By: Abigail Billings
May 19, 2020
Throughout this quarantine, I, like most of you, have been stuck inside with little or nothing to do. Yes, our teachers have been sending us work to keep up with our studies, but that leaves endless more hours in the day that we are left to our own devices. Instead of doing something productive like learning a new language, I decided to devote my time to catching up on my forever-growing list of movies and tv shows to watch. As of writing this, I’ve currently watched 48 movies and 25 collective seasons of tv shows. Yeah, it's a lot. I thought I might as well do something with this extensive list I’ve compiled, so here are my top 10 recommendations of movies and tv shows to binge-watch while we’re out of school. Keep in mind that these are in no particular order because I’m so indecisive that I couldn’t choose just one favorite. To make it a little easier for you, I’ve also included where you can watch these amazing films and shows at the time I wrote this.
10. Community
For fans of shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn 99, this show is perfect for you! There’s 6 seasons of this amazing comedy and each episode is a short and sweet 20 minutes. It's in my top 5 comedy shows of all time. It stars many familiar faces in comedy such as Donald Glover, Ken Jeong, and Yvette Nicole Brown. The show follows a group of 6 classmates at a community college. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed if you watch it. It's available to stream on Netflix and Hulu.
9. Pirates of the Caribbean
Yes, this break was the first time I ever watched the amazing Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I enjoyed them way more than I thought I would. Every movie in the series is fundamentally the same, but each one had different details that really pulled it together. Starring Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and Johnny Depp, each movie in the series is full of amazing actors and fun dialogue. The first 4 are available to stream on Disney+.
8. Parasite
Nearly everyone has heard of Parasite after its amazing win at the most recent Academy Awards. After hearing all my friends rave about it, I decided I had to watch it. I went into it without knowing anything about it, not even the plot. I honestly don’t know how to give a little background information without giving anything away so I suggest you watch it and figure it out as you go. There were multiple twists that I never could have predicted. It's available for free on Hulu.
7. Jojo Rabbit
This movie is comedy gold. Taika Watiti, the director of the movie, is literally my favorite director of all time. Everyone I know that watched it absolutely loved it, I even have a giant tapestry of the poster in my room! Starring Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlet Johannsen, Taika Watiti, and Sam Rockwell, it follows a young boy, Jojo, who wants to join Hitler’s Nazi youth program, but all seems to go haywire when he finds out his mom is secretly harboring a Jewish girl in their house. It's funny, it's sad, and it's amazing. Jojo Rabbit isn’t available free anywhere at the moment, but it's available to rent on Amazon Prime.
6. Moulin Rouge
This one is for all of my musical fans! It stars two of my favorites, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Every musical fan has at least heard of Moulin Rouge and that’s for good reason. The plot follows an English writer who falls in love with a cabaret actress who is engaged to a duke who she doesn’t wish to marry. I will confirm that I did cry. But seriously, even if you aren’t someone who actively seeks out musical movies, this one is absolutely spectacular. You can cry over this beautiful movie on HBO.
5. Kingsman
I’ve said I’ve loved pretty much every single item on this list, but this one may actually be my favorite one. I recommend it to almost anyone I meet. It stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, and Samuel L. Jackson. The Kingsman movies are about a young man named Eggsy who is invited to join a secret spy organization. It's pretty funny and the action sequences are fantastic! I really, really recommend watching these movies, I never get sick of them. They aren’t available for free anywhere at the moment, but it's worth it to rent it on Amazon Prime.
4. Sherlock
This is literally my favorite tv show ever. This one is great for anyone! True crime lovers, mystery lovers, accent lovers, you name it! The series follows Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman) as they solve classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but with a few twists. There’s 4 seasons, but alas, only 3 episodes in each season. Each episode is around an hour and a half long, though. Once again, this is something I’ve rewatched countless times and never get sick of. Each time I watch it I realize something that I didn’t see this time before. This amazing show is available to watch on Netflix.
3. The Social Network
This movie stars so many amazing actors that I can’t even list them all. Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, the list goes on and on! It tells the story of Mark Zuckerburg and how Facebook was created. I know lots of people aren’t big fans of dramas that tell real-life stories, but I was captivated throughout the whole movie. I can’t go into too much detail about the best parts, but the opening scene is absolutely fantastic. You can watch The Social Network for free on Netflix.
2. Mirror Mirror
Ah, a retelling of the Snow White story. In my opinion, the best retelling of any fairytale story there is. Starring Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, and Armie Hammer, it's the story of Snow White with its own touch of originality. I think it's wonderful and that the movie really makes the story its own. Also, you don’t want to know how many rewatches it took me to realize that the prince is played by Armie Hammer. This fabulous story is available to watch on Netflix.
1. Lemonade Mouth
You know I had to put a classic Disney channel original movie on here somewhere. For those that didn’t grow up watching the Disney channel, Lemonade Mouth stars some of our favorite Disney stars, such as Bridget Mendler, Adam Hicks, and Hayley Kiyoko. It follows a group of students bonding over music in detention, leading them to form a band. The music is great and the movie is arguably one of the best DCOMs there is. Of course, you can watch it for free on Disney+.
Well, there you have it! My top 10 recommendations for quarantine viewing. Of course, after these 10, I still have about 60 recommendations for all the movies and shows I couldn’t include on this list. Now, go find your favorites (and mine) and tell the world what you’re watching!
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