‘What a songwriter!’

Last year, Bob Dylan celebrated the Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson turning 80 by singing him “Happy Birthday.” In a new Facebook post, Wilson shared how he met Dylan, and it’s as strange as you might expect.

According to Wilson, the two were both in the emergency room in Malibu when they recognized one another and ended up in conversation. They proceeded to make plans for the next day.

Here’s the full story:

“Once I was in the Malibu emergency room getting a weigh-in and this guy walked up to me. He had curly hair and was on the short side. ‘Are you Brian Wilson?’ he asked. ‘Yeah,’ I said.“ Hi,” he said. ‘I’m Bob Dylan.’ He was there because he had broken his thumb. We talked a little bit about nothing. I was a big fan of his lyrics, of course. ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ was one of the best songs, you know? And ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ and ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ and so many more. What a songwriter! I invited him over to my house for lunch the next day. That was a longer conversation. We just talked and talked about music. We talked about old songs we remembered, songs before rock and roll. We talked about ideas we had. Nice guy.”

Female rappers often get compared to each other, but Flo Milli doesn’t want anyone short-selling her career to put Ice Spice down.

It’s a kind of sad inevitability that rap fans will compare two female rappers to each other, usually in an effort to put one or the other down just as she begins to see success. It happened with Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. It’s happened in turn to Coi Leray, Doja Cat, Latto, and Megan Thee Stallion. And now, it’s happening to two of rap’s biggest it-girls of the moment: Flo Milli and Ice Spice.

When a fan account noted Ice Spice being recognized by Billboard, some fans took the opportunity to try to let the wind out of Ice’s sails by negatively comparing her to Flo Milli. “i can give u 2 flo mili verses better than her entire discography,” wrote one spiteful commenter.

Flo Milli caught wind of the comparison and took steps to shut it down. “i wish yall would stop with this tired ass narrative yall love to push about my career,” she wrote. “and stop mentioning me while trying to degrade another artist its WEIRDDD. im doing great i went from being broke to traveling the world with my talent and im only 23.. pls RELAX.”

Plenty of Flo’s fans were quick to show their support, as well.

One thing is clear: The comparisons need to stop. There’s no accounting for taste, but underselling one rapper’s career in order to demean the other serves neither side.

Vic Mensa is the latest celebrity to launch a weed brand and he’s doing Chicago proud.

The west coast is spoiled when it comes to weed. Not only do we have some of the best brands on the market — California is still the capital of weed in the United States, that’s not up for debate — but even our celebrity brands are high quality. Seth Rogen’s Houseplant, Bella Thorne’s Forbidden Flowers, and Shavo Odadjian’s 22Red (also available in NV/AZ) are all legit top-shelf lines that can compete with the very best strains on the market. And while I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon, as more states and cities legalize recreational weed usage, brands nationwide are going to keep coming for California’s crown.

This brings us to the latest celebrity weed brand — Vic Mensa’s 93 Boyz. Right off the bat, here’s what I like about 93 Boyz: instead of relying on the star power of Mensa, the brand focuses on the fact that it’s the first black-owned cannabis brand in Chicago. The weed is Chicago-owned, Chicago grown, hand-trimmed, and makes reinvesting in the community core to the overall 93 Boyz mission.

The community-first branding isn’t lip service, either. 93 Boyz is made in partnership between Illinois growers Aerīz and Mensa’s nonprofit SAVEMONEYSAVELIFE, an Indigenous and Black-led organization that advocates for sustainable community change. 93 Boyz has committed to using portions of its profits to sponsor initiatives aimed at prison reform and equity in the cannabis space.

The products available from the brand include flowers, pre-rolls, and vape cartridges. To get a sense of what 93 Boyz has to offer, we sampled each form factor. Here are our thoughts, starting with my favorite of the trio.

Flower — Jealousy Thin Mints // Jet Fuel

THC: 28.35% // 32.59

Terpenes: b-Caryophyllene, Limonene, Humulene, Linalool // b-Caryophyllene, Mycene, Limonene, Humulene

Strain: Hybrid // Sativa

Tasting Notes and Effects:

Before we get into the flavors and the high, we need to talk about this packaging. I don’t like it. I’ll always take a glass jar over a thick zip lock bag, I find that it tends to keep the bud fresher, and stickier, and helps to retain the natural flavors.

