Scrolling through Paramount+ can sometimes feel like you’re flipping channels, old-school style, with that glazed look on your face, as you hope to land on something to snap you out of it. With a new month upon us, the streaming behemoth has re-upped its library of crowd-pleasing, critically acclaimed movies, which are here for the taking.
As we cross the March-April line, this week’s quartet spans sharp drama, breezy ’90s cult-comedy, a love-letter to Trek, and the parody that sparked all parodies.
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The Social Network
The definitive account of the birth of a social-media icon
The Social Network has, for better or worse, become the de facto public record of the story of Facebook’s groundbreaking rise to top of the social media heap. But screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher were less dazzled by the behemoth that Facebook would become, instead focusing on the themes of friendship, betrayal, and jealousy embroiled in its genesis
Nominated for eight Oscars and winning three, the film follows 19-year-old Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), who, along with his best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), and other classmates, create TheFacebook, a social media site for Ivy League students. The problem is, Mark may have stolen the idea, and stabbed some friends in the back to ensure its success. The film plays out through a mix of cut scenes to the present-day legal proceedings and flashbacks chronicling Facebook’s rise—including its involvement with Napster’s Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), its move to Silicon Valley, and Saverin’s eventual ousting from the company. But Fincher and Sorkin’s focus stays true as we see a Zuckerberg who must come to terms with the price he’s paid for his creation.
The Social Network has a 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and starts streaming on Paramount+ on April 1st.
The Social Network
Release Date
October 1, 2010
Runtime
121 minutes
Director
David Fincher
Writers
Ben Mezrich, Aaron Sorkin
Jesse Eisenberg
Mark Zuckerberg
Andrew Garfield
Eduardo Saverin
Armie Hammer
Cameron Winklevoss / Tyler Winklevoss
Justin Timberlake
Sean Parker
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Clueless
A ’90s cult classic that’s still trying to make “fetch” happen
As a Gen-X kid who grew up in the ’90s, I loved sitting down to watch this cult classic from 1995 with my 14-year-old daughter. In Clueless, come for the old-school cellphones, fashion, catchphrase (“As if!”), and killer soundtrack (LIghtning Seeds, Supergrass, Radiohead!) and stay for this modern and loose retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, in which rich, stylish Beverly Hills high school socialite Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone in a break-out role) embarks on a misguided mission to make over the school’s new girl, Tai (the late Brittany Murphy), and play matchmaker to everyone but herself.
Of course, things go astray fast for Cher, as she comes to realize the error of her ways in this coming-of-age comedy-drama written and directed by Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High). Clueless also features a young Paul Rudd as Cher’s potential love interest.
Clueless is a must-watch for any ’90s-loving individual, and it currently holds an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Never stop trying to make “fetch” happen.
Clueless
Release Date
July 19, 1995
Runtime
97 minutes
Director
Amy Heckerling
Writers
Amy Heckerling
2
Galaxy Quest
A skewering love-letter to Star Trek and its fandom
It’s one of my favorite movies of all time, I can watch it infinitely without ever getting tired of it, and it’ll be available to stream on Paramount+ on April 1 (I’m really hoping it’s not an April Fools’ joke). As a huge Star Trek fan back in the day (and today, for that matter), Galaxy Quest hit all the right targets in its loving satire of Trek, its overzealous fans, and the actors part of the pop-culture phenomenon.
The sci-fi comedy follows the past-their-prime cast of the canceled TV series Galaxy Quest, who are beamed up from convention circuit hell by the Thermians, an alien race who believe that the show was real and have based their entire way of life around it, down to somehow creating a working version of the show’s ship, the Enterprise-like NSEA Protector. The Thermians, led by the adorable Enrico Colantoni as Mathesar, are under attack by an evil reptilian alien named Sarris, and need the help of the Protector’s crew/actors played by Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Daryl Mitchell, and Sam Rockwell.
Galaxy Quest is funny in all the right places, actually has an emotional heart, and is a love letter to Trek that you should totally watch this week. If Rotten Tomatoes scores mean anything to you, it has a 90% critics’ rating, too.
Galaxy Quest
Release Date
December 25, 1999
Runtime
102 minutes
Director
Dean Parisot
Writers
Robert Gordon, David Howard
1
Airplane!
Surely you know the king of all parody films?
It’s the quintessential spoof movie that gave all spoof movies, and comedy in general, so much. From famously making literal sight gags out of common idioms—”The sh** hits the fan,” the inflatable autopilot, Ted Striker’s “drinking problem”)—to one of the most famous lines in movie history: “Surely you can’t be serious!”https://www.howtogeek.com/”I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley,” Airplane! is one of the greatest comedy films ever made.
The parody film from 1980 is actually a love story about Ted Striker (Robert Hays), a former fighter pilot with PTSD, who follows his flight attendant girlfriend, Elaine (Julie Hagerty), on her flight to Chicago after she breaks up with him. While in the air, the pilots, crew, and passengers get food poisoning, and Striker is called upon to fly the plane. Meanwhile, deadpan Dr. Rumack (the brilliant Leslie Nielsen) tries to treat the ill and keep everyone calm on board, while the incompetent ground team, led by Lloyd Bridges’ stern Steve McCroskey, tries to prevent the aforementioned poop from literally hitting the fan.
A direct parody of the 1957 disaster film Zero Hour, Airplane! perfected the spoof genre and set the stage for every film from The Naked Gun and Top Secret to Hot Shots and Scary Movie. Airplane! and its sequel Airplane II: The Sequel are available to stream on Paramount+ on April 1.
Airplane!
Release Date
July 2, 1980
Runtime
88 minutes
Director
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Writers
Arthur Hailey, Hall Bartlett, John C. Champion, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Whether you’re in the mood for something smart, nostalgic, or just outright silly, this week’s picks make it easy to press play and relax.
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Simultaneous streams
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If you enjoy CBS offerings, you’ll want to subscribe to Paramount+. You get access to hit shows like Star Trek and Yellowstone, as well as a variety of SHOWTIME content.
