Good Movies to Watch – Highly-Rated Movies on Amazon Prime (Page 5)

The movie starts with Professor John Oldman packing his things to leave and start a new life. He invites his friends to say goodbye and decides to reveal the reason for his departure. The starting point of the narration is a simple question asked by Oldman to his friends: what would a man from the […]

Say what you will about Quentin Tarantino, but when he recommends a martial arts film, you just have to watch it. Like plenty from the genre that Tarantino’s inspired by, Iron Monkey has the same stylish, badass action that Hong Kong cinema is known for, with spectacular wire-work choreography, excellently shot fight sequences, as well […]

The Reader is a German-American drama from 2008, based on the best-selling novel by author Bernhard Schlink. The storyline begins with adult Michael (Ralph Fiennes) reminiscing about his adolescence in post-World War II Berlin and his fateful relationship with an older woman named Hannah (Kate Winslet). 15-year old Michael is beset by Scarlet Fever and […]

Casting is Joe’s strong suit, with the notable case of the character of a homeless alcoholic man played by a real-life homeless alcoholic man, as the abusive father of beyond-his-age, responsible 15-year-old Gary. It doesn’t stop there either, because Nicolas Cage’s performance is one of his career’s best (so you can rest assured as far as that […]

For the background singers featured in 20 Feet from Stardom, music is a vocation. It is not merely an occupation or a pastime; it is a way of life, a “higher calling,” as the legendary Lisa Fischer would say. For 90 minutes, director Morgan Neville superbly maps out the development of back-up singing in the […]

Best known for landmark cyberpunk anime Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo crafted strange and terrifying visions of a world that has not yet come, imagining technology that surpassed that of today, but in much pessimistic light compared to that of the genre. Three of his manga short stories are depicted in Memories, with Otomo partnering with Kōji […]

Structured like a series of vignettes based on the titular American writer’s works, this stop motion animated film embraces how playful and bizarre the medium of clay can be, showing us everything from whimsical jumping frogs, to Adam and Eve, to Satan himself. But even if The Adventures of Mark Twain might get too weird […]

It’s possible that this kid’s cartoon mostly stayed under the radar because of its commercial performance and less than fluid animation, but The Last Unicorn is nonetheless a good film to watch. The film follows the titular unicorn on an adventure to find the rest of her kind and rescue them from the evil Red […]

Despite being colorful and full of music like many Bollywood films, there’s a noirish sensibility to Talaash that makes it stand out. The plot takes on a familiar investigation. The protagonist, portrayed by Aamir Khan, is broody and jaded due to grief. And of course, there’s a femme fatale portrayed by Kareena Kapoor Khan, who […]

Starring Clive Owen in a post apocalyptic nightmare, Children of Men is definitely not for everyone. An insightful, moving and action-packed film where women can no longer have children, and all hope lies on one man to guide the world’s last fertile woman to safety. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, this film is a moving portrait of the […]

Though it’s still very much a product of a time of certain jokes that haven’t aged well, it’s still remarkable how the humor and the satirical edge of this mockumentary has remained so current. As a very-low budget mockumentary of a still-young American hip hop scene, there’s so much more effort that goes into these […]

Demian Bichir was nominated for an Oscar for his role in this movie where he plays an illegal immigrant and father. You might be wondering “who is that?”, but trust me you won’t after watching this movie. The kindness, complexity, and authenticity he brings to this story are unparalleled. A Better Life is about the […]

At first, The Tracker seemed to be a straightforward Australian Western with three white men tracking down a murderer, with the help of an Aboriginal man more familiar with the Outback. But The Tracker takes unexpected paths. First, no one is given an actual name– they’re referred to in the credits by titles (e.g. The […]

What would you do if your favorite artist is in the country? Die-hard fans would literally congregate and wait for their arrival, but in 1960’s Spain, under the Franco dictatorship, it’s a different story. Gathering in groups was restricted to party-approved activities. So in imagining artist and activist John Lennon visiting the country, Living Is […]

With plenty of old men having extramarital affairs, taking advantage of younger women and leaving them forlorn in love, it can feel deceptively easy to take sides in the first forty minutes of He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not. Who wouldn’t side with Angélique, especially with the innocent, childlike face of Audrey Tautou? And […]

Cloudburst is the very funny and heartwarming story of two old ladies, Stella (played by Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis) and Dotty (played by another Academy Award winner, Brenda Fricker) who escape their nursing home and drive to Nova Scotia, Canada to get married. Along the way, they meet Prentice, a hitchhiker on his way home to […]