Both my Jealousy Thin Mints and Jet Fuel strains lacked stickiness. Would a glass jar have stopped that from happening? We can’t say for sure, but I’m going to guess “yes,” considering I have weed that is from 2022 in my bedroom and it’s still sticky as f*ck.

Luckily, Jealousy Thin Mints and Jet Fuel still provided a lot of flavor and a strong high — at the end of the day that’s all that matters.

The Jealousy Thin Mints is a hybrid strain made from a crossbreed of, as you might’ve guessed, Jealousy and Thin Mint, two beloved strains, and the result is great. It’s sweet and tantalizing on the nose, smoking through my vaporizer I tasted hints of chocolate, lavender, mint, and pine.

After just a few hits, I felt a strong full body buzz as my eyelids got heavy, and feelings of euphoria rushed in. This is a great, feel-good strain, and while it’s incredibly relaxing, I never felt too tired to get up, manage tasks, and generally just change my environment to experience the high in new ways.

This is a stay-at-home high though — I couldn’t imagine myself out in the open while on this stuff, it’s too relaxing.

This brings me to the Jet Fuel, which offers the opposite experience. The strain is bred from Aspen OG and High Country Diesel and has that pungent skunky smell typical of Diesel strains. That experience transfers over to the taste as well, it’s earthy, citrusy, and a bit peppery but with a sweetness that balances out the harsher aspects.

The high had me hyperactive and euphoric, I wasn’t content with sitting around and taking in the experience so I threw some headphones on and went for a mid-afternoon walk. This was the best experience, I found myself fixated on the colors around me, particularly transfixed by blue sky and white clouds.

I probably looked insane walking around looking at the sky, but I was too in my own world to care. Unfortunately, this was followed by a very sluggish crash that had me pretty tuned out for the rest of the day. That could be easily remedied by smoking more though. Or maybe a solid nap.

The Bottom Line:

Both strains offer a pretty great experience. For flavor and relaxation, go with the Jealousy Thin Mints, if you’re looking to be high on the go, Jet Fuel is your herb. Just be careful with the latter’s crash.

Pre-Roll — Lotto

THC: 18.95%

Terpenes: Myrcene, Limonene, b-Caryophyllene, Humulene

Strain: Hybrid

Tasting Notes and Effects:

Starting off with the packaging, I wish the pre-rolls gave me more. All that was available on the label was the strain’s THC content, nothing about what type of strain I was smoking or the terpenes. Obviously, I was able to find this information, but it would be great if it was on the packaging.

93 Boyz pre-rolls come in .5 and 1.0-gram sizes, both form factors are pretty small. As a relatively heavy smoker, the pre-roll was good for a nice strong head change but it isn’t the type of thing I’d want to share with another smoker.

Lotto is a crossbreed of GG4 and Do-Si-Dos and sports a super skunky diesel smell. Luckily the taste is more citrusy than it is earthy and harsh, with a strong zesty finish that gave me a sneezing sensation. The high was a feel-good stress buster, strong enough to feel the buzz but light enough to keep me on my feet.

I can see myself smoking this tiny joint during a break between tasks.

The Bottom Line:

A nice strong steady high that results in a refreshing head change. A great option for those who want to get high but don’t want to be pushed into the psychedelic stratosphere.

Vape Cart — Super Donutz

THC: 81.18 (Total per cart)

Terpenes: b-Caryophyllene, Humulene, Limonene, Myrcene

Strain: Hybrid

Tasting Notes and Effects:

The 93 Boyz vape carts are pretty standard stuff, a mix of plastic and metal housing a thick distillate that fits into standard battery vape pens.

Super Donutz is a cross between Banana Creme Cake and Jealousy and that lineage results in sweetened top notes with a bright citrusy character, and a little bit of funk on the backend.

The high knocked me the f*ck out. After a single hit, a rush of euphoric feelings hit my senses, which had me supremely couch-locked. It’s the sort of high that makes you feel good to lie down and do nothing. So if that’s not your speed, be wary — there is no conquering that feeling for a few hours.

