I thought I'd already made a list of his best streaming stuff in my RIP post, but nope!
So here they are.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Well calibrated caper gone wrong flick, with fine performances all round and an old school sensibility. A cinematic epitaph any major director would be happy to claim. Plus, Marisa Tomei bares and is way hotter than expected.
The Verdict
Fantastic turn by Paul Newman as a grubby ambulance chaser who takes a shot at late-life courtroom redemption. Head and shoulders above most courtroom dramas, built off a David Mamet screenplay that ranks as one of his absolute best.
Network
One of those landmark movies that deserve a 'Nuff Said!' after the link. Eerily prescient, and one of those movies who's actual content has been buried underneath the cultural adoption of one scene- it has much more to offer than just I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANY MORE. A film that would make any hypothetical Mt Rushmore of 70's classics.
Dog Day Afternoon
As would this one. Lumet had a tremendous 70's run and this is the crown jewel of his resume. Watching young Al Pacino dig into a great role always shocks me- the rote mediocrity of the bulk of his career smothers my memories of how electrifying and incredible he was when he started out.
Of his other available streaming films, Equus is the best, although seriously flawed compared to the source material. Interesting, but not great.
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