5 Oscar contenders whose early work you can watch on Netflix now
LOS ANGELES -- Awards season is upon us, and for the next five months we'll be talking about the same 50 actors and actresses and whether an Oscar is in their future.
But what about their pasts? The journeys they took on the way to awards glory?
Funny you should ask ...
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Mashable perused the wide selection of films currently available to stream on Netflix while keeping an eye on this fall's potential nominees. If you want to see them in action earlier in their careers, check out our recommendations for those nights when you can't find (or agree on) something to watch.
Best Actor
Mashable Recommends: Good Will Hunting -- In case you haven't noticed, 2016 is shaping up to be The Year of Affleck -- Casey Affleck, that is. Sure, his big brother Ben wrote, directed, produced and stars in the Prohibition-era crime movie Live by Night, which could make him a contender in multiple categories if WB gives it an expected qualifying run this December, but Casey's masterful performance in Sundance sensation Manchester by the Sea remains the odds-on favorite to win Best Actor. Either way, it's you who can't lose by checking out the Oscar-winning 1997 drama Good Will Hunting, which made a star out of Ben and Matt Damon, but also saw director Gus Van Sant reteam with Casey, who got his big break two years earlier in To Die For.
Casey plays scene-stealer Morgan O'Mally, the runt of group who always takes his friends' jokes in stride. Whether it's the exchange about his "Little League glove" or his "double burger," every funny scene with Casey Affleck makes Good Will Hunting that much better. Ben is no slouch himself as Chuckie Sullivan, who doesn't want to see his genius best friend be held back by life in Southie. It's no surprise these real-life brothers exhibit such natural chemistry with each other and add to the authenticity of the Boston-set film.
If You’ve Already Seen It: Turner and Hooch or The 'Burbs -- Just as the Afflecks have pivoted from their early roles, so has Tom Hanks, who reminds everyone why he has two Oscars in Clint Eastwood's Sully, which sees him delivering the dramatic goods once again. But before Hanks landed a plane on the Hudson River without breaking a sweat, he was best known for his comedies, and these are two '80s favorites. In Turner and Hooch, Hanks teams up with a loyal, slobbering dog to solve the murder of its former owner. In The 'Burbs, Hanks plays a paranoid suburbanite who sets out to prove that his new neighbors are crazed killers. Not only do both films find Hanks investigating crime, but they also showcase his gift for physical comedy.
Best Actress
Mashable Recommends: The Debt - Before Jessica Chastain and director John Madden teamed for the upcoming gun-control debate film Miss Sloane, they worked on another political thriller of a very different sort. Released to little fanfare in 2011, The Debt follows three Mossad agents who cross over into East Berlin to apprehend a notorious Nazi war criminal in 1965. Thirty years later, the secrets they share come back to haunt them. In one of her first major movie roles, Chastain plays the younger version of Helen Mirren's character and acquits herself nicely alongside Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas. This intelligent film for adults has flown under the radar in recent years, but it boasts a 76% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
If You’ve Already Seen It: Your Sister's Sister -- It remains to be seen whether Emily Blunt's thriller The Girl on the Train will be this year's Gone Girl, but the title role has catapulted Blunt into the awards conversation. Blunt has done plenty of strong work over the years, but she deserves special kudos for playing her most "normal" character in Lynn Shelton's dramedy about two sisters caught in an unconventional love triangle with Mark Duplass. Blunt is great playing the pining, jealous sister, and while this little-seen indie isn't as commercial as Train or her recent sci-fi hits Edge of Tomorrow and Looper, it's worth a look, if only to see Blunt in a different light.
Best Supporting Actor
Mashable Recommends: Erin Brockovich -- Aaron Eckhart has been a bit of a chameleon over the years. He's unrecognizable as Miles Teller's alcoholic boxing trainer in Bleed for This, and he's equally unrecognizable as Julia Roberts' biker boyfriend in Steven Soderbergh's legal drama Erin Brockovich. Eckhart's character isn't even mentioned in Wikipedia's plot synopsis, which is crazy, because he's third-billed among the cast, but alas, he's the beating heart of the film who grounds the title character. I know what you're thinking -- a Julia Roberts movie? Really? -- but trust me, this is an excellent film that fully deserved its Best Picture nomination.
If You’ve Already Seen It: Saving Private Ryan -- If you want to make a memorable war movie, Vin Diesel may be your good-luck charm. Not only does he lead the title character in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk into battle this November, but nearly two decades earlier he helped Tom Hanks kill Germans as rifleman Adrian Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan, which was Diesel's first major movie role. Between Steven Spielberg and now, Ang Lee, it's clear that Hollywood's top directors look to Diesel when casting their war movies. This movie is a masterpiece that proved Academy voters aren't perfect when it lost Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love.
Best Supporting Actress
Mashable Recommends: Working Girl -- I hadn't even seen this movie until recently, but let me assure you, it's fantastic. Sigourney Weaver plays a finance executive who is a nightmare of a boss to her naive secretary, played by Melanie Griffith, while Harrison Ford co-stars as the bigshot who comes between them. As much as the film belongs to Griffith, it's Weaver who shows off a different side of herself following Alien and Ghostbusters, and her prissy performance paved the way for her turn as Lewis MacDougall's mean-spirited Grandma in A Monster Calls. Felicity Jones may have the most Oscar buzz when it comes to that film, but Weaver still commands our attention, just as Working Girl should command yours.
If You’ve Already Seen It: Eyes Wide Shut -- Nicole Kidman is said to be fantastic as Dev Patel's adoptive mother in Lion, a far cry from her turn as a sex-starved art curator in Eyes Wide Shut, in which she plays wife to her then-real-life husband Tom Cruise. Kidman isn't onscreen as much as her ex, but we can't take our eyes off her when she does appear. Stanley Kubrick's erotic drama may not have been nominated for any Oscars, but it's perfect to watch after dark once the kids are in bed.
BEST DIRECTOR
Mashable Recommends: A Single Man -- Best known as a fashion designer, Tom Ford surprised everyone with his 2009 debut, which made a true star out of its under-appreciated leading man Colin Firth, who should've won an Oscar. Set over the course of a single day as Firth's college professor plots to kill himself, Ford's film has style and sensuality to spare. The same can be said of his overdue follow-up Nocturnal Animals, which stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, though its Oscar buzz has centered around Michael Shannon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, as well as the film's gorgeous cinematography and score. Composer Abel Korzeniowski's work in A Single Man is even better, so don't miss it.
If You’ve Already Seen It: Monsters -- If Rogue One: A Star Wars Story lives up to its potential, it could sneak into the Oscar race, as voters are more than willing to reward quality commercial fare. A nomination would be a feather in the cap of director Gareth Edwards, whose debut film Monsters demonstrated his ability to tell a big story on a small budget. Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able star in the heavily-improvised sci-fi movie, which Edwards filmed in five countries with a crew of only six people. It's an impressive feat that signaled big things to come for Edwards, who went on to direct Godzilla before landing the coveted Rogue One gig.
Topics Netflix