My suggestion would be that if you plan on doing anything while under the influence of Super Donutz, you get it prepared in advance. That includes getting your snacks, picking any movie or tv show you plan to watch ahead of time, or queuing up the right playlist.

The Bottom Line:

A highly euphoric experience that’ll make you content with laying around and doing nothing. Just don’t try to do anything else (unless you have a sturdier constitution than me). This is the sort of high that comes across like a mini vacation. Save it for your most stressful days when you need a respite from all the noise.

Find 93 Boyz products here.

The Big Takeaway:

93 Boyz isn’t just a celebrity-endorsed brand that tries to sell weed on a big name. It’s a passion project from Vic Mensa that reflects how much he cares for both the city he calls home and good quality herb.

93 Boyz is a brand exclusive to Illinois, shop the herb at a dispensary near you here.

The CNN anchor lectured detractors for living in an information ‘silo.’

Anderson Cooper is getting raked over the coals after mounting a defense of CNN for hosting a town hall with Donald Trump that has been widely criticized across the board. Even Fox News couldn’t believe what they saw as Trump not only spread lies but smeared E. Jean Carroll less than 24 hours after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the author.

In Cooper’s defense, he started out by fully agreeing with the condemnation of Trump’s rhetoric.

“Many of you have expressed deep anger and disappointment,” Cooper said. “Many of you are upset that someone who attempted to destroy our democracy was invited to sit on a stage in front of a crowd of Republican voters to answer questions and predictably continued to spew lie, after lie, after lie. I get it. It was disturbing.”

However, things went south when Cooper chose to criticize detractors of the town hall event by accusing them of living in an information “silo.”

Via USA Today:

“The man you were so disturbed to see last night, that man is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president,” Cooper said. “You have every right to be outraged today, angry and never watch this network again, but do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?”

Cooper’s lecture did not go over well on social media where people were quick to point out on how fast the CNN anchor kicked his longtime friend Kathy Griffin to the curb after her infamous Trump photo sparked a controversy.

As for other Twitter users, they didn’t appreciate Cooper’s condescension and blasted the anchor for pretending like everyone doesn’t know what Donald Trump’s views are by now. The guy’s been running for president since 2015, and that’s not counting his threats to run so he could get a better Celebrity Apprentice contract.

(Via USA Today)

The visual is the first one from the singer’s new EP, ‘Live At Electric Lady.’

Clairo has fully resurfaced, which could only mean one thing — indie pop is healing. The singer lent her talents to Beabadoobee, appearing on the track “Glue Song” and even released a song, “For Now,” to raise funds for non-profit organizations, For The Gworls and Everytown. However, not the musician is making her first on-camera sighting in a while.

With her live performance EP Live at Electric Lady now available across streaming platforms, Clairo shared the official visual for the single, “Amoeba.” The track was originally featured on the musician’s 2021 album Sling, along with several of the other tracks, including “Blouse,” “Partridge,” and “Zinnias.” The project’s remaining track, “Bags” was first featured on Clairo’s 2019 album Immunity.

Produced by Jack Antonoff (who’s also listed as a co-writer), on “Amoeba,” Clairo examines the lack of balance between her relationship with fame and her family as she sings, “Aren’t you glad that you reside in a Hell and in disguise? / Nobody yet everything, a pool to shed your memory / Could you say you even tried? / You haven’t called your family twice / I can hope tonight goes diffеrently / But I show up to the party just to leavе.”

The live in-studio performance directed and edited by Andy Madeleine puts those conflicting emotions on full display. In a statement, Clairo spoke about her new EP, saying, “I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to perform at Electric Lady. A huge thank you to everyone involved!”

Watch the full video above.

Live At Electric Lady is out now via Fader/Republic. Find more information here.

Janelle Monáe’s rollout for ‘The Age Of Pleasure’ has been turning fans’ heads with their NSFW antics

What Janelle Monáe is doing isn’t new. The singer, who has long been known for their campy style and high-concept songwriting, has been turning heads ahead of the release of her fourth studio album, Age Of Pleasure, which she announced earlier this week with the video for “Lipstick Lover.” In that video — and in many of her public appearances before its release, such as at the Met Gala — Janelle makes it a point to show off aspects of theirself many fans are just seeing for the first time.

