Netflix Recommendations | June 2015

Of all the film-related questions I get from friends, the most common - by a long stretch - is a request for Netflix recommendations. How can one not find treasure amongst the thousands of titles on Netflix. Allow me to help you.

I have mentioned this before, but the website Instant Watcher keeps an up to date tally of films that are scheduled to imminently expire on the Netflix streaming option. The site also provides listings of the most popular and critically regarded films on Netflix, across a wide variety of categories. So it is always worth checking out this website prior to picking what to watch on Netflix.

Here are my recommendations for relatively recent films (released theatrically in the past 12 or so months) that are currently streaming on Netflix; each film is remarkable in its own way:

1. FORCE MAJEURE
2. NIGHTCRAWLER
3. MR PEABODY AND SHERMAN
4. THE BOXTROLLS
5. HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS
6. WORDS AND PICTURES
7. MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
8. TRACKS
9. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY (HIM / HER)
10. BOMBAY TALKIES
11. ILO ILO

Best of 2014 | Performances

A film is its actors. A film is good because of actors that are inherently good or those brought to a state of goodness when gifted with a smart script and guided by a canny director. Actors are the paint on the canvas, a major determinant of how we react to what we see on screen.

The celebrated actors are lauded enough; Meryl Streep has no need for another nomination. It is the ones who have quietly elevated their films that deserve to be recognized more, their names shouted from roof tops (my throat has been sore screaming “Marion Cotillard!” for months now). And so, as before, I have created a list of those whose work has shone for me during the past year. They are listed in the order of my regard for their work. And I have not limited my recognition to a fixed number in each category. Why not spread the love?

BEST ACTOR, MALE

1. Eddie Redmayne, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING / David Oyelowo, SELMA
   

   

   Eddie Redmayne in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

2. Jake Gyllenhaal, ENEMY
3. Jake Gyllenhaal, NIGHTCRAWLER
4. Timothy Spall, MR TURNER
5. Ghilherme Lobo, THE WAY HE LOOKS
6. Tom Hardy, Locke
7. Irrfan Khan, THE LUNCHBOX
8. Oscar Isaac, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
9. John Lithgow, LOVE IS STRANGE

BEST ACTOR, FEMALE

1. Marion Cotillard, TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT

   

   Marion Cotillard in TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

2. Keira Knightley, BEGIN AGAIN
3. Kalki Koechlin, MARGARITA WITH A STRAW
4. Felicity Jones, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
5. Michelle Monaghan, FORT BLISS
6. Tess Amorin, THE WAY HE LOOKS
7. Emily Blunt, EDGE OF TOMORROW

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, MALE

1. Edward Norton, BIRDMAN
2. Ethan Hawke, BOYHOOD
3. Robert Duvall, THE JUDGE
4. Alfred Molina, LOVE IS STRANGE
5. Chris Pine, INTO THE WOODS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, FEMALE

Keira Knightley in THE IMITATION GAME

1. Keira Knightley, THE IMITATION GAME
2. Patricia Arquette, BOYHOOD
3. Emma Stone, BIRDMAN
4. Naomi Watts, BIRDMAN
5. Carrie Coon, GONE GIRL
6. Jessica Chastain, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
7. MacKenzie Foy, INTERSTELLAR
8. Tilda Swinton, SNOWPIERCER
9. Marisa Tomei, LOVE IS STRANGE