Best Movies On Netflix - April 2017

Director/Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Heather Graham, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, Philip Baker Hall, Thomas Jane, Alfred Molina, and Ricky Jay

Leave it to Paul Thomas Anderson to craft a highly enjoyable motion picture about the burgeoning porn industry of the 1970s. While Boogie Nights boasts an incredible ensemble cast, it’s Mark Wahlberg’s energetic performance as the young Dirk Diggler that truly makes this film a force to be reckoned with. And as provocative as the film’s premise is at face value, deep down, it’s ultimately a dysfunctional family drama that’s both entertaining and heartbreaking.

Director: John Carpenter

Cast: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Donald Li

While John Carpenter and Kurt Russell have worked together on several films, Big Trouble in Little China is arguably the duo’s greatest collaboration. Set in 1980s Little China, this film is a unique and stylistic blend of Kung Fu, Western, and Fantasy, with Russell leading the show as the goofy-but-tough good guy. It’s the quintessential Action B-Movie, with a vibrant and energetic aesthetic that embodies everything we love about ‘80s cinema. 

Director: Dan Gilroy

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed, Ann Cusack

This noir-style film, which was Dan Gilroy’s feature directorial debut, follows Jake Gyllenhaal’s Louis Bloom on his descent into madness as he goes from photographing crime scenes to actually committing crimes. It’s dark, thrilling, and above all else, thought-provoking, as it explores the difficulties of crime journalism with a gritty aesthetic that takes you on a daring ride through Los Angeles’ dark underbelly.

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Matt Bomer, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey

In most cases, a film about the story of a male stripper wouldn’t find a spot on a list such as this, but thanks to master filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, Magic Mike actually proved to be an immensely entertaining work of art. Channing Tatum and his supporting cast all deliver stellar performances, and while the film has its fair share of gratuity, it’s ultimately about a man chasing the American Dream – something most everyone can relate to. Don’t let the premise fool you: Magic Mike is definitely worth a watch.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, B.D. Wong, Samuel L. Jackson, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, and Wayne Knight

Jurassic Park is one of those movies that just about everyone and their mothers have seen. It’s an absolute masterpiece, as Steven Spielberg tells the story of a man whose overzealous ambitions come back to quite literally bite him in the ass. The effects are masterful and more importantly, believable, and the acting by Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and company is outstanding. If you haven’t seen Jurassic Park yet, what are you waiting for?

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Paddy Considine, Olivia Colman, Rafe Spall

After turning the Zombie genre upside down with Shaun of the Dead, filmmaker Edgar Wright decided to shift his attention to Action with Hot Fuzz. The film tackles the sometimes mundane aspect of everyday police work and dials it up to 11, resulting in hilarious action that just skirts on the line of parody. Hot Fuzz is an incredibly fun and rewatchable popcorn movie, so if you have some spare time, give this one a try.

Director: Adam McKay

Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Finn Wittrock, and Brad Pitt

The Big Short chronicles the events leading up to the U.S. financial crisis in the late 2000s, from the perspective of a group of Wall Street sharks who saw the whole thing coming. It’s a witty and hilarious tale of capitalism gone wrong and puts many of the intricacies of the financial industry into easy to digest bites, which is a testament to director Adam McKay’s confidence in this project. While the entire cast puts on stellar performances, it’s ultimately Steve Carell who steals the show, delivering one the best outings of his career.

Director: Richard Donner

Cast: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, and Alfre Woodard

The tale of Charles Dickens Ebenezer Scrooge has been told time and time again, but only once has it been told by the man who brought Superman to the big screen: Richard Donner. Scrooged takes Dickens’ classic tale and places it into a modern setting, as Bill Murray, who plays an arrogant TV executive, readies for a live production of A Christmas Carol, forcing his staff to work on Christmas Eve. As Murray crosses paths with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, it becomes clear that this film isn’t all comedy, as we witness truly terrifying imagery and downright dark narrative twists that ultimately give us one of the most unique takes on Scrooge to date.

Director: Randal Kleiser

Cast: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing

This irresistible tale of leather jackets, drag racing, and high-school love is the ultimate feel-good film. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John’s chemistry is off the charts, and the entire cast manages to capture the cool 1950s vibe throughout the film. However, it should go without saying that what makes Grease truly outstanding is the soundtrack. Go ahead and try watching this without singing along.

Director/Writer: Greg Mottola

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig

This coming-of-age tale tells the story of a young man forced to work at the local amusement park for the summer to pay for damage done to his parents’ car. However, despite initially seeing the job as below him, he’s ultimately humbled, as the film explores how he manages to learn some important life lessons, all while falling in love. Both hilarious and heartbreaking, Adventureland dabbles between comedy and drama throughout, and the entire cast puts on top-notch performances.

Director: John Madden

Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, and Judi Dench

A fan-fiction-style take on the creation of William Shakespeare’s most famous play, Shakespeare in Love is perhaps best known for shocking everyone by beating out Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture. Whether or not it should have won is debatable, but nevertheless, this film is delightful in every sense of the word and is every bit as charming as you would expect from a movie featuring the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Colin Firth, and Ben Affleck.

