DIRECTOR: Mike Nichols
CAST: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross
RATING: PG

Nearly 60 years later, this romantic comedy starring Dustin Hoffman still has mass appeal. But you don’t have to listen to me: The Graduate is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and for good reason. Hoffman is charming, hilarious, and oh-so relatable as a man with no particular purpose or direction in life. And the soundtrack! Is there any film with a soundtrack as lasting as Simon & Garfunkel’s for The Graduate? You’ll be smiling as you watch this film on Tubi for that reason alone.

DIRECTOR: Bo Burnham
CAST: Elsie Fisher, John Hamilton, Fred Hechinger
RATING: R

If you told me in 2010 that viral internet comedian Bo Burnham would write and direct one of the most authentic coming-of-age film for modern preteen girls, I would have laughed. Yet that’s exactly what he did. With the emotional accuracy of John Hughes films in the ’80s, Eighth Grade examines the way the technology permeates the lives of young girls today. The protagonist, Kayla, begins her day with a YouTube makeup tutorial, followed by an “I woke up like this” selfie; endless scrolling through Instagram during meals; ignoring her concerned, single-parent father (Josh Hamilton); and hours of feverishly reblogging posts on Tumblr in her bedroom at night.

DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
CAST: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Brad Pitt, Harvey Keitel
RATING: R

Will anything ever hit as good as Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis holding hands, laying on the gas, and driving off a cliff together? No, I don’t think it will. In addition to that perfect ending, the preceding 110 minutes of this buddy comedy are also excellent, speaking to the power of Callie Khouri’s iconic feminist script and Sarandon and Davis’s unforgettable performances.

DIRECTOR: Kogonada
CAST: Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min
RATING: PG

If you could only remember 10 seconds of each day of your life, which moments would you save? That’s a question at the center of After Yang, Kogonada’s gorgeous sci-fi drama that flew under the radar when it was released in 2022. Colin Farrell and Jodie-Turner Smith star as a husband and wife who purchase a robot of Chinese descent for their adopted Chinese daughter, and then deal with the fallout of that when the robot, Yang (played by Justin H. Min), malfunctions. It’s a quiet, slow-moving film. But Kogonada—best known for his 2017 film Columbus—has constructed a fictional future so deeply beautiful, so acutely precious, you’ll never want to leave.

DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock
CAST: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason
RATING: TV-PG

Did you know North by Northwest, considered to be “the ultimate Hitchcock film,” is now at your fingertips, for free, on Tubi? Famous for its unforgettable set pieces that finds Cary Grant ducking planes and scaling Mount Rushmore, North by Northwest is an undeniable classic.

DIRECTOR: Mark Waters
CAST: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows
RATING: PG-13

Written by Tina Fey and directed by Mark Waters, it’s no accident that this film became a cult hit. This comedy starring Lindsay Lohan as a transfer high school student who gets thrust into the social politics of “girl world” truly is a masterpiece of the teen movie genre. It’s also quite possibly the most-quoted movie of all time—at least, by millennials. Can you blame us? From “You go Glenn Coco” to “Boo, you whore,” every line is a gem.

DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
CAST: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Ted Levine, John Ortiz
RATING: R

In the mood for some wise guys? Try this epic biographical crime thriller drama, starring Denzel Washington as a fictionalized version of the real-life 1970s drug lord, Frank Lucas. The film is an ode to classic gangster films of that same time period, and received widespread critical acclaim, including an Oscar nomination for supporting actress for Ruby Dee.

DIRECTOR: John Landis
CAST: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley
RATING: R

Sometimes you just need to laugh, and no one is better at making audiences laugh than Eddie Murphy. Coming to America is one of Murphy’s best, starring Murphy as a prince from the fictional African nation of Zamund, in search of a woman to marry in New York City. And where better to look for his future queen than in Queens, New York? Coming to America isn’t just a classic comedy, it’s a classic New York film. Good morning, my neighbors!

DIRECTOR: Greg Mottola
CAST: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Christopher Mintz-Please
RATING: R

You’ve probably seen Superbad already because Superbad is a classic. The coming-of-age comedy was a huge hit when it came out in theaters in 2007, and put stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera on the map. It also cemented the careers of writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who, after the success of Superbad, partnered on a dozen more projects via their production company, Point Grey Productions. And honestly, everyone involved deserved all the success they got from this incredibly quotable, incredibly funny movie. “Old enough… to party” is still my go-to answer when someone asks my age.