Those aspects include her physical attributes, yes — she most recently flashed a crowd during the video release party for “Lipstick Lover” — but they’ve also included her unabashed approach to sexuality. In the “Lipstick Lover” video she not only flaunts her gorgeous features, but also displays a downright impressive collection of sex toys (the use of which she “demonstrates” toward the end of the video), and what appears to be a feet kink, eating chocolate cake out of a high heeled woman’s shoe.

Fans on Twitter have been flabbergasted; the best example being the viral tweet that compared her ArchAndroid-era bichromatic suits to the Monopoly mascot, Rich Uncle Pennybags. However, those fans probably just haven’t been paying attention. Janelle Monáe has always centered her sexuality in her music. Her “titties out for the next 15 years” Twitter declaration isn’t a symbol of her sexual awakening; instead, it’s a wake-up call to the audience and a gesture of defiance at what’s been happening in the news lately.

Not to get you down or anything, but I don’t know if you’ve noticed: A lot of people are under direct attack by the political system in this country. Regressive politicians and pundits are lashing out at women, Black folks, and queer people for the past five years, in many cases with the full weight of the government behind them. These monsters are trying to legislate whole segments of the population out of existence; those they don’t want to wipe out, they definitely want to see singing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” in the cotton fields again.

And with the next election cycle a year away and the legal options looking bleak, there’s been little recourse for those targeted but to get a little louder every day — a little less abashed, a little more aggressive, and a lot more visible, in spite of the hatred radiating their way from nearly every side. The only real way to fight propaganda is with information. So, if Fox News wants to paint trans and queer people as a threat to the American way of life, then those people’s weapon to fight back is to show America they’re just folks like the rest of us.

The same goes for Black people. If state representatives are going to rally against “wokeness” — a dogwhistle for Black people just showing up and refusing to assimilate to whiteness — then the antidote is more representation, not less. And women, whose sexual health is being restricted by the so-called “small government” party, must indulge their desires as much as they can while they still can. If so-called “conservatives” are so threatened by women’s sexual freedom, then women owe it to themselves to enjoy menacing those concern trolls right out of existence.

Janelle Monáe has been doing these things her whole career. If fans are just catching on, it’s their own fault for just scratching the surface and not engaging because of her androgynous, early-career style. Their politics have always been right there in the music, even if they were veiled by the grand metaphor of her “Cindi Mayweather/Electric Lady/ArchAndroid” persona and storytelling. The whole point of Cindi Mayweather as a messianic figure is that she defies the oppressive oligarchy that wishes to suppress freedom and love with the power of time travel. Sound familiar?

Even on her most recent album, 2018’s Dirty Computer, she made clear references to her sexuality and her pleasure in defiance of the autocratic regime. “Pynk” was a song specifically about pussy power, while “Django Jane” evokes Quentin Tarantino’s antebellum revenge film as Monáe declares feminine supremacy. “Remember when they used to say I look too mannish / Black girl magic, y’all can’t stand it / Y’all can’t ban it, made out like a bandit / They been tryin’ hard just to make us all vanish / I suggest they put a flag on a whole ‘nother planet.”

And yes, in this time, she was already beginning to shed the guise of the Android — a guise fans disrespect a little too much with flippant jokes about her dressing like Fonzworth Bentley. She dressed this way to honor her blue-collar family; in her mind, the black-and-white was a uniform that celebrated their uniforms as they went to work cleaning homes and delivering mail. Even then, she was telling us who she was; it’s not a reach to see the bichromatic outfits reflecting her bisexuality and non-binary status.

But now, she doesn’t get to have the luxury of metaphors or double entendres. The situation has become more dire than ever. So now, she’s taken off the pretexts as well as the clothing. She’s still presenting herself as the martyr and messiah, fighting back by being louder, bolder, and brighter than the hatred and those who’d rather see her silent and diminished. That’s not new either. It’s the story of America, of being Black, of being queer, of being non-binary, and always fighting to be seen, to be heard, and to not just survive in a hostile world but thrive.

The best Netflix Original slate is stacked. Like Rian Johnson whodunnits and Charlize Theron sci-fi epics, stacked.

