Anna Daniels
Have you created a quarantine watch list yet? Good thing there’s always room for more, right?
Last Friday, writer/director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Super, Slither) shared a list of underseen movie recommendations to help keep film fans occupied while we all stay inside as much as possible to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Check out his list below, and learn about a new Google Chrome extension that lets you watch Netflix remotely with a group of friends.
Your Quarantine Watch List Just Got Better
Just because we’re in the middle of a worldwide pandemic doesn’t mean we have to get sucked into an endless scroll of news for days on end. While the coronavirus is unquestionably very serious and deserves to be treated as such, look on the bright side: all this time at home is a good opportunity to broaden your cinematic horizons and boost your film knowledge at the same time. Enter James Gunn, who was working on DC’s The Suicide Squad when all of this went down. He’s here with a list of recommendations that can help you shape your quarantine watch list, which just might help in this weird time we’re living in:
10 GREAT MOVIES YOU LIKELY HAVEN’T SEEN TO STREAM WHILE YOU SELF-QUARANTINE. It’s important for the health of our world to practice social distancing as much as possible. In the service of you doing this & in the hopes you will, I’ve come up with this list. #QuarantineAndChill
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 13, 2020
2. Villainess (2017) – directed by Jung Byung-gil
As revolutionary to actions films as was The Matrix, Fury Road, and The Raid, and yet this South Korean film was seen by so many fewer people in the States. pic.twitter.com/N9k2hZ7zlp— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 13, 2020
4. The Wanderers (1979) – directed by Philip Kaufman
The strangest and most beautiful street gang film ever (yes, EVER) – in turns exciting, touching, and surrealistic – a populist art film. pic.twitter.com/5Mieoloqft— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 13, 2020
6. One Cut of the Dead (2017) – directed by Shinichirou Ueda
To tell you anything about this movie could hurt it – but if you love zombies and filmmaking and joy, this is the movie for you while you #Quarantineandchill. pic.twitter.com/YMDMZSojPW— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 13, 2020
8. The Yellow Sea (2010) – directed by Na Hong-jin
Another great South Korean action film, gritty and over-the-top and practical where Villainess is stylized. Perhaps the greatest non-car chase scene ever. pic.twitter.com/mKQAh8JqeW— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 13, 2020
10. Duck You Sucker (A Fistful of Dynamite) (1971) – directed by Sergio Leone.
Leone is one of my favorite directors. This is probably my second favorite film of his after Once Upon a Time in the West, and is the one that’s been the most forgotten. pic.twitter.com/I5rb7utJ03— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 13, 2020
Unfortunately, a grand total of zero of Gunn’s recommendations are available on Netflix right now (at least in the United States). But if Netflix is the only streaming service you subscribe to, and you’re already starting to feel a little too isolated during this time of self-quarantining, here’s something that may help ease the loneliness a bit. Collider pointed us to a Google Chrome extension called Netflix Party, “a Chrome extension for watching Netflix remotely with friends, e.g., for movie nights with that long-distance special someone. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chat.” Click the player below to see what it looks like:
Paradoxically, the group chat element is the only thing that I find to be a little bit of a bummer here. I know the whole point is to have a different kind of social experience by watching things with people at the same time, but the very existence of that group chat functionality implicitly encourages you to “talk” during the movie (read: not pay full attention to what you’re watching).
Then again, I’ve personally never liked watching things in big groups, because I always end up being the only person who’s fuming in the corner about not being able to hear what’s going on while everyone else is laughing and chatting it up around me. (If you’re going to have people over to watch something, then actually watch the thing, damn it! Sorry, I’m a buzzkill.) I’d be fully on board with this if you could convince your friends to watch something you’ve already seen; then you could laugh, joke, and GIF your way through it worry-free. But again, these are weird times, so maybe it’s worth having that live digital connection with your friends since you can’t hang with them in person. I suppose you could always go back to catch up with a scene later if you missed something. In any case, you can learn more about Netflix Party by visiting its official website.
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