Tyler Perry has made headlines for both the right and wrong reasons in 2025. His latest movie, STRAW, is one of the year’s biggest streaming hits. Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t had the chance to enjoy that success. He was recently accused of improper conduct by former The Oval actor Derek Dixon and sued for $260 million. It’ll be interesting to see how all of that turns out in the future.
For years, Perry has been a celebrated screenwriter and filmmaker, whose work has been ridiculed for having the most basic of plots, but also praised for accurately capturing the experiences of black people in America. Additionally, the director is adored for telling empowering stories revolving around women and paying his lead actors well.
Perry’s rise from a playwright to a billionaire studio owner is also seen as one of the most inspiring journeys to the top. Because his movies tend to be the guilty pleasure kind, one would also assume that he’s fond of so-bad-they-are-good productions. However, he actually has great taste, as evidenced by a post he made on X in 2019.
Tyler Perry revealed that if he could only re-watch 5 movies for the rest of his life, he’d watch the following.
5
‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975)
After their great work in The Godfather, Al Pacino and John Cazale reunited in Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon, which tells one of the most engaging crime-gone-wrong tales. In it, first-time crook Sonny Wortzik (Pacino) and his buddies Salvatore “Sal” Naturile (Cazale) and Stevie (Gary Springer) attempt to rob the First Brooklyn Savings Bank, only for Stevie to get cold feet and flee before the crime even happens. Even worse, the remaining robbers learn they arrived late, as the daily cash pickup has already happened and there’s only $1,100 in cash left in reserves. What will they do now that a hostage situation is already underway?
The story is based on the Life Magazine article “The Boys in the Bank” by P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore, which in turn was based on a true story. The feature details the failed 1972 robbery led by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile at a Chase Manhattan branch in Brooklyn.
When It Rains It Pours
One of the great achievements in ‘70s cinema, Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon explores the seemingly attenuated borders separating desperation and crime. Some characters are brave, others erratic, and others straight up silly… the kind of traits that always suit these kinds of movies. You’ll be blown away when you learn the actual reason why Sonny risked his life to commit the robbery. The film was nominated for six Oscars and won Best Screenplay.
As soon as STRAW came out, some commentators accused Perry of ripping off John Q and Breaking, but we can see where the inspiration really came from. His latest film has a lot in common with this Sidney Lumet classic, showing a character who unwisely goes to extreme lengths for the one they love.
4
‘Alien’ (1979)
Alien
- Release Date
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June 22, 1979
- Runtime
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117 Minutes
In Alien, the crew of Nostromo is awakened from “stasis” (suspended animation) by what they believe to be an SOS signal from a nearby planetoid. They are on their way back to Earth, but since it is company policy to investigate transmissions indicating intelligent life, they go to check it out. Once there, they realize it was a warning, not an SOS. All seems well, but when they return to their ship and continue with their journey, an alien creature bursts out of the chest of one of them and starts hunting the rest.
Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon credited The Thing from Another World, Forbidden Planet, and Planet of the Vampires as influences. He also acknowledged the influence of “Junkyard,” a short story by Clifford D. Simak in which a crew lands on a mysterious asteroid and discovers alien eggs.
A Strange Choice
The first, and arguably one of the best installments of the franchise (don’t tell fans of the James Cameron version), was a groundbreaking film for its time, especially regarding visual effects, a department that earned it an Oscar. The film also introduced many archetypes that would define future American sci-fi movies and succeed by tapping into prevailing fears, particularly the idea that there are unknown creatures out there that could harm us.
For Perry, Alien is a strange pick since he has never made anything quite like it. The filmmaker has often opted for movies that are rooted in reality. However, he appears to be a huge fan, especially of this franchise. In 2012, he told Black Film that he was disappointed with Prometheus and revealed that he was working on a sci-fi movie. Well, he seems to have abandoned that idea.
3
‘The Wiz’ (1978)
Adapted from the 1974 Broadway musical of the same name, The Wiz reimagines the classic children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum with a black cast. In it, shy Harlem elementary school teacher Dorothy (Diana Ross) is swept away by a snowstorm to the fantastical Land of Oz, where she meets several eccentric characters. Together, they try to find the Wiz, who just might help Dorothy return home. While at it, they are forced to deal with Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West (Mabel King).
