The beauty of subscribing to Netflix is that you’re often exposed to a wide variety of films you’d otherwise never watch.
Take Watch With Us’ weekend Netflix movie recommendations, for example, which include a drag queen parody of disaster films, a modern rom-com classic starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and a sequel to a seminal ‘90s film.
Each of these films appeals to a different audience with different tastes, but the one thing they have in common is that they’re all fun to watch and hard to forget.
‘Stop! That! Train!’ (2026)
Supermodel. Emmy-winning reality TV show host. A cultural icon. RuPaul has done it all, but in the new comedy Stop! That! Train!, she tackles her most challenging role yet — President of the United States. As President Judy Gagwell, she has a doozy of a problem to solve: a runaway train is headed for certain disaster and no one can stop it. But if Gagwell can solve the nation’s lace-front wig and tucking problems, she can certainly save a locomotive full of terrified civilians, including a few scared stewardesses, some horny housewives and … Sarah Michelle Gellar?!?
Stop! That! Train! is a homage to classic movie parodies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun, so expect lots of non-sequiturs, tasteless jokes and random cameos from celebs like Lisa Rinna and Charo. It’s silly, it’s stupid and most importantly, it’s tons of fun. The only problem? There’s not enough of RuPaul. As fans of Drag Race know, Mamma Ru loves a good acting challenge, and she’s not onscreen nearly enough. Maybe she’s saving herself for the sequel, Stop! That! Blimp!
Stop! That! Train! is streaming right now.
‘Sleepless in Seattle’ (1993)
It’s Christmas Eve, and Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) can’t sleep. He’s not anxious about Santa visiting — he’s still grieving the recent loss of his wife, Maggie (Carey Lowell). After his son, Jonah (Ross Mallinger), forces him to spill his feelings on a late-night radio talk show, women across the country swoon when they hear a man showing his sensitive side. One of those women, Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), decides to track him down to see if he’s the real deal. But Annie’s already engaged to someone, nice-guy Walter (Bill Pullman), and she should be busy preparing for her upcoming wedding. Sam may be sleepless, but Annie’s desperate to experience a love she’s only seen in old movies.
The beginning of September to the end of February is the perfect time to watch Sleepless in Seattle. It’s an autumn movie, not just visually (everyone is bundled up) but spiritually, too; the cold outside drives Annie to find some warmth in her life, and I’m not talking about a comfy blanket. Written and directed by Nora Ephron, the classic rom-com is one of those films that just works on every level, from the smart script to the fantastic performances by Ryan and Hanks. It makes you believe great love stories can still happen, and you don’t have to go to the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day to experience it.
Sleepless in Seattle is streaming right now.
‘T2 Trainspotting’ (2017)
At the end of 1996’s Trainspotting, the film’s “hero,” Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), stole money from his drug-abusing friends in an attempt to live a sober and crime-free life. In the 2017 follow-up, T2 Trainspotting, he’s done just that, but his life as an expatriate in Amsterdam is still pretty miserable. That’s why he decides to look up his former mates in Scotland to see what they’re up to and, unsurprisingly, they haven’t changed all that much. Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) is still a lowlife criminal, Spud (Ewan Bremner) still uses drugs and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) still resents Renton for stealing and leaving him over two decades ago. The novelist Thomas Wolfe once famously wrote that “you can’t go home again,” and for Renton, he discovers that’s not only true but good advice he regrets not taking.
Did the world need a sequel to Trainspotting in 2017? Probably not, but what director Danny Boyle made is still a fascinating film to watch. There’s really no reason for all these characters to get together again, but their unlikely reunion gives Boyle a chance to look at drug addiction and recovery among four down-and-out middle-aged men. Unlike the original, there’s nothing glamorous or cool about their predicament; instead, it’s all kinda sad and pathetic. T2 doesn’t use nostalgia to make its characters seem any better off than they actually are, and its honesty, coupled with Boyle’s trademark energetic direction, makes it a sequel worth watching.
T2 Trainspotting is streaming right now.
Read the full article here
