The Weinstein Company Signs Netflix Deal: What Movies Should Start Streaming?

One of the first films released by The Weinstein Company, Transamerica is as relevant today as it was in 2005 and could easily find an audience online. It stars Felicity Huffman as a transgendered woman who embarks on a road trip with the son she didn't know she had. Transamerica received a lot of awards recognition, including an Oscar nomination for Huffman. Orange Is the New Black may be groundbreaking for hiring an actual transgendered woman to play one, but Transamerica shed light on the difficulties faced by the transgendered community before it had any real visibility. Image: TWC

Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger and Eli Roth all star in Quentin Tarantino's take on World War II, with a group of Jewish soldiers hunting down Nazis and Hitler himself. Of course there's the usual over-the-top violence found in any Tarantino creation, but between this and the director's next film Django Unchained, Basterds is the one to watch. It's just a more entertaining, interesting movie, without constant racial slurs and Leo DiCaprio trying too hard. Image: TWC

Colin Firth's other TWC film The King's Speech is already available on Netflix, but for anyone who needs more of the dreamy Brit, A Single Man should be online too. Not only is it set in the early 1960s, but it was directed by Tom Ford so you know the fashion alone is worth a watch. But the content is too, with Firth delivering a great performance as a gay college professor mourning the sudden death of his longtime partner. There are also impressive performances from Julianne Moore and Nicholas Hoult. Image: TWC

Mark Wahlberg gets serious and Christian Bale gets very, very skinny in The Fighter, which garnered seven nominations at the 2011 Academy Awards. TWC lead the international distribution of the based-on-a-true-story film, about Boston boxer Mickey Ward, his trainer brother, manager mother, girlfriend, and many, many sisters. Image: Paramount

Are you noticing a trend here? The Weinstein Company's titles tends to correspond with Academy Award nominations pretty often. Silver Linings Playbook was nominated in all of 2012's major categories, with Jennifer Lawrence taking home Best Actress. Anyone who didn't get to see the movie when it was in theaters deserves another chance. Lawrence and Bradley Cooper have unbeatable chemistry, and both land dramatic monologues, comedic moments, and a pretty impressive dance number. It also has Robert DeNiro playing someone from Philadelphia instead of New York for once, and a shockingly subtle Chris Tucker. Image: TWC

Of all the films mentioned, Fruitvale Station is probably the most in need of Netflix streaming. After winning the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Fruitvale Station was released into limited theaters in July. Even though it's doing well so far, this one deserves a more mainstream audience. It tells the true story of Oscar Grant, a black man who was killed by BART police in 2009, an especially relevant issue in light of the recent George Zimmerman trial. The movie is also finally bringing its star, Michael B. Jordan, the attention he deserves after excellent, but unrecognized, performances on The Wire, Friday Night Lights and in 2012's Chronicle. The more people who see him in the role that's bound to earn him an Oscar nod, the better. Image: TWC