June 2017: Best Stuff Streaming on Netflix

 

20. 13 Going on 30 (2004)

Director: Gary Winick

Screenplay: Cathy Yuspa, Josh Goldsmith

Starring: Jennifer Garner, Christa B. Allen

In this definitely-nothing-like-the-classic-Tom-Hanks-Movie-Big, a 13 year old makes a wish to turn 30. It’s a wonder whether or not she’ll realize the world of adults isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

19. Catfight (2016)

Director: Onur Tukel

Screenplay: Onur Tukel

Starring: Anne Heche, Sandra Oh

After college, two women find themselves on very different paths. Old wounds are revealed and they kick the crap out of each other for a little over an hour.

18. Catwoman (2004)

Director: Pitof

Screenplay: John Rogers, John Brancato, Michael Ferris

Starring: Halle Berry

No, not that Catwoman but a Catwoman for sure. Often hailed as one of the worst movies of all time, this little stinker managed to nab a handful of Golden Raspberries for Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay. Pretty impressive for a hundred million bucks!

17. Devil’s Bride (2016)

Director: Saara Cantell

Screenplay: Saara Cantell, Leena Virtanen

Starring: Kaija Pakarinen, Tuulia Eloranta

It’s nice knowing that America wasn’t the only place where we burned women at the stake for having their periods. In this film, a 16-year old named Anna is accused of witchcraft in this fictionalization of the witch-hunts on Åland, Finland in the 1600s.

16. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Gustav Hasford, Michael Herr

Starring: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofiro

One of the rawest portrayals of the Vietnam War ever committed to celluloid. From boot camp to the jungle, there doesn’t seem to be any reprieve for these Marines.

15. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Director: Ron Howard

Screenplay: Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman

Starring: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen

Was this the worst live action remake of a beloved Dr. Seuss book/animated movie? No. That honor is reserved for The Cat in the Hat starring Mike Meyers. This one was simply bad and, at times, almost OK.

14. Little Boxes (2016)

Director: Rob Meyer

Screenplay: Annie J. Howell

Starring: Armani Jackson, Melanie Lynskey, Nelsan Ellis

A mixed-race-east-coast-liberal-elite couple with a bi-racial son moves to a ultra-white town in Washington State. You can probably imagine where this is going. A tidy moral about acceptance will no doubt tie this film up nicely.

13. My Left Foot (1989)

Director: Jim Sheridan

Screenplay: Jim Sheridan, Shane Connaughton

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis

Is there anything Daniel Day-Lewis can’t do? Here, he plays Christy Brown, an Irish man with cerebral palsy who learns to write and communicate by using only his left foot. Brown eventually goes on to become a celebrated author and poet. Daniel Day-Lewis goes on to be a whole litany of terrifying characters.

12. Playing It Cool (2014)

Director: Justin Reardon

Screenplay: Chris Shafer, Paul Vicknair

Starring: Chris Evans, Michelle Monaghan

Can Chris Evans, as an action movie screenwriter who doesn’t believe in love, muster up the courage to write his ultimate magnum opus: a boilerplate romantic comedy? If Michelle Monaghan has anything to do with it… maybe!

11. Rounders (1998)

Director: John Dahl

Screenplay: Brian Koppelman, David Levien

Starring: Matt Damon, Edward Norton

What do Matt Damon, Ed Nortion, John Turturro, John Malkovich and Martin Landau have in common? Yes, they’re all incredible actors from various generations and they also all appear in Rounders! The film is the story of a couple of high stakes poker players who are about to hit the jackpot of a lifetime. This movie didn’t receive the adulation it truly deserved but went on to be a cult favorite.

10. The Sixth Sense (1999)

Director: M. Night. Shyamalan

Screenplay: M. Night. Shyamalan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment

Bruce Willis is dead the whole time. This is most definitely Haley Joel Osment’s best movie behind Tusk.

9. Yarn (2016)

Directors: Una Lorenzen, Heather Millard, Þórdur Bragi Jónsson

Screenplay: Krishan Arora

Starring: Tinna Thorudottir Thorvaldar, Barbara Kingsolver, Olek, Toshiko, Cirkus Cirkör

Guess what this movie is about… Did you guess yarn? Because you’d be correct. This is a documentary about yarn and, let me tell you, it’s not just for your grandma anymore.

8. Young Frankenstein (1974)

Director: Mel Brooks

Screenplay: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks

Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle

Often cited as one of the funniest movies ever made, Young Frankenstein finds writer/director Mel Brooks at the height of his power in collaboration with Gene Wilder. An affectionate parody of the horror classics of the early 20^th century, the film stars Wilder as the grandson of the original Victor Frankenstein who, while originally shying away from his grandfather’s kind of experiment, eventually finds himself doing the same thing. And creating a very unique kind of monster in the process.

7. Zodiac (2007)

Director: David Fincher

Screenplay: James Vanderbilt

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr.

Based on the true story of the Zodiac Killer, the film is a quiet meditation on obsession. Dialogue driven instead of a hackneyed hack-and-slash horror show, the film shows director David Fincher at his apex.

6. Flaked: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Creators: Will Arnett, Mitch Hurwitz

Starring: Will Arnett

Sobriety is at the center of the Will Arnett-driven dramedy from Netflix. Even though it didn’t garner rave reviews, the show was still renewed for second, six-episode season.

5. Oh, Hello On Broadway — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Director: John Mulaney, Nick Kroll

Screenplay: John Mulaney, Nick Kroll

Starring: John Mulaney, Nick Kroll

From the minds of John Mulaney (Mulaney) and Nick Kroll (The League), Oh, Hello follows the wry observations of two strange old men played by the comedians. Prepare for 90 minutes of riffing and improv.

4. Lucid Dream — NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Director: Jun-seong Kim

Screenplay: Jun-seong Kim

Starring: Ko Soo, Kyung-gu Seol, Yu-chun Park

Not much is known about this Korean-made film. The synopsis straight from Netflix does elude to an intriguing premise: “After searching for his abducted son for three years, a devastated father attempts to track down his missing child through lucid dreams.

3. War on Everyone (2016)

Director: John Michael McDonagh

Screenplay: John Michael McDonagh

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña

In this pitch-black action comedy, two crooked cops try to blackmail or frame any criminal they cuff. Eventually, they meet their match and chaos ensues.

2. Shimmer Lake — NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Director: Oren Uziel

Screenplay: Oren Uziel

Starring: Wyatt Russell, Rainn Wilson

In one of the more intriguing Netflix original films set to drop this June, Shimmer Lake finds a small town sheriff journeying to solve the mystery of a bank heist gone wrong. The twist: the show is told backwards reversing day by day through a week like a reverse Coen brothers film.

1. Orange Is the New Black: Season 5 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Creator: Jenji Kohan

Starring: Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon

The fifth chapter in the continuing adventures of Piper Chapman and the whole motley crew of Litchfield inmates promises to be the most “binge-worthy” and “explosive” yet if we’re to believe all the click-bait currently circulating on the internet.