As part of our 100th episode celebration for the InstaFlicka Podcast, each of the hosts made a list of their Top 10 Movies on Netflix Instant Watch. This is Phil’s list. Some of the movies are no longer streaming, but several still are.
10) Heartbreaker
Alex (Romain Duris) and his sister, Mélanie (Julie Ferrier), and her husband, Marc (François Damiens), earn money by breaking up relationships. But when Alex falls for a client’s (Jacques Frantz) daughter, Juliette (Vanessa Paradis), he has to decide if he’ll bust up her wedding to Jonathon (Andrew Lincoln), who’s truly perfect for her. Pascal Chaumeil directs this romantic comedy filmed in Monaco.
9) The Trouble with Harry
Alfred Hitchcock’s second American comedy demonstrates the director’s flair for gallows humor. The trouble with Harry is … he’s “expired,” and the residents of a quaint New England tourist spot just can’t seem to get rid of him. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut, and that’s Jerry Mathers (the Beave himself) as the bewildered boy. See if you can spot Hitchcock in his customary cameo (hint: he’s strolling past a limo).
8 ) Doctor Zhivago
A young physician (Omar Sharif) and his beautiful mistress (Julie Christie) get swept up in the danger and drama of the Bolshevik Revolution in this Oscar-winning epic based on the classic novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Boris Pasternak. The film earned five Academy Awards in all, including statues for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Score and Best Screenplay. Alec Guinness and Rod Steiger co-star.
7) Bronson
Nicolas Winding Refn’s vivid and unflinching biopic delves into the life of Britain’s most notorious prisoner, Charlie Bronson (Tom Hardy) — who’s been jailed for nearly 35 years — and attempts to dissect the real man behind the deranged persona. While Bronson’s primary ambition was to be famous, he became a celebrity of sorts as a criminal who seized myriad opportunities to demonstrate extreme and terrorizing savagery.
6) Pollock
This riveting biopic follows abstract painter Jackson Pollock — who’s alternately neurotic, misogynistic and brilliant — from the start of his career through his marriage to fellow artist Lee Krasner, a union tested by his adultery and alcoholism.
5) TiMER
In this comedic fantasy, science has facilitated the search for a soul mate via biotechnological implants that count down to the moment one is supposed to meet his or her match. But Oona (Emma Caulfield) is worried: She’s nearly 30, and her TiMER isn’t ticking yet. Will her dream guy get snatched up by someone else? John Patrick Amedori co-stars in this film from first-time writer and director Jac Schaeffer.
4) Harvey
Affable tippler Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) lives with his sister, Veta (Josephine Hull), and her bashful daughter. They hate his drinking, but what rankles them more is his faithful companion: a 6-foot-tall invisible rabbit named Harvey. Elwood’s embarrassing flight of fancy is foiling Veta’s plans to marry off her daughter, so Veta decides to commit Elwood. But when she confesses she’s seen Harvey, the doctor institutionalizes Veta instead!
Mysteriously deposited in a perfectly serene but colorless city where every need is met, Andreas soon realizes that not even a new lover can change the sterile banality drowning him. Is this placid life a dream come true or an inescapable hell? Is the lovely music coming from a crack in the basement his ticket out? This provocative black comedy is directed by Jens Lien and stars Trond Fausa Aurvaag and Petronella Barker.
2) Moon
As he nears the end of a lonely three-year stint on the moon base Sarang, astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) begins to hear and see strange things. It’s not long before Sam suspects that his employer — the conglomerate LUNAR — has other plans for him. Featuring Kevin Spacey as the voice of a robot, this sci-fi thriller also stars Matt Berry and Kaya Scodelario. The film was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival.
1) Black Dynamite
Black Dynamite (Michael Jai White) is the only one strong enough and brave enough to take on the baddies who murdered his brother. What’s the former CIA agent to do? Expose a conspiracy that leads straight to the White House. Providing plenty of hilarity and sexy, slick action, Scott Sanders directs this homage to classic 1970s blaxploitation flicks. Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Arsenio Hall also star.
“This movie knocked by god damn socks off the first time I watched it,” said Phil. “This is just a perfectly executed spoof.”