Netflix’s content library is filled with blockbusters and indie darlings, but a good amount of those come courtesy of the streamer itself. Netflix’s original films are stacked with sci-fi action epics and sports comedies, and Oscar-winning aueteur entries. So, to whittle down the smorgasbord of choices, we’ve rounded up the best Netflix feature-length creations that deserve to be added to your queue.

You can see the full list of the best original movies on Netflix below:

Last updated on May 12, 2023.

25. The Luckiest Girl Alive

Year: 2022
Cast: Mila Kunis, Finn Wittrock, Connie Britton, Scoot McNairy
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Rating: R
Runtime: 113 minutes
Director: Mike Barker
Trailer: Watch here

None of us are who we were in high school, but that’s especially true for Ani Fanelli, a New York City journalist on the cusp of having it all. Mila Kunis plays Ani as tough, street-smart, and a bit of a black sheep amongst the Manhattan elite whose circles she now navigates while trying to keep a lock on her troubled and violent past. But, when a documentary crew comes knocking, hoping to get Ani’s take on an infamous school shooting incident that she survived during her teenage years, old ghosts rise to the surface, threatening her carefully cultivated persona in ways she could never expect.

Watch it on Netflix

24. Luther: The Fallen Sun

Year: 2023
Cast: Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 129 minutes
Director: Jamie Payne
Trailer: Watch here

Idris Elba returns as the brilliant but troubled copper, John Luther, in this thrilling mystery from Netflix. Would it help to know Luther’s disgraced-detective origins via the BBC drama? Sure. But just jumping straight into this cat-and-mouse game between the on-the-run anti-hero and Andy Serkis’ twisted serial killer might also be a hell of a lot of fun.

Watch it on Netflix

23. Set It Up

Year: 2018
Cast: Glen Powell, Zoey Deutch
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 105 minutes
Director: Claire Scanlon
Trailer: Watch here

Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell star in this office rom-com with a bit of a twist. Instead of the two young co-stars falling in love, it’s Deutch and Powell who try to set up their overbearing, workaholic bosses with each other so that they can get a break from their demanding jobs. Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs play the employers from hell, and Deutch and Powell put themselves through the paces to make the pair fall in love, and to make us laugh. It’s superficial, it’s cute, and it’s proof that Glen Powell has always been charming.

Watch it on Netflix

22. Eurovision Song Contest: A Song of Ice and Fire

Year: 2020
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Will Ferrell, Dan Stevens
Genre: Comedy, Musical
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 123 minutes
Director: David Dobkin
Trailer: Watch here

Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams take on the planet’s most-watched singing competition with this campy comedy about an Icelandic duo named Fire Saga, who are set on achieving glory on the world’s biggest stage. Ferrell and McAdams play Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir, artists chosen to represent their nation in the Eurovision Song Contest, a real competition that features musicians from all over the world, who are often performing in wild get-ups. Dan Stevens almost steals the show while Pierce Brosnan and Demi Lovato make appearances. We’re calling it now: “Volcano Man” is going to be a bop for the ages.

Watch it on Netflix

21. White Noise

Year: 2022
Cast: Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 136 minutes
Director: Noah Baumbach
Trailer: Watch here

Director Noah Baumbach partners (again) with Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver to adapt a work of fiction many said could never translate on screen. Based on a 1985 novel of the same name, this Netflix film follows a blended family living in ’80s-era Ohio whose lives are upended when a contamination event throws everything into chaos. Driver plays a meek, uninspired professor name Jack, Gerwig his neurotic, death-obsessed wife named Babette. The two share a fear of dying that’s only exacerbated when a train accident causes a cloud of chemical waste to envelop their small town. It’s absurdist comedy with heart and a surprisingly fun dance number at the end.

Watch it on Netflix

20. The Wonder

Year: 2022
Cast: Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Kila Lord Cassidy
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 108 minutes
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Trailer: Watch here

Florence Pugh delivers a devastating-yet-subtle performance in this period drama that deep dives into the superstition and oppression that surrounds religion in a small hamlet in the Irish Midlands. Pugh plays Lib, a young nurse with a dark past who’s hired to investigate whether a young girl who claims to be touched by God is a miracle or a fraud. It’s a tense, slow-plotting thriller, one that gives Pugh ample space to show off her skills amidst a gorgeous backdrop of rainy, rolling hills.

