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Free two-day shipping is nice, sure, but have you seen all the movies your Amazon Prime subscription gives you access to? As if all the original content produced by Amazon Studios was not enough, the streamer also boasts one of the most impressive and varied catalogs of other movies available for your viewing pleasure. (For starters, they actually have more than a handful of titles made before the year 2000.) You can both brush up on some classics from Hollywood’s studio era or watch a recent under-the-radar indie sensation. They have plenty of recent crowd-pleasing hits with familiar names as well as a plentiful supply of foreign films should you be looking to do some cinematic tourism.
Rather than waste time scouring that extensive catalog for your next watch, let Decider guide you toward the service’s top offerings. Whether it’s catching up with an old favorite or discovering a new one, we’ve found and updated the 50 Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (updated for July 2023). Whatever movie-watching mood you’re in, Amazon Prime almost certainly has a title for it.
RELATED: NEW ON AMAZON PRIME: JULY 2023
‘Air’ (2023)
DIRECTOR: Ben Affleck
STARS: Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Ben Affleck
RATING: R
A movie that makes heroes out of middle-aged marketing guys? Heck yes! Air turns corporate strategy into high-stakes drama as Nike makes its improbable bid to win over Michael Jordan. The conclusion is foregone, but the lead-up to it is still riveting – in large part because the creative powers of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon also have an eye toward what it means at large for talent to profit off their own likeness.
'The Vast of Night' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Andrew Patterson
STARS: Sierra McCormack, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer
RATING: PG-13
Get in on the ground floor with director Andrew Patterson before he goes supernova. His debut feature The Vast of Night is an enticing sci-fi tale about a young switchboard operator and a disc jockey uncovering what might be an extraterrestrial transmission in the ’50s. This scrappy start shows an impressive mastery of both form and mood – just imagine what he can do with a big budget.
‘The Lost City’ (2022)
DIRECTORS: Aaron and Adam Nee
STARS: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe
RATING: PG-13
Is The Lost City basically just doing Romancing the Stone – romance novelist and rugged suitor meet-cute in the jungle – for a new generation? Sure. But if you don’t need novelty and just want to see the sparks fly between a type A Sandra Bullock heroine and a lovable Channing Tatum himbo, then this is a guaranteed great night in. The Lost City delivers on romance and comedy, with a number of cunning belly laughs that far outshine the familiarity of the script.
‘Ghost Town’ (2008)
DIRECTOR: David Koepp
STARS: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Téa Leoni
RATING: PG-13
Gervais might be best known for his acidic wit, and there’s plenty of it on display here as he plays a misanthropic Manhattan dentist who begins to see ghosts. But Ghost Town also serves his snark with a hearty helping of earnest emotion and sincerity. For a movie about the undead, it has surprisingly profound things to offer the living.
‘Heathers’ (1988)
DIRECTOR: Michael Lehmann
STARS: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater
RATING: R
If you think ‘80s high school movies were nothing other than the optimistic comedies of John Hughes, look no further than Heathers. This high-concept satires skewers the conformity of cliques by imagining the popular girls as literally all named Heather. Winona Ryder’s Veronica is good enough to be among the Heathers but also smart enough to realize the group’s inanity. Once that pent-up anger crosses paths with Christian Slater’s volatile J.D., their school will have no idea what hit them.
'Sylvie's Love' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Eugene Ashe
STARS: Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria
RATING: PG-13
Eugene Ashe takes us back to the ’50s with his gorgeous romance Sylvie’s Love – not only in setting but also in sensibility. This is a film that sincerely believes in love at first sight as well as connections that can persevere against all odds, which is exactly what must come to pass for there to be any chance for jazz saxophonist Robert (Asomugha) and aspiring TV producer Sylvie (Thompson). There’s enough old-fashioned sincerity and charm in every sumptuously colored frame to make you swoon.
