The Best Movies To Watch With Your Dad This Holiday Season

Don’t you hate it when you’re stuck, snowed in, and have to make small talk with a boomer who may or may not have voted for a fascist? No better time to fill the gaps than putting on an agreeable action movie with your dad. As a gift to fathers everywhere, I present to you a list of films that you can watch with him when you’re home for the holidays.

Also, you might see the word “modern” thrown around. That’s just to say the past twenty years or so, which is sort of a loose, moving target for what is “recent and hip” that young people might know of, compared to old people who are clinging to a past dominated by the Cold War and John Rambo.

In fact, anything with Arnold or Sly Stallone is a capital D Dad movie. “True Lies,” “Last Action Hero,” “First Blood,” “Judge Dredd,” “Total Recall,” I could go on and on.

Modern Action

This is the bread and butter of movies on TV during the daytime, as well as cat nip for dads. This also is the strongest category for movie recommendations because it’s very easy to identify good action compared to the way more subjective “what comedy is funny.” My dad and I find literally all horror films to be extremely funny, so to each their own.

May I point out some of my favs: Chris Nolan essentially did a spiritual successor to “Inception,” but instead of dreams it’s about time travel. “The Raid” is arguably the greatest action movie of the century, but it does have subtitles so be aware. John Wick kicking people’s asses in “Ballerina” has far fewer subtitles. And any recent “Predator” sequel is solid gold, as far as I’m concerned.

“Free Fire,” “Shoot ‘Em Up,” “Smokin’ Aces,” “Tenet,” “Rebel Ridge,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Carry On,” “The Raid,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Furiosa,” “The Equalizer” trilogy, “Layer Cake,” “Nobody,” all four “John Wick” movies, “Prey,” “Novocaine,” and “The Northman”

Modern Comedy

It’s harder to find funny comedies in the past twenty years that your dad will enjoy, which is why half of this list is just stuff the Coen Brothers did before they broke up. But there are two wonderful political satires in “The Death of Stalin” and “In The Loop,” and two action comedies in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and “The Nice Guys.” And the comedy heist film from Steven Soderbergh “Logan Lucky” (that one is very underrated).

“Logan Lucky,” “In Bruges,” “Everybody Wants Some!!,” “The Death of Stalin,” “In The Loop,” “Hail Caesar!,” “Spy,” “Licorice Pizza,” “The Heat,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “The Nice Guys,” “MacGruber,” and “Burn After Reading”

Modern Thrillers

What counts as a thriller and what counts as being action? I don’t know and I don’t care. Neither will your dad, if he enjoys quality over genre categorization. “Angel Heart” is a slow burn noir set in the bayou with Mickey Rourke. “Side Effects” is an excellent modern Hitchcock film with a wicked twist ending. “Argo” and “Bridge of Spies” are movies set in the past that will have the whole family rooting for the good guys. And of course the latest masterpiece that will become a rewatchable very soon “One Battle After Another.” PTA does not miss.

“Michael Clayton,” “Sunshine,” “Contagion,” “Haywire,” “Side Effects,” “No Sudden Move,” “Widows,” “Zodiac,” “Ex Machina,” “Sicario,” “Annihilation,” “Angel Heart,” “A House of Dynamite,” “Argo,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Companion,” “Dunkirk,” “One Battle After Another,” and “Sinners”

Modern Horror

Maybe your dad is like my dad, in that he loves weird horror stuff and finds it wildly entertaining instead of scary. If that’s the case, then elevated horror is the way to go. Or you can just show him the Conjuring/Annabelle extended universe, or the two super long “It” movies. Anything from Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, Osgood Perkins, Robert Eggers, and Zach Cregger is a very solid pick if you’re down to clown with some spooks. Hell, give out the new “Scream” movies a try while you’re at it.

“The Monkey,” “Hereditary,” “Ready or Not,” “Midsommar,” “The Witch,” “The Lighthouse,” “Nosferatu,” “Get Out,” “Longlegs,” “Nope,” “Us,” “Heretic,” “Barbarian,” “Malignant,” “Weapons,” and “It Follows”

Dramas and Other Films I Don’t Feel Like Categorizing

This is just stuff I couldn’t fit into the above groupings. Sports? “Creed” or “Rush.” Poker? “Rounders.” Acting? “Steve Jobs.” Old weird movies that kick ass? “Shock Corridor” and “White Dog.” You can’t go wrong with this selection as long as you’re willing to venture into the unknown and have taste.

“Molly’s Game,” “Creed,” “King Richard,” both versions of “Dune,” “F1,” “Rush,” “Rounders,” “Steve Jobs,” “Kiss Me Deadly,” “Shock Corridor,” “White Dog,” “Air,” and “Black Bag”

Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise

This is purely for movies which star either of America’s longest lasting and most popular/famous actors. Both named Tom! Ignore that one of them is a Scientologist. But you can’t go wrong with a capital M Movie Star on your screen.

“Risky Business,” “Top Gun,” “The Color of Money,” “Cocktail,” “Rain man,” “Days of Thunder,” “The Firm,” all of the “Mission Impossible” movies, “Minority Report,” “Collateral,” “War of the Worlds,” “Tropic Thunder,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” any Jack Reacher, and “Top Gun: Maverick”

“Big,” “The ‘Burbs,” “Forrest Gump,” “Apollo 13,” “That Thing You Do!,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Green Mile,” “Cast Away,” “Road to Perdition,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Captain Phillips,” “Sully,” “The Post,” “Asteroid City,” and “The Phoenician Scheme”

The Classics

The following are movies that your dad has either shown you countless times at too young an age, are his favorite movie of all time, or are high on the shame list for things you’ve both never seen. Fix that ASAP.

“Scarface,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Mean Streets,” anything directed by Michael Mann or Brian de Palma, anything with the name Tom Clancy attached, “The Matrix,” “Heat,” “The Town,” “Happy Gilmore,” anything with Jim Carey in it, “The Usual Suspects,” “The Social Network,” “Moneyball,” “The Departed,” “The Hurt Locker,” literally any superhero movie ever made, “Anchorman,” “Wedding Crashers,” “The Other Guys,” “Dodgeball,” “Training Day,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Gladiator,” “Braveheart,” “The Patriot,” “Enemy of the State,” “Zoolander,” any western like “Tombstone,” any James Bond film, any gangster or mobster movie like “The Untouchables,” “Crimson Tide,”any sports movie like the “Rocky” movies, “Jaws,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Goodfellas,” “The Godfather” trilogy, the “Indiana Jones” trilogy, the “Star Wars” trilogy, the “Die Hard” trilogy, the “Ocean’s” trilogy, “Rear Window,” “North by Northwest,” “12 Angry Men,” “A Few Good Men,” “Jurassic Park,” “The Fugitive,” “Airplane!,” “The Naked Gun,” “Con Air,” “Face/Off,” “Robocop,” “Predator,” “Aliens,” “Midnight Run,” “A Bronx Tale,” “My Cousin Vinny,” “True Lies,” “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” “No Country For Old Men,” any war movie like “Patton,” “Fargo,” “Blowout,” “Spartacus,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “The Verdict”

Image credit: “Tenet,” “Long Legs,” “Furiosa”