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NBC Universal’s streaming service Peacock staked a lot of its identity on being the new home of The Office, even to the extent that they had the show baked into the tiers of their pricing plan. But if they wanted to tout their movies, too, they’d be well within their rights. Peacock’s offerings are built on a cornerstone of the Universal Pictures library for more mainstream tastes and a smaller selection from their arthouse label Focus Features. The streamer also hosts a wide variety of box office hits and under-the-radar indie flicks from outside their own corporate umbrella. Best of all? It’s all available totally free with some relatively unobtrusive ads (though you will get even more bang for your buck at the Premium tier)!
But where to begin on finding the right movie on the platform for your next viewing? Decider is here to put a feather in your cap by sorting through all of Peacock’s film offerings and providing 50 solid recommendations for any number of moods or preferences. Rather than visit the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin for the umpteenth time, let these accomplished works of cinema transport you and transform you. Whether you’re in the mood for an ’80s or ’90s favorite, a recent indie hit, or a low-budget gem, Peacock has you covered.
‘Booksmart’ (2019)
DIRECTOR: Olivia Wilde
STARS: Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Skyler Gisondo
RATING: R
Booksmart already feels like one of those movies that will get “where are they now?” reunion spreads in magazines decades down the line. This packed ensemble cast full of emerging stars tracks one fateful night for two nerdy BFFs (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) determined to have some fun before they graduate high school. On one wild night, they get all that and more. It’s classical coming-of-age done with an early Gen Z twist.
‘Monsters’ (2010)
DIRECTOR: Gareth Edwards
STARS: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able
RATING: R
You might recognize the name Gareth Edwards from his gigs in the director’s chair for the Star Wars and Godzilla franchises. If you’re ever curious about the audition, so to speak, that lands someone these jobs, check out Edwards’ scrappy triumph Monsters from 2010. This creature feature has little to do with flashy visual effects and everything to do with the power that mysterious organisms can exert over a journalist and tourist traversing the U.S.-Mexico border. Even in Edwards’ humble beginnings, the seeds of big things to come were already blossoming.
‘Clockwatchers’ (1998)
DIRECTOR: Jill Sprecher
STARS: Toni Colette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, Alanna Ubach
RATING: PG-13
Move over, Office Space. There’s a new cult classic comedy from the late ‘90s about the drudgery of officework, and it’s Jill Sprecher’s Clockwatchers. Don’t believe us? Talk to our friend, John Early, about it.
‘Afternoon Delight’ (2013)
DIRECTOR: Joey Soloway
STARS: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor
RATING: R
Who’s the comedic dynamo you need more of in your life? It’s been Kathryn Hahn all along! Joey Soloway’s Afternoon Delight is one of the rare opportunities she gets to be at the center of a narrative, and she of course knocks it out of the park. As a sexually frustrated carpool mom dealing with feelings of inadequacy, Hahn’s Rachel makes the questionable move to “rescue” a young stripper and hire her as the family nanny … and life around the house gets a lot more interesting.
‘Scarface’ (1983)
DIRECTOR: Brian de Palma
STARS: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer
RATING: R
Don’t hold all the dorm room posters against Scarface. Brian de Palma’s crime epic of a Cuban immigrant rising through Miami’s drug cartels has all the trappings of a classic American dream story. It’s just soaked in the kind of cocaine-fueled energy of its leading character, vividly brought to life by Al Pacino at his absolute hammiest. There’s a reason his screaming delivery of “say hello to my little friend!” has become an iconic line … and is worth waiting nearly three hours to hear.
‘Putney Swope’ (1969)
DIRECTOR: Robert Downey Sr.
STARS: Arnold Johnson, Stan Gottlieb, Allen Garfield
RATING: R
Sure, you know Jr. – but what about his father? Robert Downey Sr. was a trailblazing artist at the forefront of culture in his own way. Granted, it was the counterculture. If you want to get a sense of his radical work that embodied the anarchic energy of the ‘60s, start with Putney Swope. This blistering satire spirals outward from a simple concept: the only Black member of an advertising firm’s board becomes its chairman. Half a century later, the film’s unwillingness to pull punches makes it feel as relevant as ever.
