Movies have become such an integral part of our lives that, at this point, there are way too many to keep track of. What movies do you watch when you’re bored, and you’ve run out of things to watch on Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max? Let’s look at some good movies to watch that have come out over the years and still manage to hold their own.
Fun Animations
1. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
This animated film focuses on the Mitchells, a family of 4 and their dog who decide to take a cross-country road trip adventure for one last bonding session before their daughter Katie (an aspiring filmmaker voiced by Abbi Jacobson) goes off to film school. Along the way, the world gets taken over by robots who report to the virtual assistant known as PAL (voiced by Olivia Colman), which was considered obsolete.
Katie and her dad Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) have a strained relationship because of unshared interests and Rick’s dislike of technology. Their bond is slowly mended over the course of the film as they work together to evade capture, take out the robots and save the world from the robot apocalypse they have found themselves in.
The Mitchells vs. The Machines is extremely entertaining, constantly making references for all generations to catch. At some points, some parents may laugh harder than their kids (the Mitchells have to take on a giant Furby, and the robots malfunction when they see a dog). The movie also had Academy Award nominations, so it has that going for it.
2. The Bad Guys (2022)
This animated heist comedy follows a group of animal criminals who have finally been caught. In an effort to avoid jail time, they pretend that they have reformed, only for their leader to find that he genuinely wants to change the way he lives his life. He and his team later work together to take down a new criminal who has risen up.
Several films inspired the film, including Sherlock Holmes, Ocean’s Eleven, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s a humorous and entertaining film that even parents will enjoy. The voice actors include stars like Anthony Ramos as Piranha, Awkwafina as Tarantula, Craig Robinson as Shark, Marc Maron as Snake, Richard Ayoade as Professor Marmalade, Sam Rockwell as Wolf and Zazie Beetz as Diane Foxington, aka The Crimson Paw.
Based on a True Story
3. Da 5 Bloods (2020)
This war drama focuses on a squad of black US Army soldiers that refer to themselves as the Bloods and their journey to retrieve the gold bars they had hidden during the Vietnam War that they had intended to retrieve at a later point in time and the remains of their squad leader who had been killed in action.
The story gets a little messy as the drama unfolds, and you learn a little more about the characters as they continue their journey and are introduced to a couple of other characters that complicate their mission.
The film was produced and directed by Spike Lee and was one of the last films starring Chadwick Boseman. It was released before he passed away, giving it a sad undertone (especially since he’s the one who plays the squad leader). More of the cast consisted of Clarke Peters as Otis, Delroy Lindo as Paul, Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Melvin, Jonathan Majors as David, and Norm Leis as Eddie.
4. Goodfellas (1990)
This film is an adaptation of the book Wiseguy. It is based on the true story of the life of Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta), who became a member of the Mafia when he was young and began working for Paulie Cicero (played by Paul Sorvino)and his associates Jimmy “the Gent” Conway (played by Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (played by Joe Pesci) as part of the Italian-American crime syndicate. It follows his life until he becomes an informant and enrols in the witness protection program with his family.
The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and is regarded as one of the best movies of all time.
5. tick, tick… Boom! (2021)
This comedy musical is an adaptation of the life of Jonathan Larson (played by Andrew Garfield) and his quest to be a success before his 30th birthday, which is only a week away. It’s an entertaining and, at certain moments, sad story that shows off Larson’s talent and the need to prove himself as he finishes writing Superbia.
Larson would go on to write Tick, Tick… Boom! before working on the project that would become Rent, something he would never be able to see the success of because of his death the night before it previewed. The film was directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and does an excellent job of telling a story while showing off its cast’s musical talent.
6. Mank (2020)
This black-and-white film features the story of Herman J. Mankiewicz (played by Gary Oldman) and his slow screenplay development for Citizen Kane, which he declared his best work.
Both Oldman and Amanda Seyfried (who played Marion Davis) gave fantastic performances and were nominated for numerous awards. This is a really good movie to watch when you’re bored.
7. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
This film follows the true story of Chicago Seven, a mismatched group of individuals that banded together to protest against the Vietnam war. The film follows their court trial after they were charged with “crossing state lines” and conspiracy, suspected of instigating riots, as well as the attempted trial of Bobby Seale (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), the national chairman of the Black Panther Party. His case has later declared a mistrial.
The Trail of the Chicago 7 features an ensemble cast, including actors like Eddie Redmayne, Michael Keaton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Sacha Baron Cohen, and was directed and written by Aaron Sorkin.