‘A Star Is Born’ (2018)
DIRECTOR: Bradley Cooper
STARS: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott
RATING: R
At least for now, HBO Max has access to multiple versions of A Star Is Born. There’s value in seeing them all just to see the evolution of this paradigmatic narrative of fortunes rising and falling in the entertainment industry. But the most recent incarnation is particularly striking because director and star Bradley Cooper cracks one of the toughest conundrums of the story: making us care about the fall from grace of Jackson Maine. By starting him on a downward trajectory from the beginning rather than having his decline come at the decline of an ascendant starlet, this A Star Is Born sells its central tragedy to devastating effect.
'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946)
DIRECTOR: Frank Capra
STARS: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
RATING: PG
It need not be Christmas to enjoy Frank Capra’s classic! While the snowy setting certainly gives It’s a Wonderful Life a fun seasonal glow, its message of the power of an individual life to ripple through a community resonates every week of the year. Though some might use the director’s name as an insult to deride maudlin movies – “Capra corn” – this is evidence that sincere emotion can inspire and charm if executed with indisputable earnestness.
'What the Constitution Means to Me' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Marielle Heller
STARS: Heidi Schreck, Mike Iveson, Rosdely Ciprian
RATING: Not Rated
The best of Broadway is available in your living room! Marielle Heller’s rendering of Heidi Schreck’s informative, passionate one-woman show democratizes the play for a global audience to see. And better yet, the camera brings us even closer to the star than possible when sitting in the audience – making the impact of Schreck’s scorching monologue about how the lives of the women in her family interact with the Constitution land with an even more personal impact.
Watch What the Constitution Means to Me on Amazon Prime Video
‘The General’ (1926)
DIRECTORS: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
STARS: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack
RATING: Not Rated
Tom Cruise’s stunt work has nothing on Buster Keaton, cinema’s original daredevil showman. His silent-era comic caper The General reminds us that there’s no more expressive instrument than the human body. If you can bracket the unsavory plot element that Keaton’s wannabe heroic soldier is on the side of the Confederacy, you’ll find his endearing and epic journey to impress the girl of his dreams a wild ride worth taking.
'Selah and the Spades' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Tayarisha Poe
STARS: Lovie Simone, Jharrel Jerome, Jesse Williams
RATING: R
The world of prep school intrigue gets a stylish upgrade by way of Tayarisha Poe. Unlike the normal precocious protagonists of the genre, Lovie Simone’s Selah is not itching to leave her high school halls. She relishes the power she holds over the social factions too much to relinquish it easily, so she takes great pride in grooming her successor. Selah and the Spades may give heightened, almost Shakespearean, stakes to the action, but Poe resists the urge to turn her characters into easy stereotypes.
'The Report' (2019)
DIRECTOR: Scott Z. Burns
STARS: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm
RATING: R
Need any more proof Adam Driver has the range? It’s hard to think of a role more diametrically opposed to Kylo Ren than his modest, unassuming Congressional staffer Daniel Jones in The Report. He’s tasked with getting to the bottom of the CIA’s torture program, an arduous assignment that mostly means he’s left to sort through mountains of documents. The fact that Driver can make this long process both compelling to watch and morally urgent speaks volumes to his talents as an actor.
‘Nanny’ (2022)
DIRECTOR: Nikyatu Jusu
STARS: Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls
RATING: R
There have been countless “social thrillers” to pop up in the wake of Get Out’s success – most of which are garbage. Not so for Nikyatu Jusu’s Sundance-winning Nanny, a film that lambasts the contemporary realities of an undocumented African caregiver watching over the young daughter of a wealthy Manhattan family. Jusu really takes the film to the next level by connecting the struggles of Aisha (Anna Diop) to stories of mythological resonance. It’s horror by virtue of what it covers as well as how Jusu covers it.
‘Nebraska’ (2013)
DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne
STARS: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb
RATING: R
Filmmaker Alexander Payne has set many a movie in his native Nebraskan environs, yet he’s often accused of picking on the salt-of-the-earth Midwesterners with his brutal sense of ironic comedy. Nebraska strikes a beautiful balance, finding the quiet dignity of their commitment to family while remaining unafraid to point out how foolhardy he finds some of their endeavors. The film is quite the career-capper for the legendary Bruce Dern as he masterfully conveys the senility and sincerity of an aging man convinced he’s won a giant prize.