‘Burning’ (2018)
DIRECTOR: Lee Chang-dong
STARS: Steven Yeun, Yoo Ah-in, Jong-seo Jun
RATING: Not Rated
If you loved the sincerity of Steven Yeun’s Oscar-nominated turn in Minari, broaden your knowledge of his formidable skills by watching him smolder in Korean drama Burning. This slow-burn of a film features the actor as the mysterious, magnetic Ben, a Gatsby-like nouveau riche South Korean with an unconventional hobby. Ben emerges out of nowhere as a romantic rival to the sheepish Jong-su, and his presence sparks a small flame that will soon engulf their lives. Give it time – the patience of director Lee Chang-dong really pays off.
‘Starred Up’ (2014)
DIRECTOR: David Mackenzie
STARS: Jack O’Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend
RATING: Not Rated
In 2014, the media told us that Jack O’Connell was the next big star rising in Hollywood. Unfortunately, they all lined up behind the wrong movie (Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken) and missed the movie that best harnesses his talents. In the prison drama Starred Up, the incorrigible O’Connell channels all the energy of a caged bull as he moves from juvenile detention to an adult prison. Though the youngest person locked within the walls, his arrival unsettles and overturns the established order in fascinating and unexpected ways.
‘The House of the Devil’ (2009)
DIRECTOR: Ti West
STARS: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov
RATING: R
Many people try to vibrate on the wavelength that filmmaker Ti West occupies – that is to say, they want to harken back to retro style while maintaining a distinctly contemporary edge. But few can manage what he does in The House of the Devil, which is to recapture the feeling of ‘80s horror without winking too much at his audience. This story of a babysitting job gone wrong intersects with the slasher film and the haunted house flick without making you feel like you’ve seen this story a dozen times before.
‘Half Nelson’ (2006)
DIRECTOR: Ryan Fleck
STARS: Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps
RATING: R
We’ve all seen too many white savior dramas where a teacher plops into an under-resourced school and helps inspire a classroom of students. But Half Nelson flips that formula on its head with a story showing that it’s a teacher in need of rescue … and only his student can deliver him from the depths of his addiction. As Dan, the unconventional and radical history teacher with a drug habit, Ryan Gosling has scarcely ever been more electrifying a force on screen.
‘A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints’ (2005)
DIRECTOR: Dito Montiel
STARS: Robert Downey Jr., Shia LaBeouf, Channing Tatum
RATING: R
Adapting your own memoir for your directorial debut might sound like a recipe for navel-gazing, but Dito Montiel manages to pull it off with A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. The film captures with affection and anguish his time growing up on the mean streets of Astoria in 1986. He acknowledges the way the neighborhood simultaneously shaped his life and drove him to look for a new one elsewhere. Phenomenal performances abound, but the real standout is a young Channing Tatum, who gives a ferociously physical performance as Dito’s volatile friend Antonio.
‘Unexpected’ (2015)
DIRECTOR: Kris Rey
STARS: Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean
RATING: R
The concept of Kris Rey’s Unexpected seems like it would be a bad idea: an inner-city Chicago high school teacher (Cobie Smulders) and her bright student (Gail Bean) both have unplanned pregnancies at the same time. But it’s all in the execution here. Beyond the compassion bursting out of the frame, Rey’s film keeps an incisive edge throughout as the influence of class and racial dynamics exert themselves subtly but powerfully throughout.
‘Kick-Ass’ (2010)
DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn
STARS: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz
RATING: R
Kick-Ass ran so Deadpool could fly. Just as the pieces were clicking into place for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along came Matthew Vaughn’s irreverent, R-rated action-comedy that sent up the self-seriousness of masked vigilantes. Come for Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a geek turned caped crusader, stay for a pint-sized Chloë Grace Moretz spewing shocking obscenities.