8. Captain Phillips (2013)
This movie follows the story of Captain Richard Phillips (played by Tom Hanks), the command of an unarmed vessel named the MV Maersk Alabama, as he sails through pirate-infested waters and does his best to keep the ship and his men safe from anyone who comes aboard.
The film was directed by Paul Greengrass (who has directed 3 of Jason Bourne movies) and based on the Maersk Alabama hijacking. Hanks does a fantastic job as Captain Phillips and the film will keep viewers on the edge of their seats throughout.
Cute Rom-Coms
9. Falling for Christmas (2022)
This film focuses on the love story between a spoiled hotel heiress who has lost her memories (played by Lindsay Lohan of Parent Trap royalty) and a bed and breakfast owner whose business is struggling (played by Chord Overstreet). The two of them begin to bond, resulting in a sweet romantic comedy where the characters get up to the perfect amount of nonsense to keep it charming.
This film has been Lohan’s first major role in well over a decade and is the perfect way to get you ready for the approaching holidays.
10. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
This sweet romantic comedy follows the story of Harry (Billie Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) and the entertaining series of events that unfold from the moment the two first meet after graduating from university and driving up to New York. Over the years, they both try to find love, constantly bumping into each other and failing along the journey.
The film was written by Nora Ephron (who based the dialogue on the friendship between Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner) and directed by Rob Reiner. If you’re looking for a movie that can pull a laugh out of anyone, this is one I highly recommend (especially if you decide to go on a rom-com Marathon).
Entertaining and a Bit Strange
11. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
This British comedy film focuses on King Arthur and his quest to find the Holy Grail. It is one of the best comedy movies of all time. Along the way, he recruits the Knights of the Round Table and encounters a number of stranger occurrences, including the Black Knight, who refuses to admit defeat and a trail of a witch who the people insist on burning.
Like most films, it was written and performed by the comedy group known as Monty Python and is as strange and bizarre as many of the skits that they have done over the years. If you’re looking for a good laugh and a film that seems to jump between two timelines, I highly recommend the film (fair warning, you may get into the habit of saying “just a flesh wound” about every minor injury for a while).
12. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
This film follows the story of an entrepreneur named Barry Egan, who has social anxiety and occasional outbursts of rage (played by Adam Sandler) and falls for one of his emasculating sisters’ best friends Lena Leonard (played by Emily Watson). Over the course of the film, Barry gets into a couple of unfortunate situations while dealing with his loneliness and the constant emotional abuse from his sisters.
The film was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who wanted to challenge himself with a romantic comedy that was only 90 minutes long. Roger Ebert, a film critic, claimed that it felt like Anderson and decided to “deconstruct the Adam Sandler movies and put them back together again in a new way at a different level.”
This is a good movie to watch if you’re looking for something sweet and cute.
13. Sorry to Bother You (2018)
This film follows the story of Cassius Green (played by LaKeith Stanfield), a telemarketer living in an alternate version of Oakland who discovers that changing his voice leads to better success with his clients. He quickly falls into a life of greed that separates him from his colleagues and those he loves, and he doesn’t even realize his mistake until it’s too late.
It was written and directed by Boots Riley and has a bit of a bizarre twist near the end that may leave you wondering what you are watching, but the shock it brings is perfect for the film and forces you to question other events that happen in the film. It is a critique of Capitalism and challenges its audience to think.
14. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
This mildly absurd musical comedy features two Icelandic musicians, Lars Erickssong (played by Will Ferrell) and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (played by Rachel McAdams), who play together in a band called Fire Saga and dream of singing in the Eurovision Song Contest. After seemingly ruining an opportunity to play in the contest due to some unfortunate technical difficulties and an accident involving all the other finalists, leave Fire Saga as the winner.
The film is a little bit strange in some moments and may have you scratching your head in confusion, but the music and sweet love story between the two characters more than makeup for a few oddities. Most fans of the Eurovision Song Contest loved the film and the cameos of several previous real-life Eurovision contestants.
A good movie to watch if you’re looking for something light-hearted and entertaining.
