The top 15 YouTube movies

In this captivating slow-burn drama, writer-director Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers) explores the disintegration of a marriage. The British couple Kate and Geoff Mercer, who are commemorating their 45th wedding anniversary, are portrayed by Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. Kate gradually comes to understand that her husband has not given her the whole truth about his past and how it has impacted their own relationship after the body of Geoff’s former lover is recovered. Rampling’s nuanced, heartbreaking performance earned her multiple critics’ awards and an Oscar nomination. She is a revelation, as the critic for EW puts it, “in a quiet, beautifully calibrated performance completely stripped of actressy tricks.” —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch 45 Years: YouTube

EW grade: A-

Director: Andrew Haigh

Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

Disney’s The Little Mermaid faced off against Don Bluth’s All Dogs Go to Heaven in theaters in 1989, and the latter was defeated (or should we say floundered?). But in the years that have passed, his outlandish animated movie has gained a cult following because of its bizarre storyline (a dog gets killed and then returns from the pearly gates to exact revenge before discovering an orphan girl who will heal his wounded heart). Finally, there is incredible voice acting from stars like Dom DeLuise and Burt Reynolds. This was once dubbed “the most disturbing kids’ movie ever” by an EW critic. Though, as we still believe, it is best avoided for young children, their parents will undoubtedly find it to be a heartwarming talking animal cartoon that zigs when its Disney-fed audience expects it to zag. —Chris Snellgrove

Where to watch All Dogs Go to Heaven: YouTube

Director: Don Bluth

Cast: Loni Anderson, Judith Barsi, Dom DeLuise, Melba Moore, Charles Nelson Reilly, Burt Reynolds, Vic Tayback

Another Round (2020)

A potent cocktail of comedy and tragedy, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round takes place in modern-day Copenhagen as four dissatisfied friends and teachers decide to embark on an experiment: maintain a state of buzz from alcohol to unlock their creative potential. Results are positive to start, with all four finding their moods raised and teaching methods more fruitful for their students. But things take an unfortunate turn as the friends decide to take their alcohol consumption to the next level. Featuring a stunning lead performance by Mads Mikkelsen, the Danish film received widespread critical acclaim for its depiction of men of a certain age as they try to quell their midlife crises. Vinterberg received a Best Director Oscar nomination in 2021 for the film, which also won the award for Best International Feature. —K.J.

Where to watch Another Round: YouTube

EW grade: B

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Barry Lyndon is far from your typical period piece, despite its ostentatiously extravagant visuals. This is the story of an ordinary man who just keeps failing upward and his subsequent fall from grace. This is due to the fact that it was directed by Stanley Kubrick, who uses a natural sense of irony to tell the story of the title character (played by Ryan O’Neal) as we follow his transition from farm boy to soldier to aristocrat. Barry Lyndon, described by EW’s critic as “a brocade-and-powdered-wig period piece so unprecedented in its authenticity that it would seem as enigmatic — and compelling — to modern audiences as a visit to another galaxy,” is a masterful film that showcases some of the most stunning cinematography ever captured on screen. —K.J.

Where to watch Barry Lyndon: YouTube

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Kruger, Diana Körner, Gay Hamilton

Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

Few stage plays that have influenced popular culture are as endearing as Bye Bye Birdie. The idea for the film was inspired by The King being drafted at the height of his fame, even though Elvis does not feature in it. In addition to being scouted by the Army, our fictitious singing sensation faces more personal challenges as he copes with a plethora of adoring teenage fans and an odd plot from Dick Van Dyke’s character, an aspiring songwriter who views the singer as his own meal ticket. In the end, this musical features a ton of memorable songs, fantastic flashbacks to the 1960s, and a remarkable performance by Van Dyke in his feature debut. —C.S.

Where to watch Bye Bye Birdie: YouTube

Director: George Sidney

Cast: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, Ed Sullivan

Chicago (2002)

Chicago is a thrilling production that takes place in the titular city’s Jazz Age and contributes to the resurgence of the movie musical genre. The lead actress, Renée Zellweger, plays Roxie Hart, a homemaker who kills her lover and ends up in prison. The Oscar-winning movie follows the vaudevillian entertainer Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who is also convicted of murder, as she attempts to sway public opinion in her favor during her pending trials. Chicago, with its stunning musical sequences (the “Cell Block Tango” will always be a favorite) and amazing performances, is a blast to see again and again. —K.J.

Where to watch Chicago: YouTube

EW grade: N/A

Director: Rob Marshall

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, Taye Diggs, Dominic West, Christine Baranski

Dances With Wolves (1990)

If you’re a fan of Kevin Costner, then you owe it to yourself to watch Dances With Wolves on YouTube ASAP. This is the actor’s passion project: He starred in, produced, and directed this tale of a Union soldier who walks away from the Civil War to join a tribe of Native Americans and learn a simpler, better way of life. Costner is as good as ever here, and supporting actors such as Mary McDonnell add notes of grace to a narrative that would otherwise be consumed with gravitas. And if you don’t mind a story told through a decidedly “New Age” lens, this is a film you will most likely never forget. —C.S.

Where to watch Dances With Wolves: YouTube

Director: Kevin Costner

Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney Grant

Donnie Darko (2001)

More than 20 years later, this sci-fi thriller that has become a cult favorite is still powerful. In one of his first major roles, Jake Gyllenhaal plays the angsty teenager Donnie, who sleepwalks outside his house and encounters a terrifying human-sized rabbit that tells him the world is ending in 28 days. Donnie keeps seeing the menacing rabbit after a plane crashes into his home that evening. If not for the skillful guidance of Richard Kelly, this concept might have gone completely wrong. “He swings big— with flair,” as the critic for EW puts it. —K.J.