'Dark River' (2018)
DIRECTOR: Clio Barnard
STARS: Ruth Wilson, Sean Bean, Mark Stanley
RATING: Not Rated
British director Clio Barnard channels a grounded earthiness in her work like few other filmmakers can, and her 2018 feature Dark River is no exception. This psychological and pastoral drama features a powerful Ruth Wilson as a sheep shearer who must deal with the unresolved pain of her past upon inheriting her father’s farm. Barnard plunges us into piercing flashbacks that underscore the trauma triggered by Wilson’s Alice fighting her brother tooth-and-nail for tenancy of the property. These 89 minutes feel like they contain the full lifetime of a character.
‘99 Homes’ (2015)
DIRECTOR: Ramin Bahrani
STARS: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern
RATING: R
Where do you go when you hit rock bottom? At the height of the housing crisis that precipitated the Great Recession, Andrew Garfield’s Dennis Nash has to answer that question FAST when he’s evicted from his family home. 99 Homes follows his dance with the devil as he begins to scrounge together the funds to get it back by working with the real estate maven who kicked him out of his own place. In Ramin Bahrani’s brilliantly wrought morality play, Dennis the evictee becomes the evictor – a reversal of fortune that illustrates the brokenness of American capitalism.
‘Big Fan’ (2009)
DIRECTOR: Robert D. Siegel
STARS: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport
RATING: R
How far does your fandom extend? That’s the question Patton Oswalt’s Paul Aufiero, a parking garage attendant and talk radio enthusiast, has to answer in Big Fan after his favorite Giants player beats him up to the point of hospitalization. If Paul stands up for himself, he runs the risk of imperiling the chances of his beloved team by taking a star player off the field. Oswalt fully leans into the twisted mental logic of his character and keeps us guessing about how he’ll respond to the bitter end.
‘Black Christmas’ (1974)
DIRECTOR: Bob Clark
STARS: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder
RATING: R
Who says all Christmas movies need to be cheerful? Black Christmas will have you seeing red for the holiday season – red for blood, that is. This slasher film following a sorority house stalked by a crazy killer during the Christmas season is exactly the kind of holiday counterprogramming you’re looking for. But ho ho ho-ld up before you unwrap this gift: the kills from this ‘70s horror flick are gruesome and disturbing even by today’s standards.
‘Face/Off’ (1997)
DIRECTOR: John Woo
STARS: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen
RATING: R
If a movie’s opening credits feature Nicolas Cage breaking it down to the Hallelujah Chorus in full priest garb, what other signal is necessary that something insane and epic awaits? Face/Off is a ‘90s action movie at its most bombastic extreme. From its absurd premise of an FBI agent using face transplant surgery to break up a terrorist plot to its hammy performances by stars Cage and John Travolta, director John Woo dials the adrenaline and the fun up to 11.
‘Reality Bites’ (1994)
DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller
STARS: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller
RATING: PG-13
If one could bottle up the disaffected energy of Gen X, the container would look a whole lot like Reality Bites. This generational touchstone captures all the growing pains of that transitional moment from college to the workplace. Ben Stiller’s film expertly distills the perils of navigating this duality filtered through the romantic dilemma faced by Leilana (Winona Ryder) as she weighs the merits of buttoned-up businessman Michael (Stiller) against the brash burnout Troy (Ethan Hawke). Though highly specific to one cohort of college graduates, the film’s earnest portrayal of youthful disaffection still rings authentic decades later.
‘Better Watch Out’ (2017)
DIRECTOR: Chris Peckover
STARS: Olivia De Jonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould
RATING: R
‘Tis always the season for scares. Better Watch Out starts out like a typical holiday-themed home invasion flick, but let’s just say what Santa’s bringing this year isn’t the only surprise ahead. Chris Peckover’s clever, modest thriller turns many an expectation on its head to wildly entertaining effect.
