Gonna have a Netflix watch party, we don’t need nobody. Social distancing has forced us to change the way we get together with our friends, and that can include remote watch parties. We’ve pulled out our picks of some wonderful (and wonderfully bad) movies to have a movie-fest with. If you’ve gotta be a homebody, we’re gonna have a Netflix watch party.
Netflix Party is a free Chrome extension where folks can watch a movie at the same time and share comments in a side chat. Of course, you can also sync up films and hang out together using Zoom, Skype, or other chat programs. We’ve pulled out 10 movies currently available on Netflix (as of April 2020) that would be fun to watch using any available program. Let us know in the comments if you’ve been hosting watch parties, and if so what kind of movies you’ve been sharing with your friends and family.
For a Great Time”Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
It’s just a fantastic movie. A feast for the eyes and ears with great characters, jaw-dropping animation, and plenty of memorable moments to share with your friends. There’s nothing I could say about this movie that hasn’t already been said by my amazing coworkers, so if you need a reminder of why Spider-Verse is the best choice for a watch party, here go.
Alternate Pick“Avengers: Infinity War
Solve a Mystery”
Everybody loves to get together and figure out a mystery, but with escape rooms closed, we have to come up with alternatives. Minority Report is an action-packed sci-fi story that also harkens back to classic film noir. It presents a prescient (and Tom Cruise-filled) look at the future while giving us a great mystery to solve, with a resolution that’s satisfying and a little unexpected. If you’re seeing it for the first time or haven’t watched it in years, I guarantee it will surprise you.
Alternate“Inception
Get A Little Suspenseful”Bird Box
The film that launched a thousand memes. Bird Box is a horror-thriller where Sandra Bullock and her kids get trapped in a world where they have to keep their eyes closed or else they’ll see something so terrifying they won’t be able to go on living. Even though it can feel like the little sister to A Quiet Place, Bird Box still manages to get some solid frights in. Plus, given how meme-able it was when it first came out, it might be fun to get your friends together to make a new round of Bird Box memes for 2020.
Alternate“The Ring
Quote-a-Long”Hook
Regardless of whether we liked this movie or think it holds up after a couple of decades, we all know this film by heart. Hook is the kind of movie we all saw countless times when we were kids and it’s burned into our brains. Whether it’s Dustin Hoffman’s hearty guffaws as Captain Hook, Peter’s (Robin Williams) magic ability to mix adult whines with rooster crows, or, who could ever forget: “BANGARANG!” If you’re looking for a movie to quote along with your family and friends, you can’t beat Hook. Hook. Hook. Hook.
Alternate“Monty Python and the Holy Grail
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Sing-a-Long”The Princess and the Frog
Most of Disney’s films have relocated to Disney+, but The Princess and the Frog is still on Netflix. The movie has its issues but there’s still a lot to love”Anika Noni Rose’s gorgeous vocals or the fact that Prince Naveen sounds exactly like Pepé the Prawn King and no one else has seemed to notice. Plus, the music is Randy Newman at his Randy Newmandiest, with classic songs like “Almost There” and “Friends on the Other Side,” sung by the fabulous Keith David.
Alternate“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Good Ol’ Gorefest”Event Horizon
Event Horizon is one of those films that you never expect to be the thing that it is. At first glance, it’s an Alien-esque horror film about a group of folks trapped in a space with a mysterious entity. But it’s actually a Dante’s Inferno journey into the depths of hell, with Sam Neill hamming it up all the way until the end. This movie can be gory and graphic, so it’s not for the faint of heart. But it is a wild ride for everyone involved.
Alternate“Cloverfield
The Funny Kind of Stupid”Godzilla (1998)
MST3K is once again (sadly) off the air, but that doesn’t mean we’ll ever stop enjoying the hell out of mocking awful science fiction movies. The 1998 version of Godzilla is the perfect film to host your own MST3k-style commentary with your friends. The Japanese monster’s American version was every level of terrible. Godzilla’s ridiculous design, raptor babies, the lotta fish?! Plus, Matthew Broderick. That’s it. Just…Matthew Broderick.
Alternate“The Core
Not Our Apocalypse”2012
We all love a good disaster flick, but the current pandemic has limited the kind end-of-the-world movies we want to watch. Zombie movies? No thank you. Contagion? Fuuuuuuck no. That’s why I went with 2012, an utterly ridiculous Roland Emmerich disaster movie based on the Mayan calendar apocalypse prediction that (spoilers) turned out to not come true. Look, if you don’t want to watch any kind of disaster movies right now, I get it. But as far as apocalypses go, it can’t get any less real than 2012.
Alternate“Deep Impact
To Say You’ve Seen It”Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Sometimes, there are movies you just have to see. Is there a reason? No. Are you going to enjoy it? Depends. But they’re still a bad movie staple to be checked off your list. Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a cult classic horror movie (filmed in my hometown!) about clown aliens who eat people by wrapping them in cocoons of cotton candy. The effects are terrible, the horror pretty much non-existent. But it’s a hilarious ride that you’ll be glad to have the memory of.
Alternate“Burlesque (I have my reasons)
Because It’s Perfect”Jupiter Ascending
“I create life! And I can take it away.” That’s it. That’s the reason.
Alternate“There is none because it’s fucking Jupiter Ascending.