Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, and James Gunn on the set of 'Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume II.' Courtesy Marvel/Walt Disney Studios
Movies

Here’s James Gunn’s Blessedly Pandemic Movie-Free Quarantine Watch List

March 19, 2020
By The Credits

With so many people at home right now, doing their part to help flatten the curve of COVID-19 by social distancing, watch lists have flooded the internet. Many of these watch lists are focused, understandably, on films and TV shows that deal with pandemics and other world-changing catastrophes. One of the most cited films on these lists is Steven Soderbergh’s genuinely terrifying Contagion (now available on Hulu) from 2011. Written by Scott Z. Burns, who researched the film by going to the CDC and learning first-hand how they handle pandemics, Contagion is a deeply chilling thriller, and also a realistic glimpse at how healthcare professionals, government officials, and regular people try to deal with a global pandemic. If you want to see what it looks like when a government mishandles a disaster, you can’t do any better than Craig Mazin’s Chernobyl.

Yet you might be looking for precisely the opposite kind of film or series. To that end, Guardians of the Galaxy writer/director James Gunn has stepped into the breach. Gunn unleashed a very solid list of films you likely haven’t seen. Parasite co-writer and director Bong Joon Ho’s 2009 film Mother is on the list (it’s great, unsurprisingly), as is Werner Herzog’s bonkers The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans.

Gunn’s selections aren’t quirky or consciously obscure; they’re just good films lots of folks haven’t seen.

Here’s the list, direct from Gunn’s Twitter feed:

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Credits

The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.