Films Thoroughly Enjoyed by Proud Nerds
15. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
After the loss of King T’Challa, who passed from an illness that his sister Shuri (played by Letitia Wright) was unable to cure in time, the Wakandans are forced to deal with the rest of the world who want a share of the Vibranium they had been promised at the end of Black Panther and Namor (played be Tenoch Huerta) who believes that the Wakandans caused the discovery of his own home. Shuri enlists the help of Everett K. Ross (played by Martin Freeman), Nakia (played by Lupita Nyorig’o), Riri William (played by Dominique Thorne, who plays the part of Sheila Hunt in If Beale Street Could Talk), otherwise known as Iron Heart.
Due to Chadwick Boseman’s passing, this has been one of the sadder Marvel movies fans have seen in a while. It is clear that while the characters are grieving the loss of their king, the actors are grieving the loss of their friend. Ryan Coogler did a brilliant job directing the film.
If you’re looking for a good movie to watch at the theatre right now, Wakanda Forever comes highly recommended.
16. Star Trek (2009 – 2016)
While some fans may feel that the rebooted Star Trek films failed to capture the essence of the classic movies, they are still a lot of good fun to watch. The films follow James T. Kirk (played by Chris Pine) and his journey of joining Star Fleet and then exploring space on a 5-year mission while running into a couple of problems that are less than ideal for him, including having to deal with his worst enemy Khan (played by Benedict Cumberbatch).
The reboot films still feature Leonard Nimoy as Spock (one can never have too much Spock) for the original Trekkies and have plenty of scenes of Dr Leonard “Bones” McCoy yelling after Jim as he makes poor decisions and keeps almost getting himself killed. Winona Ryder does a great job as Spock’s mother even though she is on screen for a short amount of time.
J.J. Abrams did a great job of bringing his vision for Star Trek to life and managed to introduce more fans to the beloved franchise through it.
17. The Dark Knight (2008)
The second instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is by far the most memorable of the three. It features an epic battle between Gotham City’s Dark Knight (played by Christian Bale) and the Clown Prince of Crime (played by the late Heath Ledger), who is his most challenging villain yet. Batman cannot figure out what the Joker wants, making it incredibly difficult to find him and take him out. He becomes a lesson for the bat and not one that he will soon forget.
Ledger and Bale both gave brilliant performances in this dark film. Ledger even managed to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making The Dark Night the first film based on a comic book to win a major Academy Award. After all these years, it remains a good action movie.
18. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
The final instalment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy stands out above the rest. Frodo Baggins (the carrier of the one ring, played by Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Frodo’s companion and the reason he manages to finish his quest in the first place, played by Sean Astin) are being guided by Gollum (played by Andy Serkis). They are on the last few legs of their journey while the rest of the fellowship prepares for more war.
Peter Jackson did a brilliant job of bringing Tolkien’s world to life. I would highly recommend the film to anyone looking to get emotionally invested in a loveable collection of characters (which at one point includes a talking tree).
Other
19. Good Will Hunting (1997)
This film focuses on the story of the bond between Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon), a young self-taught genius who used to be physically abused by his foster family, and Dr Sean Maguire (played by Robin Williams), a therapist who has been able to move past the death of his wife. They help each other grow and heal, learning that there are some similarities between them.
It was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (who played Damon’s brother in the film) and went on to win two Academy Awards (Best Original Screenplay, which was won by Damon and Affleck, and Best Supporting Actor, which Williams won) after being nominated for 9.
It’s a brilliant film and the perfect movie to watch if you’re hoping for a good cry. Plus, it’s a good movie to watch when you’re bored.
20. The Hateful Eight (2015)
This Western mystery thriller follows the story of Major Marquis Warren (played by Samuel L. Jackson) and John “The Hangman” Ruth (played by Kurt Russell), two bounty hunters who are heading to Red Rock to claim the money for their bounties and happen to meet by chance because of a blizzard. They take refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, and what plays out is a series of events that leaves many dead, showing the clear untrust among the patrons at Minnie’s.
The film was directed and written by Quentin Tarantino and while it is not some of his best work, it is still a good movie to watch — and definitely worth catching if you’re bored.
It wouldn’t be a great list without some special mentions:
If you are looking for a classic rom-com, consider checking out Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) starring Matthew Broderick or 2008’s Mamma Mia. And let’s not forget one of the best classics of all time, Dirty Dancing (1987) and Pulp Fiction (1994), starring Bruce Willis, John Travolta, and Samuel L. Jackson. If you are looking for a bit of a romantic drama, there is Phantom Thread (2017). These are all good movies to watch when you’re bored.
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What are your favourite good movies to watch when you’re bored?