Watch it on Netflix

19. Do Revenge

Year: 2022
Cast: Maya Hawke, Camila Mendes, Austin Abrams
Genre: Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 118 minutes
Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Trailer: Watch here

Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes star in this teen comedy filled with cheeky winks to the genre’s early aughts classics. Mendes plays Drea, a popular student at an elite private school whose reputation is trashed after her boyfriend (Euphoria’s Austin Abrams) leaks an intimate video of her. She seeks revenge and enlists the help of the school’s new girl Eleanor (Hawke) who undergoes a makeover to infiltrate the popular clique Drea once belonged to and destroy them from the inside. Come for the “Glenn-ergy” of it all, stay for the plot twist near the film’s end.

Watch it on Netflix

18. Matilda The Musical

Year: 2022
Cast: Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: PG
Runtime: 117 minutes
Director: Matthew Warchus
Trailer: Watch here

An adaptation of a Tony Award-winning musical, itself an adaptation of a Roald Dahl children’s book, this exquisitely-directed adventure is one of the best Netflix has delivered in quite a while. Most of that is thanks to the choreography, the music, and the dizzyingly-colorful sets, but newcomer Alisha Weir does excellent work as Matilda, a young, misunderstood girl with brains and gumption and parents who fail her time and time again. Emma Thompson is deliciously evil as Miss Trunchbull, and Lashana Lynch proves she’s an on-screen chameleon, following up her Woman King role with a heartbreaking, inspiring turn as Ms. Honey (the teacher we all wish we’d had).

Watch it on Netflix

17. Longest Third Date

Year: 2023
Cast: Khani Le, Matt Robertson
Genre: Documentary
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 83 minutes
Director: Brent Hodge
Trailer: Watch here

A strange, surprisingly compelling time capsule of a film, this doc chronicles the quick-moving relationship of Matt and Khani who match on Hinge and enjoy a whirlwind romance that’s interrupted in the unluckiest of ways when the Covid pandemic hits. What do you do when you’re stuck in a foreign country with a person you just met thanks to a worldwide shutdown that cuts you off from family, friends, and any sense of civilization? It’s a question we’ll thankfully never have to answer, but there’s a weird sense of entertainment and hope in watching these two figure it out.

Watch it on Netflix

16. The Platform

Year: 2019
Cast: Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 94 minutes
Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Trailer: Watch here

This Spanish-language sci-fi flick is all kinds of f*cked up, but in the best way. The film is set in a large, tower-style “Vertical Self-Management Center” where the residents, who are periodically switched at random between floors, are fed by a platform, initially filled with food, that gradually descends through the levels. Conflicts arise when inmates at the top begin eating all the food, leaving the people lower down to fight for survival.

Watch it on Netflix

15. You People

Year: 2023
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Nia Long, Jonah Hill, Lauren London
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Director: Kenya Barris
Trailer: Watch here

Kenya Barris tells another story focusing on interracial dynamics, this time with the help of a roster of comedic powerhouses. Jonah Hill plays Ezra, a young executive struggling to make a career change. He meets Amira by happy accident, but blending their Jewish and Black families prove difficult when Ezra fails to impress Amira’s father (Eddie Murphy) and Amira points out some issues of performative woke-ism in Ezra’s parents (Julia Louis Dreyfus and David Duchovny).

Watch it on Netflix

14. The Devil All The Time

Year: 2020
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan,
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 138 minutes
Director: Antonio Campos
Trailer: Watch here

This time-hopping drama set in the backwoods of West Virginia is basically an excuse for director Antonio Campos to assemble his own Avengers-style squad of Hollywood A-listers. Seriously, everyone’s in this movie: Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Eliza Scanlen, Sebastian Stan, Mia Wasikowska, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Haley Bennett, that kid who played Dudley in the Harry Potter franchise. The whole gang’s living in shacks and picking up hitchhikers, only to murder them later and speaking in tongues and falling victim to generational trauma. It’s a heavy watch, and there’s not really a happy ending, but boy does Pattinson deliver a batsh*t crazy turn as a perverted preacher.

