Our On TV Tonight movie-buffs turned on Netflix for this useful list of the best movies on Netflix right now.

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LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Why you should watch: First up is some romantic comedy before getting into the serious stuff. I must say I was surprised with this one, it actually kept my attention. The story follows 20-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s as she misses her flight and is stuck at JFK airport and late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row. A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. There’s a lot of running around London as these two try to reconnect, all backed by a great soundtrack. It’s worth a few hours on the couch.

Director: VANESSA CASWILL
Cast: HALEY LU RICHARDSON, BEN HARDY, KATRINA NARE, TOM TAYLOR, JAMEELA JAMIL, DEXTER FLETCHER, SALLY PHILLIPS, ROB DELANEY

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR

Why you should watch: This is the first in a series of unusual short films by the wonderful Wes Anderson adapted from a Roald Dahl collection written at various times during his life, aimed at an older audience. Henry Sugar, an independently wealthy man who enjoys gambling, finds, and reads a doctor’s report on a strange patient the doctor met while stationed at a hospital in India. This patient, who called himself “The Man Who Sees Without Using His Eyes”, had the ability to see even after the doctors had medically sealed the man’s eyes shut and bandaged his head. Sugar decides to master this art and use it to his advantage. The cast in all four films is somewhat minimalistic.

Director: WES ANDERSON
Cast: BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, RALPH FIENNES, DEV PATEL, BEN KINGSLEY, RICHARD AYOADE, DAVID GANT, JARVIS COCKER

THE SWAN

https://youtube.com/watch?v=k079JTEH3Pg

Why you should watch: The second film in this series is somewhat disturbing. A young boy, Peter Watson, is harassed and essentially kidnapped by two vicious, heartless, gun-armed bullies. Peter is intelligent and a keen studier of wildlife, especially birds. His torment is heightened when the bullies turn the aim of their gun on a beautiful swan. Truman Hanks, son of Tom, has a small part in this one.

Director: WES ANDERSON
Cast: RUPERT FRIEND, RALPH FIENNES, ASA JENNINGS, TRUMAN HANKS

THE RAT CATCHER

Why you should watch: This is hilarious, although I must say Ralph Fiennes is very creepy as the rat catcher. In an English village, a reporter and a mechanic listen to a rat catcher explain his clever plan to outwit his prey, some of which are rather bizarre.

Director: WES ANDERSON
CAST: RUPER FRIEND, RICHARD AYOADE, RALPH FIENNES

POISON

https://youtube.com/watch?v=m_nY66io0F4

Why you should watch: When a poisonous snake slithers onto an Englishman’s stomach in India, his associate and a doctor race to save him.

Director: WES ANDERSON
Cast: BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, DEV PATEL, BEN KINGSLEY

REPTILE

Why you should watch: A good crime drama with quite a few twists to keep you interested. Benicio Del Toro stars as policeman Tom Nichols, who is called on to investigate the murder of real estate mogul Will Grady’s girlfriend Summer, who he finds at a house she’s showing. Grady flips foreclosures on expensive homes in the area under the watchful eye of his mom, Camille. Of course, Nichols finds this all a bit suspicious, and finds himself becoming a target when he begins to see the extent of the corruption.

Director: GRANT SINGER
Cast: BENICIO DEL TORO, ALICIA SILVERSTONE, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ERIC BOGOSIAN, FRANCES FISHER, DOMENICK LOMBARDOZZI, MICHAEL PITT, ATO ESSANDOH

HORSE GIRL

Why you should watch: I didn’t really get what was going on with this one, but it is intriguing to endeavour to work it out. It starts out fine and Alison Brie is excellent as Sarah, a socially isolated arts and crafts store employee, who finds herself more content in the company of horses and supernatural crime shows than people. But when a series of strangely surreal dreams upend the simplicity of her waking life, Sarah struggles to distinguish her visions from reality. It’s supposedly a darkly humorous tale of a woman’s search for the truth… I’m not sure if she found it, and I’m not sure I did either, but it is interesting. I guess it depends on what your version of truth is. Alison Brie was a co-writer.

Director: JEFF BAENA
Cast: ALISON BRIE, MOLLY SHANNON, DEBBY RYAN, JOHN REYNOLDS, JOHN ORTIZ, ROBIN TUNNEY, MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER

STRUGGLE: THE LIFE AND LOST ART OF SZUKALSKI

Why you should watch: I was unfamiliar with the work of Szukalski so this excellent documentary was a revelation. In old Betamax footage, the Polish-American artist Stanislav Szukalski (1893-1987) speaks animatedly about his life and work. Art aficionado Glenn Bray filmed his elderly friend in the last years of his life to document his remarkable career and personality before it was too late. In this wide-ranging portrait, Bray explains how he met Szukalski by chance in 1971 when he came across one of his expressionist drawings and discovered that its maker lived only a few miles away from him. The man leading a modest, anonymous life in Burbank, California turned out to have been a well-known avant-garde artist in Chicago and pre-war Poland. A remarkable man who created equally remarkable sculptures.

Director: IRENEUSZ DOBROWOLSKI
Cast: STANISLAV SZUKALSKI

SCOUT’S HONOR: THE SECRET FILES OF THE BOY SCOUTS

Why you should watch: A confronting documentary revealing the extent to which those in power will go to protect their interests and ideals. Survivors, whistle-blowers and experts recount the Boy Scouts of America’s decades long cover-up of sexual abuse cases and its heartbreaking impact.

Director: BRIAN KNAPPENBERGER

MADE YOU LOOK: A TRUE STORY ABOUT FAKE ART

Why you should watch: Goodness me! Who would ever have imagined that the art world could be filled with so much intrigue and corruption. Personally, I find it ludicrous that anyone would spend millions of dollars on a painting. This revealing documentary begins in 1995 with the Knoedler Gallery, the oldest art gallery in New York purchasing an unknown canvas by Mark Rothko. It was sold to Ann Freedman, the gallery’s director, for $750,000 (a fire-sale price). The person who brought it to her was Glafir Rosales, a woman from Long Island who didn’t have much of an art pedigree but claimed to represent a wealthy anonymous collector, and the story she told about him seemed just plausible. I find it implausible that those who are experts in their field were so gullible.

Director: BARRY AVRICH