‘The Queen of Versailles’ (2012)
DIRECTOR: Lauren Greenfield
STARS: Jackie Siegel, David Siegel
RATING: PG
The best way to understand the Great Recession is *removes glasses, checks notes* through the eyes of an obscenely rich couple building one of the most expensive houses in America? Artist Lauren Greenfield has devoted her career to staring at the funhouse mirror of wealth in a consumerist country, and she hits the jackpot with the Siegels as their dreams of building a palatial estate come to a screeching halt thanks to the 2008 financial crisis that collapsed the housing market. It’s a “riches to rags” story that can make you cackle, cringe, and contemplate in equal measure.
'Cold War' (2018)
DIRECTOR: Pawel Pawlikowski
STARS: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc
RATING: R
Know that feeling of watching a performer for the first time and sensing you’ll follow their career forever? That’s the thought that passed through my head seeing Joanna Kulig in Cold War, a tale of star-crossed lovers trying to navigate love, art, and politics in Communist-controlled Poland. Even in black and white, Kulig’s star burns incandescently as Zula, an entrancing and gifted jazz singer with self-destructive tendencies.
'Landline' (2017)
DIRECTOR: Gillian Robespierre
STARS: Jenny Slate, Edie Falco, John Turturro, Abby Quinn
RATING: R
Ready for a ’90s period piece? Like it or not, Gillian Robespierre is taking you there in Landline to reflect on some formative years when her understanding of love was forged by dealing with the realities of divorce and infidelity. This dramedy strikes a tricky balance between somberness and silliness, something it navigates nimbly thanks to deeply felt performances by the movie’s entire central family.
'Annette' (2021)
DIRECTOR: Leos Carax
STARS: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg
RATING: R
Leos Carax has long been somewhat of an enfant terrible in French cinema, and his biggest effort to date does not back down from the unabashed weirdness that defines his work. This tribute – or perhaps parody? – of the rock opera feature the ironic tunes of cult band Sparks, the prickly brashness of Adam Driver as a self-destructive artist, and a titular baby wonder that simply must be seen to be believed. You may love Annette, or you may hate it. What’s unlikely, though, is that you feel indifferent watching this truly singular piece of cinematic art.
'His Girl Friday' (1940)
DIRECTOR: Howard Hawks
STARS: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
RATING: Not Rated
With all due respect to today’s stars, they really don’t make romantic leads like they used to. The chemistry between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell practically jumps off the screen in His Girl Friday, one of the most beloved screwball comedies of the Hollywood studio era. It’s a madcap blast as Grant’s newspaper editor Walter tries to lure back his lost love/former star reporter, Russell’s Hildy, by giving her one final assignment he knows she can’t resist … and might struggle to escape.
'One Night in Miami…' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Regina King
STARS: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Leslie Odom Jr., Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge
RATING: R
“Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke walk into a hotel room…” might sound like the setup to a bad joke. But in the hands of Regina King, it’s the starting point for a fascinating debate over how to wield Black cultural power in a world that was finally beginning to accept it. One Night in Miami… nimbly balances an exploration of both who these men were and what they meant.
‘A Hero’ (2021)
DIRECTOR: Asghar Farhadi
STARS: Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabandeh, Fereshteh Sadr Erfai
RATING: PG-13
No one crafts a moral drama quite like Asghar Farhadi. The Iranian master filmmaker won’t just have his works examined among other great artists of the screen – his scripts will be dissected like Shakespeare or Chekhov. A Hero provides an excellent look at Farhadi’s craft in microcosm. Start with a situation that is placid yet unstable, drop in one seemingly small action, and watch the status quo of that world unravel in front of our eyes. Here, it’s imprisoned debtor Rahim appearing to commit a highly moral action that bolsters his case for release … but Farhadi quickly and thrillingly shows how nothing is ever as open-and-shut as it appears.
