Favorite films (3)

[soleiltropiques]

Quite a bit of time ago, I created a list of my favorite films. Summaries are (mostly) from IMDB.

This first post lists my favorite dramatic films (i.e. excluding those in the 'historical' category), in alphabetical order.

NB: Please note that when no nationality(ies) is specified, the film is from the U.S.

Some comments/warnings regarding problematic content are in bold. (In other words, there may be additional such content which I have not marked, but I focused on warning about things the film and its description did not deal with well. An example of this would be 'Gone with the Wind', which is horribly racist as a film and which IMO requires a warning.)

Please note that some of these films are in my list because they were influential, not because I objectively think they were great. In some other cases, they are still in my lists (with warnings) to remind myself that I need to rethink some of my earlier opinions. :)

Drama (I to Z):

• I Confess (1953, another film by Alfred Hitchcock): with Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden. Refusing to give into police investigators' questions of suspicion, due to the seal of confession, a priest becomes the prime suspect in a murder. (An interesting side note is that this film was filmed and is set in Quebec city, Quebec, Canada.) (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• If These Walls Could Talk (1996): with Demi Moore, Cher, Sissy Spacek. The movie examines the abortion issue through three stories set in different eras - 50s, 70s and 90s. (NB: Rated R)
• Imitation of Life (1959, by another great director, Douglas Sirk): with Lana Turner, Rock Hudson, Sandra Dee. A struggling young actress with a six-year-old daughter sets up housekeeping with a homeless black widow and her light-skinned eight-year-old daughter who rejects her mother by trying to pass for white. (NB: I would rate this PG) (Comment: I did find this film interesting, but the way it deals with race is...not ideal. /sarcasm)
• In the Bedroom (2001): with Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Marisa Tomei. A New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman with two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband. Then something terrible occurs in this wrenching, emotional drama. (NB: Rated R.)
• In the Name of the Father (1993, Ireland, UK): with Daniel Day-Lewis. A small time thief from Belfast, Gerry Conlon, is falsely implicated in the IRA bombing of a pub that kills several people while he is in London. Bullied by the British police, he and four of his friends are coerced into confessing their guilt. Gerry's father and other relatives in London are also implicated in the crime. He spends 15 years in prison with his father trying to prove his innocence with the help of a British attorney, Gareth Peirce. Based on a true story. (NB: Rated R.)
• In the Valley of Elah (2007): with Charlize Theron, Tommy Lee Jones. A retired military investigator works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq. (Very very good.) (NB: Rated R.)
• Indecent Proposal (1993): with Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, Robert Redford. A married woman agrees to have sex with another man for $1,000,000. (NB: Rated R.)
• Inn of the Sixth Happiness, The (1958): with Ingrid Bergman. All her life Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was the place where she belonged. Not qualified to be sent there as a missionary, Gladys works as a domestic to earn the money to send herself to a poor, remote village. There she eventually lives a full and happy life: running the inn, acting as "foot inspector", advising the local Mandarin and even winning the heart of mixed race Captain Lin Nan. But Gladys discovers her real destiny when the country is invaded by Japan and the Chinese children need her to save their lives. Based on a true story. (NB: I would rate this PG/G) (Comment: This film is really big on the white savior trope.)
• Insomnia (2002): Starring Al Pacino as a big name homicide detective from Los Angeles, who turns out to have skeletons in his closet and not to be such a good person after all. Hilary Swank and Robin Williams also star in this (Williams is actually really creepy in this one). (Online summary: Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.) (NB: Rated R.)
• Interpreter, The (2005): with Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener. Political intrigue and deception unfold inside the United Nations, where a US Secret Service agent is assigned to investigate an interpreter who overhears an assassination plot. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Irina Palm (2007, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, UK, France co-production): with Marianne Faithful, Miki Manojlovic, Kevin Bishop. Maggie, a 50-year-old widow, desperately needs some money to pay for a medical treatment for her ill grandson. After one attempt at trying to find a job, Maggie finds herself roaming the streets of London Soho. Her eye is caught by a small poster in the window of a 'shop' called "Sexy World" which reads: "Hostess wanted". Too desperate and lost to realize what she does she enters. Micky, the owner, is embarrassed at first, but intrigued by Maggie, he decides to have fun and offers her the job. Maggie courageously gets to know her first anonymous customers, eventually using Irina Palm as her stage name. Maggie, who applies herself in order to keep her job, fascinates Mickey. (NB: Rated R)
• It’s A Wonderful Life (1946, by Frank Capra, another famous director): with James Stewart. An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed. (NB: I would rate this G)
• Jean de Florette (1986, France): with Gérard Depardieu, Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil. It is a story set in a small village in the south of France. The sequel, ‘Manon des sources’ (1986, with Emanuelle Béart) is also really good. They are adaptations of works by the great French author, Marcel Pagnol. (Online summary: A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.) (NB: Rated PG, the sequel does contain nudity however so I would rate the sequel PG-13/R?)