Somehow an art house film, horror, and romance all in one, Let the Right One In explores the boundaries of its genres with unprecedented finesse, and offers a stunning alternative for those disappointed with recent vampire love stories. From its haunting minimalist imagery to its incredible score, it is persistently beautiful. The film follows twelve-year-old […]

After the sudden death of a teacher, 55-year-old Algerian immigrant Bachir Lazhar is hired at an elementary school in Montreal. Struggling with a cultural gap between himself and his students at first, he helps them to deal with the situation, revealing his own tragic past. A strong portrait without any weird sentimentality. 11-year-old actress Sophie […]

We Are the Best! is one movie that may be overlooked largely by viewers, though it perfectly captures counterculture, and relates to the misfit young and old. The movie is an adaptation of Moodysson’s wife Coco’s graphic novel “Never Goodnight”. Set in Stockholm, Sweden in 1982, Klara (Mira Grosin) and her best friend Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) are […]

Never has evil been so darn fun to watch. Bridget (Linda Fiorentino) is such a captivating villainess, you’ll actually find yourself rooting for her at times in this noirish take on…, I don’t know what, but it involves drug money, double-crosses, lots of witty repartee and cat-and-mouse manipulation that will make your stomach hurt. The […]

Picture this: Hugh Grant falls for an American out of his league. Helping him boost his confidence are his long-time friends, a clique that includes a sibling and a kooky roommate. Grand professions of love are made and timing plays a crucial role in how Grant gets the girl. What you’ve just read may remind […]

A woman joins some acquaintances on a sailing trip only to get caught in a storm. They are rescued by a seemingly empty cruise ship and struggle to make sense of the mysteries that unfold. Definitely one of those “The less you know the better” type of films. If you like well-written creepy thrillers with […]

Ida, the 2015 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, is a stark black & white drama set in the early 60’s about a young Polish nun-to-be and her bawdy Aunt Wanda searching for the truth behind her family’s demise at the hands of the Nazis. What initially comes off as a painfully slow sleep-inducer […]

A Brilliant Young Mind or X+Y is the story of a teenage English mathematics prodigy named Nathan (Asa Butterfield) who has difficulty understanding people, but finds comfort in numbers. When he is chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), Nathan embarks on a journey in which he faces unexpected challenges, […]

This quirky 1988 adventure drama is newly available on Amazon Prime. It’s the classic that never was, the story of a rundown gas station motel in the Southern US where a lonely West German lady called Jasmin Munchgstettner ends up by accident. The owner of the operation, a short-tempered woman by the name of Brenda, […]

It’s easy enough to pitch Moonstruck with the promise of Cher and a young Nicolas Cage getting hot and heavy in 80s New York, but it’s so much more than its two outsized leads. Loretta (Cher) is on track to marry Johnny (Danny Aiello) when he tasks her with inviting his brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) […]

Coherence is a film that captivates you to the point of questioning the reality that surrounds you. It’s a Quantum physics based sci-fi thriller that keeps your eyes sealed to the screen – not with unrealistically beautiful actors or special effects, but with an original screenplay and unexpected twists. Very refreshing.

Robyn Davidson decided to cross 1,700 miles in the Australian desert with four camels and her trusty dog, and this film recounts her real-life journey. In many ways this is a companion piece to Reese Witherspoon’s Wild, also released in theaters in 2014. While I enjoyed Wild, it went out of its way to make […]

This is not what you are looking for if you are not into slow movies. It ambles along like the East-Texas drawls that populate it, taking its sweet time and letting the story gradually roll out. This true-story-based film is driven by a strong and witty performance from Jack Black –just not the Jack Black […]

Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most gripping thrillers in recent years. It starts in a morgue where a corpse of a deceased femme fatale goes missing. Her husband is the first person to be suspected as evidence starts pointing to him for killing his wife and hiding the body. He is called by […]

A fantastic return to form for disgraced actor Mel Gibson, Get the Gringo is proof that you can have all the controversy you want off-screen, and come back to make a great piece of film. Fast, entertaining and crazy, Get the Gringo is a wild tale of a crime gone bad and eventually, becomes a […]

Chicago, 1972. When an elderly woman hands Richard Collier (Superman’s Christopher Reeve) a pocket watch, Richard becomes obsessed with finding out who she is. He discovers she is Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour), an actress who used to do plays in The Grand Hotel. Richard then time travels to 1912 to meet Elise and pursue her. […]

An equally interesting and terrifying must-watch documentary about the state of food in the United States, Food Inc is a sobering tour of where the stuff you eat comes from. Spoiler alert: it’s gross, and should be illegal but that shouldn’t stop you from watching this film, which showcases the food industry’s vile practices and […]