'Sound of Metal' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Darius Marder
STARS: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci
RATING: R
What is gained when a sense is lost? Riz Ahmed’s high-flying metal drummer Ruben finds out as he loses almost all hearing and must contemplate the new limitations and possibilities that come from his condition. Powered by Ahmed’s vulnerable and humanistic performance, Sound of Metal forms a moving tribute to how disability can open up the world rather than shutting it down. (Winner of the 2021 Academy Awards for Best Editing and Best Sound.)
‘Arrival’ (2016)
DIRECTOR: Denis Villeneuve
STARS: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker
RATING: PG-13
“I used to think this was the beginning of your story,” begins Amy Adams’ Dr. Louise Banks at the opening of Arrival. It’s a perfect and poetic opening to a film that gently asks us to reconsider the very notion of time as an ordering principle of human life. Denis Villeneuve’s unconventional alien invasion movie is as brainy as it is beautiful and bold. It’s a startling thing to encounter: a movie that asks us not to fear unknown arrivals but to learn from them.
‘Licorice Pizza’ (2021)
DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson
STARS: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Bradley Cooper
RATING: R
Paul Thomas Anderson has conjured visions of the 1970s before in Boogie Nights, yet they’ve never had such heart and warmth as this sun-soaked vision of the San Fernando Valley in his youthful years. Licorice Pizza has that ambling, aimless feeling of growing up but not necessarily coming of age. This amusing tale of two youthful spirits finding themselves amidst a pile-up of odd misadventures is as electrifying as the needle-drops powering the film.
'The Handmaiden' (2016)
DIRECTOR: Park Chan-wook
STARS: Tae Ri Kim, Kim Min-hee
RATING: Not Rated
Get over the one-inch barrier, as Bong Joon-ho memorably dubbed subtitles, and throw yourself into the wacky world of Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden. This tantalizing triptych plays thrice through the story of Korean handmaiden Sook-hee (Tae Ri Kim) as she attempts to swindle her Japanese employer Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee). But the con is far more complicated and complex than initially meets the eye – perhaps because you’ll be distracted by the stunning costumes, set design and camerawork to realize all the sneaky maneuvers happening. It’s a funny, erotic and thrilling ride worth strapping in for.
‘Billy Madison’ (1995)
DIRECTOR: Tamra Davis
STARS: Adam Sandler, Darren McGavin, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras
RATING: PG-13
Adam Sandler’s first starring role still ranks among the best. The Sandman has gotten plenty of mileage out of his overgrown, immature, screaming man-child archetype, but rarely does it feel so perfect for a film’s story as it does in “Billy Madison.” As the title character, Sandler plays a pea-brained hotel heir who must repeat grade school in order to inherit his father’s business. The shenanigans feel appropriately ludicrous for the premise, and over 25 years later, the silliness has not lost its shine.
‘Transit’ (2019)
DIRECTOR: Christian Petzold
STARS: Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer
RATING: Not Rated
Everything about the dialogue and scenario in Christian Petzold’s Transit indicates the story occurs in World War II-era Marseille. Everything about the visuals, though, suggest a story taking place in the present day. Petzold wants us to sit in that dissonance and, instead, find the resonance of how an age-old story could convincingly repeat itself in the current climate. If someone wanted to remake Casablanca today, it’d look a whole lot like this film’s tale of languishing lovers looking to flee their surroundings but not necessarily one another.
'Paterson' (2016)
DIRECTOR: Jim Jarmusch
STARS: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, William Jackson Harper
RATING: R
Want to wrap yourself in a warm blanket of a movie? Look no further than Paterson, starring Adam Driver as a modest New Jersey bus driver with a passion for writing poetry. There’s no artificial conflict, no cliched struggling artist tropes — just a thoughtful and earnest look at how people can carve out space for artistic fulfillment in the midst of mundanity.
‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ (2011)
DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay
STARS: Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller, John C. Reilly
RATING: R
A decade out, Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin only grows in relevance. Our society continues to struggle in reckoning with the “mother of a monster” figure given the plague of disaffected young men committing acts of unspeakable violence. Ramsay never gets preachy or didactic in her exploration of the nature vs. nurture debate, instead letting her propulsive visuals pull us deep into the tortured psyche of Tilda Swinton’s Eva Khatchadourian. Don’t expect easy answers from the film, but Ramsay’s challenges and provocations will undoubtedly deepen your emotional understanding of this new cultural archetype.
'The Big Sick' (2017)
DIRECTOR: Michael Showalter
STARS: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Ray Romano, Holly Hunter
RATING: R
If it weren’t based on a true story, the concept of The Big Sick might sound too ridiculous to believe. A couple in the throes of puppy love breaks up, and a guy decides to stay by that ex-girlfriend in the hospital as she falls into a coma from an unexplained illness? Not a usual stop on the way to “happily ever after,” but the unconventional love story of Kumail Nanjiani (playing himself) and Emily V. Gordon (played by Zoe Kazan) is all the stronger for leaning into the unconventional and unique. The alchemic mix of humor and heart is perfectly calibrated for an exuberant watching experience.
'Lovers Rock' / 'Small Axe' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Steve McQueen
STARS: Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, Micheal Ward, Shaniqua Okwok
RATING: TV-MA
Is it a movie, or is it TV? Let’s just leave that Twitter debate aside for now and say one thing is certain: Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, a collection of five feature-length films, is absolutely outstanding. If you only have time for one piece of his chronicle memorializing London’s West Indian community as it pushed back against discrimination, make it Lovers Rock. This slender volume documents an unheralded form of resistance: collective joy. Here, that bliss all takes place on the dance floor where Black Britons congregate defiantly in a space all of their own.
‘Jackass Forever’ (2022)
DIRECTOR: Jeff Tremaine
STARS: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius
RATING: R
No need to see any previous Jackass to appreciate the new Jackass Forever. All you need to know is that the boys are back, crazier and older than ever, to do some absolutely bonkers stunts. Sure, maybe you can watch these types of shenanigans on YouTube now, but there’s something to be said for the tremendous amount of planning that goes into ensuring enough camera capture their hijinks from every necessary angle. It’s a guaranteed gut-buster of a watch.
‘Catherine Called Birdy’ (2022)
DIRECTOR: Lena Dunham
STARS: Bella Ramsey, Andrew Scott, Joe Alwyn
RATING: PG-13
Let’s hear it for a new classic teen comedy! Never mind the Middle Ages setting, Lena Dunham’s take on beloved young adult novel Catherine Called Birdy has plenty to offer today’s middle schoolers (not to mention those older). This irreverent, quippy coming-of-age story vividly depicts that unique life stage where you’ve started to outgrow childhood but don’t quite have the mindset to grasp adulthood. Through it all, Bella Ramsey’s Birdy provides a delightful spirit guide through the colorful ensemble surrounding her in Medieval England.
‘Fences’ (2016)
DIRECTOR: Denzel Washington
STARS: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Jovan Adepo
RATING: PG-13
It’s common to hear people throw around the term “filmed theater” as derogatory, implying a kind of hierarchy between the mediums that establishes screen as inherently better than stage. That kind of quibble falls by the wayside watching Denzel Washington tackle August Wilson’s play Fences for the cinema. He knows how to key into the earth-shattering power of the performances delivered by himself and Viola Davis to transcend the limits of a talky, location-limited script. It never feels as if we’re just watching a camera record a play.
‘The Virgin Suicides’ (2000)
DIRECTOR: Sofia Coppola
STARS: Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, James Woods
RATING: R
Anyone wondering where Kirsten Dunst’s Oscar nomination for The Power of the Dog came from clearly wasn’t paying attention. From an early age, Dunst found fruitful artistic partnership with directors like Sofia Coppola and channeled a palpable sense of ennui. As Lux Lisbon, one of five ‘70s-era sisters drawn into irreparable despair, Dunst effortlessly embodies the conflicts and tensions explored in The Virgin Suicides. She can make a theme and idea come to life without forcing it.
