Uncommon rainy day flicks
Photo: Marina G, Creative Commons, some rights reserved
It’s been a rainy summer here in the North Country, and it looks like there’s more to come in the next few days. If you’re like me, you’ve probably already mined your Netflix account for the best shows and movies; you’ve finished “House of Cards,” “Orange is the New Black,” “The Walking Dead,” and, heck, you even watched “Frozen” (which, in the Netflix world, is about a Chinese performance artist who stages ritual suicides.) Luckily, Netflix also has a selection of obscure films to enjoy. I’ve searched through the Netflix archives to find to oddest and most underappreciated movies to keep you busy during these rainy days.
1. Rom Com: “While You Were Sleeping,” directed by John Turtellaub. This movie sounds like a horror flick, but is actually a rom com. It’s a creepy cross between Sleeping Beauty, The Taming of the Shrew, and a Stephen King novel that follows Sandra Bullock as she pretends to be the fiancée of a guy in a coma while simultaneously hitting on his brother. The premise is strange, but I don’t think you’ll find anything else quite like it.
2. Documentary: “Too Cute.” This Animal Planet series features a different baby animal each episode. Basically, it’s like watching cute baby animal videos over an extended period of time. It’s listed in the Documentary section of Netflix, alongside films like “I Escaped a Cult” and “Email Order Bride” for your educational pleasure.
3. Jungle Adventure: “Romancing the Stone,” directed by Robert Zemeckis. Of course, if you’re in the mood for action, there’s this lesser version of Indiana Jones. Kathleen Turner stars as a (very shrill) writer who finds herself in a jungle with a hero played by Michael Douglas. I mean, if you’ve already seen all of the Indiana Jones movies (except “Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull,” because that one doesn’t count), then this is the adventure flick for you.
4. World War III: “Iron Sky,” directed by Timo Vuorensola and “Nazis at the Center of the Earth,” directed by Joseph L. Lawson. Maybe you’re in the mood for a Nazi movie. “Iron Sky” is about a group of Nazis that retreated to the moon in 1945 (an obvious choice) and have returned to duke it out with the rest of Earth. “Nazis at the Center of the Earth,” like a good Jules Verne novel (just kidding), is about how the Nazis retreat to a giant underground cavern in Antarctica, where they abduct the only two people they can find up there, who happen to be scientists. Warning; this movie is rated R. Also, it is not a comedy.
5. Space Opera: “Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy,” directed by Roger Vadim. This movie stars Jane Fonda and the words “shapely” and “kinky” are included in the plot summary. I don’t really understand what this movie is about, but there’s a scientist, space, and Jane Fonda, so I’m sure it’s a thriller. Also rated R.
6. Family Friendly: “The Great Mouse Detective,” directed by Ron Clements and Burny Mattinson. A classic adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. After scouring the Family section of Netflix, I determined that most of the films are not “family friendly,” as in everyone in the family would actually enjoy the film, but are just rated PG (ex. “Nacho Libre”). However, this cartoon is actually really great. It has adventure, love, a great plot, and talking mice.
What do find yourself doing when you run out of activities on rainy days? Leave a comment below.
Natalie Dignam’s internship at NCPR is supported by the Stan Macdonald Journalism Fund