‘Listen Up Philip’ (2014)
DIRECTOR: Alex Ross Perry
STARS: Jason Schwartzman, Elisabeth Moss, Jonathan Pryce
RATING: Not Rated
If you’re unfamiliar with filmmaker Alex Ross Perry, Listen Up Philip is a great place to begin acquainting yourself with one of the major talents to emerge from the American independent cinema scene over the last decade. Here, he fuses the frankness of the naturalistic “mumblecore” style with the more witty, urbane trappings of a New York intelligentsia comedy. His character study of the self-obsessed novelist Philip Lewis Friedman (Jason Schwartzman) in the wake of his professional successes and personal foibles has a bite so sharp and venomous it could draw blood.
‘Guess Who’ (2005)
DIRECTOR: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
STARS: Bernie Mac, Ashton Kutcher, Zoe Saldana
RATING: PG-13
Sure, it’s not exactly reaching the level of social commentary as its source material, the Oscar-winning Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. But there’s still plenty of fun in this updated comedy of interracial relationships, flipped to where it’s a Black woman (Zoe Saldana) bringing home a white man (Ashton Kutcher) to her disapproving father (Bernie Mac). Guess Who finds humor amidst the cringe as the rubber hits the road and “tolerance” meets “acceptance.”
‘Meet the Patels’ (2015)
DIRECTORS: Ravi Patel, Geeta Patel
STARS: Ravi Patel, Geeta Patel
RATING: PG
The idea of arranged marriage might sound like something that only exists in a fictional movie, but it’s very much a part of documentary Meet the Patels. Ravi Patel, with the help of his sister Geeta, films the romantic journey that ensues when he indulges his traditional Indian parents’ request to consider the idea. It’s a moving, provocative and ultimately sweet investigation of the relationship between love and marriage.
‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968)
DIRECTOR: George A. Romero
STARS: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman
RATING: Not Rated
Were you a fan of the “social thriller” as configured by Jordan Peele in Get Out? Thank George A. Romero, a pioneer of the subgenre in Night of the Living Dead. What this lo-fi zombie film might lack in scares after 50 years of advances in technology, it more than makes up for in subversive social commentary. It’s living proof that sometimes the most enduring political messages are smuggled through genre films, not blared out from a soapbox in self-important dramas.
‘Notting Hill’ (1999)
DIRECTOR: Roger Michell
STARS: Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Rhys Ifans
RATING: PG-13
Is it possible that we’ve gotten to the point where we take Julia Roberts for granted? Few working actors still exude that old-fashioned movie star charm like she does, lighting up the screen with every smile and look. There are few better showcases of her appeal than rom-com Notting Hill, where she plays … well, a movie star who discovers the complications of her status when she falls in love with a London bookseller (Hugh Grant).
‘Hide Your Smiling Faces’ (2014)
DIRECTOR: Daniel Patrick Carbone
STARS: Ryan Jones, Nathan Varnson
RATING: Not Rated
There’s little nostalgia for childhood in Hide Your Smiling Faces, but the film is all the better for its clear-eyed take on the coming-of-age story. After two young Jersey boys spot a body alongside a river, they begin to process the nature of death. Filmmaker Daniel Patrick Carbone observes their understanding of mortality from an abstract concept to something concrete with remarkable sensitivity. He renders with grace the parts of growing up that we try to elide, even though they shape us irrevocably.
‘The Proposition’ (2005)
DIRECTOR: John Hillcoat
STARS: Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson
RATING: R
If you think there’s no new ground to trod in the Western, turn your eyes even further west: to Australia. The Proposition takes us back to the 1880s where Guy Pearce’s outlaw Charlie Burns faces a brutal mandate to kill one brother in order to save another sibling. Perhaps the only thing more unsparing than his mission is the land itself of the arid Australian outback.
