March is in full swing. With the 2024 Oscars now just a memory and March Madness about to begin, this weekend feels a bit empty. Of course, you could see Dune: Part Two again, or you can stay at home and see what’s streaming.
If you do, there’s a treasure trove of movies, new and old, underrated and, er, rated, that are worth watching. Hulu has some of the best library titles, and the following three movies are worth a watch this weekend. One is an American comedy similar to The Holdovers, another is an underrated horror sequel, and the final recommended movie is a touching documentary that’s also animated.
Win Win (2011)
What if I told you to watch a great movie starring Paul Giamatti as a cantankerous, down-on-his-luck guy who takes a young teenage boy under his wing? And at the end, both of them learn something about life that they hadn’t known before? No, this isn’t The Holdovers, it’s Win Win, an overlooked 2011 movie that shares some plot details with that acclaimed 2023 movie, but is different in setting and tone.
Directed by Todd McCarthy, Win Win has Giamatti playing Mike Flaherty, an unsuccessful lawyer and part-time wrestling coach who takes a juvenile delinquent, Kyle Timmons, into his home for reasons not entirely selfless. Seeing potential in Kyle as a student and wrestler, he becomes the boy’s de facto father until someone from Kyle’s past — and a present indiscretion of Mike’s — threatens their relationship. Win Win lives up to its title; it’s a winning, self-deprecating comedy, and Giamatti is never better than he is playing a crank.
28 Weeks Later (2007)
It’s commonly acknowledged that 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle’s 2002 hit horror movie, changed the zombie genre forever. By updating its undead to fast, nasty creatures, it dramatically raised the stakes and gave the plot a sense of urgency. It also influenced future works like The Walking Dead and Last Train to Busan. But here’s something that very few people know: the movie’s sequel, 28 Weeks Later, is actually better.
Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo‘s underrated sequel follows two siblings and their father, Don (Trainspotting‘s Robert Carlyle), who inadvertently reintroduce the Rage Virus into a safe zone in London, as well as the efforts of NATO military forces to salvage the territory. In addition to a terrific Carlyle, the film has a top-notch supporting cast that includes future MCU and Marvel stars Jeremy Renner, Idris Elba, and Rose Byrne. While 28 Weeks Later is more action-focused than its predecessor, it never feels gratuitous or thin. It rivals Aliens as one of the most tense horror sequels ever made.
Flee (2021)
Flee is an interesting anomaly — it’s a documentary told primarily through animation. It’s also unforgettable. Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen utilizes the strengths of both formats to tell the story of Amir Nawabi (acknowledged in the film as an alias), a refugee from Afghanistan who recounts his experience of fleeing his native country as a young boy. Now grown, he still feels the effects of leaving his homeland behind, while embracing all the freedoms and uncertainties of his present.
Flee is a beautiful movie, one that’s at once arresting, thrilling, sobering, and life-affirming. It’s also the only movie to snag Oscar nominations in the Best Documentary, Best Animated Feature, and Best Foreign Film categories. That’s a rare hat trick to pull off, but Flee fully earns it with its masterful storytelling.
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