• Joy Luck Club, The (1993): The life histories of four Chinese-American women and their daughters reflect and guide each other. (NB: Rated R.)
• Kinsey (2004): with Laura Linney, Liam Neeson. A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior. (NB: Rated R.)
• Kramer vs. Kramer (1979): with Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep. A just-divorced man must learn to care for his son on his own, and then must fight in court to keep custody of him. (NB: Rated PG)
• La Bamba (1987): with Lou Diamond Phillips. Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of singer Ritchie Valens whose life was cut short by a plane crash. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Lady Bird (2017): with Saoirse Ronan. In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California. (NB: Rated R)
• Lady Vanishes, The (1938, UK, by Alfred Hitchcock): While traveling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train. (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Lakeview Terrace (2008): with Kerry Washington, Patrick Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson. An LAPD officer will stop at nothing to force out the interracial couple who just moved in next door. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Last King of Scotland, The (2006, UK, Germany co-production): with Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy. Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s. (NB: Rated R)
• Let the Right One In (2008, Sweden): Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982. (NB: Rated R)
• Life As A House (2001): with Hayden Christensen, Kevin Kline, Kristen Scott Thomas. When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father. (NB: Rated R)
• Light of Day (1987): with Joan Jett, Michael J. Fox, Gena Rowlands. The siblings Patty and Joe live in an industrial suburb. While Patty's ambition is their rock band "The Barbusters" only, Joe also cares for the family and the upbringing of Patty's young son Benji. Their pious mother reproaches them for their way of life, especially when they quit their jobs and go on tour, taking Benji with them. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Lions for Lambs (2007): with Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise. Injuries sustained by two Army ranger behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor. (Doesn’t entirely work, IMHO, but is still quite interesting.) (NB: Rated R)
• Logan (2017): In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X, somewhere on the Mexican border. However, Logan's attempts to hide from the world, and his legacy, are upended when a young mutant arrives, pursued by dark forces. (Note that this film is part of the X-men franchise.) (Rated R)
• Los Debutantes (2003, Chile): Parents, children, brothers. A few days in Santiago, Chile, seen by three different characters: Víctor, a schoolboy who develops a crush on a stripper he sees at a club on his birthday; Silvio, Victor's older brother, hired by the club owner to be his driver and who also falls for the woman; and, Gracia, the stripper who's the boss's girlfriend and who wants out. The club owner, Don Pasqual, has many illegal enterprises and a bad heart. Víctor's impulsive puppy love, Silvio's libido, Gracia's plans, and Don Pasqual's possessiveness make for a dangerous mix. (NB: I would rate this one NC-17)
• Lost Weekend, The (1945, by famous director Billy Wilder): with Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry. The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four day drinking bout. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Love Affair (1939): with Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne. French playboy Michel Marnet and American Terry McKay fall in love aboard ship. They arrange to reunite 6 months later, after Michel has had a chance to earn a decent living. (NB: This was remade in 1957 as ‘An Affair to Remember’, with Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant.) (NB: I would rate this G/PG)
• Love & Savagery (2009, Canada, Ireland co-production): with Allan Hawco, Sarah Greene. In 1969, a visiting geologist from Newfoundland arouses scandal in a small Irish village when he romances a local girl who's destined for the convent. (NB: I would rate this R)
• Love Story (1970): with Ryan O’Neal, Ali MacGraw. Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When they marry, Oliver's wealthy father threatens to disown him. (This really will not be to everyone’s taste and, I will certainly admit, is not the greatest movie ever made. It is enjoyable however, as well as interesting to see since it almost single-handedly saved Paramount when it came out, and since it was such a huge huge hit which really entered into pop culture history here in the west.) (NB: Rated PG)
• M (Germany, 1931): When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt. (I would rate this PG-13?)