‘John Wick’ (2014)
DIRECTOR: Chad Stahelski
STARS: Keanu Reeves, Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane
RATING: R
The recent renaissance of Keanu Reeves begins with 2014’s John Wick. This shoot-‘em-up actioner begins with an almost parodic premise: Reeves’ titular hero kicks into full assassin mode after some Russian gangsters kill his dog. What results is his quest for revenge is a no-holds-barred affair that features some of the best action choreography in years, much of it executed with balletic grace by Reeves that harkens back to his days as Neo in The Matrix.
‘Spider-Man’ (2002)
DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi
STARS: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe
RATING: PG-13
The first comic-book movie to break box office records still holds up two decades later. All movies in Spider-Man’s wake have tried to recreate their own version of Uncle Ben’s sage salvo: “With great power comes great responsibility.” This origin story for the scrappy superhero delivers on character development and action alike. Major credit to Sam Raimi for finding a balance of witty fun and somber seriousness that could guide the way for the franchise entertainment that arose in its stead.
‘The Messenger’ (2009)
DIRECTOR: Oren Moverman
STARS: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton
RATING: R
As messengers delivering the news of a soldier’s passing to their loved ones at home, Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) and Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) are used to getting a wide range of emotional responses to their arrival. But The Messenger examines one interaction in their line of duty that cuts through to something deep within their core – a widow (Samantha Morton) whose calmness in the face of tragedy startles them. Such a reaction inspires such curiosity with Montgomery that he can’t help but investigate and understand her better.
‘Good Hair’ (2009)
DIRECTOR: Chris Rock
STARS: Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, Al Sharpton
RATING: PG-13
What started as Chris Rock wanting to prove to his young daughters that their hair was beautiful spirals into Good Hair, a documentary exploring the fraught standards of styling and beauty for Black women in America. It’s inquisitive, informative and always rooted in sweetness as Rock arrives at a beautiful tribute to Black hair.
‘Welcome to Me’ (2015)
DIRECTOR: Shira Piven
STARS: Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini
RATING: R
There’s always a hint of melancholy and aloofness in Kristen Wiig’s comedy, even dating back to her earliest sketches on SNL, but her turn in Welcome to Me is peak Wiig weird. Here, she stars as Alice, a woman for whom the boundary between garden-variety narcissism and mental illness ranges from thin to non-existent. After winning the lottery, she devotes her earnings to producing a cringeworthy vanity project talk show to feature herself to the world. It’s bonkers, bizarre … and also kind of brilliant as a piece of biting social commentary.
‘Short Term 12’ (2013)
DIRECTOR: Destin Daniel Cretton
STARS: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Lakeith Stanfield
RATING: R
If you know this movie for anything, it’s probably as an incubator of great actors. Short Term 12 features early standout turns from Oscar-winners Brie Larson and Rami Malek along with Lakeith Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, Stefanie Beatriz, and more. But Destin Daniel Cretton’s film is worth a watch for the story as well. The story of Larson’s Grace, a supervisor at a home for troubled teens with family issues of her own, is full of raw, vulnerable, and poignant emotion.
‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ (2004)
DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuarón
STARS: Daniel Radcliffe, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson
RATING: PG
You can make an argument for just about any Harry Potter movie as the best, but it’s pretty hard to dispute that Prisoner of Azkaban is the most important of them all. Director Alfonso Cuarón’s infusion of dark ambiance and devilish humor helped the series graduate from kiddie literature into the stuff of serious adult drama. Rather than relegate it forever to the dustbin of fantasy, he grounded it in the realities of teenage anxieties and growing pangs. It’s got a wicked sense of style and fun that set the tone for all that was to come from the franchise on-screen.
Watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on Peacock Premium
‘Palo Alto’ (2014)
DIRECTOR: Gia Coppola
STARS: Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer, Nat Wolff
RATING: R
Let’s just go ahead and say it: the “ick” factor looms large over James Franco’s role in Palo Alto as a high school soccer coach who hits on one of his players. But his involvement should not invalidate all the other people who make the film such a riveting look at teenage boredom and ennui from director Gia Coppola to star Emma Roberts. This is such a singular, striking, and stylish coming-of-age story where the journey is not toward maturity so much as it is to getting accustomed to disappointment and dissatisfaction.
