Credit: Netflix

Remember the DVD era? When you’d pick a movie and actually watch it through without thinking about what else to switch to. No scrolling, nothing. That 2008 to 2011 stretch comes from that time, and you can tell. The films that were released back then weren’t built just for opening weekend. They knew people would come back to them later.

That really shows up in how these films were made, and once you notice it, it’s impossible to ignore that. You are not sitting there wondering when the story is going to start, because it starts right after the credits or within the first 20 minutes or so. From that point on, it just keeps moving.

And the other thing is that you never got that feeling of being set up for something else later. Which movie today doesn’t have an open-ended scene? Everything is just left for interpretation. We’re not asking to be spoon-fed, and the early 2000s cinema understood that. It just tells the story it came to tell and leaves. Even the genre stays consistent, which sounds basic, but you notice it now because so many newer films can’t seem to decide what they want to be.

And that’s exactly why they work so well on Netflix now. People keep revisiting them and actually finish them without losing interest. If this speech has done a decent job in making you nostalgic, here are five films from that era you can revisit.

The five best movies to watch on Netflix this weekend

Easy A (Will Gluck, 2010)

Starting with the 2010 Emma Stone classic Easy A, which is a film for almost every mood. The film starts with a high school girl named Olive (Stone), who is just trying to get out of a dull conversation with a harmless little lie. Nothing serious, really. But of course, that lie spreads around the school almost instantly, and before Olive knows it, everyone has decided who she is. And instead of correcting it, Olive decided to go with it. She starts pretending to hook up with guys in exchange for gift cards, which sounds a bit mad, but it keeps getting messier the longer she goes along with it.

You can see she knows it’s getting out of hand, but by then, there’s no easy way to undo it without making things worse. This is Emma Stone before she became part of movies like La La Land, and she has done such a great job making Olive a lovely, intelligent character that many still see it as an inspiration, not for the rumour but for the way she handles it. Easy A didn’t cost much to make, but it did well, and more importantly, this is where Emma Stone really took off.

Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008)

Now this one, oh, it goes in a completely different direction than Easy A. Pineapple Express follows Dale (Seth Rogen), who is basically just going about his job serving court papers when he accidentally witnesses a murder. Poor guy. Talk about being in a wrong place, wrong time situation. In a panic, he runs to his dealer, Saul, played by James Franco, and from there it turns into this long, messy escape with both of them being chased. With these two being the lead, it’s not that hard to imagine how hilarious it is.

And while Rigen is as iconic as he is, James Franco is the one people remember here. His character Saul is written as an annoying person, but instead he makes him likeable. You’ll also see Danny McBride show up later, which just adds to the madness of it all.

Not Easily Broken (Bill Duke, 2009)

After all that running about in Pineapple Express, we have Not Easily Broken, which is a story of Dave and Clarice, who are already dealing with cracks in their marriage before Clarice’s car accident makes things worse. After that, she becomes more dependent on others, especially her mother, who starts interfering in their marriage. Dave tries to support her, but the distance between them keeps growing, and things get worse when another man enters the picture and begins to influence Clarice’s decisions.

It’s based on T.D. Jake’s novel, and he produced it as well. What this Netflix film focuses on, more than anything, is how easily distance can grow when neither person is actually saying what is wrong. You see how each decision builds on the last, making it harder to come back from.

Immortals (Tarsem Singh, 2011)

This one is for all the Henry Cavill fans out there. Immortals goes straight into Greek mythology. It follows Theseus (Cavill), a man chosen by Zeus to stop King Hyperion, played by Mickey Rourke, who is searching for a powerful weapon called the Epirus Bow. Hyperion’s plan is to use it to release the Titans and overthrow the gods, which would basically throw the entire world into ruin. Theseus initially starts off as a villager but later becomes the leader of the fight. He is also joined by Phaedra, a priestess who has visions that guide him.

The story is quite straightforward; Theseus is trying to stop Hyperion from getting the Epirus Bow before things get completely out of hand. If Hyperion gets it, he can release the Titans, and that’s basically the end of everything. Directed by Tarsem Singh, Immortals came out during that phase when mythological action films were everywhere. It didn’t rely on an existing book adaptation, but it still pulled from well-known Greek myths and characters.

Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009)

To end the list, we have an animated movie. It follows Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning), who has just moved into a new house with her parents, and she is already bored out of her mind. While exploring, she finds a small hidden door that leads to another version of her world. At first, it’s better in every possible way. She gets to meet her “Other Mother”, who is attentive, and everything seems designed just for her.

But it doesn’t stay like that for long. The Other Mother expects Coraline to stay there permanently, and that comes with a condition that is clearly not right. Once Coraline realises what’s actually going on, she has to figure out how to get back home and undo things before she’s stuck there for good. It’s based on Neil Gaiman’s book and made using stop-motion animation. Also, it was the first stop-motion film to be shot entirely in 3D, which is just another reason you need to stream this masterpiece.