Can you imagine Steve Martin in a serious role? If not, you seriously need to watch this movie! More plot twists than an Agatha Christie novel, so many that my son had to watch it again the minute it was over. Not a lot of special effects, but this is a seriously complex mystery drama […]

A truly timely and difficult documentary, Deliver Us From Evil follows an interviewed confession of a Catholic pedophile. In addition, the film shows his victims, their coping strategies and lives as well as the extreme lengths the Catholic Church went to to cover up and enable the systemic rape of children. While often times hard to […]

Set in the 1930’s English Countryside, the story of the eccentric Mortmain family is told from the daughter Cassandra’s point of view. Her father, a once acclaimed and famous writer has written nothing in years, leading the family into bankruptcy. Themes such as first love and financial troubles are explored from Cassandra’s comic and intelligent […]

A Canadian film with a title based off Cockney rhyming slang meaning “it’s all gone a bit wrong,” it’s All Gone Pete Tong is an offbeat and bleak comedy. Starring Paul Kaye as Frankie Wilde, a successful club DJ who begins to go deaf at the height of his fame. As news of his disability […]

C.R.A.Z.Y. is crazy good, so to speak. A portrait of a French-Canadian family in 70’s Quebec that will knock your socks right off, it’s the story of a boy struggling with his identity and his relationship with his father. Featuring a killer soundtrack (including but not limited to Bowie, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones), it received Best Canadian Film […]

Lauren Greenfield’s film follows the Siegel family’s decline from opulent abundance to gaudy ruin. Mega wealth, delusions of grandeur, and grotesquely opulent taste—the Siegel family were the perfect subjects for the film, which sets out to document their most lavish expense: their Versailles home, a mansion sprawling more than 85,000 square feet and modeled after […]

In the crowded genre of Mafia movies, Gomorrah finds its originality in not romanticizing anything. It’s authentically gripping, violent without being excessively violent, and something that can only be described as a masterpiece of Italian cinema.  It follows different protagonists’ entry into organised crime in Naples, with the two main ones taking their inspiration from American gangster characters.  Just […]

Despite a name that sounds like a cheap horror flick from the 80’s, Chopper is in fact an ‘autobiographical’ account of Australian robber, kidnapper and all round crazy bastard Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. But don’t think this will be some bog-standard, by-the-numbers, ‘crime doesn’t pay’ movie of the week, instead this film revels in gleeful pitch-black […]

Arguably Werner Herzog’s most renowned film, Grizzly Man is a thought-provoking documentary about Tim Treadwell, a man who, as the title suggests, lived among bears. While he remained only known for how his story ended, by one of the bears turning on him, Grizzly Man is the exploration of the man’s complex mind, unlimited energy and love […]

I loved this movie. It starts a bit weird but gets so good. In a parallel world where human frequencies determine luck, love, and destiny, Zak, a young college student, must overcome science in order to love Marie, who emits a different frequency than his own. In an attempt to make their love a reality, […]

This movie is based on a true story and is about the longest mafia trial in American history.  Jack Dinorscio, played by Vin Diesel, is a mobster who refuses to get a lawyer and decides to defend himself in court. This is a great funny, feel-good and heartwarming movie. It is in my opinion by […]

A documentary about the rise and fall of the Enron Corporation, the energy-trading and utilities conglomerate that gained worldwide attention in 2001 upon its headline-grabbing bankruptcy. Detailing the massive amount of fraud and malfeasance committed by the organization’s top executives, the film delves into the many intricate strategies and “special purpose” entities that were manufactured […]

A very cool documentary about old ladies living in a forbidden zone near Chernobyl. They just came back to their homes in the “stalker zone” few years after the accident and kept living their lives care-free for a staggering 30 years. All of them seem healthy and they love telling jokes. It’s a completely different view […]

This documentary is about filmmaker Lacey Schwartz, who stands out from her devout New York Jewish family with her darker skin tone. For most of her life, the family attributed this to genes from a distant Sicilian ancestor. But suspicions have always been there, what a family member calls “the 500-pound elephant in the room”. […]

An awesome anti-Vietnam war, Vietnam movie starring Colin Farrell. He plays a soldier who is too smart for his own good and who does his part to protest the war while serving- a sort of 1970’s Yossarian. Although this film doesn’t show a lot of action, a good deal of it takes place during training and […]

It is one of those movies in which you cannot separate fun from sincerity and poetry from pain. 100 Girls is a good teen movie, and those are becoming very rare. The beauty and diversity of the other students is presented through the eyes of a romantic young man, with their own particularities, contradictions, hopes, […]