Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To GeekAs we round the corner into the final straight of July, Netflix still has a lot of life left in it when it comes to options that make for good weekday movie nights. Netflix U.S. viewers seem to still be flocking to the disaster doc, Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea, that we covered in our weekly roundup of documentaries, as it still sits in the streamer’s Top 3, but if a doc isn’t what you’re looking for, read on.
This week, my top pick is a beautifully dark Oscar magnet from Yorgos Lanthimos if you’re up for something truly unique. I’m also recommending a handful of other great films, including a claustrophobic and thrilling WWII submarine epic, a commuter thriller with a memory problem, and a superhero who’d rather be doing his homework.
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Spider-Man: Homecoming
Catch Tom Holland at the beginning before you see Brand New Day
With less than two weeks left to go before Tom Holland swings back into theaters in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, why not take advantage of Netflix’s licensing of where it all started for Holland in the solo movies with 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker (Holland) is back to the grind of normal high school life in Queens, while still all kinds of self-conscious about being good enough to be an Avenger.
Quiz
Name that Spider-Man
Trivia challenge
Five web-slingers, one quiz — can you tell your Peter Parkers from your
Miles Morales?
Spider-ManMarvelMoviesCharactersActors
Spider-Man
Which Spider-Man famously said ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ in a
voice-over at the start of his first solo film?
Maguire’s Peter Parker delivering that iconic line as a voice-over, setting the moral tone for the
entire trilogy. It became one of the most quoted superhero movie lines ever.
opened with Maguire’s narration of that iconic line, cementing it as the defining motto of the character
for a generation of fans. It helped establish a morally grounded tone that the whole trilogy built on.
Characters
Which Spider-Man is a teenager from Brooklyn who discovers he has spider-powers
after being bitten, and whose story is told through a groundbreaking animated style?
Spider-Verse! Miles is an Afro-Latino teen from Brooklyn who takes up the Spider-Man mantle after the
Peter Parker of his universe is killed. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in
2019.
Afro-Latino teen from Brooklyn at the center of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which won the Academy
Award for Best Animated Feature in 2019. The film’s revolutionary animation style blended comic book
aesthetics with cutting-edge CGI.
Movies
Which Spider-Man appeared in a black-and-white noir universe and was voiced by a
major Hollywood actor known for his eccentric roles?
Spider-Verse! This version of Spider-Man comes from a gritty 1930s black-and-white universe and speaks
in a hard-boiled detective style. Cage even reprised the role in the live-action series Spider-Man Noir
on MGM+.
Into the Spider-Verse, a version of the hero from a grim 1930s black-and-white universe who speaks like
a classic film noir detective. Cage later reprised the character in a live-action series on MGM+.
Actors
Which Spider-Man actor was the first to portray the character as an active student
at the Midtown School of Science and Technology within the MCU?
War in 2016 and was explicitly shown as a 15-year-old high schooler balancing classes, homework, and
superheroics. Holland’s youthful portrayal was widely praised for finally capturing the nerdy, awkward
energy of the comic book Peter Parker.
Captain America: Civil War as a 15-year-old attending the Midtown School of Science and Technology.
Holland’s portrayal was praised for leaning into the geeky, high school energy of the original comics
more authentically than previous versions.
Spider-Man
Which Spider-Man famously used web-shooters that he built himself rather than
organic web-spinnerets that were a biological result of his spider bite?
used mechanical web-shooters he invented himself, just like in the original comics. Tobey Maguire’s
version had organic webbing, which was a deliberate departure from the source material by director Sam
Raimi. Garfield’s use of tech-made shooters was seen as a more comics-accurate touch.
web-shooters of his own design, staying true to the original comic books. Tobey Maguire’s version
famously had organic webbing — a controversial change made by Sam Raimi that divided fans at the time.
