to come!
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR NEXT WEEK!
I've had a few readers suggest movies to me that I haven't seen, so next week I'm going to put together a Reader Recs edition of the newsletter! Simply reply to this email with a movie you think I've never seen, and then a short description about what you like (or don't like) about it. I will watch the movies over the course of the week and add my own thoughts. Come on back next Friday for the best movie recs from your fellow readers!
As always, thanks for reading and spreading the word,
Matt
Top 12 Movies on Netflix You've Never Seen
Full explanations of these picks can be heard on my podcast, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
12. Tootsie
11. The Death of Stalin
10. Okja
9. Good Time
8. American Factory
7. Green Room
6. The Invitation
5. Frances Ha
4. Drive
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
1. Swiss Army Man
Streaming Suggestions!
Something New
American Pickle (HBOMax): Seth Rogan is an immigrant worker who gets brined in a vat of pickles for 100 years and awakes in modern day Brooklyn to reunite with his great-grandson, also played by Seth Rogan. The movie has a hard time getting past the absurdity of its premise, and replaces the usual fart jokes of a Rogan comedy with saccharine sentimentality. The movie is very Jewish, very silly and very politically progressive. In other words, it's a Seth Rogan movie.
Something Old
Cape Fear (1991): I knocked another Scorcese movie off my list this week, and this time was taken aback by how shamelessly experimental the master filmmaker was in every aspect: the framing, the editing, even the story beats. But honestly, who cares when Robert De Niro is on the mound pitching 110 mph heat to batters like Nick Nolte, Jessica Lang, and a downright ancient Gregory Peck.
Something to Stream
Being John Malkovich (Netflix): No one else could've written this movie except Charlie Kaufman. The bizarre brilliance of the man behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation and Synecdoche, New York delivers in a movie that is so far outside the box it couldn't see the box with a Hubble telescope. If other movie scripts are playing checkers, this movie is a game of Quidditch. I won't even attempt to explain its premise, just trust that this mind-bending adventure works, wrangled in by the slick direction of Spike Jonze (Moneyball, Her).