• Mad Love (1995): with Drew Barrymore, Chris O’Donnell. High-school student Matt Leland lives with his twin brother and sister and his father in a house by a lake. His life changes when he meets fellow teenager Casey and falls in love. When Casey acts out, her parents have her committed to a psychiatric hospital, but Matt helps her escape. They leave school and family behind to go on the run together.(NB: Rated PG-13)
• Made in Dagenham (2010, UK): with Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins. A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination. (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Magnificent Obsession (1954, by another great director, Douglas Sirk): with Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. When churlish, spoiled rich man Bob Merrick foolishly wrecks his speed boat, the rescue team resuscitates him with equipment that's therefore unavailable to aid a local hero, Dr. Wayne Phillips, who dies as a result. Phillips had helped many people, and when Merrick learns Phillips' secret, to give selflessly and in secret, he tries it in a ham-handed way. The result further alienates Phillips' widow, Helen, with whom Merrick has fallen in love. Merrick's persistence causes another tragedy, and he must remake his life, including going back to medical school, in an attempt to make amends and win her love. (NB: I would rate this G/PG)
• Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1956, by director Alfred Hitchcock): with James Stewart and Doris Day. A family vacationing in Morocco accidentally stumble on to an assassination plot and the conspirators are determined to prevent them from interfering. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Manchurian Candidate, The (2004): with Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Lieve Schreiber. In the midst of the Gulf War, soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes. (This doesn’t entirely work, but is still interesting, IMHO.) (NB: Rated R.)
• Marnie (1964, by Alfred Hitchcock): with Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. Mark marries Marnie although she is a habitual thief and has serious psychological problems, and tries to help her confront and resolve them. (NB: I would rate this R) (Comment: Be warned that this film contains some pretty extreme misogyny. Particularly with regards to the suggestion that women OWE their husbands sex and are abnormal if they don't/can't/won't provide it.)
• Mask (1985): with Cher, Eric Stoltz, Sam Elliott, Estelle Getty. A boy with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempts to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances. (NB: Rated R)
• Maurice Richard (2005, Quebec, Canada): with Roy Dupuis and Julie LeBreton. A story about Quebec's most famous hockey player, Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, focusing on the struggles of a French Canadian in the National Hockey League dominated by Anglophones. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Men of Honor (2000): with Cuba Gooding Jr., Robert DeNiro. The story of Carl Brashear, the first African American, then also the first amputee, US Navy Diver and the man who trained him. (NB: Rated R)
• Million Dollar Baby (2004): with Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank. A hardened trainer/manager works with a determined woman in her attempt to establish herself as a boxer. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Misery (1990): with James Caan, Kathy Bates. A famous novelist is "rescued" from a car crash by an obsessed fan. (NB: Rated R)
• Mississippi Burning (1988): with Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand. Two FBI agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists. (This film is set in the 1960s in the southern U.S.) (NB: I would rate this R.)
• My Fair Lady (1964, by another great director, George Cukor): with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society. (NB: Rated G)
• My Sister’s Keeper (2009): with Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin. Anna Fitzgerald looks to earn medical emancipation from her parents who until now have relied on their youngest child to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate remain alive. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Mystery Street (1950): A small town policeman is assisted by a Harvard professor when a human skeleton is found on a Massachusetts beach. (Rated PG-13ish)
• National Velvet (1944): with Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney. A jaded former jockey helps a young girl prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes. (NB: Rated G)
• Neverending Story, The (1984, West Germany, USA): Bastian is a young boy who lives a dreary life being tormented by school bullies. On one such occasion he escapes into a book shop where the old proprieter reveals an ancient story-book to him, which he is warned can be dangerous. Shortly after, he "borrows" the book and begins to read it in the school attic where he is drawn into the mythical land of Fantasia, which desperately needs a hero to save it from destruction. (NB: Rated G)
• No Country for Old Men (2007): (This is another one by Ethan and Joel Cohen.) This one is a drama about a serial killer (really really scary killer guy) played by Javier Bardem. The film also stars Tommy Lee Jones and is another commentary on human nature. (Online summary: Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.) (NB: Rated R)
• Norma Rae (1979): with Sally Field. A young single mother and textile worker agrees to help unionize her mill despite the problems and dangers involved. (NB: Rated PG)
• North by Northwest (1959, by Alfred Hitchcock): with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/R)
• North Country (2005): with Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson. A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States -- Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit. (NB: Rated R)
• Notes on a Scandal (2006, UK): with Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench. A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship. (NB: Rated R)
• Notorious (1946, by Alfred Hitchcock): with Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them? (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Now, Voyager (1942): with Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Reins. Boston spinster blossoms under therapy and finds impossible romance. (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Nuit Noire (2004, France): with Clotilde Coureau, Thierry Fortineau, Jean-Michel Portal. Recounts events leading up to and including the night of October 17th, 1961 in Paris, France, when 30,000 Algerians set out in a peaceful protest in support of the FLN (i.e. Algerian separatist organization). Hundreds if not thousands of them were massacred and their bodies thrown into the Seine. Even the press did not denounce this. This film details these events, from several points of view. (NB: I would rate this R)
• One True Thing (1998): with Renee Zellweger, Meryl Streep, William Hurt. A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother. (NB: Rated R.)