Watch it on Netflix

13. Hunger

Year: 2023
Cast: Nopachai Chaiyanam, Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Gunn Svasti Na Ayudhya
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 146 minutes
Director: Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
Trailer: Watch here

Thai filmmaker Sitisiri Mongkolsiri gives us his version of The Menu with this deliciously tense, inexplicably-eerie restaurant thriller. Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying plays Ayo, a young woman working at her family’s noodle shop who dreams of more. She gets it after scoring a job with a dictator-like food auteur in Nopachai Chaiyanam’s Chef Paul. Paul is uncompromising and abusive and Ayo subjects herself to that abuse in order to climb an imaginary ladder but, once she reaches the top, the view looks grim.

Watch it on Netflix

12. Okja

Year: 2017
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 120 minutes
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Trailer: Watch here

Bong Joon-Ho’s send-up of corporate farming and environmental abuses isn’t subtle. Tilda Swinton goes all-out as the CEO of an evil corporation only to be outdone by Jake Gyllenhaal’s broad turn as an unstable TV host. But its tale of an endearing, genetically modified “super pig” and the girl who loves him is effective and contains both some terrific action set pieces and the most affecting child/strange beast relationship this side of E.T.

Watch it on Netflix

11. Hustle

Year: 2022
Cast: Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Juancho Hernangómez
Genre: Sports, Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Trailer: Watch here

Adam Sandler has plenty of comedy favorites housed on Netflix, but we’re highlighting this one because Sandler gets to channel his everyman charm in a sports story that lets his comedic sensibilities control the game. He plays Stanley Sugerman, an aging 76ers scout, who discovers a potential NBA star during a pick-up game in Spain. Stanley risks his career and his family’s future to back the unknown player, eventually squaring off against his old boss and confronting his own troubled past to help someone else achieve their dreams on the court.

Watch it on Netflix

10. The King

Year: 2021
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson
Genre: Historical, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 140 minutes
Director: Joel Edgerton
Trailer: Watch here

Timothee Chalamet is everywhere right now so really, are you that surprised he’s playing a boyish, rebellious King Henry V in this big-budget Shakespeare adaptation from Joel Edgerton? Chalamet and his bowl-cut bring Hal to life, the wayward prince forced to assume the throne after his father’s death. Hal has to grow up quickly to lead his men into battle against a bloodthirsty French foe (Robert Pattinson having too much fun with his overdramatic accent) and preserve England’s reign. It’s all medieval warfare and political intrigue and it’s held up by Chalamet who stands out — even amongst a stellar supporting cast.

Watch it on Netflix

9. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Year: 2020
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis, Toni Collette
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 134 minutes
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Trailer: Watch here

Charlie Kaufman’s latest film is based on a book of the same name and stars Chernobyl’s Jessie Buckley as a young woman meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time — which normally would be a happy event except she’s secretly been planning to break up the with the guy. That guy is Jesse Plemons, who seems to be in everything these days, and along with Toni Collette and David Thewlis who play his parents, they make for hellish dinner mates. There’s a sinister vibe permeating everything about this straightforward plot so if you think you know how this ends, let us be the first to tell you: You don’t have a clue.

Watch it on Netflix

8. Bo Burnham: Inside

Year: 2021
Cast: Bo Burnham
Genre: Comedy, Music
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 86 minutes
Director: Bo Burnham
Trailer: Watch here

Bo Burnham distills our collective quarantined experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, writing, directing, starring in, composing, and editing this bleak-yet-hilarious bit of performance art that might be the most exciting, inventive thing we’ve seen yet. Is it a movie, a stand-up routine, or a comedy special? We really don’t know, but it’s damn funny so we’re putting it on this list. The self-deprecating humor and catchy tunes are here of course, but Burnham goes darker, crafting complete bangers about everything from the white savior complex to cancel culture, toxic masculinity, depression, and global economic inequality.

Watch it on Netflix

7. Triple Frontier

Year: 2019
Cast: Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Charlie Hunnam
Genre: Action, Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 125 minutes
Director: J.C. Chandor
Trailer: Watch here

This Netflix original heist thriller stars a whos-who of Hollywood hunks. Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal play a group of former special ops bros who reunite to take down an infamous cartel kingpin and steal his profits in the process. Isaac and Affleck look to be the leaders of the team, two men fed up with risking their necks for a country that doesn’t look after them once they’re back on home soil, and Isaac’s A Most Violent Year director J.C. Chandor is at the helm, which means a couple of plot twists and some high stakes action are in store.

