If you want to spend your weekend, cozying up on your sofa and watching a movie for the night, there are some amazing recommendations for you on Amazon Prime.
Watching movies is not just a thing to do in your leisure time, for some people, it is their love language. Spending the night away watching a good movie and spending a wonderful time with your loved one is a cozy date that doesn’t even require money. With streaming devices now, it has become even easier for movie lovers. One such popular streaming device is Amazon Prime which has one of the best collections of the most popular, and top-quality movies ever! However, finding that perfect movie for a Friday night on Amazon is not a simple task. The streaming service does not have an interface that makes it easy to find any particular movie. So here is the list of the 15 best movies you can watch on Amazon Prime. Let’s start…
Genre: Horror
- High Tension
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Alexandre Aja
Year: 2005
Directed by Alexandre Aja, this movie stars Cecile de France and Maiwenn as two young women who go to a secluded farmhouse. There they are attacked by a serial killer and the twisted ending to this brutal film is not for the faint of heart.
- A Knock at the Cabin
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Year: 2023
The world of M. Night Shyamalan is a bit twisted, which makes it just perfect for horror movie fans. He is arguably one of the most inventive, and imaginative directors of his era, and the way he handled Paul Tremblay’s stunning 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World makes it almost jaw-dropping. It features an excellent performance from Dave Bautista as a leader of the group where people believe a sacrifice must be made to stop a forthcoming apocalypse.
- Jacob’s Ladder
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Adrian Lyne
Year: 1990
This 1990 horror film has successfully developed quite a vocal fanbase since its release which led to a 2020 remake version of it. However, the remake version again reminded us how good the original was. In the movie Tim Robbins stars as Jacob, a man who suddenly starts to have vivid and horrifying visions and hallucinations, many of which are related to his time in Vietnam. It is an anti-war film which can be described as a journey to HELL!!
- Nope
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Jordan Peele
Year: 2022
The brilliance of the movie was quite expected from the creator behind Get Out, and Us, and he absolutely delivered. This is also one of the most controversial films of 2022 that features a story of an alien invasion. Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, the story revolves around an alien species that likes to watch. Creepy? Yes. Brilliant? Yes. It also features some stunning visuals that scream blockbuster filmmaking at its finest!
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Runtime: 1h 55m
Director: Philip Kaufman
Year: 1978
Hollywood has a habit of returning to Jack Finney’s novel The Body Snatchers and there is a good reason for it. The belief that our loved ones and neighbors are who they seem to be is terrifying and the novel very successfully establishes it. However, filmmaker Philip Kaufman’s adaptation is similarly nightmarish and stars Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy.
Genre: Drama
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
Year: 1969
Runtime: 2h 28m
Director: Stanley Kubrick
A classic for a reason! If you have not already seen this one, it is time to brush up on your movies list buddy because this is one of the most beloved sci-fi films of all time. It blends brilliant storytelling and the deep philosophy of what it is like to be a human.
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 19m
Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Everything Everywhere All at Once became the best picture at the 2023 Academy Awards and it defies categorization as it tells stories of alternative realities. For a film that debuted at SXSW and won multiple Oscars throughout the year 2022, this deserves your attention the most.
- In the Heat of the Night
Year: 1967
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Norman Jewison
Believe it or not, nearly 50 years before the Green Mile took home the Oscar, a very different movie depicting a very different portrait of racial differences in the South did the same. Directed by Norman Jewison, this movie stars Sidney Poitier as a black officer who gets caught up in a murder case. Rod Steiger plays Poitier’s white counterpart and both men delivered some stunning performances that will get you hooked.
- Memento
Year: 2001
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Christopher Nolan
It is the year that Nolan just declared himself to the public with this mind bending thriller that changed the course of indie movies forever. Starring Guy Pearce, this movie gave the audience one of Guy’s most prolific performances as a guy with severe memory loss issues. There is a reason why this movie is hailed as one of the most prominent thriller pieces ever and should be on your watch list this weekend.
- To Catch a Thief
Year: 1955
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
If you are a movie lover, there is no way you can remove Hitchcock from your list. There is not much of Hitchcock in streaming services anyway so don’t waste a single moment in watching this cult classic. Based on the novel of the same name by David Dodge, this movie features Cary Grant as a retired burglar who is drawn back to the criminal world after he discovers that someone is playing him on the French Riviera.
Genre: Action
- Django Unchained
Year: 2012
Runtime: 2h 45m
Director: Quentin Tarantino
If there is violence in films, arguably there is anyone better than Quentin Tarantino and this movie is one of the many living proofs of this fact. With his mastery in the genre of revisionist epics like Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this movie is his stylish tribute to Spaghetti Westerns. This is also the movie where the writer and director attempt to rewrite history books. The story revolves around Jamie Foxx who is a slave who escaped and letters train with a bounty hunter played by Oscar winner Christoph Waltz to get his revenge on his masters.
- The Hurt Locker
Year: 2009
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
From the same director of Point Break and Near Dark, this movie earned Bigelow the first Oscar as a female winner for the Best Director while winning the Best Picture. The Hurt Locker still stands to be one of the best movies made about an American soldier’s experience in Iraq. Starring Jeremy Runner as an explosives expert, the story revolves around his traumatic experience and how he deals with it. Watching it will probably be the most exciting experience for you as it is still as fresh as it was when it was released.
- Inglourious Basterds
Year: 2009
Runtime: 2h 32m
Director: Quentin Tarantino
When the genre is Action, it will be hard not to bring Quentin Tarantino, and especially Inglourious Basterds into it. For the last few films of his career, the director has been bending the course of history with his love for art and filmmaking and this is one of the prime examples of it. This results in a hybrid of a movie like Inglourious Basterds that only QT can make! Starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger, and Mélanie Laurent, this is probably the best action and gut-wrenching violent flick you will ever watch. On top of that, Christoph Waltz’s Oscar-winning performance in the movie makes it worth it the thousand times you will watch it.
- Goldeneye
Year: 1995
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Martin Campbell
The legend of the iconic 007 was revived single-handedly by this mid-’90s movie. Starring Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond is probably the smartest choice of that time and this movie will practically make you fall in love with his wit, style, and overall aura. Arguably Brosnan’s best Bond film yet, this story focused on Bond trying to catch a rogue MI6 agent, played by Sean Bean.
- Jurassic Park
Year: 1993
Runtime: 2h 1m
Director: Steven Spielberg
When released back in 1993, this movie became an instant hit and is still one of those classics that is still as fresh as ever! Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur blockbuster created a franchise with this one that is still going strong, to this day. Featuring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough, it is the first installment of the franchise that is held as a pioneer for its use of computer-generated imagery.
Genre: Comedy
- A Fish Called Wanda
Year: 1988
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Charles Crichton
If you want to watch a movie that will make you slap the table hard with laughter that is hard to control, this one’s for you. Movies cannot simply be funnier than this Oscar-winning flick starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. This is focused on a story of a jewelry robbery gone extremely wrong, and a barrister gets involved where a fish gets caught in between. It is very rare for comedy movies to get an Academy Award and this movie did that impossible so imagine how funny it would be!
- The Birdcage
Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Mike Nichols
This is a remake of the classic and much-loved La Cage aux Folles which takes you on a ride of a joyous comedy about acceptance of love that is still relevant to this date. Starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, both gave an amazing performance in this Mike Nichols flick as a gay couple who is forced to go to lengths for their son’s new in-laws.
This list would work wonderfully if you want some space from the general romantic comedies. So devour these recommendations and start your movie marathon!