The film is noted for its star-studded cast and crew. Apart from Ross, Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor were also part of the cast. Additionally, the film was directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Joel Schumacher, with the musical aspects being handled by Quincy Jones.
From Harlem to Oz
Here’s an affecting, joyous, and resonant story about an ordinary woman doing her best to navigate strange circumstances not of her own making, and just perhaps, learn a thing or two while at it. Sounds like the kind of plot Perry would love for his own movie. Mabel King delivers in spades as Dorothy’s main foil, a hilariously vulgar and seemingly unkillable villain, while Pryor wrings a wealth of visual gags and barbed jokes from his character, the Wiz.
As a lover of wholesome black culture stories with women in the lead, Tyler Perry was always going to prefer The Wiz over all other Wizard of Oz adaptations. He has also made a few movies in his career, notably, I Can Do Bad All by Myself.
Related
10 Tyler Perry Movies Every Fan Should Watch
Tyler Perry has one of the biggest catalogs of any modern filmmaker, and the following films make up the cream in his coffee.
2
‘Set it Off’ (1996)
Set It Off
- Release Date
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November 6, 1996
- Runtime
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123 Minutes
F Gary Gray’s Set it Off follows four women from Los Angeles who all work at a janitorial service, a career that’s turning out to be a nightmare of absurdity and dissatisfaction for all of them. Frankie (Vivica A. Fox) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, having lost her job at a bank. Tisean (Kimberly Elise) faces the usual struggles as a single mother. Cleo (Queen Latifah), a lesbian, has relationship problems. Stony (Jada Pinkett Smith) is dealing with the recent death of her brother. Worse still, their boss is outlandishly narcissistic and doesn’t pay them enough. What now? They decide to rob a bank.
New Line Cinema allegedly rejected the script three times before accepting it. Queen Latifah also revealed that actors were allowed to contribute their ideas, resulting in some iconic moments that the original screenwriters hadn’t thought of before.
Can Crime Be Justified?
Gray’s idiosyncratic filmmaking style here defies a simplistic classification. Set it Off is a study of social realism as it is a heist movie, a rom-com, and a drama. It is, in fact, all of these genres and more. It’s the kind of film that defines itself, wholly magical, sensitive, and poetic. You can, if you wish, find a deeper philosophical meaning in the proceedings, but Gray seems content to entertain while packing in some of the sweetest R&B and Hip Hop tracks into the soundtrack.
Traces of this particular film can be found in Tyler Perry’s STRAW? A woman (or women) committing a bank robbery after being pushed to the edge financially? It’s the same thing. And it’s women calling most of the shots here, something Perry likes to see in his movies.
1
‘Avatar’ (2009)
Avatar
- Release Date
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December 15, 2009
- Runtime
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162 minutes
Set in 2145, Avatar presents a version of Earth that’s suffering from resource exhaustion and ecological collapse. Paraplegic Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is thus tasked with exploring Pandora, a lush moon which holds a valuable mineral called unobtanium. Using an “avatar” (genetically engineered alien body controlled remotely), Jake infiltrates the native Na’vi alien race. Things get interesting when he falls in love with one of them.
James Cameron was supposed to start work on the film immediately after Titanic, for a planned release in 1999. However, the necessary technology had not yet been invented, so he chose to wait, a decision that paid off.
Second-Highest-Grossing Movie of All Time
A penetrating film of rare humanity, Avatar delivers both visually and thematically. Cameron employed techniques such as Simulcam and Performance Capture. Unsurprisingly, his perfectionism took the film well over budget, but the studio heads had nothing but smiles on their faces when the film grossed $2.93 billion and received nine Oscar nominations.
This is also a strange pick for Tyler Perry, considering he never bothers himself too much with the technical aspects of filmmaking the way Cameron does. He is simply but part of the millions of people around the world who adored the film for its visual and storytelling awesomeness. The likes of Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro have also expressed their love for it.
