100 Best Movies on Spectrum on Demand

100 Best Movies on Spectrum on Demand

November 27, 2024

Share:

twitter
facebook
reddit
pinterest
link

With more and more people switching to streaming, cable companies have also made a shift to offering streaming plans to loyal customers along with their usual cable deals. Since they also offer internet plans, it made sense for Spectrum to join the fray with Spectrum on Demand. The add-on surprisingly has a wide selection to stream, with plenty of quality films, and for viewers hankering for more, the platform also easily links you to even more films by pay-per-view. Here are our picks for the best films to watch on the platform:

31. Lean on Pete (2017)

7.9

Country

UK, United Kingdom, United States of America

Director

Andrew Haigh

Actors

Alison Elliott, Amy Seimetz, Ayanna Berkshire, Bob Olin

Moods

Character-driven, Slice-of-Life, Warm

A24 + Steve Buscemi = ?. 

In “Lean on Pete,” Buscemi plays a guy called Del Montgomery (of course), who is a racetrack horse owner in Portland, Oregon. He befriends a kid, Charley (Charlie Plummer in an amazing performance), who had been abandoned by his family and is new to Portland. 

Together they take care of Montgomery’s only horse, until the kid discovers that the horse is set to be slaughtered. He embarks on an impossible journey across the U.S. to try to save the horse while also looking for his family. 

This movie flew under most peoples’ radars. It is truly amazing. If you like “Lean on Pete” you should watch other A24 gems like “Lady Bird” or “The Florida Project.”

32. American Fiction (2023)

7.9

Country

United States of America

Director

Cord Jefferson

Actors

Adam Brody, Alexander Pobutsky, Bates Wilder, Becki Dennis

Moods

Discussion-sparking, Easy, Lighthearted

On the one hand, American Fiction is a razor-sharp satire that pokes fun at the hypocrisy of the literary and entertainment industry. It’s only when Monk (Wright), a genius but esoteric writer, decides to pander and give in to what publishers have come to expect from Black authors (that is: trauma porn) that he is finally celebrated for his work. But on the other hand, the film is also a tender family drama. Monk sells out, as it were, partly because he’s fascinated by the stupidity of decision-makers and supposed intellectuals, but mostly because he needs to pay for his ailing mother’s care. His relationship with his siblings and deceased father likewise informs much of his character, and they complicate what could’ve been just an intellectual approach to a social issue. This is an educational and entertaining film, yes, one that looks at the complex intersection between identity, craft, and profit. But it’s also an empathetic film, told with a big heart and a surprisingly light touch.

33. The Boy and the Heron (2023)

7.9

Country

Japan

Director

Hayao Miyazaki

Actors

Aimyon, Jun Fubuki, Jun Kunimura, Kaoru Kobayashi

Moods

Dramatic, Original, Thought-provoking

The Boy and the Heron isn’t Hayao Miyazaki’s best film, nor is it his most accessible, seeing as the director himself has admitted to getting lost in the world he’s built here. But it is his most personal film to date (apparently he’s out of retirement!) and consequently, it’s one of the most complex Ghibli films to exist. It eschews structure for pure, raw emotion so instead of dialogue and plots, you get wonderfully abstract fantasy worlds and protagonists with near-imperceptible depths. You don’t have to get the story to understand the heaviness, grief, joy, and hope that Mahito, and in turn Miyazaki, feel. You only have to see the delicate turns in the characters’ expressions and their wildly imaginative adventures.

34. Minari (2021)

7.8

Country

United States of America

Director

Lee Isaac Chung

Actors

Alan Kim, Ben Hall, Chloe Lee, Darryl Cox

Moods

Character-driven, Discussion-sparking, Dramatic

Minari is a film written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung, about a Korean-American family in search of the so-called American Dream. It is an intimate drama that is powerful yet quiet, and filled with moments of innocence. With dreamlike scoring, unique characters, and a captivating climax, this movie tugs on the heartstrings, and serves as a great reminder of the beauty of gratitude.

Thanks to these, plus winning performances across the board, Minari earned plenty of nominations at the 2021 Oscars, with Youn Yuh-jung eventually bagging the Best Supporting Actress award—a monumental first for South Korea.

35. Parallel Mothers (2021)

7.8

Country

Spain

Director

Pedro Almodóvar

Actors

Adelfa Calvo, Agustín Almodóvar, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Ana Peleteiro

Moods

A-list actors, Character-driven, Emotional

Whether or not you’re familiar with director Pedro Almodóvar’s body of work, Parallel Mother stands as a gorgeous melodrama, a striking story about motherhood and our ties to the past. On one level, it’s a simple but engaging drama about a misunderstanding that ensues between two women. But on another, it’s a deep dive into a nation’s cruel history, as well as an observation of people’s commitment to never letting that part of themselves go.

