Here are some to consider. Many of these are new to me but interesting; many I know and seem good to revisit; some I am putting in just in case you never saw them in days gone by. Just a few comments. I hope they help!
‘Scarface’ (1983) Pacino and Pfeiffer, based on the 1938 movie by John Huston and Howard Hawks, updated by Brian De Palma.
‘Da 5 Bloods’ (2020) Had mixed reviews, but..
‘What Happened Miss Simone?’ (2015) A heart-breaking bio, but the blues are ways rooted in pain. she always was one of the greats.
‘Springsteen On Broadway’ The reason I got Netflix in the first place. The Boss tells tales and plays his tunes. This stage show ran for a year, and is now coming back.
‘Marriage Story’ (2019). Johansson and Draper.
‘The Dead Don’t Die’ (2019) Jim Jarmusch, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Tom Waits, Adam Driver…that tells you all you need to know
.
‘Roma’ (2018) Alfonso Cuaron who explored space in Gravity here looks at the life of a Mexican family. Hugely acclaimed.
‘Atlantics’ (2019) ‘A French supernatural romantic comedy’ says wiki. I want to see it!
‘Okja’ (2017) Delightful Korean satire, by Bong Joon Ho, with Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal.
‘Hugo’ (2011) Scorsese’s kid’s movie? Yes, and also about the start of cinema in France, with Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley.
‘Rain Man’ (1988) We can forget just how good an actor Tom Cruise is, here matching Hoffman in a virtual two-hander.
‘Annihilation’ (2018) Very very strange offering from Alex Garland, with a great female cast, including Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson. Just don’t ask me what it’s all about!
‘Booksmart’ (2019) Olivia Wilde’s coming of age comedy with Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as graduating High Schoolgirls. Funny and perceptive.
‘Enola Holmes’ (2020) The Stranger Days star, Millie Bobby Brown, stars and shines in this fun Sherlock Holmes spinoff with Helena Bonham-Carter as her mum.
‘The King’ (2019) Shakespeare for teenagers maybe, but not dumbed down at all, with Timothee Chalamet as the young Henry who became The Fifth. Co-written and directed by Joel Edgerton.
‘Atonement’ (2007). Just a great movie shaped by a great movie.
‘The Old Guard’ (2020) Comic book based, but deeper than I expected…and with Charlize Theron, Matthias Schoenaerts and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
‘Spotlight’ (2015) If this had been made when I was training people about Safeguarding I would have used it. A true story about clerical abuse in Boston, eventually revealed by local journalists who won a Pulitzer Prize for their work. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Stanley Tucci star in this subtle telling of an important story.
‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ (2020) Aaron Sorkin’s movie about the 1968 American political trial that still reverberates today on both sides of the Atlantic. With Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance and Frank Langella.
‘The Two Popes’ (2019). A fictional meeting between Pope Benedict and the Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis. Based on the actual speeches and writings of the two men. Beautifully acted by Antony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce.
‘The Dig’ (2021) Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan in the tru(ish) account of the discovery of the Sutton Hoo Anglo Saxon hoard.
‘Donnie Brascoe’ (1997) Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, based on the true story of an FBI agent infiltrating one of the 1970’s NY Mafia clans by winning the trust of one of their hitmen.
‘Blinded By The Light’ (2019) A comedy-drama based on the teenage experiences of the British-Pakistani journalist Sarfraz Manzoor in Luton, and his love for Bruce Springsteen’s music. The Boss approved and let them us rare recordings of his music.
‘Winter’s Bone’ (2010) Debra Granik’s tough film about the dark side of rural Ozark America; poverty, drugs, crime and the violent family tensions they induce. Jennifer Lawrence was Oscar Nominated as the 17 year old struggling to save her family from eviction by finding her bail-jumping father.
‘Your Name’ (2016) Makoto Shinkai’s anime teen romance with mystical threads proved to be second only to Spirited Away in domestic sales in Japan, and very popular world wise. Beautifuly drawn, funny and moving.
‘Us’ (2019) Jordan Peele followed ‘Get Out’ with this far left-field horror movie, a deep critique on America’s society. Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Evan Alex and Shahadi Wright Joseph play themselves and their terrifying doppelgangers, with Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker as their friends and neighbours. Existentially terrifying. Peele said he wanted to make ‘pure horror’, but for this non-horror fan it is so much more.
‘My Octopus Teacher’ (2020) Either you know about this documentary or you don’t. If you don’t do give it try.
‘A Walk Among The Tombstones’ (2014) I am absolutely NOT a fan of the Taken franchise but this movie is taken from a Lawrence Block novel, and part of a series about an alcoholic ex-cop, Matt Scudder, played by Liam Neeson. ‘Intelligent Pulp’ is how one critic described it. I think it is a much more complex role for Neeson than most of his pension building offerings.
