Movie night: here are 6 lesser-known flicks to sort out your weekend entertainment

We love to shout a great deal on some of the best cheap phones, TVs, headphones or stick vacuums, but there’s few better things than snagging some new (physical!) movies at a discounted price.

Between Binge, Disney Plus and more of Australia’s best streaming services, just about any movie sits at the ends of our fingers, but, if you’re a fan of physical media, JB Hi-Fi should be your go-to retailer. Well, if not always, then right now – as right now you can earn a free movie for every two you buy – stackable as many times as you like.

There’s a whole bunch of blockbuster DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K discs available, with movies like Dune Part One and Part two, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Oppenheimer, Blade Runner 2049, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Barbie and The Batman available.

But, chances are, if you were interested in those flicks, you’d have already watched them – so I think you should sort this weekend’s viewing with these lesser-known movies instead.

Lars and the Real Girl

Rotten Tomatoes: 81% | IMDB: 7.3/10 | Letterboxd: 3.8/5

This might just be Ryan Gosling’s greatest performance, and I love LaLaLand, First Man, Blade Runner 2049, The Place Beyond the Pines and Drive.

Directed by Australian filmmaker Craig Gillespie (director of Dumb Money, Cruella and I, Tonya), Lars and the Real Girl follows Lars – a lonely, awkward young man who struggles to socialise. So, when he announces his new girlfriend to his brother and sister-in-law, everyone’s thrilled… until they realise his new girl is made of plastic. On the advice of a doctor, they play along with his delusion, and hilarity ensues.

Despite its ludicrous premise, the film never treats it or the Lars character as such and thus it has a real sense of heart and honesty – backed by excellent performances.

Lars and the Real Girl (Blu-Ray) – AU$39.98 at JB Hi-Fi
Stream on Prime Video

Perfect Days

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% | IMDB: 7.9/10 | Letterboxd: 4.3/5

One of my favourite kinds of movies are ‘slice of life’ films. There’s no crazy action, no life-wrecking accident. No divorce or big work presentation that will mean promotion. It’s just a person, going about their life just as if they’d be doing the same thing if they weren’t in a movie.

Perfect Days might just be the perfect embodiment of such a movie. This Japanese-language film directed by Tim Wenders (Paris,Texas) follows Hirayama – a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He lives a simple, calm and structured life, spending his spare time cherishing his music and books, and taking photos of trees on his walk. But, during the movie various encounters lead him to take a step back and reflect on himself, his life and its beauty.

Made for a tranquil sunday afternoon, this is the movie you should watch when you don’t know what to watch.

Perfect Days (Blu-Ray & DVD) – AU$39.98 / AU$19.98 at JB Hi-Fi
Stream on Stan | Rent for AU$2.99 Apple TV Plus and Prime Video

Fury

Rotten Tomatoes: 76% | IMDB: 7.6/10 | Letterboxd: 3.8/5

War movie aficionado’s are likely to have seen this one, but if you haven’t, there’s not an easier recommendation out there – Fury is about as brutal and entertaining as any war movie. And, despite being led by Brad Pitt and directed by David Ayer, it seemed to go under the radar compared to its similar counterparts.

Fury follows a grizzled Army sergeant (Brad Pitt) who’s earned the name ‘Wardaddy’ as he leads Fury the Sherman Tank and its five-man crew – which includes Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña and John Bernthal – on a deadly mission across Germany.

At its heart, this is a cheesy World War II flick. That’s not a bad thing. I love plenty of average, entertaining movies about taking down the bad guy. But, it’s the addition of fantastic acting, beautiful cinematography and excellent writing that elevates this to one of the better war movies you’ll see.

Fury (4K Ultra HD & DVD) – AU$34.98 / AU$14.98 at JB Hi-Fi
Stream on Netflix and Prime Video

Dream Scenario

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | IMDB: 6.8/10 | Letterboxd: 3.4/5

It’s been a big few years for Nicolas Cage, with Pig, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Renfield and Longlegs all deserving an honourable mention. This satirical comedy-drama takes the cake though.

Paul Mathews (Nic Cage) is an average family man.That is, until people randomly start seeing him in their dreams and he’s boosted to stardom because of it. Those dreams quickly turn into nightmares, though – and his newfound stardom is no longer very comfortable.

One of the weirder movies I’ve seen, Dream Scenario is Nic Cage at his best. With a runtime of just 102 minutes, it’s an easy recommendation no matter what you’re usually into, and if you find yourself hating most dream sequences – check this out.

Dream Scenario (Blu-Ray & DVD) – AU$24.98 / AU$17.98 at JB Hi-Fi Stream on Netflix | Rent for AU$6.99 on Prime Video and Apple TV+

Fallen Leaves

Rotten Tomatoes: 97% | IMDB: 7.3/10 | Letterboxd: 3.8/5

If you love a romantic comedy, you have to watch Fallen Leaves. It’s everything you love about Before Sunrise with the comedy moments of your favourite rom-coms, backed by the realities of working class life in modern-day Helsinki.

Jamming its 81-minute runtime full of content, Fallen Leaves is a Finnish-language movie that’s about as good as a meet-cute gets. It follows a lonely man and woman, different in many aspects, who meet by chance in a karaoke bar. And they have to battle everything from alcoholism and lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses and a charming stray dog to be together.

I saw this in the theatre, and I walked with a smile on my face. That kind of impact is hard to come by, and it wasn’t because I saw it on the big-screen. Turn the subtitles on and enjoy.

Fallen Leaves (DVD) – AU$24.98 at JB Hi-Fi
Stream on Stan | Rent for AU$4.99 on Prime Video / AU$6.99 on Apple TV+

Anatomy of a Fall

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% | IMDB: 7.6/10 | Letterboxd: 4.1/5

I initially wasn’t going to include this because it was one of the best movies of 2023, but I know too many of you avoided it because it’s a French film. But, in a year where American Fiction, Oppenheimer, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest were all in the running – you should watch all four of them, by the way – I thought Anatomy of a Fall should have won Best Picture at the Oscars.

One of the best courtroom dramas, whodunits and movies I’ve ever seen, the premise is simple – a woman is suspected of murder after her husband’s death, and their half-blind son is the main witness. What the director Justine Triet, Sandra Hüller and the entire cast – including the best acting performance from a dog ever – do with that premise is astounding.

It’s been a year since I watched this movie for the third time, and I still think about it regularly. Well, every time 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P plays at the very least.

Anatomy of a Fall (Blue-Ray & DVD) – AU$26.98 / AU$19.98 at JB Hi-Fi
Stream on Stan | Rent for AU$2.99 on Prime Video and Apple TV+