By now, you’ve probably seen, or at least heard about, the new fantasy comedy Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The hit sequel starring Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder made bags full of money last weekend and is poised to make even more in the next few days.
But maybe watching a comedy about a demonic ghoul and a middle-aged goth girl isn’t your thing? That’s cool, no problem; Netflix has your back. The streamer has tons of movies to watch in its vast library, and we’ve picked three underrated gems that are worth streaming this weekend.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, best shows on Hulu, best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and best shows on Disney+.
The Money Pit (1986)
The 1980s brought us some classic comedies like Ghostbusters, Tootsie, and Trading Places, but even B-grade comedies like Mr. Mom and Adventures in Babysitting were irresistible. One comedy that didn’t get much critical praise when it was released, but is still funny in 2024 is The Money Pit, a 1986 film from Richard Benjamin that starred a red-hot Shelley Long at the height of her Cheers fame and a young Tom Hanks, who hadn’t yet won his two Oscars and title as America’s Friendliest Actor.
Long and Hanks star as long-term couple Anna and Walter, who must vacate their swanky New York sublet quickly after Anna’s obnoxious ex comes back to take it over. They fortuitously find a once-in-a-lifetime real estate deal: a million dollar mansion in upstate New York is on sale for only $200,000. Too good to be true, right? Right. They quickly discover the mansion is a money pit, as they sink their entire savings, and their relationship, into repairing it.
The Money Pit isn’t a classic, but it highlights Long’s comedic skills, sharpened after years on broadcast television, and Hanks in his goofball era, when he didn’t hesitate to use cheap pratfalls to earn some laughs. They movie moves along nicely, and looks great thanks to cinematographer Gordon Willis, who gave The Godfather movies their sepia-toned glow.
The Money Pit is streaming on Netflix.
American Psycho (2000)
Sometimes a movie itself isn’t so much underrated as it is ripe for a reappraisal. American Psycho certainly has its fans, both when it was first released in 2000 and now. A violent satire about the rampant materialism of the 1980s, the film, powered by its go-for-broke performance by Christian Bale, inspired laughs and revulsion in its audience. And it didn’t flinch when showcasing Patrick Bateman’s lack of humanity.
Viewed today, though, American Psycho is surprisingly more relevant than ever. Its portrayal of toxic masculinity eerily captures the bro culture that infects social media. And Patrick’s obsession with appearances, hilariously documented in an opening montage where he lists all the products he uses to make him look good, mirrors the rise of Instagram and influencer culture, where visuals are paramount and context and depth aren’t really needed.
American Psycho may not be pleasant to watch (I don’t particularly enjoy seeing a woman getting a chainsaw dropped on her head), but it’s a satire that’s just a effective today as it was 24 years ago. After you watch it, you’ll never hear Whitney Houston the same way again.
American Psycho is streaming on Netflix.
Call Me Kate (2022)
Toward the end of her long life, the actress Katharine Hepburn was an open book. Whether recounting her illustrious career, which included winning a record four Oscars for Best Actress, in her bestselling autobiography Me, or being interviewed by Barbara Walters about her decades-long affair with frequent co-star Spencer Tracy, she seemingly left no stone unturned in recounting her life.
But as Call Me Kate, an excellent 2022 documentary, shows, she hid some things from public consumption, and it’s here where the doc fills in the gaps that Hepburn willingly left unmentioned. From the likely suicide of an older brother when she was a child to her affair with tycoon Howard Hughes, Call Me Kate reveals things about the famous actress you may not have known, and provides a fascinating context to one of the 20th century’s preeminent artists.
Call Me Kate is streaming on Netflix.