Every time I open Netflix, I find myself spending more time looking at movies than I do actually watching something. Forcing myself to pick something is usually more than half the battle, and part of the issue is that I make assumptions about movies I haven’t seen.
With that in mind, I’ve pulled together three movies that I think are worth checking out this weekend, if you’ve got the time. They’re definitely underrated but well worth your time:
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on HBO Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Red Eye (2005)
One of the great underseen thrillers of the 21st century, Red Eye tells the story of a terrorist who threatens a hotel manager as they fly across the country together. His ultimate goal is to assassinate the head of Homeland Security, but in order to accomplish that, she has to reassign his room at the hotel she manages.
Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy are both excellent in this taut thriller, but what makes this movie work is Wes Craven’s tight, succinct directorial instincts. This is a thriller with an electric pace, and it knows how to get you from incident to incident.
You can watch Red Eye on Netflix.
A Star Is Born (2018)
Bradley Cooper was already a major movie star when he helmed A Star Is Born, but that didn’t make the movie any less of a gamble. This was his directorial debut, a remake of a movie that had already been made perfectly on more than one occasion, and oh yeah, he was also going to play a rock star.
If the movie was even sort of good, it would be an achievement, but A Star Is Born is genuinely great and features Cooper and Lady Gaga at their absolute best. The Shallow sequence is one of the great musical sequences ever put to film, and the film knows how to capitalize on that momentum.
You can watch A Star Is Born on Netflix.
Burn After Reading (2008)
Every Coen Brothers movie is great, but Burn After Reading is among the more underrated. This satire of Washington, D.C., and specifically of the intelligence state, tells the story of two gym employees who find themselves in possession of classified materials and decide to use that information to try to make a quick buck.
Predictably, though, these employees find themselves in way over their heads, and things quickly spiral out of control. Thanks to a cast filled with brilliant performances, including one of Brad Pitt’s funniest ever roles, Burn After Reading is both hilarious and an exercise in genuine nihilism.
You can watch Burn After Reading on Netflix.