• On Golden Pond (1981): with Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda. The loons are back again on Golden Pond and so are Norman Thayer, a retired professor, and Ethel who have had a summer cottage there since early in their marriage. This summer their daughter Chelsea -- whom they haven't seen for years -- feels she must be there for Norman's birthday. She and her fiance are on their way to Europe the next day but will be back in a couple of weeks to pick up the fiance's son. When she returns Chelsea is married and her stepson has the relationship with her father that she always wanted. Will father and daughter be able to communicate at last? (NB: Rated PG-13)
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975): with Jack Nicholson. Upon arriving at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more dictator than nurse. (NB: Rated R)
• Or (2004, France, Israel): with Ronitz Elkabetz, Dana Ivgy. Or shoulders a lot: she's 17 or 18, a student, works evenings at a restaurant, recycles cans and bottles for cash, and tries to keep her mother Ruthie from returning to streetwalking in Tel Aviv. Ruthie calls Or "my treasure," but Ruthie is a burden. She's just out of hospital, weak, and Or has found her a job as a house cleaner. The call of the quick money on the street is tough for Ruthie to ignore. Or's emotions roil further when the mother of the youth she's in love with comes to the flat to warn her off. With love fading and Ruthie perhaps beyond help, Or's choices narrow. (NB: I would rate this R/NC-17. Please note the really difficult subject matter and please note this is NOT a happy film.)
• Panic Room (1999): with Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker. A woman and her teenage daughter become imprisoned in the panic room of their own house by 3 criminals. (NB: Rated R)
• Passion of Mind (2000): with Demi Moore. A psychological romantic thriller where fantasy and reality become indistinguishable for a woman leading a double life in her dreams. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Patriot Games (1992) and the sequel Clear and Present Danger (1994): with Harrison Ford. When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge. (These are not the greatest films ever made, but are still fun.) (See also Sum of All Fears, in this section.) (NB: Rated R)
• Pelican Brief, The (1993): with Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts. A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• People Like Us (2012): with Chris Pine, Michelle Pfeiffer, Elizabeth Banks. While settling his recently deceased father's estate, a salesman discovers he has a sister whom he never knew about, leading both siblings to re-examine their perceptions about family and life choices. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Philadelphia Story, The (1940, by another amazing director, George Cukor): with Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Cary Grant. When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Place in the Sun, A (1956): with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. A poor boy gets a job working for his rich uncle and ends up falling in love with two women. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/R) (Comment: I find this film misogynistic.)
• Pleasantville (1998): with Reese Witherspoon, Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen. Two 1990's teenagers find themselves in a 1950's sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world. (This doesn’t entirely work, IMHO, but is still quite enjoyable.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Poor Boy’s Game (2007, Canada): with Danny Glover, Rossif Sutherland. Donnie Rose went to prison for beating a young man so brutally it left him handicapped for life. Nine years later, Donnie is out. He's a different man with only one place to go: back home to the same violent and racist neighborhood that created him. At the other end of town, the black community still wants revenge. The instrument of justice will be Ossie Paris, a devastatingly talented boxer who challenges Donnie to a match; a match Donnie's family and peers won't let him refuse. (NB: Rated R) (Warning: This film wants you to sympathize with a young man who has committed a racist murder (his victim survives but is severely handicapped and must be cared for by family for the rest of his life, hence my use of this term). I did find it interesting, but be warned this this is really awful.)