Marvel
Which Spider-Man lifted a massive amount of debris off himself in a deeply emotional
scene that became one of the most celebrated moments in superhero movie history?
machinery with no powers, Peter Parker digs deep and pushes the rubble off himself through sheer will,
accompanied by a stirring score. Many critics and fans consider it the defining heroic moment of the
Raimi trilogy.
debris with his powers failing him, Maguire’s Peter Parker pushes through by sheer determination in one
of the most emotionally stirring scenes in superhero cinema. The sequence is often cited as a high point
of Sam Raimi’s entire trilogy.
Characters
Which Spider-Man’s love interest was Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, whose fate in
the sequel became one of the most talked-about moments of that era’s comic book movies?
Stacy, played by Emma Stone, in The Amazing Spider-Man series. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Gwen dies in
a tragic fall, mirroring her iconic death in the comics. The scene was emotionally charged, and
Garfield’s real-life relationship with Stone added extra weight to their on-screen chemistry.
was Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, across The Amazing Spider-Man films. Her death in the sequel
directly echoed one of the most famous storylines in Marvel Comics history, and Garfield and Stone’s
real-life romance gave their on-screen pairing an authentic emotional depth.
Movies
Which Spider-Man tearfully told a dying Tony Stark ‘I don’t want to go’ after being
un-snapped in Avengers: Endgame and reuniting on the battlefield?
restored by Hulk’s snap, Peter rushes to a dying Tony Stark and tearfully says ‘We won, Mr. Stark’
before breaking down. Holland has spoken about how he improvised much of the emotion in that scene,
making it one of the MCU’s most gut-wrenching moments.
fatally wounded Tony Stark on the Endgame battlefield, delivering one of the MCU’s most heartbreaking
performances. Holland has mentioned in interviews that he improvised parts of the emotion in that scene,
which contributed to its raw, authentic impact.
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With Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) taking Peter under his wing, the young webslinger wants nothing more than to impress his idol, so he goes against Stark’s instruction to lay low and instead decides to take on the deadly meched-out flying villain Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), who’s been salvaging alien tech. Homecoming is worth it just for the incredible Staten Island ferry battle/rescue scene in which one of the alien weapons lasers the ferry in half. Spider-Man: Homecoming has an excellent 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cast
Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, Tyne Daly, Abraham Attah, Hannibal Buress, Kenneth Choi, Selenis Leyva, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, Garcelle Beauvais, Michael Chernus, Michael Mando, Logan Marshall-Green, Jennifer Connelly, Gary Weeks
Runtime
133 minutes
Director
Jon Watts
Writers
Chris McKenna, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Christopher Ford, Erik Sommers, Jon Watts
Producers
Avi Arad, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Matt Tolmach, Patricia Whitcher, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso, Amy Pascal
Sequel(s)
Spider-Man: Far from Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home
Franchise(s)
Spider-Man
Main Genre
Superhero
Budget
$175 Million
Studio(s)
Marvel
Distributor(s)
Columbia Pictures
3
The Girl on the Train
A spiraling woman obsessed over a supposed murder plot
In one of Emily Blunt’s darker, more psychologically vulnerable roles, the Oscar-nominated actress stars in this twisted crime thriller as Rachel Watson, a woman coming apart after her divorce from Tom (Justin Theroux). A struggling alcoholic, to hide the fact that she’s lost her job, Rachel continues her daily train commute, where she obsesses over the seemingly perfect relationship of a couple, Megan and Scott, that she spies on each day from the train window.
Things spiral out of control when Rachel wakes up in her apartment, covered in blood, with no memory of the night before, and then learns that Megan has gone missing. Oh, and Megan and Scott happen to live a few doors down from Tom and his new wife, Anna (Silo‘s Rebecca Ferguson). The Girl on the Train is a haunting whodunnit that will leave you wondering what’s real and what isn’t, as Rachel obsesses over the investigation and whether she had anything to do with it.