‘Driveways’ (2020)
DIRECTOR: Andrew Ahn
STARS: Brian Dennehy, Hong Chau, Lucas Jaye
RATING: Not Rated
There’s a beautiful, elegant simplicity animated Andrew Ahn’s Driveways. This wholesome tale of a young boy who makes friends with his lonely, elderly neighbor possesses the kind of animating spirit that fills you up with goodness and grace. Films may not be able to change the world, but they can change our hearts – and this has the ability to lift yours.
‘I Am Big Bird’ (2015)
DIRECTORS: Dave LaMattina, Chad N. Walker
STARS: Carroll Spinney
RATING: Not Rated
It’s hard to imagine anyone else other than the late Carroll Spinney as Big Bird after watching this documentary, frankly. I Am Big Bird takes us behind the scenes of Sesame Street to understand how the creation of the series’ most beloved character was so intimately connected to its puppeteer. This is sure to delight Sesame fans old and new.
‘Billy Madison’ (1995)
DIRECTOR: Tamra Davis
STARS: Adam Sandler, Darren McGavin, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras
RATING: PG-13
Adam Sandler’s first starring role still ranks among the best. The Sandman has gotten plenty of mileage out of his overgrown, immature, screaming man-child archetype, but rarely does it feel so perfect for a film’s story as it does in “Billy Madison.” As the title character, Sandler plays a pea-brained hotel heir who must repeat grade school in order to inherit his father’s business. The shenanigans feel appropriately ludicrous for the premise, and over 25 years later, the silliness has not lost its shine.
'The Imposter' (2012)
DIRECTOR: Bart Layton
STARS: Adam O’Brian, Anna Ruben, Cathy Dresbach
RATING:
Saying “truth is stranger than fiction” is one of the most hackneyed clichés, but it holds eerily true with Bart Layton’s documentary The Imposter. Fans of true crime simply must check out this riveting story of how a “missing child” from Texas returns home as someone … seemingly a bit off. You won’t see some of the twists coming, so just make sure the ground is clear for when you jaw inevitably hits the floor.
‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998)
DIRECTOR: Joel Coen
STARS: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi
RATING: R
How many movies can say they inspired their own religion? One need not convert to “Dudeism” to enjoy all the charms of The Big Lebowski, though! This Coen Brothers classic is an open book to engage with across any number of levels, be it as a stoner flick, a modern gumshoe mystery, or notes on the existential nature of being. Like Jeff Bridges’ iconic The Dude, the film contains many multitudes.
‘James White’ (2015)
DIRECTOR: Josh Mond
STARS: Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Kid Cudi
RATING: R
The struggles of addiction rarely feel so searingly real as it does in James White, the story of how Christopher Abbott’s titular twentysomething must summon all his strength and composure to care for his ailing mother. Filmmaker Josh Mond offers no easy platitudes or narrative contrivances to make the character’s struggles more palatable for our consumption. Yet in the absence of comfort, what we have is a different kind of reassurance. We may not always be perfect, but sometimes we just have to be there for each other.
‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ (2011)
DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay
STARS: Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller, John C. Reilly
RATING: R
A decade out, Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin only grows in relevance. Our society continues to struggle in reckoning with the “mother of a monster” figure given the plague of disaffected young men committing acts of unspeakable violence. Ramsay never gets preachy or didactic in her exploration of the nature vs. nurture debate, instead letting her propulsive visuals pull us deep into the tortured psyche of Tilda Swinton’s Eva Khatchadourian. Don’t expect easy answers from the film, but Ramsay’s challenges and provocations will undoubtedly deepen your emotional understanding of this new cultural archetype.