• Possession (2002): with Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart. A pair of literary sleuths unearth the amorous secret of two Victorian poets only to find themselves falling under a passionate spell. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Postcards from the Edge (1990): with Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine. Substance-addicted Hollywood actress Suzanne Vale is on the skids. After a spell at a detox centre her film company insists as a condition of continuing to employ her that she live with her mother Doris Mann, herself once a star and now a champion drinker. Such a set-up is bad news for Suzanne who has struggled for years to get out of her mother's shadow, and who finds her mother still treats her like a child. Despite these problems - and further ones to do with the men in in her life - Suzanne can begin to see the funny side of her situation, and it also starts to occur to her that not only do daughters have mothers, mothers do too. (I would rate this PG-13)
• Precious (2009): with Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey. In New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction. (NB: Rated R)
• Premium Rush (2012): with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Proof (2005): with Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal. The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician, recently deceased, tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity. Complicating matters are one of her father's ex-students who wants to search through his papers and her estranged sister who shows up to help settle his affairs. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Psycho (1960, by Alfred Hitchcock): with Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother. (NB: I would rate this PG-13) (Comment: Note that this film blames a man's misogynistic murderous tendencies on his mother. 'Nough said.)
• Quatre cent coups, Les (The 400 blows, 1959, France, by François Truffaut): Intensely touching story of a misunderstood young adolescent who, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Rain Man (1988): with Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman. Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country. (NB: Rated R)
• Random Harvest (1942, directed by Mervyn LeRoy): with Greer Garson and Ronald Coleman. (One of the most romantic films ever made, IMHO.) An amnesiac World War I vet falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-War life. (NB: I would rate this G/PG)
• Ray (2004): with Jamie Foxx. The life and career of the legendary popular music pianist, Ray Charles. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Rear Window (1954, by Alfred Hitchcock): with James Stewart and Grace Kelly. A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Rebecca (1940, by Alfred Hitchcock): with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. When a naive young woman marries a rich widower and settles in his gigantic mansion, she finds the memory of the first wife maintaining a grip on her husband and the servants. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Remember Me (2010): with Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin. A romantic drama centered on two new lovers: Tyler, whose parents have split in the wake of his brother's suicide, and Ally, who lives each day to the fullest since witnessing her mother's murder. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Riding in Cars with Boys (2001): with Drew Barrymore. A single mother, with dreams of becoming a writer, has a son at the age of 15 in 1965, and goes through a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Rosemary’s Baby (1968, directed by Roman Polanski): with Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes. A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life. (NB: Rated R)
• Royal Tenenbaums, The (2001): with Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover. An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their member announces he has a terminal illness. (NB: Rated R)
• Runaways, The (2010): with Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning. A coming-of-age biopic about '70s teenage band The Runaways. (Rated PG-13)
• Sabrina (1954): with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, directed by Billy Wilder. A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur. But it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her. (NB: I would rate this G/PG)
• Save the Last Dance (2001): with Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Kerry Washington. A white midwestern girl moves to Chicago, where her new boyfriend is a black teen from the South Side with a rough, semi-criminal past. (Again not the greatest film ever made, but enjoyable.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Sayonara (1957): with Marlon Brando, Ricardo Montalban. A US air force major in Kobe confronts his own opposition to marriages between American servicemen and Japanese women when he falls for a beautiful performer. (NB: I would rate this PG-13) (Warning: Even the main character of the film is pretty darn racist, in this one. I have read some good criticism also of the way Miyoshi Umeki's role was written (i.e., portraying one of the few stereotypical depictions of Asian women considered acceptable to white audiences) in the film, and of how telling it was that she is still the only Asian actress ever to win an acting Oscar. This comment isn't intended as an insult to Ms. Umeki -the criticism is entirely meant to be of racism in Hollywood. I will attempt to find a link to the discussion in question.)
• School Ties (1992): with Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O’Donnell. A Jewish boy goes to an elite prep school in the 1950's and hides his religion until a jealous bigot forces it out in the open. (Not the greatest film ever made IMHO, but still enjoyable.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Secret Life of Bees, The (2008): with Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo. Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Shawshank Redemption, The (1994): with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. (NB: Rated R.)
• Singin’ In The Rain (1952): with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor. A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound. (NB: Rated G) (Comment: Some scenes from this film, for instance when the studio first tries to make talking films, are ROTFLMAO funny. Highly recommended!) (Comment 2: The only thing I didn't like is a brief moment where Donald O'Connor's character apparently tries to use the 'casting couch' on a young actress. Because rape and sexual assault aren't funny.)