‘Blazing Saddles’ (1974)
DIRECTOR: Mel Brooks
STARS: Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Harvey Korman
RATING: R
Check Twitter at any given time, and you’re liable to find someone complaining about how they could supposedly “never make Blazing Saddles today.” That’s always a signal to never take those people seriously because they’ve either not watched Mel Brooks’ uproarious satire recently … or, worse, completely misunderstood it. If you think the comedy only works because of its open obscenity that strains politically correct sensibilities, you’re missing that Brooks is needling people who proclaim to be racially tolerant but do not speak or act in a way that reflects it. When you insert a Black man into the Western genre, the characters are likely to just say the quiet parts out loud – the humor just disguises the horror.
‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005)
DIRECTOR: Ang Lee
STARS: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway
RATING: R
Over 15 years after busting open the possibilities for queer cinema, Brokeback Mountain is worth watching (or rewatching) away from the hype of its release. This is a movie that deserves to be seen and remembered for what it is, not just what it inspired. The tenderness between Heath Ledger’s Ennis and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jack is almost unbearable as they try to navigate a world that is not ready to accept the love they feel for each other.
‘Clue’ (1985)
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Lynn
STARS: Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan
RATING: PG
It’s a little shocking that, more than 30 years later, Clue remains the only movie that’s really cracked the code of how to turn a board game into a successful movie. This murder mystery unfolds methodically but merrily, capturing all the fun of assuming a character and navigating a fixed set of rules. Having a stacked ensemble of fantastic thespians fully willing to commit to the bit is just the cherry on top.
'You Were Never Really Here' (2018)
DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay
STARS: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola, Ekaterina Samsonov
RATING: R
Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here plays out almost like the response to an unspoken prompt: how much can you strip away from a revenge movie and still have it satisfy as an action flick? Her minimalistic response is a chillingly sparse look at how a tortured soul busts up a ring of sex traffickers and nearly loses himself in the process. This role is the brooding ball of anger that should have won Joaquin Phoenix his Oscar.
‘M3GAN’ (2023)
DIRECTOR: Gerard Johnstone
STARS: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng
RATING: PG-13
To quote the great Wendy Williams: she’s an icon, she’s a legend, and she is the moment. M3GAN, the killer talking AI doll who slays (literally), will sashay her way right into your heart as she curdles your spine. This is a new camp classic that proves sinful fun as it makes some quite insightful commentary on parenting in an automated world.
‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004)
DIRECTOR: Edgar Wright
STARS: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
RATING: R
Edgar Wright’s breakout action-comedy Shaun of the Dead remains a stunning display for a master already in full command of his style. The zippy, zesty adventure following two British schlubs fighting off a zombie invasion lovingly ribs the horror genre while cribbing its pleasures liberally. If nothing else, surely you’ll at least find something to love in the inspired comic pairing of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who make for a kind of jaded Gen X equivalent of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
‘Paths of Glory’ (1957)
DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick
STARS: Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou
RATING: Not Rated
This might not be Stanley Kubrick’s most inventive or subversive work, but darn if it isn’t his most emotionally affecting. About as close to an anti-war movie as can be made, Paths of Glory follows the fallout of a cowardly general looking to cover his own mistakes by scapegoating three of his own soldiers. As Kirk Douglas’ Colonel Dax fights a system rigged to protect the powerful from the consequences of their own actions, his rage against injustice translates on a visceral level.
‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (2010)
DIRECTORS: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
STARS: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
RATING: PG
How many animated films can claim they have Academy Award-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (frequent DP for Denis Villeneuve and the Coen Brothers) as visual consultant? It’s clear to spot his influence in How to Train Your Dragon, which features soaring aerials that still dazzle even on the small screen. This story of a young Viking who seeks to help the very creatures his village seeks to hunt has a keen eye for action and a big, beating heart of compassion.
