Looking for good movies to watch from home?
Have you found time for binge-watching?
We have collected for you excellent movies available on Netflix, Disney Plus, and Apple TV Plus.
“Oppenheimer” (Netflix)
It is impossible not to miss summer 2023, just before October. Life was awful, but still somehow bearable, and it was certainly the best cinematic heatwave of the decade—perhaps the last great cinematic summer. It was, as remembered, the summer of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” the epic about the life and regrets of the Jewish inventor of the atomic bomb. Both broke box offices and brought audiences to theaters that hadn’t seen them in years and perhaps never returned, but “Oppenheimer” did even more—it received unreserved media support and was the big star of awards season.
Among other things, the hit was nominated for 13 Oscars and won seven: Best Picture of course; Director (Christopher Nolan); Lead Actor Cillian Murphy; Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr. for his role as Lewis Strauss, head of the Atomic Energy Commission who pursued Oppenheimer after the war; and also for cinematography, editing, and music. More importantly, in a critics’ poll held the previous summer, “Oppenheimer” was chosen as the best film of the decade so far. It is a rare case where critics, audience, and institution agree.
In his Oscar acceptance speech, Nolan said modestly: “The art of cinema has existed only slightly more than a hundred years. Imagine if we were there a hundred years into the history of painting or theater. We don’t know where this journey goes from here, but knowing you think I am a significant part of it, that is the most important thing to me in the world.” Indeed, two years after the release, it is completely clear that it is part of cinema history. Those who missed it in theaters are invited to catch up. It is worth noting that this is a three-hour epic that makes the most of every cinematic expressive means, so it is not necessarily ideal to watch on the couch—but what can you do, summer 2023 in cinemas will not return.
“Totally Anonymous” (Disney Plus)
One of the standout films of last winter was “Totally Anonymous,” a biographical drama about Bob Dylan’s youth. The talked-about hit earned 140 million dollars worldwide, a dizzying sum today for such a film. Here too, it exceeded the dreary period and sold several tens of thousands of tickets. Additionally, it was nominated for eight Oscars, including major categories: Best Picture, Directing (James Mangold); Adapted Screenplay (Mangold and J. Cox), Sound and Costume Design, and no less than three acting nominations: Timothée Chalamet, Ella Mai, for his performance as the celebrated musician; Edward Norton as his spiritual father, Pete Seeger; and Monica Barbaro, the great discovery of this film, as Joan Baez, an iconic singer in her own right who was Dylan’s partner and collaborator.
Though the reviews were mixed. Many Dylan fans, for example, were not enthusiastic. With apologies to them, I highly recommend this musical biography. If you missed it in theaters, you can catch up at home.
“I Saw The TV Glow” (Netflix)
Corin Allal sings that we are all strange birds. This definition describes the protagonists of “I Saw The TV Glow.” They are a boy and a girl who connect sometime in the nineties over their admiration for a TV series, in days when such obsession required much more effort—for example, recording episodes or finding someone to record for you. The film follows them as they grow up and throughout their lives, walking with dreams in the air and their heads in the ground, afraid of their own shadows.
All praise for this film is justified. It is a cinematic, emotional, and physical experience.
“Black and White” (Netflix)
The plot of Spike Lee’s excellent film sounds absurd and entirely fictional, but it is actually based on the autobiography of Ron Stallworth, an African-American officer who managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in 1970s Colorado. He did so with the help of another officer, who, although white, was also Jewish. The fact that the racist organization members did not realize that under their noses walked two people of the races they hated illustrates their absurdly low intelligence and shows how racism against blacks and anti-Semitism are two sides of the same coin.
The film has sharpness, but its messages do not come at the expense of the film. Lee extracts the best from various expressive means, with passion, heat, and spirit. The film enjoys a witty and humorous script in its coarse and sarcastic approach. John David Washington, son of Denzel, who was a longtime professional partner of the director, does an excellent job here, as does Adam Driver, as the Jewish officer.
“Run” (Netflix)
In the same subject: one of the best horror films of recent years begins, like most horrors, in a banal point: a young man goes to meet his girlfriend’s family for the first time. Only the guy is black while his beloved and all her relatives are white, and from the moment he arrives, a series of bizarre and violent events begin, causing him to regret coming in the first place and not running away immediately.
The satirical and cutting dimension of the film directed by Jordan Peele gives it its power, sending new, surprising, and sharpened arrows as it speaks about American racism. But importantly: it also proves to be an effective horror thriller, even without its thematic content.
“Cha Cha Real Smooth” (Apple TV Plus)
This film, which also stars actress Odelia Rash, is another example of Hollywood’s long-standing fascination with Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. Outsiders love it, because Christianity has no such fun coming-of-age ceremonies; and Hollywood loves it, because a Bar/Bat Mitzvah is an opportunity to bring together multiple characters, events, and music in one space, forming a base for drama and comedy.
“True Pain” (Disney Plus)
It is not new that cinema loves to deal with the Holocaust. What is new is that in recent years we see a fresh trend relevant to both Israeli and American cinema: films dealing with the second or third generation traveling to Eastern Europe following their family story.
The film is faithful to its name. Early on, it is revealed that Benji faces mental challenges and suicidal tendencies, raising the question—what is true pain? Can this term be used only in the context of tragedies like the Holocaust, or can someone who simply suffers because they cannot find themselves say they are in pain? “True Pain” raises this question and leaves it open, making it more painful and real. It also touches on various questions related to Jewish identity.
“Toy Story” (Disney Plus)
There are few films that can be said to have changed the world of cinema forever. “Toy Story” is one such film, and now, celebrating 30 years since its release, it is a perfect opportunity to revisit it.
“Toy Story” was the first full-length computer-animated film. It changed how animation films are created, making this genre the dominant force at the box office. It also introduced its production company, Pixar, establishing it as a powerful market force since then.
“Karaoke” (Netflix)
Moshe Rosenthal’s first full-length film, one of the outstanding Israeli films in recent years, takes the all-Israeli experience of neighborly conflict over a karaoke party and charges it with emotion and meaning. Our protagonists are a charming bourgeois couple—Meyer and Tova—who live a comfortable but frustrating routine. This gray routine is disrupted by a new neighbor, Yitzik, whose life seems completely opposite. He is a single wild man whose every evening in his penthouse is a new celebration with changing friends, glittering guests, sex, drugs, and loud music. He captivates the couple and awakens in them things they had long forgotten.
“The Fat Friend” (Netflix)
Goodis Snyder’s romantic comedy did not last long in theaters, but on Netflix it found new life. It is a local, flesh-and-blood version of “When Harry Met Sally.” This time, Harry is Jamie, an unattractive, unshaven, not well-dressed young man. During his military service, he meets Elik, an attractive girl, who is aware of it and successful in every other way. Nothing happens between them, but as this is a small country, they meet years later, now living in Tel Aviv. A friendship develops with sexual tension, but something separates them. In previous films about love under test, ethnic origin stood in the way; here, it is weight.