CriterionCast

Armchair Vacation: Five Films To Watch At Home This Weekend (January 10-12)

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Every day, more and more films are added to the various streaming services out there, ranging from Netflix to YouTube, and are hitting the airwaves via movie-centric networks like TCM. Therefore, sifting through all of these pictures can be a tedious and often times confounding or difficult ordeal. But, that’s why we’re here. Every week, Joshua brings you five films to put at the top of your queue, add to your playlist, or grab off of VOD to make your weekend a little more eventful. Here is this week’s top five, in this week’s Armchair Vacation.

5. The Divide (Hulu)

As uncompromising a horror film as one could ever possibly imagine sitting in front of, this Xavier Gens picture, looking at a group of civilians stuck together at the end of the world, is truly one of the more underrated gems of the genre that the film world has seen the last half decade. Gritty and grungy, this harrowing look at the darkest and most evil aspects of true human nature is an unflinching drama that gets some superb performances out of its solid cast, all while being a visually inspired bit of post-apocalyptic horror. Not everyone’s cup of tea, Gens asks a great deal of his audience for this sadisitic bit of filmmaking, but if one goes along for the ride, what follows is an entrancing look at the inherent corruptibility of the human spirit all in the body of one of the most terrifying and unforgettable horror films of the last handful of years.

4. Narc (Netflix)

While he’s gone on to make a handful of cult gems over the last few years (especially his last film, The Grey) director Joe Carnahan has become one of today’s most interesting filmmakers, having the uncanny ability to jump from a studio picture like The A-Team to the aforementioned existential horror drama with not a wasted breath. However, it’s this hard boiled neo noir that is possibly his best film that may be his best work. A genuinely breathtaking cop picture in a genre that has seen both great and trash alike, the film stars Jason Patric and Ray Liotta in possibly the best performances either of them have given in well over a decade. Ostensibly a B-picture in the narrative and aesthetic choices he makes, Carnahan elevates this type of material by breathing into it a sense of vitality and tactility that is hard to really come by in this type of drama. Newly added to Netflix, this film is not only one that has seemingly been forgotten by this generation, but is also one that is more than worthy of a revisit if you’re lucky enough to know its greatness already.

3. House Of Cards (Netflix)

Yes, we here at The CriterionCast have, since it was first even announced, been talking about the Netflix original series, House Of Cards. With its groundbreaking status as a Netflix Original and the involvement of director David Fincher, film nerds around the globe were hooked to their sets when the show finally debuted earlier last year. However, there is a new addition to this series, and it is in the form of director commentaries for each episode. That’s right, available as a separate audio option on the stream for this series, you can hear names like David Fincher spill the beans about the creation of the show, his creative process and just about everything else you could possibly want to know about this series and its incredible first season. I’ve only been able to listen to the first two, so I can’t speak to them all, but this should be something of a trend setter for Netflix Original series and hopefully other films and shows that Netflix can stream. Really adds a lot of re-watch-ability to the show and the service.

2. The Thing From Another World (TCM; Friday, 11:30pm EST)

Both a well known film in its own right and also likely one of the most well known classic films due to it being the inspiration for the all-time greatest sci-fi horror film, The Thing, this legendary picture is set to get another day in the spotlight thanks to TCM. Hitting as part of their “Science In The Movies” block on Friday night, the film will be opposite such masterpieces as The Bride Of Frankenstein, and while it may be best known as a Howard Hawks picture (even though Christian Nyby is credited as director), the word classic is the most synonymous with this film. Drenched with a sense of brooding impending doom and some truly intense direction, the film features a handful of superb performances from the likes of Kenneth Tobey and Margaret Sheridan and an unforgettable score from composer Dimitri Tiomkin. Sure, Carpenter’s adaptation of this film’s source, John W. Campbell’s Who Goes There may be a greater and more influential piece of work, but this Howard Hawks production is one of its generation’s greatest sci-fi efforts, and deserving of all the praise one can muster.

1. Blue Jasmine (iTunes)

While any other director as prolific as Woody Allen has been throughout his career would have run out of gas decades ago, not only has Allen been amping up his game the last handful of years, but he may have given us one of his many masterpieces just last year. His latest film is now available on iTunes and besides featuring a likely award winning performance from star Cate Blanchett, the film also features some interesting turns from names like Sally Hawkins and even Louis C.K. and Andrew Dice Clay. With Woody seemingly at his most energized, this film is one of his most entrancing thematically and has as much style as Woody has given us in ages, all in the body of quite possibly the best film from this portion of Allen’s canon. And hopefully people flock to one of 2013’s greatest films.

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.