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A tender Irish drama about a neglected young girl sent to stay with distant relatives for the summer, The Quiet Girl is a gentle and deeply moving film that finds extraordinary emotion in the smallest moments. The older I get, the more grateful I am for the catalog of films that we have access to….
A film about four 12-year-old boys on a secret quest to find a missing boy’s body, Stand By Me is a touching coming-of-age story that is arguably the best movie ever made about preteens. Watching Stand By Me again in the movie theater is not a privilege I ever thought I’d get again. I remember…
A fantastic musical film about a bloodthirsty plant that gets its owner to keep feeding it, Little Shop Of Horrors features a great cast and is packed with earworms. When Little Shop Of Horrors was first released on VHS tape, my friends and I were obsessed with it. We planned a performance of our own,…
A subtle and emotionally layered film about an absent film director father and his estranged daughters, Sentimental Value is extraordinarily styled and deeply personal. When I notice that Stellan Skarsgård is in a film, I am immediately interested. Whether it’s Good Will Hunting, Mamma Mia!, or Angels & Demons, he is an actor who leaves…
An emotionally evocative film about a wrongfully convicted man who is part of a theatre troupe in prison, Sing Sing will blow you away with its heart and humanity. Two of my very favorite films take place in a prison – The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Two very different movies whose stories both…
A brilliant film about four teachers who decide to test the effects of maintaining daily low-level intoxication, Another Round is a fascinating look into what this theory will do for their lives. When I was a kid, foreign films were really foreign. There was a specific “foreign films” section at the video store, and if…
Arguably one of the best films ever made, Incendies, about a twins’ quest to learn about their mother’s life, is a must-see for any movie lover. Seriously, watch it. This is a hill I will die on. Incendies is one of my very favorite films. Not because it is sweet and light and fun (which…
An astonishing film about the pain and misery in the resistance and small villages during World War II as seen through a teenager’s eyes, Come And See will leave you speechless. There are many spectacular films about World War II that have become standard viewing. Schindler’s List, The Pianist, and Saving Private Ryan are just…
A breathtakingly emotional film about a young man, his eccentric wife, and the journey to create Hamlet, Hamnet will both enrapture you and bring you to tears. I have always been a bit of a sucker for Shakespearean history. I find it fascinating that there is speculation that he may not have written all of…
A gorgeous film full of texture, wonder, and depth, Frankenstein, the classic story with a few twists, is truly one that you can’t miss. Frankenstein is one of those characters that has always been in the ether. Being alive today means never having lived in a world without the creator and his monster (as the…
One of the best films ever made for sparking discussion about history and science, The Man From Earth, about a professor claiming to be a non-aging cro-magnon, will have you buzzing with information. When I first watched this film, about three years ago, I had never heard of it before. I knew nothing about it…
A gorgeously emotional film with palpable depth, We Live In Time follows one couple’s journey together through all of life’s ups and downs. There are very few movies that balance the weight of their entirely on the two main leads. Lots of films tell love stories, but usually there are meddling parents or an ex-partner…
