It’s a Thursday night, and you have three hours to kill. First, that’s a miracle. Really, you should check that out. Second, you find yourself on Netflix craving something a little more substantial than “No Strings Attached.” The “critically-acclaimed foreign drama” box is staring into your soul, saying, “If you don’t watch one of my subtitled guerrilla documentaries, you’re pretty much admitting you don’t have an attention span.” One more episode of “Modern Family” and you definitely don’t…that’s it…don’t you go to Hulu…aw, shoot.
See, I have a problem. I love movies, but my attention span is quite low. I admire those that can sit through two-hour experimental films and then debate how it reveals the meaning of art. But I can sympathize with the guy in the audience who sits there slightly perplexed/horrified.
I love great stories. “Kill Bill,” “American Beauty,” “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Requiem for a Dream” are some of my favorite examples of great storytelling, but chances are you’ve seen at least a couple of those. So I’m going rogue! Behold, a list of genuinely entertaining movies you probably haven’t seen, but are worth your time and money. Did I say money? I meant time.
“Aliens”: The movie that made me fall in love with movies. If you like action, and you haven’t seen this, see it. Sigourney Weaver (Stanford alum, hey!) stars as Ripley, pretty much the most badass heroine ever. Don’t let the crappy remakes/reboots fool you: This is a classic, directed by James Cameron, who you might recognize as the man behind “Avatar” and “Terminator.” Try not fist-pumping the universe when Ripley tells the mother alien to “Get away from her, you bitch!” Just try.
“Boogie Nights”: I, too, was skeptical about a movie about a male porn star, even if that porn star is Mark Wahlberg. But this film about the, ahem (I’m feeling bashful), adult entertainment industry, in 1970s LA makes a riveting story and complex characters out of the sex/coke/murder cliches. Don’t worry, though, there is plenty of sex/coke/murder.
“Mother”: I don’t know how I discovered it, but it’s one of the best random finds in recent memory. This South Korean thriller (you don’t even notice the subtitles) follows a mother desperately trying to find the killer who framed her disabled son for murder. No wonder Hollywood keeps turning to Asia to find thrillers to remake: The stories are so good. And the originals are almost always better. Check out “Oldboy” and “Battle Royale” (what “Hunger Games” should be) if these strike your fancy.
“Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…and Spring”: I have quite a soft spot for Asian cinema and culture, so I love this film, though it moves at a deliberately slow pace. It takes place on the same lake and follows the life of a monk and his disciple through changing seasons and passing years. It’s a beautiful film if the Buddhist philosophy has ever appealed to you. If it’s not your cup of (green) tea, that’s okay too.
“Do the Right Thing”: See it, see it, see it! My Film Studies 101 class would almost surely agree: This is one of those rare films that feel like a revelation. The Spike Lee classic follows a Brooklyn neighborhood as it gives rise to the racial and socioeconomic tensions of the late 1980s and is truly filmmaking at its best.
Alright, that’s all for now, folks! Happy Netflixing/unofficial channel surfing.