Even before staying home made streaming services one of the most important utility-like services in our lives, many of their users were already devotees. Now that shelter in place orders are in effect across the world, it seems like the entire population as a whole has gotten in on the act. Thankfully, the streaming infrastructure, while still in its infancy, already had much of its groundwork laid. This made it easier for people to transition from seeing Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ and other streaming services as leisure activities, to actually the saviors of our days.
The best part about all this is that Amazon and the others occupy themselves in much of the digital world. The people who house, store, curate, and even create the content can actually do all of this while adhering to social distancing guidelines. In fact, I am willing to wager thatAmazon Primeand the others were probably working in such a “distanced” capacity, before they were forced to. So, if there is a bright side to being in quarantine, it’s that we have a lot of viewing options. Those opens are rich, deep, and they seem to be getting even more plentiful (and free) during this time. So, sit back, help flatten the curve, and enjoy “The Best Movies on Amazon Prime”.
Hellraiser
At a time when the world seems to be going to hell who better to experience that with than Pinhead and the Cenobites. From the brain of Clive Barker (who also directed this film),Hellraisertells the tale of a sleazy guy named Frank (Oliver Smith) who summoned a group of hellacious demons, lead byPinhead, using a supernatural box. Well, Pinhead and his crew don’t work for free so they come after Frank after he flees a chillingly, barbaric underworld. Chances are you have already seenHellraiser. If you haven’t now is as good a time as any. Being at home, cooped up, will only add to this films claustrophobia as the majority it takes place in a house. If you’ve seen it than what better time then during this pandemic to reacquaint yourself?
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
With a run time of 93 minutes,Planes, Trains & Automobilesfeels longer than that in the best way. That’s because so much happens to John Candy and Steve Martin as they try and get home for Thanksgiving. They get robbed, stranded, their car catches on fire, and they almost get inmultiple accidents on the road. This is just what happens to them! It says nothing of what they do to each other in this grand road trip movie that, if nothing else, will truly allow you to forget your problems for awhile.
This film was the darling of the movie critics circle upon its release in 2017. It tells the story of Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) who longs to break from the confines of her tepid, Catholic school existence. Taking place over the course of her senior year, we see Lady Bird come into her own as she navigates first loves, acting in a play, and eventually follows her dream of going to college. This film is a simple tale and offers hope that, despite how life might make you think you’re at a standstill, you are always moving forward even if it’s incrementally.
The Great Escape
Amazon Prime is a great resource because it offers such a wide array of content. In offeringThe Great Escape, a war movie from 1963, the streaming giant is allowing a whole new audience of cinephiles the chance to discover this fine film. Steve McQueen stars in this tale that is based on a true story. A bunch of escape prone prisoners are placed in a P.O.W. Camp during World War II. This camp is supposed to be inescapable. Well, in what proves to be a highly elaborate scheme, led by McQueen, this band of rebels manages an escape out of occupied Europe using boats, trains, planes, and anything else they can move on in order to pull offThe Great Escape!
The Disaster Artist
You needn’t have seen the cult hitThe Roomto appreciate the fine work that James Franco and his brother Dave have created here. Directed by James Franco, this film follows Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) as he tries to make his way in Hollywood. Along the way he meets the “interesting” (that seems to be the best word for it) Tommy Wiseau, and together they make a film calledThe Room. If this movie had been a work of fiction it would have been highly entertaining. The fact that it is depicting real life events makes it both entertaining and downright amazing. We’re all under quarantine, we might as well lift our spirits andThe Disaster Artistdoes just that.
A Quiet Place
Sure, a film about confinement in a dystopian society might not be what everybody wishes to see right now. At the same time, there’s comfort in watching a film that shows you that your life isn’t so bad.A Quiet Placefollows a family that has to live a silent existence because there’s beasts all around them with crazy powers of hearing. It’s easy to watch a film like this and pick it apart (I know a lot of people wonder why the family just didn’t live by the loud waterfall), but that is doing yourself and your viewing experience a disservice.A Quiet Placeworks because, at its heart, it’s about a family loving and taking care of one another. This is a lesson we can never get enough of.
Annie Hall
Woody has made a lot of films. Some of them gems, some are not, but by the mere fact of continuing to create, he has created brilliance more than once.Annie Hallis one of those brilliant films. With its European sensibility and universal story that is told from an Auteur’s perspective, this tale from nearly 45 years ago still has something to say today. Relationships are tricky, fraught with indecision, and they ultimately can drive us crazy, but they are as necessary as breathing. Whether youlove Woody Allen or hate him, it was never his personal views (or life) that made his films great. It was his ability to speak to all of us about some basic truths that made him a master storyteller.
If you like like theRockyfilms then you obviously loveRocky IV. If you love that film it’s because Rocky avenges the death of Apollo Creed, and helps the US beat Russia in a film that was made during the height of the Cold War in the mid-80s. How does all this play intoCreed II? Well, in this film,Rocky trains Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan), when he takes on Viktor Drago, son of Ivan, the man who killed Apollo Creed inRocky IV. You follow all that? Given the US’s current relationship with Russia, and the present state of boxing in which fighters from the Eastern Bloc play a major role,Creed IIis quite evergreen considering it came out over a year ago and is based on material from decades past.
Pretty In Pink
Thank goodness Amazon Prime has made this movie available somewhere. Very few films capture the feel good time of the 1980s, while also going extremely deep, the way thatPretty In Pinkhas. Flipping the whole person from the wrong side of the tracks story on its ear, Molly Ringwald plays Andie, a girl from an impoverished area. Yet, she has mega-style, a cool, if not awkward best-pal (and wanting suitor) in Duckie (Jon Cryer), and a father (Harry Dean Stanton) who is like a sage. Andie loves Blaine (Andrew McCarthy) who is rich and has a rich friends (James Spader, in yet another great role). They don’t approve of their relationship. Set in high school, this very real film still shows that Cinderella stories can happen.
This 2004 gem has to be one of the more interesting and demanding pictures to win Best Picture. With a non-linear structure that asked a lot of viewers, characters that go from being downright evil to saviors, and in a story that is truly disparate,Crashstarts and never really stops. Along the way we see the layered city of Los Angeles that is brought together and separated by class and privilege. This is one of those movies that either works for you or your too cynical to believe it’s possibly. Whatever your position, if you’ve never seen it there’s literally no time like the present.
