I don’t really watch a lot of the big blockbuster tv shows that people seem to get addicted to (although I have committed to watch Love Island this year, a decision I am genuinely thrilled with based on last night’s first episode) and I think the real reason that I’ve never sat down to start House of Cards/Breaking Bad/Pretty Little Liars etc etc is simply that I like movies too much. If I’ve got an hour and a half to spare, I’ll generally choose to watch a film.
I’ve watched an embarrassing number of movies over the past few months (I know, I know, “enjoy it while it lasts”) so I thought it was high time I shared some of the best ones. After all, I can’t be the only one who fires up the Sky box and gets completely overwhelmed by the fact there are seemingly thousands of movies to choose from but no obvious way to to just get on with it and pick one. We regularly watch Silence of the Lambs for the umpteenth time just to quash the constant scrolling, trailer watching and bickering. You know where you are with Silence of the Lambs. It’s a safe choice, in a grotesquely murderous way.
I’ve been keeping a list on my phone of the films I’ve particularly enjoyed over the past few weeks and I *thought* I had a decent mix of films from Sky, Netflix and my DVD stash but it turns out that this is basically just a giant list of movies from Sky Cinema so if you don’t have Sky…sorry! I’ve got a list of documentaries I want to share next week and that leans more heavily towards Netflix. I promise.
The below is a completely bonkers mix tbh, in no particular order, with everything from volcanoes to alien cops to sub-prime loans. Hopefully there’ll be something that takes your fancy!
I’m going to embed trailers for all the films because some people like watching trailers before they see a film. I don’t like to personally as modern trailers seem to always reveal too much but hey – they’re there if you want to watch them!
Grandma
Released: 2015
Run-time: 79 minutes
Basic premise: A teenager visits her grandmother to ask for money for an abortion. The grandmother has none, so over the space of a day they visit numerous people to call in favors in an effort to raise the money. It’s laugh out loud funny, made me cry more than once and is just so superbly written and acted that I wanted to high five the screen throughout.
Good for: Anyone who likes kickass women.
Available on: Sky
The Hunter
Released: 2011
Run-time: 102 minutes
Basic premise: A professional hitman is hired by a military biotech company to go to the mountains of Tasmania to hunt for the elusive Tasmanian tiger, so that samples can be taken to help develop weapons. Unsurprisingly, our hitman is not the only one trying to find this tiger.
Good for: Anyone who likes a beautifully shot slow-burner of a thriller. The basic premise makes it sound a bit bombastic but it’s a well paced and thoughtful film which rather unexpectedly ended up making me cry (twice!).
Available on: Netflix
Enemy
Released: 2014
Run-time: 90 minutes
Basic premise: A psychological thriller revolving around two men who are physically identical. As brilliantly bonkers as it sounds.
Good for: Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal as he plays not one but TWO main characters (oy!) and anyone who likes a mind-bending head scratcher of a film which you need to talk at length about afterwards.
Available on: Sky
Truth
Released: 2015
Run-time: 120 minutes
Basic premise: A political docudrama chronicling the news story uncovered by CBS reporters Mapes and Rather that sitting US president, George W. Bush, may have been AWOL from the United States National Guard for over a year during the Vietnam War. When the story blew up in their face, the ensuing scandal ruined Dan Rather’s career, nearly changed a US Presidential election, and almost took down all of CBS News in the process.
Good for: Anyone remotely interested in politics, journalism, newsrooms, strong women and conspiracy theories. It ticks a lot of boxes.
Available on: Sky
Straight Outta Compton
Released: 2015
Run-time: 147 minutes
Basic premise: Completely brilliant biographical film depicting the career of N.W.A from 1986 through to 2014. (Yes, that’s why it’s a long movie).
Good for: Anyone interested in rap, entrepreneurship and the music industry in general.
Available on: Sky
Little Children
Released: 2006
Run-time: 137 minutes
Basic premise: Oscar nominated drama focused on an educated young suburban mother, frustrated with her narrow existence, and the friendship she forges with a local husband and father. Both share a discontentment with life in their small commuter town and a lack of connection with their spouses. Whilst their story becomes more entangled, the community is being shaken by the discovery that a convicted sex offender is living amongst them.
Good for: Anyone interested in complex adult relationships and beautifully shot suburbia.
Available on: Sky
Dante’s Peak
Released: 1997
Run-time: 109 minutes
Basic premise: Pierce Brosnan fights a volcano, what more could you possibly want to know?
Good for: Everyone, because I assume everyone loves 90s disaster movies as much as me.
