Rachel Ticotin Archives
In this edition of Underrated Horror Movie of the Month, we dive into the 2008 supernatural flick, The Eye. Read why you should watch it!
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Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
The 20 Best Movies On Netflix According To Rotten Tomatoes
The Best Movies On Netflix According To Rotten Tomatoes The best-rated movies on Netflix are constantly changing, and I thought it was as good a time as any, with July halfway over, to go through the top-ranking films available on the streaming service. This isn't an exhaustive list by any means. A number of smaller movies, documentaries and shorts rank as high, but these are the best-reviewed feature films on Netflix at the time of this publication. This could change as movies come and go and as new reviews tip the scores up or down a percentage point. The following list includes monster movies, animated family films, action flicks, Academy Award winners and much more. The oldest film in the list is from the 1950s. The newest just came to Netflix this year. The rest span decades, genres and are both animated and live-action. Note also that while most of Netflix's catalog is available worldwide, it can vary from country to country. Without further ado, let's dive right in starting with #20 and working our way to #1 – and please let me know what your top picks on Netflix are by shooting me a message on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. This is one of – if not the – best zombie movies ever made. The South Korean drama takes place mostly on a train as a father and daughter, along with a colorful cast of characters, try to survive a sudden and rather terrifying zombie outbreak. Just bring a box of tissues. Netflix Originals can be pretty generic and bad, even ones with high-profile stars attached. Rebel Ridge was a pleasant surprise. It's basically Jack Reacher if he were black and facing a racist gang of corrupt cops in the South. Also, unlike Reacher, Aaron Pierre's Terry Richmond isn't a killer. I've never seen such a non-lethal action movie before. Before there was Star Wars, George Lucas directed one of the greatest Americana films of all time, recreating the summer after high school in small town America in the 1950s with style and heart. Fast cars, pretty girls, and bittersweet farewells. This movie is a real gem. I believe this is the newest movie on this list. Kpop Demon Hunters is a Korean animated film about, well, Korean popstar demon hunters. Rumi, Mira and Zoey are celebrities with secret identities as badass demon hunters, selling out shows and taking down evil, with plenty of fun Kpop music for the whole family to enjoy. I haven't seen this one, but if you're in the mood for a really well-received teen rom-com, To All The Boys I've Loved Before follows a teenage girl's struggles after all her love letters are made public. Definitely not a kids movie, this one follows a transgender sex worker out to get payback on a cheating pimp/boyfriend. I haven't seen this one, but Sean Baker has made some terrific films like The Florida Project and Anora. I was so pleasantly surprised by The LEGO Movie when this came out over a decade ago. It was surprisingly funny, the music was hilarious, and the story was really well-written, with a heartwarming ending that really tied it all together. Still the best of the LEGO movies. I'll be honest, I hadn't even heard of this movie until compiling this list. The logline reads: 'Tensions and temperatures rise at a Chicago music studio in 1927 when fiery, fearless blues singer Ma Rainey joins her band for a recording session.' I do love period pieces and 1920s blues music, though! One of a handful of animated films on this list, I Lost My Body is the story of a severed hand that escapes from a dissection lab and goes on a quest to find its body. Certainly a very unique premise, and one that critics and audiences give a high-five. One of the greatest action movies of all time, Mad Max: Fury Road just blasted its way back to Netflix last week. It doesn't matter if you're into post-apocalyptic films or if you've seen any of the other Mad Max movies. This is one you simply can't miss. It's a genuine masterpiece, and it shocks me this isn't at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The classic monster movie turns 50 this year. That's pretty crazy to think about. Jaws pretty much created its own suspense drama, leading to all sorts of great films from Jurassic Park to The Meg. You can't beat the cast or what Spielberg did with the special effects back in the 70s. This is one of the few movies I have a poster for up on my wall. I'll be honest, as much as I love Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, it's probably not even in my top five. Don't get me wrong, it's terrifying and suspenseful and brilliantly shot, but the ending just drives me crazy. I swear, next time I watch it I'm just going to turn it off before that final god awful scene with the psychologist. Other than that, it's a masterpiece! When this came to Netflix a few weeks ago, I called it 'one of the best thrillers ever made' and that's just the cold, hard truth. Not only that, it's one of the best Jimmy Stewart movies ever made, and I say that as a massive superfan. (My other favorites include It's A Wonderful Life, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Philadelphia Story and Harvey). The story of a former beauty queen preparing her rebellious teenage daughter for the Miss Juneteenth pageant. This one was a bit more divisive, with critics giving it a much higher score than audiences (57%). A woman's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War and one of her neighbors suggests that the missile was cursed, and that it was carrying a malevolent spirit. The woman, Shideh, becomes convinced that the now-haunted building is attempting to possess her daughter, Dorsa. It's an interesting blend of horror and war story. Perhaps the only movie on this list that is also a pun, playing off the wildly different 40-Year Old Virgin, this one is about a down-on-her-luck playwright named Radha trying to catch a break before she turns 40. She turns to hip hop instead, and the worlds of rap and the theater collide. The brilliantly unsettling