‘Father of the Bride’ (1991)
DIRECTOR: Charles Shyer
STARS: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short
RATING: PG
And you thought having a wedding was stressful for the bride. Steve Martin delivers a comedic tour de force as a high-strung, penny-pinching patriarch forced to swallow his pride for his daughter’s big day in Father of the Bride. This family comedy is a delightful and uproarious look at all the little things that can push someone over the edge to the point that they lose sight of what really matters. You’ll want to save the date for this one, be it your first or forty-first watch.
‘Keeping the Faith’ (2000)
DIRECTOR: Edward Norton
STARS: Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman
RATING: PG-13
Love triangles rarely have obstacles quite like the ones that add tension to Keeping the Faith. When Jenna Elfman’s Anna returns to New York and reunites with her two childhood best friends, they rekindle a flame. But Ben Stiller’s Jake is now a rabbi whose congregation would not accept him marrying outside the Jewish faith … and Edward Norton’s Brian is a Catholic priest who cannot marry anyone at all! Their attempts to reconcile these feelings of love with their religious duties make for a uniquely human and high-stakes rom-com.
‘Shrek’ (2001)
DIRECTORS: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
STARS: Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow
RATING: PG
Nearly two decades after its release, Shrek remains as relevant and vital as ever – and if you need proof, scroll any social media service long enough to eventually see a meme featuring everyone’s favorite ogre. This family-friendly adventure works as both a witty send-up of fairy tale lore and a moving journey of self-acceptance. It’s got clever jokes for adults and juvenile ones for the kids, ensuring that everyone’s happy with this movie night pick.
‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993)
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater
STARS: Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Jason London
RATING: R
The best hangout movie ever made, and it’s really not even an argument. Richard Linklater isn’t so much portraying his 1976 high school experience in Dazed and Confused so much as he’s transporting us to a time of freedom and folly in our own lives. This is more than alright, alright, alright – it’s practically a time machine.
‘Bernie’ (2012)
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater
STARS: Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Shirley MacLaine
RATING: PG-13
If there was ever any doubt that Richard Linklater is Texas’ cinematic poet laureate, that’s dispelled in Bernie. This ripped-from-the-headlines story of small-town undertaker Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) and the shocking turns in his relationship with crabby benefactor Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine) is as gripping as any true-crime tale. But the movie really belongs to his Greek chorus of the real-life residents of Carthage, TX, all of whom provide undeniable local color and flair to the story in their talking-head interviews.
‘The Godfather’ (1972)
DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola
STARS: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall
RATING: R
“I believe in America,” begins Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. Only a movie that actually delivers on the goods could get away with such a grandiose opening line. This is the American story writ large through the story of organized crime, a funhouse mirror reflecting the ambition, greed, and grit of an entire nation. This epic story has it all, from an endlessly quotable script to dazzling artistry – and is stacked with a top-to-bottom dynamite cast. Whether watching for the first or the fiftieth time, it’s an offer you can’t refuse.
‘Bridesmaids’ (2011)
DIRECTOR: Paul Feig
STARS: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne
RATING: R
If you have time to read more than a blurb on why Bridesmaids is so great, I argued that its GIF-ability made it the definitive comedy of the 2010s in my Decider column “Smells Like ‘10s Spirit.” Those outsized reactions to everyday absurdity, particularly from leading lady Kristen Wiig, made it the perfect movie to capture the imagination of a culture moving further towards visual rather than text-based communication. But the movie also endures because it’s more than just a collection of outrageous moments – it’s an honest, heartfelt look at female friendships.
‘Superbad’ (2007)
DIRECTOR: Greg Mottola
STARS: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen
RATING: R
Is Superbad the best comedy of the last 15 years? There’s certainly a compelling case to make for this story of two high-school best friends (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera) on a do-or-die mission to supply a party with booze and score their dream girls. There are wall-to-wall laughs from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s script, plus all the performers bring their A-game to add superb physical comedy. The more you watch, too, the more you see the tender and tentative (b)romance between the two leads emerge from under the gags.
