Here’s the truth: There’s nothing to see this weekend at the movie theater. Madame Web is still stinking up the multiplex, and Dune: Part Two doesn’t arrive until next week. So heed this warning: save your money, stay at home, and watch some movies on your TV.
You have Netflix, right? Chances are, you do. If you don’t, check out our other guides for movies. But for those of you who do, here are three movies that aren’t new, but are still worth watching. Trust me, they will entertain you far more than a stale Marvel comic book movie or a schmaltzy Bob Marley biopic.
Need more recommendations? Read our guides to the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, and the best movies on HBO.
The Commuter (2018)
In this writer’s mind, any Liam Neeson movie from the 2010s is underrated, but The Commuter from 2018 particularly deserves some love and attention. The plot is B-movie heaven: overworked everyman Michael MacCauley (Neeson) is commuting home from Grand Central Terminal when a mysterious woman, Joanna (Vera Farmiga), asks him to find a missing item. The prize? $100,000. But Michael soon learns that this offer isn’t what it seems, and he’s soon fighting bad guys on the speeding train that threatens to crash and kill everyone on board.
The Commuter is a cross between The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 and Speed, with just a dash of Die Hard thrown in. In other words, it’s fun as hell — and completely, blissfully ludicrous. Neeson and Farmiga lead an impressive cast that includes (deep breath) Florence Pugh, Patrick Wilson, Better Call Saul’s Jonathan Banks, Downton Abbey‘s Elizabeth McGovern, Sam Neill, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Black Panther‘s Letitia Wright. But it’s Neeson who is in top form: irritable, exhausted, and extremely Irish, he’s the Everyman every man wants to be.
Parenthood (1989)
It’s a bit unbelievable to consider Parenthood underrated. After all, it was a big critical and box office hit when it was first released in 1989, with the film getting an Oscar nomination (for Dianne Wiest, who is terrific) and a rare four stars from critic Roger Ebert. But time is a cruel mistress, and the excellent 2010s TV show adaptation starring Peter Krause and Lauren Graham has overshadowed it. That’s a pity, as this film still holds up, and it’s effective as both a comedy and as a drama.
Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building) leads a stacked cast as beleaguered dad Gil, who must deal with a job he hates, an elderly dad he’s not close to, and the perils of, you guessed it, parenthood. Gil isn’t alone in that regard, as his sisters Helen (Wiest) and Susan (Harley Jane Kozak) have to deal with their own parenting woes. A charming Keanu Reeves and a young Joaquin Phoenix (credited as Leaf) are in this, too, but everyone, from Jason Robards as the distant patriarch to Helen Shaw as the Nintendo-loving great-grandma, is pitch-perfect.
The ‘Burbs (1989)
Boy, 1989 was a great year for suburban dads, wasn’t it? But unlike Steve Martin, Tom Hanks‘ Ray Peterson in The ‘Burbs doesn’t have to deal with parenting woes. No, he has to deal with something far more sinister: bad neighbors. But just how bad are the Klopeks, the weird family of three consisting of a father, an uncle, and a grown son, who just moved in? They don’t tend to their lawn and they are a bit noisy at night — but could they also be murderers?
That’s what Ray’s other neighbors, the crazed Army vet Mark, the oafish Art, and the stoner teenager Ricky, believe, especially when an elderly neighbor, Walter, disappears one day, leaving behind his tiny poop machine of a dog. What lengths will Ray and his band of amateur sleuths go to prove themselves right? Directed by Joe Dante, The ‘Burbs sometimes resembles a live-action cartoon, which is a compliment; it’s zippy, silly, and a little frantic, but it’s also very funny. Bruce Dern’s Mark is a particular highlight, as is Carrie Fisher as Ray’s sidelined wife.