DIRECTOR: Cord Jefferson
CAST: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown
RATING: R

This comedy from filmmaker Cord Jefferson, who adapted the 2001 novel Percival Everett, deserved every Oscar nomination, rave review, and then some. (Jefferson did, in fact, win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.) A pitch-perfect Jeffrey Wright stars a snobby, grumpy, and acclaimed novelist Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, who resents the fact that his agent can’t sell his latest book because it’s not “Black” enough. One drunken night, Monk pens the most stereotypical “Black” sob story he can think, and fires it off to his agent. Unfortunately, what was meant as a joke becomes a hit novel. American Fiction is laugh-out-loud funny, with sharp and wry observations of the way minorities are expected to perform their identities.

DIRECTOR: Robert Eggers
CAST: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie
RATING: R

Now that it’s the fall it’s time to watch scary movies, and one of the scariest horror films of the 2010s, The Witch, is currently streaming on Tubi. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy, in her feature film debut, as Thomasin, the eldest daughter of a Puritan family living in 1630s New England. When an evil force descends on the family, Thomasin is accused of witchcraft. And honestly? They might be right.

DIRECTOR: Jamie Babbit
CAST: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Michelle Williams, RuPaul, Eddie Cibrian, Melanie Lynskey,
RATING: R

But I’m a Cheerleader a classic lesbian film, starring gay icon Clea DuVall herself (who later went on to write and direct Happiest Season). Directed by Jamie Babbit, the story follows a half-closeted teen girl (Natasha Lyonne) who sent to a gay conversion therapy camp by her parents, where she meets and falls in love with a cool girl more comfortable with her sexuality named Graham (DuVall). Though critics didn’t like it at the time, the film is a must-watch for the LGBTQ+ community. “I’m not perverted! I get good grades!”

DIRECTOR: Billy Wilder
CAST: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
RATING: TV-PG

This Marilyn Monroe classic still holds up as a funny, sexy, and progressive rom-com, even nearly 70 years later. The film follows two musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon( who dress in drag in order to escape gangsters. It deals with some seriously taboo subjects for its time, including cross-dressing and homosexuality. And of course, Marilyn Monroe is always sexy.

DIRECTOR: Gillian Robespierre
CAST: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann, David Cross
RATING: R

If you love romantic comedies and have never seen Obvious Child, it’s time to remedy that ASAP. This early A24 release stars Jenny Slate as a struggling stand-up comedian who has a drunken one night stand with a cute guy named Max (Jake Lacy). When she later finds out she’s pregnant, she has a decision to make. Obvious Child is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, with a nuanced take on a hot-button issue.

DIRECTOR: Julie Taymor
CAST: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson
RATING: PG-13

Using 34 covers of Beatles’ songs, Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe tells the story of Jude (Jim Sturgess), a young British man from Liverpool who travels to the United States in search of his father. There, he befriends a rebellious Princeton student named Max (Joe Anderson), falls in love with Max’s sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), and together, the three stumble into a group of Bohemian misfits living in New York City at the cusp of the ’60s counterculture movement. By the end of the film, you’ll have gone on a journey so fantastically odd, so moving, and so gorgeous, that it will be painful to return to boring, mundane reality. It’s a must-watch for Beatles fans, as well as anyone who loves life.

DIRECTOR: Frank Capra
CAST: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains
RATING: TV-G

Like many of Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart’s films (most famously, It’s a Wonderful Life) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington takes a cynical view of the establishment at a time when that wasn’t such a popular thing to do. The 1939 film—starring , a bumbling Boy Scout leader who ends up in the U.S. Congress as a temporary replacement senator—was denounced by politicians and the Washington press as Communist propaganda and was even banned in Nazi Germany. But it ends on a hopeful note: In a scene that shows off just how great an actor Stewart was, Smith filibusters on the Senate floor, preaching American values, until the corrupt politician responsible (Claude Rains) confesses. If only.

DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez
CAST: Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino
RATING: PG

Listen, other children’s movies can try to live up to the incredible standard set by Robert Rodriguez’s 2001 film Spy Kids, but they will inevitably fail. This movie has it all: Antonio Banderas making fun of himself. Dancing thumb-people. Alan Cumming singing, while surrounded by dancing thumb-people. I say this without a hint of irony—this is one of the most imaginative movies I ever saw as a child. The inventions used by spy kids Carmen and Junie were beyond cool—I mean, a microwave that turns a tiny pack of food into a Happy Meal? I wanted that so much! The entire film is pure fun no matter your age, but if you’re someone with kids in the house, don’t deprive them of this joy.