Watch it on Netflix

6. Da 5 Bloods

Year: 2020
Cast: Delroy Lindo, Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors
Genre: War, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 154 minutes
Director: Spike Lee
Trailer: Watch here

Any Spike Lee joint is worth a watch, but this genre-bending thriller about a group of black Vietnam War vets returning to the battlefield decades later feels especially timely. That’s because Lee manages to shed light on a little-known part of our shared history: the way our country treated Black soldiers returning from the war, but he also raises the stakes with a subplot that includes a buried treasure hunt and a heartwrenching mission to retrieve the remains of a fallen comrade. The cast, which includes Black Panther’s Chadwick Boseman in one of his final roles, is brilliant, the story is gripping, and the direction is top notch.

Watch it on Netflix

5. Pamela: A Love Story

Year: 2023
Cast: Pamela Anderson
Genre: Documentary
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 112 minutes
Director: Ryan White
Trailer: Watch here

After decades of having her image stolen, twisted, and used for others’ gain — most recently in the critically-acclaimed Hulu series Pam & Tommy — Pamela Anderson is finally defining her legacy on her terms. The result is this brief but powerful documentary that rehashes painful plot points in the star’s life — some we already know and some we don’t — but through Pam’s eyes. She’s brutally candid and bravely vulnerable throughout it all, whether it’s visiting past diary entries on her boxes of legal pads or recounting childhood abuse. Whoever you thought Pamela Anderson was, this doc will likely prove you wrong.

Watch it on Netflix

4. Roma

Year: 2018
Cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 135 minutes
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Trailer: Watch here

Academy Award-winning writer/director Alfonso Cuaron delivers what may be his most personal film to date. The stunningly-shot black-and-white film is an ode to Cuaron’s childhood and a love letter to the women who raised him. Following the journey of a domestic worker in 1970s Mexico City named Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the movie interweaves tales of personal tragedy and triumph amidst a backdrop of political upheaval and unrest.

Watch it on Netflix

3. Glass Onion

Year: 2022
Cast: Daniel Craig, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monae, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Crime
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 140 minutes
Director: Rian Johnson
Trailer: Watch here

Rian Johnson delivers a deliriously fun follow-up to his breakout 2019 murder mystery with Daniel Craig returning to play famed detective Benoit Blanc. This time around, Blanc, equipped with a colorful new wardrobe and his same slow, Southern drawl, heads to Greece to investigate a murder amongst a group of friends reuniting for an island holiday. Most of the culprits are out-of-touch elites — to the nth degree — with stars like Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, and Edward Norton playing supermodels, Twitch streamers, politicians, and tech moguls who are as ridiculous as they are corrupt.

Watch it on Netflix

2. The Irishman

Year: 2019
Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci
Genre: Biography, Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 209 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Trailer: Watch here

Martin Scorsese delivers another cinematic triumph, this time for Netflix and with the help of some familiar faces. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up (again) for this crime drama mostly based on a true story. De Niro plays Frank Sheeran a World War II vet who finds work as a hitman for the mob. Pacino plays notorious Teamster Jimmy Hoffa, a man who frequently found himself on the wrong side of the law and the criminals he worked with. The film charts the pair’s partnership over the years while injecting some historical milestones for context. It’s heavy and impressively cast and everything you’d expect a Scorsese passion project to be, with some interesting de-aging CGI that does its best to show the scope of Scorsese’s storytelling.

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1. All Quiet on the Western Front

Year: 2022
Cast: Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch
Genre: War, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 148 minutes
Director: Edward Berger
Trailer: Watch here

Sometimes the best argument against war is to show it fully, in all its brutality and heartbreak, and inevitable devastation. That’s what this film does well, following the story of a young, idealistic German boy who enlists to serve his country during World War I — and its nine Oscar nominations are proof of that. Instead of finding glory and honor on the battlefield, he and his friends witness unimaginable horrors while struggling to survive in a wasteland created by man’s greed and insatiable appetite for violence.

Watch it on Netflix