‘Legally Blonde’ (2001)
DIRECTOR: Robert Luketic
STARS: Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Luke Wilson
RATING: PG-13
A look back at turn-of-the-millennium comedies often yields cringe-worthy results, but one that has aged quite flawlessly is Legally Blonde. This female empowerment tale of Elle Woods rising from flippant fashionista to high-powered Harvard Law graduate is remarkably ahead of its time in many ways. Here is a comedy that refuses to make easy punchlines out of its protagonist’s intelligence or insist she has to change herself completely to ascend to her position; the prowess and possibility has been within Reese Witherspoon’s iconic character all along. (And the film does not pit her against other women to achieve her success, either!)
‘Hot Fuzz’ (2007)
DIRECTOR: Edgar Wright
STARS: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton
RATING: R
The Scary Movie series and their ilk seem to have torpedoed the popularity of the movie spoof for now. If any intrepid producer wants to revive the genre, they should use Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz as a Rosetta Stone. This parody of bombastic action buddy comedies gleefully sends up recognizable tropes while outlandishly one-upping their antics. At the root of the hilarity is a truth more filmmakers should acknowledge, be they straight-laced or satirical: people who watch a lot of movies are prone to see themselves as starring in the movie of their own life.
'Time' (2020)
DIRECTOR: Garrett Bradley
STARS: Fox Rich, Rob Rich II
RATING: PG-13
Many documentaries can make us understand the cruel realities of the American prison system. But few manage to translate the way the institution can seep into every facet of a person’s life quite like Garrett Bradley does in Time, her documentary chronicle of Fox Rich’s decades-long crusade to be reunited with her incarcerated husband. The film smothers you in the purest form of love as it champions the virtues of fair justice and just mercy.
‘The Kids Are All Right’ (2010)
DIRECTOR: Lisa Cholodenko
STARS: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo
RATING: R
A family comedy with two moms was revolutionary when The Kids Are All Right was released in 2010; more than a decade later, the setup is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s a good thing filmmaker Lisa Cholodenko knew which way the wind was blowing in society because the movie is built to be more than a novelty. It’s a sweet, sensitive examination of the nature vs. nurture dichotomy through the experiences of a lesbian couple’s two children seeking out the sperm donor who made their existence possible. Through all the zany misadventures, it winds up making an earnest emotional case for the value of family and marriage.
‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (2012)
DIRECTOR: David O. Russell
STARS: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
RATING: R
I cannot deny that there is something a little too simplistic, and borderline problematic, about the way Silver Linings Playbook boils down to “love can overcome mental illness.” Yet I also cannot deny the way my heart swoons at this tender romance … nor the way the corners of my mouth curl into a grand smile. The aching, vulnerable performances of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as two newly single people connecting because of and through their brokenness make David O. Russell’s deeply personal film shine like gold.
‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ (1946)
DIRECTOR: William Wyler
STARS: Frederic March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews
RATING: Not Rated
Director Steven Spielberg listed this as one of his all-time favorites … game recognize game. The Best Years of Our Lives is one of those movies you should carve out three hours of your life to feel your way through. This home-front drama about three soldiers returning home from World War II, each wounded physically or psychologically in their own way, is a remarkably empathetic tale about the enormous sacrifices made by servicemembers – including those who return home alive.
'Manchester by the Sea' (2016)
DIRECTOR: Kenneth Lonergan
STARS: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler
RATING: R
Yes, it’s a bruising watch to see Casey Affleck’s Lee Chandler try to overcome the emotional baggage of his hometown and all his memories within it in Manchester by the Sea. But it’s a rewarding, uplifting one as well given that filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan paints an honest, human portrait of what it means to be there for the ones we love. This may very well be a perfect movie – I challenge anyone to name a single misjudged moment or a scene out of key. It’s less like watching a movie and more like paratrooping into a real scenario populated with authentic people.
Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, Little White Lies and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.