Director: Cary Fukunaga

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, Holliday Grainger, Simon McBurney, Imogen Poots

The 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre turns the classic Charlotte Brontë novel into a haunting, gothic romance anchored by a pair of stellar performances from Wasikowska and Fassbender. It’s a different beast than True Detective – the series director Cary Fukunaga is most known for – but the movie is a wonderful showcase of Fukunaga’s range as a filmmaker, and is highly worth a watch.

Director: Errol Morris

Cast: Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose

If you enjoyed Making a Murderer and you’re looking to satisfy your true crime fix, look no further than The Thin Blue Line. The story focuses on wrongfully accused drifter Randall Adams, who finds himself on death row thanks to a false testimony and an overzealous prosecutor. The film gets its edge not only from interviews with the real killer, but also from Morris’ excellent use of dramatization, close-ups, editing, and truly mastering the documentary form into his now unmistakable style. Making a Murderer may send you looking for more true crime, but The Thin Blue Line will also have you hungry to find another Morris film.

Director: Gus Van Sant

Cast: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgard, Minnie Driver

Good Will Hunting is most notable as the film that catapulted Matt Damon and Ben Affleck into the stratosphere of Hollywood stardom. The story follows Will (Matt Damon), a young janitor and undercover genius from Southie, who is referred to a therapist (Robin Williams) to help him figure out where he wants to go in life. Earning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, this film remains a deeply felt, funny, and involving drama that more than deserves the acclaim it received.

Director: Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith

Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger

With Bee Movie, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld made his only film off a tongue-in-cheek premise that only he could have fleshed out so satisfyingly, as he meets a woman who shows him the horrific truth: human beings have been stealing honey from bees for centuries without compensation. With her help, Barry launches a civil suit to recover these damages, while also (somehow) winning her heart. Although made nearly a decade ago, and only moderately successful, this willfully silly film has been memefied into a resurgent relevance, and its punny, absurd humor has aged nicely.

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana

After a group of American soldiers are gunned down while on a humanitarian mission in Somalia, the soldiers soon realize they’re outnumbered, outgunned and in a worse position than their attackers. With hyper-realistic cinematography, straightforward acting, and a focus on the logistics of the event, viewers catch a glimpse into the unseemly, bureaucratic nature of the way that combat actually unfolds. Unlike most violence-glorifying war films, Black Hawk Down makes it plain how difficult and depressing it is for Americans to wage war against guerilla bands of desperate militants unafraid of death.

Director: Rick Famuyiwa

Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Zoe Kravitz

Dope is a film tailor-made for fans of the ‘90s, hip-hop, and quirky coming-of-age stories. Rick Famuyiwa's directorial debut tells the story of three high school friends who are stuck in both the wrong era (2015) and the wrong area (a drug and gang-filled section of Inglewood, California). With fun cameos from A$AP Rocky and Vince Staples, alongside a booming soundtrack that's used to perfection during some of the sequences, Dope is one of the more underrated films of 2015.

Directors: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer

Cast: Leopold Stokowski, The Philadelphia Orchestra

Watching Fantasia today, it's hard to imagine that the film was first released in 1940. With such vivid colors and well-choreographed music, this film absolutely stands alongside Disney films that were released decades later. Using Disney's already world-famous characters, directors Joe Grant and Dick Huemer created a captivating visual world unlike anything seen before, all choreographed to some of the most famous classical music of the time. It's crazy to think Disney would put out a feature whose greatest moment is a retelling of Goethe's Der Zauberlehrling, but even today, it's easy to see why it was bleeding edge for its time.

Director: Brian Robbins

Cast: Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Abe Vigoda

Taking their zany sketch show to the big screen, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell’s feel-good film Good Burger is a must-watch for any ‘90s Nickelodeon fan. After a roller-skating Kel causes Kenan to crash into the convertible of Sinbad, Kenan must reluctantly spend his summer working at the humble Good Burger. The quintessential 90’s Nickelodeon flick features a cameo from Shaq, a supporting role from The Godfather’s Abe Vigoda and the debut of Kel’s infinitely catchy, nonsensical anthem, “We’re All Dudes.”

Director: The Coen Brothers

Cast: Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson

In the Coen Brother’s slow-boil nouveau-Western, Chigurh tracks Llewelyn Moss, a humble rancher who happens upon a drug deal massacre and takes a briefcase full of the merciless man’s money. Before long, the worldly Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) and a cocky, Chigurh-tracking bounty hunter (Woody Harrelson) insert themselves into the action before the conclusion leaves everybody in a place they were hoping not to end up. A departure from their quirkier romps, the Coen Brothers masterfully build suspense and develop a gritty reality with each broken bone, silenced shotgun blast, and beep from a GPS tracker. The film is a middle-distance stare into the Southwest desert brought to life.