The best movies to watch on Neon

Each Wes Anderson release sees him perfect his mix of rigid visual tableaus and human drama, reaching a new level of artificial reality in Asteroid City. At times cartoonish, always deadpan, and occasionally devastating, it sees the director indulge his love of tales within tales, resulting in myriad layers of storytelling that bump up against each other in comedic and sometimes moving ways.

Barbie (2023)

Global box office phenomenon, feminist fable, toy commercial: Barbie is a lot of things, but it succeeded first and foremost as a comedy, finding the perfect use for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s comic skills (and the former’s whip-smart impulses as a producer, getting director Greta Gerwig on board for one). The movie’s dayglo, fantastical form felt fresh, and managed to connect with the broadest possible audience, girls and otherwise.

Body Double (1984)

Brian De Palma took plotlines from some of Hitchcock’s best and dialled up the voyeurism, delivering one of the ‘80s silliest, most self-reflexive erotic thrillers. Gleefully over the top, Body Double sees Craig Wasson hopelessly outmatched against the sinister forces he stumbles across, going so far in his pursuit of the mysterious Holly Body, (Melanie Griffith), that he manages to get cast opposite her in a remarkably elaborate porn film. De Palma’s knack for this type of lunacy is unmatched.

Cast Away (2000)

Director Robert Zemeckis re-teamed with his Forrest Gump star Tom Hanks for this survival classic, which sees a FedEx employee left to fend for himself on a deserted island. It was Hanks’ initial idea, and the actor committed to the role, using a break in shooting to grow his hair, beard, and lose around 25 kilograms to show the effects of being stranded for four years.

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio are the A list cat and mouse whose ongoing chase leads this caper from Steven Spielberg, himself in particularly impish form. FBI agent Carl Hanratty’s pursuit of con man Frank Abagnale Jr. leads him through America and eventually abroad, the latter bluffing his way through various jobs as he goes. This being a Spielberg film, there’S some eventual sentimentality, but once it arrives it’s well earned.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023)

The directorial team behind Game Night walk a similar line between comedy and adventure, delivering a fantasy caper that’s lighter than air and easily watchable regardless how much you know about the roleplaying game. A lead character that’s a perfect fit for Chris Pine (roguish, handsome), with Michelle Rodriguez in a more stoic role that’s quietly just as impressive. Even if monsters and magic aren’t your bag, there’s plenty here to like.

Fast & Furious Five (2011)

This is the entry in the Fast saga that made critics take notice. Justin Lin had taken over direction in the third instalment, and by this film perfected blending practical vehicular mayhem with CG augmentation, settling on a tone that emphasised fun above anything else. One of Five’s biggest assets is its huge ensemble cast, including, for the first time, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The Holdovers (2023)

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Alexander Payne’s latest awards darling hits a sweet spot between cynicism and sentimentality, as Paul Giamatti’s grumpy old instructor is left to look after a troublesome prep school student (Dominic Sessa) during Christmas holidays. You probably know where this is going, but it’s the details, digressions and lived-in performances that make it so powerful. Giamatti is in particularly good form; newcomer Sessa is a prickly onscreen presence, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph invests her role with great depth and feeling.

John Wick 4 (2023)

Eye-popping Parisian setpieces by way of violent jaunts through Morocco and Japan, Donnie Yen being cool as hell, Bill Skarsgård being truly hateable, and as many slick suits and headshots as can be stuffed into one movie. The fourth instalment continues the franchise’s expansion into widescreen spectacle and arcane lore, always propulsive, with god-Keanu as ice-cool as ever.

The Lady From Shanghai (1947)

Orson Welles’ 1947 noir was considered a disaster on its release, the director forgoing his credit after disagreeing with post-production choices imposed by the studio. Its reputation has increased markedly over time, though: Welles’ innovative camera work still impresses, as does the iconic final scene in a hall of mirrors. The film’s multiple plot threads cohere into a satisfying resolution.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

George Miller came up with the original kernel for Fury Road in 1987, but didn’t wind up filming it till he was 70-years-old. Rumours ran rife that the production was troubled, and yet the movie is a total triumph; a blast of punk energy and the best action film of the last decade. Years after its release the praise is still deafening, and for very good reason.

Men in Black (1997)

Lest we forget: in 1997 Will Smith received 2nd billing, after Tommy Lee Jones, on this aliens-are-among-us comedy. Smith displays supernova levels of charm (and would go on to become a superstar), Jones is gruffly hilarious, and Barry Sonnenfeld delivered one of the 90s best movies, a perfect popcorn caper that still feels effortless in its delivery of interplanetary thrills.

Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)

The absolute high point of Tom Cruise’s partnership with writer-director Chris McQuarrie, and the Mission Impossible films in general. The pair mastered their stunts-first, story-second approach, concocting a dizzyingly propulsive chainlink of set pieces: the HALO drop into Paris, the nightclub-bathroom fight, the foot chase across London, the helicopter chase through scenic New Zealand vistas.

Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Steven Soderbergh broke into the big leagues with this throwback heist movie full of megawatt Hollywood charm. It’s the definition of an easy watch: handsome men in suits cracking jokes while undertaking an absurdly complicated casino heist that’s only properly understood in retrospect. Loads of fun, with a great score by David Holmes.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

In 1994, emboldened by the success of Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino unleashed his grubby L.A. noir compendium on the world, and changed movies in the process. The following years saw myriad films trying to emulate his mixture of pop culture references and tough guy violence, but very few could match the cinematic verve on display here. Thirty years later Pulp Fiction is still shocking, engaging, and bursting with invention.

Thanksgiving (2023)

Fans of old school horror will find a lot to like in Eli Roth’s full-length version of a fake trailer he made for 2007’s Tarantino/Rodriguez anthology Grindhouse. Following the whodunnit playbook of classic slashers, Roth knows how to mix fear and fun, with a light undercurrent of social satire. Be warned though, it’s as gnarly as it is silly.

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

Arriving after his last Evil Dead film but before his first Spider-Man, Sam Raimi’s kinetic Western uses every visual trick in his arsenal to tell the story of a female gunslinger (Sharon Stone, three years after Basic Instinct), who’s hankering for vengeance again Gene Hackman’s corrupt mayor. Support includes Russell Crowe as a gunman-turned preacher, and Leonardo DiCaprio as a kid with a mysterious past.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

A distillation of Lucas lore, Spielberg chutzpah and Ford sex-appeal so potent, it’s still getting sequels 40 years after the fact. Debate will rage on about which is the best, but the original still tops most lists, a breathless mix of action setpieces, artefact intrigue, knowing humour, and still-shocking violence that countless filmmakers have been emulating ever since.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Sam Raimi’s second stab at everyone’s favourite webslinger remains a high point in comic book movies, mixing thoroughly earnest sentiment with the director’s bag of whiz-bang visual tricks. The cast are all terrific, particularly a rightly heralded turn from Alfred Molina as the villainous Doc Ock. But the real hero is the filmmaking, which invests us in the life of Peter Parker before unleashing a series of impeccably staged action setpieces.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Expanding on the unfettered imagination of the first Spider-Verse movie seemed like a tall order, only for its follow-up to vault over it with ease, introducing a ludicrous number of new Spider-Men (not all of them called Peter Parker). Mashing up different animation styles, each suiting their respective universe, the material is once again elevated by the emotional stakes of Miles Morales and his compatriots.

There’s Something Wrong With the Children (2023)

If you’re adventurous enough to delve into some low budget horror and looking to scratch that particular itch, you could do worse than this 2023 curio, which gives away the game in its title but provides plenty else to ponder. Tensions run high amongst a group of adults on a camping trip when their offspring start to behave strangely, leading to calamitous consequences.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

This reboot actually cast teenagers as the titular turtles (and from the sounds of things let them adlib and muck around behind the scenes), resulting in a version of the heroes that feels fresh and fun. They’re backed up by a great adult cast, including Jackie Chan and Ice Cube, and complemented with unique animation that values the clunkiness of stop motion over the usual CGI sheen.

The Mummy (1999)

Reclaimed by subsequent generations as a forgotten popcorn classic, Stephen Sommers’ 1999 romp is at worst a lot of fun, pitting Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz against the boogeyman of the title (Imhotep to his friends). A remake of the 1932 original that ups the romance, mania, and makes good use of then-nascent digital effects, it’s aged nicely, with genuinely unnerving sequences alongside more family-friendly adventure.

Oppenheimer (2023)

Winner of multiple Oscars in 2024 including Best Actor and Best Picture, Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic delivers on all the levels he’s mastered over the years: hypnotic editing that juggles multiple timelines; the gravitas of important people making important decisions; bold, IMAX-sized imagery; and interesting human drama—here delivered by Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, and an plethora of A-grade character actors.

War of the Worlds (2005)

Spieberg’s adaptation of the H.G Wells classic is, aside from anything else, absolutely terrifying, presenting a ground level view of an alien invasion in which the humans are hopelessly outgunned. The superb effects are to be expected, but it still rattles with dark energy, the perpetually-running Tom Cruise a suitably panicked avatar for humanity. The film does deflate slightly near the end, but for the majority of its runtime it’s one of the greats.

Wild Things (1998)