Cast
Rebecca Ferguson, Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Edgar Ramirez, Lisa Kudrow, Laura Prepon, Darren Goldstein, Cleta Elaine Ellington, Lana Young, Rachel Christopher, Fernando Medina, Gregory Morley, Mac Tavares, John Norris, Nathan Shapiro, Tamiel Paynes, Peter Mayer-Klepchick, Frank Anello, Alexander Jameson, Mauricio Ovalle, Ross Gibby, Guy Sparks
Runtime
112 minutes
Director
Tate Taylor
Writers
Erin Cressida Wilson
Producers
Celia D. Costas, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Marc Platt
Studio(s)
Netflix
Distributor(s)
Netflix
2
U-571
Matthew McConaughey and crew hijack a Nazi sub
If you’ve got an excellent sound system on your home theater, then you are absolutely going to want to check out U-571, an intense WWII submarine thriller from 2000 that won the Oscar for Best Sound Editing for its explosive underwater battle sequences and creaky submarine onboard action.
Set in 1942, U-571 follows Lt. Andrew Tyler (Matthew McConaughey), an executive officer who’s been passed over for his own command, who instead is chosen to join Lt. Cmdr. Mike Dahlgren (Bill Paxton) and salty Chief Klough (Harvey Keitel) on a secret mission: to take over a crippled German sub, take its crew hostage, and steal the Enigma code-breaking machine on board. But when the real German rescue submarine arrives, the jig is up, and the Americans find themselves on the run and dodging depth charges and torpedoes in a tin can they don’t really know how to operate.
Cast
Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi, David Keith, Thomas Kretschmann, Jake Weber, Jack Noseworthy, Tom Guiry, Will Estes, Terrence ‘T.C.’ Carson, Erik Palladino, Dave Power, Derk Cheetwood, Matthew Settle, Rebecca Tilney, Carolyna De Laurentiis, Dina De Laurentiis, Burnell Tucker, Rob Allyn, Carsten Voigt, Gunter Würger, Oliver Stokowski, Arnd Klawitter, Kai Maurer
Runtime
116 minutes
Director
Jonathan Mostow
Writers
David Ayer
Producers
Dino De Laurentiis
Main Genre
Action
1
Poor Things
Emma Stone is reborn in Yorgos Lanthimos’ wild Victorian fantasy
Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most unique and exciting filmmakers of the last 15 years, whose films, such as The Lobster, The Favourite, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and Bugonia, are cinematic works of art. Also among those titles is 2023’s Poor Things, Lanthimos’ 11-time Oscar-nominated masterpiece that won its star Emma Stone her second Best Actress statue.
Stone, who has starred in four Lanthimos films, is brilliant as Bella Baxter (Stone), a Victorian woman brought back from the dead by experimental surgeon Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), but who’s literally starting from scratch as she’s been given the brain of an infant. In Lanthimos’ vivid, pastel-colored steampunkinsh world, the impulsive Bella is racing to take in all the things on hyperdrive—love, hate, sex, food, everything—as she learns the highs and lows of being human. It’s hands-down the most fascinating and fantastical movie on this list, and it has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cast
Mark Ruffalo, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Suzy Bemba, Jerrod Carmichael, Kathryn Hunter, Vicki Pepperdine, Hanna Schygulla, Margaret Qualley, Jack Barton, Charlie Hiscock, Attila Dobai, Anders Grundberg, Carminho, Kate Handford, Owen Good, Vivienne Soan, István Göz, Tamás Szabó Sipos, Tom Stourton, Miles Jovian, Jeremy Wheeler, Patrick de Valette
Runtime
141 minutes
Director
Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers
Tony McNamara, Alasdair Gray
Producers
Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, Yorgos Lanthimos
Main Genre
Sci-Fi
Studio(s)
Film4, TSG Entertainment, Element Pictures
Distributor(s)
Searchlight Pictures
Executive Producer(s)
Daniel Battsek, Ollie Madden
Four uniquely great movies
You can’t go wrong with any of the films on this week’s list, but if you’re looking for more suggestions for Netflix, or any other streaming service for that matter, swing by How-To Geek’s streaming section where we uncover all the best stuff so you don’t have to.
Subscription with ads
Yes, $8/month
Simultaneous streams
Two or four
Live TV
No
Price
Starting at $8/month