• Sound of Music, The (1965): with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer. A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a Naval officer widower. (NB: Rated G)
• Speak (2004): with Kristen Stewart. After a blurred trauma over the summer, Melinda enters high school a selective mute. Struggling with school, friends, and family, she tells the dark tale of her experiences, and why she has chosen not to speak. (Rated PG-13)
• Stone Angel, The (2007, UK, Canada): with Ellen Burstyn, Christine Horne, Ellen Page. In Manitoba, Hagar Shipley is nearing 90. She has little, she tells us, but her memories. Over several weeks, during which she runs away from her son and daughter-in-law who want to place her in a nursing home, returning to the small town where she grew up and the now-derelict farmhouse where she was married and raised two sons, we follow Hagar in the present and in memories that trace her childhood, marriage in defiance of her father, and later losses. (NB: Rated R)
• Stone’s Throw, A (2006, Canada): with Kris Holden-Reid. Olivia lives in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada along with her son, Thomas, a daughter, Sarah, and has been separated from her French-speaking husband, Jean Marc. She has an estranged brother named Jack Walker who she has not seen for many years, as he refused to return her phone calls, and neglected to attend their father's funeral in Montana, U.S.A.. Due to opening of Cynaco and MacNeil Mining Company, the town expects to have about new 125 new jobs. One day she gets a surprise visit from Jack, both brother and sister update each other, and Jack also gets to meet Thomas and Sarah, as well as Olivia's attractive South Asian neighbor, Lia, a single mother. He soon starts an affair with her, and even moves in her house. What Olivia and Lia do not know that Jack has been labeled an Eco-Terrorist, is on the most wanted list of the FBI, his presence has a negative influence on Thomas. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Strangers on a Train (1951, this is another by Alfred Hitchcock): with Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman. A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement. (NB: Rated PG) (Comment: This one also felt pretty misogynistic to me... Because the women in their lives are such a problem that they try to come up with the perfect scenario to kill them...)
• Strictly Ballroom (Australia, 1992): A maverick dancer risks his career by performing an unusual routine and sets out to succeed with a new partner.
• Summer with Monika (1953, by director Ingmar Bergman, Sweden): Harry Lund is a nineteen year old young man who meets Monika, a romantic, reckless and rebellious seventeen year old, and they fall in love. They leave their families and jobs in their small town, Harry gets his father's boat and they spend the summer together in an isolated island. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/R)
• Sweet Dreams (1985): with Jessica Lange and Ed Harris. Lange stunningly portrays Patsy Cline, the velvet-voiced country singer who died in a tragic plane crash. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• T-Men (1947): with Dennis O’Keefe, Wallace Ford. Two US Treasury agents hunt a successful counterfeiting ring. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• 39 Steps, The (1935, UK, by Alfred Hitchcock): A man in London tries to help a counterespionage agent. But when the agent is killed and he stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring trying to steal top secret information. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Tears of the Sun (2003): with Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci. Bruce Willis plays a Special-Ops commander who leads his team into the jungle of Nigeria to rescue a doctor played by Monica Belluci who will only go with them if they agree to rescue 70 refugees too. (NB: Rated R) (Comment: Be warned this contains more of the 'white savior' trope.)
• Term of Trial (1962, UK): with Laurence Olivier, Simone Signoret. Graham Weir is an alcoholic schoolteacher whose criminal record for refusing to fight during the Second World War has prevented him from progressing further in his teaching career. He is looked upon with disdain by his headmaster, his pupils and even his wife. The one person who appreciates his shyness and warmth is one of his pupils, Shirley Taylor. After Weir offers to give her free private tuition, the pupil slowly falls in love with her teacher. She treats this as an obsession that can never be fulfilled but in her frustration and naivety, she reveals her true feelings for Weir and offers to sleep with him. Weir gently refuses and intends to forget about the episode but a new problem surfaces in his life when Taylor accuses him of indecent assault. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/R)
• This Boy’s Life (1993): with Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro. The story about the relationship between a rebellious 50s teenager and his abusive father, based on the memoirs of writer and literature professor Tobias Wolff. (NB: Rated R.)