The film references Almodóvar’s past films but it also works as a standalone, a perfect starting point for moviegoers interested in exploring his oeuvre. Of course, Penelope Cruz continues to be a powerhouse, each line delivery an emotional gut punch, while relative newcomer Milena Smit is stirring, a true revelation, as her director calls her.

36. Padre Pio (2023)

7.8

Country

Germany, Italy, United Kingdom

Director

Abel Ferrara

Actors

Alessandro Cremona, Alessio Montagnani, Anna Ferrara, Asia Argento

Moods

A-list actors, Character-driven, Dramatic

Abel Ferrara’s protagonists have always searched for higher meaning in a flawed, messed-up world of pain and violence. If 1992’s Bad Lieutenant took Harvey Keitel to church for one of American indie cinema’s most spectacular endings, Padre Pio doesn’t offer such solace. Ferrara (who’s been living and working in Rome for years now) teamed up with Italian screenwriter Maurizio Braucci to direct a period piece that brings together the real life of a Catholic Church saint (the titular Padre Pio) and the rise of socialism after WWI. What seems like a straightforward historical approach turns first gruesome and then profound to capture the contradictions at the heart of Italy as a nation. A character study that breaks free of its biographical chains, Padre Pio shows that Ferrara has still got it, 50 films in.

37. Logan Lucky (2017)

7.7

Country

United States of America

Director

Steven Soderbergh

Actors

Adam Driver, Alex Ross, Alex ter Avest, Ann Mahoney

Moods

A-list actors, Funny, No-brainer

Two brothers played by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver decide to rob a local NASCAR event, the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

They put together a team to help them, with Daniel Craig as the demolition expert and Katie Holmes as the gateway driver. Other big names behind this project are actors Seth MacFarlane and Hilary Swank; and director Steven Soderbergh, who is best known for Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Thirteen, and Magic Mike.

The main characters are cheerful and just goofy enough to be completely unpredictable. Their heist is as chaotic as it is random, which inevitably leads to many funny moments. The performances by the whole cast are amazing, Daniel Craig is almost unrecognizable.

A friend once described this movie as Ocean’s 7 Eleven, and it’s hard to come up with a better line.

38. Three Identical Strangers (2018)

7.7

Country

UK, United Kingdom

Director

Tim Wardle

Actors

David Kellman, Ellen Cervone, Howard Schneider, Lawrence Wright

Moods

Feel-Good, Mind-blowing, Sunday

This is a documentary with a dark underbelly. When Bobby Shafran goes on his first day at college, everyone seems to recognize him. The person they’re actually recognizing is his twin brother, as the two were separated at birth by an adoption agency. A third brother surfaces to make the story even crazier, but things take a darker turn when questions arise about why they were separated as toddlers and to what end. If it wasn’t a documentary, this story would be an unusual science fiction on the themes of identity and nature vs. nurture.

39. 2046 (2004)

7.7

Country

China, France, Germany

Director

Kar-Wai Wong, Wong Kar-wai

Actors

Akina Hong, Akina Hong Wah, Ben Yuen, Ben Yuen Foo-Wah

Moods

Original, Smart, Thought-provoking

Director Wong Kar-Wai made this loose sequel to one of the best films ever made, his 2000 classic In the Mood for Love. Much of the story is set around Christmas eve.

In the far future, people take a train to the world of 2046, where no sadness or sorrow can be experienced. No one has ever returned from that world except for a lonely Japanese writer, who narrates the first part of the film.

There are four acts to the story and as is common to Wong Kar-Wai, they are listed in non-chronological order. Not that you will care but 2046 is far from confusing. Instead, it functions as a dazzling visual poem on unreciprocated love.

40. You Were Never Really Here (2018)

7.6

Country

France, UK, United Kingdom

Director

Female director, Lynne Ramsay

Actors

Alessandro Nivola, Alex Manette, Christian Reeve, Claire Hsu

Moods

A-list actors, Dark, Intense

The performance of a pot-bellied Joaquin Phoenix is nothing short of perfection. He brilliantly portrays a hitman down on his luck who happens to rescue a kidnapped teenage girl. It’s a tight movie, running a short 89 minutes. It makes a point that sticks. Pure entertainment, pure acting, and amazing directing by Lynne Ramsay (who also directed We Need to Talk About Kevin).

Comments

Add a comment

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw

© 2024 A Good Movie to Watch. Altona Studio, LLC, all rights reserved.