Parasite is a must-watch film for anyone who enjoys dark comedy and suspense, though I have to say this really defies genres in so many ways it's almost hard to pin down. It's a story about family and class and the ways disparity can create suffering. The South Korean film really defies all expectations. You just have to watch it, honestly. I've never really been a huge fan of Godzilla movies outside of the classics. Most American Godzilla films are all about the big special effects and massive destruction and seem to lack the kind of important social commentary that's always been at the heart of these films. Godzilla Minus One is a modern Japanese take on the monster movie, and it's brilliant. What they did on a shoestring budget is just remarkable. Siblings and war orphans Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive during the final months of the Pacific War as WWII draws to a close. Watch this before Godzilla Minus One, since that films takes place in the years after the war and the nuclear bomb. This is one of so many brilliant Studio Ghibli films, though it's as tragic as it is beautiful. This lovely, hilarious, charming family movie tops our list today. Wallace & Gromit, our claymation dog and farmer duo, return for yet another wonderfully eccentric romp involving vengeful penguins and a 'smart gnome.' The return of Feathers McGraw (after more than three decades) and our two heroes make this one of the more delightful family movies out there. That's all folks! Are any of these in your top picks? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
Forbes
15 hours ago
- Forbes
‘Dan Da Dan' Season 1 Blu-Ray Review: Joyous Irreverent Madness
The hectic fever dream of the anime adaptation of Dan Da Dan is anime at its unhinged best. The premise of the manga and subsequently this anime version has a schoolgirl, Momo Ayase, challenge the nerdy Ken Takekura, not that one, but I'll get to that later, that there are no such things as UFOs and aliens. Ken slaps back that there's nothing true about ghosts or the supernatural, which Momo, due to her fortune-telling grandma, firmly believes in. The added twist is that neither party, despite believing the opposite of the other, has actually had any firsthand experience with what they claim to believe in. As a result, Ken goes to a famous haunted tunnel at night, and Momo goes to a building that supposedly has lots of alien abductions. Naturally, while bickering on the phone with each other, both encounter not only ghosts that curse people but also aliens trying to rebuild their race by abducting Earth women. This is where Dan Da Dan does not care about offending anyone, as its approach to these matters is entirely irreverent and very funny. Also, the fact that Ken gets cursed by a crazy old ghost actually helps Momo in her alien abduction predicament, with Momo's newfound spiritual abilities helping to curb Ken's curse. 'Dan Da Dan' is a fun and really quite crazy anime. Which brings me onto the whole dynamic between these two. At the start of the first episode, Momo gets dumped and complains that men aren't manly enough. She also has a soft spot for the actor Ken Takekura, and feels that he is her ideal man. So this whole almost symbiotic relationship between the two is made all the more hilarious when the nerdy kid also has the same name as her heartthrob actor. The result of the latter is that she ends up calling him 'Okarun' because he's a nerdy otaku and doesn't really want to admit that he may be her ideal partner. The icing on the cake for all of this is that Science Saru has really delivered in terms of the animation. I still have a great deal of affection for the studio after Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, but the action sequences in Dan Da Dan are something else entirely. So, having the first season come to Blu-ray is definitely welcome. Not least because the visuals are delivered in a thoroughly pristine way, but the audio hits hard too. You also get some nice extras on the disc, from interviews and the like. The Collector's Edition also comes with a nice 32-page booklet, some art cards, and a sticker. It also all comes in a solid box with nice artwork. Overall, Dan Da Dan is a fun send-up of UFO and supernatural pop-culture, and also cements that with likeable leads. Some of it is pretty racy in places, but it never feels gratuitous, just very silly. In any case, Science Saru has done a great job here, and this Blu-ray set is certainly a tribute to that. Dan Da Dan Season 1 Collector's Edition Blu-ray is available from the GKIDS online store for $49.99 Disclosure: GKIDS sent me this Blu-ray set for the purposes of this review. Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
Fox News
a day ago
- Fox News
Charlize Theron calls out Hollywood for not taking 'risk' on female hero action films
Actress Charlize Theron criticized the film industry for being reluctant to support female-led action films, in a new interview with The New York Times. Theron and fellow actress Uma Thurman spoke to the outlet about the challenges women face in the genre as they promote their new Netflix superhero sequel, "The Old Guard 2." Theron said that securing the lead roles in action films is more challenging for women because Hollywood viewed these films as more of a risk. "Yeah, it's harder," Theron said. "That's known. Action films with female leads don't get green-lit as much as the ones with male leads. I think the thing that always frustrates me is the fact that guys will get a free ride." The Oscar-winning actress suggested there was a double-standard in Hollywood, claiming male actors that star in films that flop at the box office are given a pass while women rarely receive the same leeway. "When women do this and the movie maybe doesn't hit fully, they don't necessarily get a chance again," she said. "With this, we were very aware that eyes were on us. It's not a risk that studios want to take, but they'll take it many times on the same guy who might have a string of action movies that did not do so well." Both she and Thurman have starred in successful female-led action films. Thurman famously played an assassin in "Kill Bill," while Theron has taken on iconic roles in films like "Mad Max: Fury Road" and the "Fast & Furious" franchise.