Where to watch Donnie Darko: YouTube

EW grade: N/A

Director: Richard Kelly

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Seth Rogen, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Ashley Tisdale

Frances Ha (2013)

Frances Ha, a film that Greta Gerwig co-wrote and starred in alongside her partner Noah Baumbach, turned her into an independent darling and catapulted her to fame as an acclaimed writer-director and frequent Oscar nominee. In the film, Gerwig portrays Frances Halladay, a millennial dancer from Brooklyn whose best friend and roommate moves to Tribeca, forcing Frances to look for a more economical place to live. Frances battles the shifting dynamics in her friendship with her best friend while she tries to make ends meet. A film about coming to terms with young adulthood in all of its messy, beautiful complications, Frances Ha is full of observational humor and quirky humor that plays off the wayward spirit of its main character. —K.J.

Where to watch Frances Ha: YouTube

EW grade: B+

Director: Noah Baumbach

Cast: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen

Heathers (1989)

This black comedy about the unrealistic demands of high school existed before Mean Girls. In the movie, Winona Ryder plays high school student Veronica Sawyer, who becomes part of a popular but intimidating group of girls who all have the same first name, Heather. She quickly becomes weary of the Heathers and makes friends with J.D. (Christian Slater), a new student who has crazy ideas about how to help Veronica get even with them. Heathers is a (heightened) testament to the most cynical aspects of the Gen X high school experience. It is wickedly funny and full of sharp observational humor. —K.J.

Where to watch Heathers: YouTube

Director: Michael Lehmann

Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty

Lady Bird (2017)

Do you not believe that they might be the same thing? Love and attention?” The question that Lady Bird’s title character must answer may also sum up writer-director Greta Gerwig’s approach to creating her first solo feature film. The movie follows Saoirse Ronan’s character Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson as she matures in Sacramento in 2002, from her tense relationship with her mother to her early encounters with boys. Filled with heart and humor, Lady Bird demonstrated Gerwig’s extraordinary skill as a director, garnering five Oscar nominations and widespread acclaim. —K.J.

Where to watch Lady Bird: YouTube

EW grade: A-

Director: Greta Gerwig

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Beanie Feldstein, Timothée Chalamet

Memento (2001)

Memento was Christopher Nolan’s first mainstream foray into playing with notions of time. Guy Pearce portrays Leonard Shelby, a man who lost his memory after his wife was killed. In an attempt to make sense of his life and seek justice, Leonard inks significant information onto his body through tattoos and snaps pictures with a Polaroid camera due to his failing short-term memory. The film deftly switches between chronological and non-linear editing, placing the audience in the protagonist’s head as we attempt to solve a complex puzzle. The critic for EW claims that “Memento has a spooky, repetitive urgency that takes on the clarity of a dream.” “It resembles a case study on Oliver Sacks presented as a sinister film noir.” —K.J.

Where to watch Memento: YouTube

EW grade: A

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano

Paprika (2006)

This thought-provoking Japanese anime film from visionary director Satoshi Kon will weave into your subconscious. The film centers on a psychologist who uses innovative dream technology to help her patients, using the alter ego Paprika. After the technology is stolen, the psychologist and her fellow scientists try to prevent catastrophic consequences. Dizzying and dazzling all at once, Paprika finds Kon mixing “visual beauty with disorienting perspectives for a cautionary tale about machine-influenced soullessness,” writes EW’s critic. —K.J.

Where to watch Paprika: YouTube

EW grade: A–

Director: Satoshi Kon

Cast: Megumi Hayashibara, Tōru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Tōru Furuya, Akio Ōtsuka, Kōichi Yamadera, Hideyuki Tanaka

Pumping Iron (1977)

If you’ve ever enjoyed an Arnold Schwarzenegger action film, then you ought to watch the documentary that effectively kick-started his career. While Pumping Iron is about bodybuilders in general, our eyes are drawn to the soon-to-be star in his physical prime, reminding us why he was perfectly cast as Conan the Barbarian back in the ’80s. As EW’s writer points out in a retrospective on the actor, “Schwarzenegger’s charm and wit were immediately apparent,” and it’s hard not to laugh at his hilarious and even vulgar descriptions of the sport (likening it to sexual intercourse, among other things). —C.S.

Where to watch Pumping Iron: YouTube

Directors: George Butler and Robert Fiore

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Mike Katz, Franco Columbu, Ed Corney, Ken Waller, Serge Nubret

School of Rock (2003)

Jack Black’s breakthrough performance in 2000’s High Fidelity was followed by School of Rock, which solidified his position as a movie star. Black plays Dewey Finn in the well-loved comedy, a former rock guitarist who, in his desperate attempt to find work, poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school. He then starts a band with the sheltered children, giving them a platform to express their uniqueness and help them come out of their shells. Under director Richard Linklater’s direction, what might have been just another dumb comedy turns into a cleverly humorous and endearing movie. Black’s passionate performance earns him critical acclaim and even a Golden Globe nomination. —K.J.

Where to watch School of Rock: YouTube

EW grade: N/A

Director: Richard Linklater

Cast: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman

by EW