We all have different ideas about what a “masterpiece” is and what qualifies as one.
Watch With Us believes a movie masterpiece is both unique and stands the test of time – it doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be memorable.
Netflix just added a bunch of movies we think qualify as masterpieces that are worth streaming – yesterday, today and tomorrow.
The Cate Blanchett drama Tár and the horror classic Scream with Neve Campbell and Drew Barrymore have their fair share of admirers, while the ‘90s gangster picture Donnie Brasco starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp is an underrated gem worthy of attention.
‘Tár’ (2002)
Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is a world-famous conductor who is at the top of her profession. She has everything she wants – a fulfilling career, a wife and daughter who love her, and a forthcoming autobiography that will establish her place in music history. But a scandal involving one of her assistants threatens to take away everything she holds near and dear to her heart. With her reputation on the line, can Lydia survive what’s shaping up to be one of the worst years of her life?
The non-spoilery answer is yes, but a better question is, does she want to? Tár is a difficult film to subscribe; it has the bones of a thriller, the tartness of a satire and the pretensions of an art drama, but it’s both less and more than that. What can be said about it is that it’s one of the most critically acclaimed films of the century, and that praise is justified. Tár is a movie like any other, a haunting exploration of a woman undone by her own worst impulses, and it gives Blanchett, one of the greatest living actors working today, the best role of her illustrious career.
‘Donnie Brasco’ (1997)
Donnie Brasco doesn’t exist – he’s merely a persona that FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone (Johnny Depp) uses to infiltrate the mob and take them down. It works on Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero (Al Pacino), an aging member of the powerful Bonanno crime family, who likes Donnie’s brashness and acts as his mentor. But to be successful, Pistone has to be Donnie day and night, which puts a strain on his marriage to Maggie (Anne Heche). Soon, Pistone has to choose between his real family and the crime family he’s supposed to destroy within, but might not live long enough to decide.
Released after the groundbreaking 1990 film Goodfellas and just before the equally seminal The Sopranos HBO TV show, Donnie Brasco is just as good, if not as influential, as those mob stories. The film does a great job of immersing you within an intimate and secretive mob subculture, where loyalty is paramount and betrayal is an instant death sentence. Pacino gives one of his best performances ever as a mob veteran who relishes being a father figure to a newbie who thinks he’s important. He’s not, and the main tragedy of the picture is his gradual realization that his desire to be worshipped proves to be his undoing.
‘Scream’ (1996)
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) isn’t your ordinary California teenager. Her mother was brutally killed a year ago, and she still hasn’t gotten over it. When a series of brutal murders rocks her small town, Sidney begins to suspect they might be related to her mother’s death. Those suspicions are confirmed when an anonymous caller begins taunting her with a deadly game of horror movie trivia. If she answers correctly, she gets to hear another question, but if her answer is wrong, it’s lights out for Sidney.
An instant hit in 1996, Scream defined an era for horror movies, spawning six successful sequels and one unsuccessful MTV show over three decades. None of them compares to the original, which is still as sharp, funny and entertaining as it was 30 years ago. What makes Scream unique among its horror brethren is that it’s not particularly scary; it works more as a thriller than a traditional slasher like Halloween. The cast and script are top-notch, but it’s director Wes Craven who makes Scream a modern masterpiece. He knows how to generate suspense, build character and deliver laughs at just the right moment.
