Skooby's picks: three Best Picture winners you can stream on Netflix right now
By Jacob Skubish
There are thousands of movies available to stream all the time. This is good, but it’s also overwhelming: when you have that many options, how can you choose just one? Every Friday, I’m presenting you with just three movies available to stream that you should watch to avoid that stress. I’ll hand out different movie recommendations every week.
This week, as we get closer to the Oscars on Feb. 24, I’m recommending three Best Picture winners available to stream on Netflix. I’ll have a batch of three more Best Picture winners to stream next week.
The Silence of the Lambs
Available On: Netflix
More than 25 years after its win, The Silence of the Lambs remains the only horror movie ever to win Best Picture, and the last movie to win the big five categories (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay). The fact that it has'n’t happened again is a testament to just how dazzling and innovative The Silence of the Lambs was: the Academy was able to overcome its antipathy towards horror flicks to award this incredible film.
Today we might categorize Lambs as more of a tense thriller than a horror movie, but the fact remains: this movie is terrifying, driven by the performance of Anthony Hopkins as serial killer Hannibal Lector, who earned an Oscar win for just 16 minutes of screen time. Jodie Foster matches Hopkins with her own indelible performance as the FBI agent attempting to track down another serial killer. The Silence of the Lambs is thrilling, entertaining, exceptional moviemaking, and you’ll never look at fava beans the same way again.
No Country for Old Men
Available On: Netflix
Speaking of horror movies: has there ever been a villain more terrifying than Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem)? He’s on par with Heath Ledger’s Joker as the best villain this century, and in many ways they’re opposite sides of the same, ahem, coin: both are random in their slaughter, but while chaos makes the Joker giddy, Chigurh is unfeeling, as if he’s simply fated to carry out his evil deeds.
Chigurh and Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) play a high stakes game of cat-and-mouse, but No Country movies patiently, quietly. Coen Brothers films are almost by definition nihilistic, but No Country delivers this perspective with a grave solemnity lacking the light-hearted flairs some of their other films contain. That doesn’t mean No Country for Old Men is boring by any means: every moment of this modern Western will have you fully invested.
Annie Hall
Available On: Netflix
Woody Allen is undeniably a repulsive individual, and as evidenced by his recent legal spat with Amazon, it seems like the favor is finally turning against him for allegations that have long been public. I won’t be seeing any new films he puts out in theaters.
Still, I can’t help but recommend Annie Hall, his seminal work and one of the defining movies of the rom-com genre. Annie Hall pulled off a shocking Oscars win over Star Wars, and Allen famously didn’t even show up to receive the honor. Annie Hall is neurotic and heartfelt, and its ending message about the nature of romantic relationships changed the movies forever. If Allen himself hasn’t aged well on screen, then watch Annie Hall for Diane Keaton’s brilliant, fashion-defining performance.