What is a perfect 10/10 movie to you?
Is it a biting dark satire? Is it an absurdist farce? A highly detailed period comedy? Or perhaps a quirky tale of newfound love?
This week, Watch With Us is picking our top choices for movies we think are note-perfect, and we’ve drawn all of them from one of the top streamers: Amazon Prime Video.
You might disagree with our definition of “perfect,” but please understand that art is subjective.
From American Psycho starring Christian Bale to Punch-Drunk Love, here are our Prime Video picks for 10/10 movies.
1980s Wall Street yuppie Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) spends his days rubbing elbows with the elite, his mornings doing his extensive skincare routine and his evenings killing people. He loves chopping women up, and he’s been really good at hiding it, both from his coworkers and from his fiancée, Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon). But Bateman isn’t just an unreliable narrator for the audience; he’s also unreliable to himself, and fact and fiction start to blur as he’s questioned by a cop (Willem Dafoe) for the murder of colleague Paul Allen (Jared Leto).
Adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’ satirical novel of the same name, Mary Harron‘s cult classic has been taken at face value by some who view Bateman as a “sigma grindset” hero, but those people are missing the forest for the trees. Ultimately, American Psycho is a razor-sharp send-up of consumerism, masculinity and wealth, led by an forgettable comedic performance from Bale.
Aspiring stuntman Rod Kimball (Andy Samberg) is accident-prone but still idealistic, determined to become a respected stunt artist worthy of respect from his disapproving stepdad, Frank (Ian McShane). However, when Frank is diagnosed with a devastating illness, Rod nevertheless steps up to devise a way to raise money for his treatment: through a stunt event in which Rod will ride a motorcycle over fifteen school buses.
From the comedy stylings of the Lonely Island sketch group (Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer), Hot Rod serves as the group’s joint cinematic debut and remains a cult comedy classic to this day. Blending absurdism, slapstick, anti-comedy and some genuine heart, Hot Rod is full of memorable one-liners and performances, such as from Bill Hader, Danny McBride and Will Arnett.
At the Grand Budapest Hotel, in the fictional, European country of Zubrowka, respected concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) is framed for the murder of his wealthy elderly lover, Madame D. (Tilda Swinton). When Madame D. dies and her inheritance goes to Gustave instead of her son, Dmitri (Adrien Brody), Gustave becomes the prime suspect and is sent to prison. It’s up to his junior lobby boy and protege, Zero (Tony Revolori), to clear Gustave’s name.
Wes Anderson’s dollhouse aesthetics and heartfelt storytelling blend hand-in-hand in The Grand Budapest Hotel, a melancholy tale of human memory, tragedy, fascism and nostalgia. Equal parts laugh-out-loud funny and tearjerking, The Grand Budapest Hotel is also meticulously directed and gorgeously rendered. As ever, Anderson’s film boasts a sprawling ensemble cast that includes F. Murray Abraham, Saoirse Ronan and Edward Norton.
Novelty item salesman Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) owns his own company, yet struggles in day-to-day interactions with people. His seven overbearing sisters frequently belittle him, and he is prone to violent outbursts despite his gentle heart. When he meets a sweet woman named Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), he becomes smitten with her, doing everything he can to get past his hangups and win her heart. However, their love is threatened by Barry’s accidental involvement with an extortionist named Dean Trumbell (Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Punch-Drunk Love is handily one of the best romance films of all time, led by a riveting performance from Sandler and the first of many that would cement the goofy-comedy actor as a genuine dramatic talent. With director Paul Thomas Anderson’s conscientious touch, a pair of sensitive lead performances, watercolor cinematography and a strange sense of humor that will surprise you, Punch-Drunk Love is a poignant treatise on love and acceptance.