• Thousand Acres, A (1997): with Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer. A THOUSAND ACRES is a drama about an American family who meets with tragedy on their land. It is the story of a father, his daughters, and their husbands, and their passion to subdue the history of their land and its stories. (NB: Rated R)
• To Kill A Mockingbird (1962): with Gregory Peck. Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/PG) (Comment: Be warned this contains more of the 'white savior' trope.)
• Traffic (2000): with Michael Douglas, Benicio del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones. A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is an addict. (NB: Rated R)
• Trainspotting (1996, UK): with Ewan McGregor. Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends. (Very much worth watching but also not easy to watch.) (NB: Rated R)
• Triplets of Belleville, The (2003, France, Belgium, Canada, UK, Latvia): This is an animation film. When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Truman Show, The (1998): with Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney. An insurance salesman/adjuster discovers his entire life is actually a TV show. (Very odd film, which doesn’t entirely work IMHO, but is still quite interesting.) (NB: Rated PG)
• 12 Angry Men (1957): with Henry Fonda. A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/PG)
• 28 days (2000): with Sandra Bullock and Viggo Mortensen. A big-city newspaper columnist is forced to enter a drug and alcohol rehab center after ruining her sister's wedding and crashing a stolen limousine. (Again, not the greatest ever made, but enjoyable.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Unfinished Life, An (2005): with Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, Morgan Freeman. A down on her luck woman, desperate to provide care for her daughter, moves in with her father in-law from whom she is estranged. Through time, they learn to forgive each other and heal old wounds. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Upside of Anger, The (2005): with Joan Allen, Erika Christensen, and Kevin Costner. When her husband unexpectedly disappears, a sharp-witted suburban wife and her daughters juggle their mom's romantic dilemmas and family dynamics. (NB: Rated R.)
• Usual Suspects, The (1995): with Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne. A boat has been destroyed, criminals are dead, and the key to this mystery lies with the only survivor and his twisted, convoluted story beginning with five career crooks in a seemingly random police lineup. (NB: Rated R)
• Vertigo (1958, by Alfred Hitchcock): with James Stewart. A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's much-younger wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Walkabout (1971, UK): with Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil. Two young children are stranded in the Australian outback and are forced to cope on their own. They meet an Aborigine on "walkabout": a ritualistic separation from his tribe. (NB: I would rate this PG-13?)
• War Zone, The (1999, Italy, UK, directed by Tim Roth): An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret. (NB: This is rated R, I would rate it R or NC-17 personally because it is extremely difficult to watch. Be warned that this film deals with child sexual abuse.)
• Welcome to Sarajevo (1997, UK, USA): with Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Stephen Dillane. Journalist Floyd from US, Michael Henderson from UK and their teams meet the beginning of Bosnian war in Sarajevo. During their reports they find an orphanage run by devoted Mrs. Savic near the front line. Henderson gets so involved in kids' problems that he decides to take on the children, Emira, illegally back to England. He is assisted by American aid worker Nina. (NB: Rated R)
• West Side Story (1961): with Natalie Wood. Musical about two youngsters from rival NYC gangs who fall in love. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): with Bette Davis, Joan Crawford. In a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• White Massai, The (2005, Germany): A girl, Carola, whose vacation in Kenya takes an interesting turn when she becomes infatuated with a Masai. Carola decides to leave her boyfriend to stay with her lover. (Comments: This film was originally interesting to me, but is really problematic. Plus the main character was a complete idiot. Take that as you will!) (NB: Rated R.)
• White Oleander (2002): with Michelle Pfeiffer, Renee Zellweger, Robin Wright, Alison Lohman. A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Widows (2018, UK, USA co-production): Starring Viola Davis. Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities, take fate into their own hands, and conspire to forge a future on their own terms. (NB: Rated R)
• Witness (1985): with Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis. A young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder; policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him until the trial. (Not the greatest film ever made, but enjoyable.) (NB: Rated R.)
• Wizard of Oz, The (1939): with Judy Garland. Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home. (NB: Rated G)
• Women, The (1939, by famous director George Cukor): with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalynd Russell. A study of the lives and romantic entanglements of various interconnected women. (This was remade just a few years ago by Hollywood -I have no idea what the remake is like, but this version is amazing. Something that is notable about the film is that there are absolutely no male actors in the film -this was intentional, if I’m not mistaken.) (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012): with Jessica Chastain, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011. (NB: Rated R/NC-17) (Warning: For some reason this film avoids 'judging' the ethics of the use of torture by the CIA. Go figure. For the record: Torture is NEVER OK.)