Featuring a genuine modern classic.
If you’re not settling in to watch some of our film selections on TV this evening, you’ll be very happy to hear that Netflix have recently updated their library and they’ve added some excellent films.
Ok, let’s jump right in.
Se7en
Plot’s it all about?: Two New York City detectives (Pitt, Freeman) find themselves on the trail of a vicious serial killer that chooses his victims according to the seven deadly sins
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 80%
Watch it because: It almost single-handedly invented a sub-genre of film. A masterpiece that doesn’t age.
Jarhead
Plot’s it all about?:Â Laced with dark wit, honest inquisition and episodes that are at once surreal and poignant, tragic and absurd, Jarhead is the film adaptation of Marine Anthony Swofford’s bracing memoir that took readers into his disorienting firsthand experience in the Gulf War
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 61%
Watch it because: A real Marmite film. Personally speaking, there are moments of dark comedy genius here that haven’t been seen since Buffalo Soldiers. Those that love it, really love it.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Plot’s it all about?” A fortysomething husband (Steve Carell) has to enter the single life after he finds out that his wife cheated on him. He’s then taken on as wingman and protégé to handsome, thirtysomething player Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 78%
Watch it because: It’s a really good and innovative romantic comedy.
Gravity
Plot’s it all about?:Â After debris destroys their space shuttle, two astronauts desperately try to return to Earth.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%
Watch it because: Best seen on the big screen but it’s still a miracle of cinematography and special effects. Sandra Bullock is excellent throughout.
Mississippi Burning
Plot’s it all about?:A fictionalised version of the murders of three civil rights activists on June 21, 1964 in Mississippi. The FBI comes in to solve the case and succeeds only after using unethical and illegal means.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 89%
Watch it because: Nominated for 7 Oscars, it still remains incredibly powerful, poignant and moving.
Kubo and the Two Strings
Plot’s it all about? An action-adventure animation that’s set in a fantastical Japan. After his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%
Watch it because: Nominated for two Oscars and unlike 99% of cartoons that you’ve seen.
Elsewhere, there are some other very good films that have been added in the ‘relatively’ recent past like AÂ Fish Called Wanda, Infernal Affairs, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Jason Bourne.