Available on: Sky
Broadcast News
Released: 1987
Run-time: 133 minutes
Basic premise: A romantic comedy drama set in a television news room, centred around the lives of three extremely watchable characters: Jane Craig – a talented, neurotic producer whose life revolves around her work; Jane’s best friend and frequent collaborator, Aaron Altman – a gifted writer and reporter ambitious for on-camera exposure who is secretly in love with Jane; and Tom Grunick a telegenic local news anchorman who lacks news experience and knows that he was only hired for his good looks and charm. Tom is also attracted to Jane, although he is also intimidated by her skills and intensity.
Good for: Laughs, tears and fans of a strong leading lady.
Available on: Sky
The Jungle Book
Released: 2016
Run-time: 106 minutes
Basic premise: Ridiculously gorgeous big budget remake of the 1967 Disney classic. (Mowgli, an orphaned human boy who has been raised by wolves, sets out on a journey of jungle-tastic self-discovery as he has to evade the genuinely quite scary Shere Khan)
Good for: Literally anyone with eyes, ears, a sense of humour, a heart and a soul. I LOVE THIS FILM SO MUCH.
Available on: Sky
Stakeout
Released: 1987
Run-time: 117 minutes
Basic premise: A pair of undercover cops are tasked with keeping watch on the apartment of the ex-girlfriend of an escaped violent criminal. An unexpected romance between one of the cops and the subject he’s supposed to be watching means it all goes a bit haywire, as you would of course fully expect from a 1987 crime comedy.
Good for: Fans of 80s capers.
Available on: Sky
Alien Nation
Released: 1988
Run-time: 91 minutes
Basic premise: I almost don’t even want to give you the premise of this film as I heard myself explain it to ST the other day and I could hear how daft it sounded but BASICALLY there are 300,000 refugee aliens living in LA (of course) and one of these aliens is working with a veteran cop to investigate a murder and, in the process, they stumble across a mega alien drug plot. They form an unlikely bond as they go about trying to thwart it and it’s all just really beautiful.
Good for: People who like their buddy cop films to come complete with aliens. This really is just a buddy cop film that happens to have aliens in it. I LOVED IT. Also, it seemed scarily relevant to our current reality?! I did watch it at 1am but there were themes of racism, mistrust and fear mongering which felt very close to home.
Available on: Sky
The Finest Hours
Released: 2016
Run-time: 117 minutes
Basic premise: A Coast Guard adventure drama set in 1952 New England, based on the true story of the Pendleton rescue operation. Think an impossibly tiny lifeboat, treacherous conditions and a sinking ship.
Good for: Fans of BIG WEATHER, romantics and anyone who loves a real life hero.
Available on: Sky
The Big Short
Released: 2015
Run-time: 130 minutes
Basic premise: Based on the huuuugely successful book of the same name, this is the true story of how the US subprime mortgage bubble burst and how it led to the global financial crisis of 2007/8.
Good for: Anyone interested in the financial crisis and all the underhand practices that allowed it to happen. People who can put up with the “quirky cutaways”.
Available on: Netflix
The 33
Released: 2015
Run-time: 127 minutes
Basic premise: The true story (well, based on the true story) of the 2010 Chilean mining disaster in which a group of 33 miners were trapped in the San Jose Mine for more than two months, as their families and the world’s news crews waited at the surface for their rescue.
Good for: People who can put aside the fact that it’s not a “great film” as such but it IS a great story. And anyone who isn’t claustrophobic.
Available on: Sky
Imperium
Released: 2016
Run-time: 109 minutes
Basic premise: An undercover FBI agent infiltrates the neo-Nazi community to try to prevent a terrorist plot.
Good for: People who don’t mind spending their spare time watching hard hitting thrillers which seem disturbingly relevant to the current climate.
Available on: Sky
Vacation
Released: 2015
Run-time: 99 minutes
Basic premise: Part of the National Lampoon series, a family go on a long road trip and get into all sorts of mishaps along the way.
Good for: Anyone who wants a laugh as it’s a very easy watch. I’ve seen it three times in the last couple of months and for some reason I find it extremely funny. I am embarrassed by how funny I find it.
Available on: Sky
Last Shift
Released: 2014
Run-time: 87 minutes
Basic premise: A rookie cop has been assigned the last shift at a VERY CREEPY closing police station and she must wait for a hazmat crew to arrive and collect biomedical evidence. She is ordered not to leave the station under any circumstance, but soon realises she’s not just keeping watch “somewhere a bit eery” but she is in fact surrounded by PURE EVIL.
Good for: Anyone who wants a good scare as it’s VERY jumpy. I watched with three other girls as part of a sleepover (are we 14?!) and we were all suitably terrified. I can’t even watch the trailer now!
Available on: Sky
Hopefully one of the above will take your fancy, if not you can always join me in watching Love Island?! I woke up at 5am this morning excited for the next episode. Bring on the drama!
Documentary recommendations to follow next week 🙂
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