On the other hand, when you're bummed and all out of Zoloft and Xanax, a sad movie is obviously out of the question and a lot of movies just sound irritating, like being given a big, juicy steak but you have the flu. These movies are the ones that strike just the right balance. When I've had a bad case of the depression blahs, I wished there was a better list of movies like these, pick-me-ups that are uplifting, calming, thoughtful, funny and emotionally honest, so I made one myself. There's a wide range. A couple are a little heavier, but most are pretty easy, and some are on the funnier side, while others are more contemplative. However, they're each good-natured, emotionally-soothing movies to watch when everything sucks.
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie, Jeffrey Jones, Bill Murray, George 'The Animal' Steele, Juliet Landau, Mike Starr, G.D. Spradlin, Vincent D'Onofrio
Rated R for some strong language.
127 minutes
Loosely based upon the career of Edward D. Wood Jr., whose numerous low-budget and shoddily constructed films (mostly poverty row exploitation) earned him a posthumous reputation as one of the worst directors ever, ED WOOD re-envisions the filmmaker as an impossibly upbeat go-getter who idolizes Orson Welles, surrounds himself with an eclectic band of fellow industry outsiders (including Bela Lugosi, a touching and Oscar-winning performance by Martin Landau), and will stop at nothing to have his vision realized. Probably Tim Burton's most mature film to date (many would say his best), it's dreadfully funny, beautiful and layered, but also just a big warm hug of a movie.
Directed by David Lynch
Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton, Jane Galloway Heitz, Joseph Carpenter, Donald Wiegert, Ed Grennan, Jack Walsh
Rated G
112 minutes
In this decidedly non-Lynchian truth-based drama from David Lynch, everything is slowed down to parallel the journey of septuagenarian Alvin Straight (portrayed by Richard Farnsworth) who travels from 240 miles from Iowa to Wisconsin on a 1966 John Deere riding lawnmower when he discovers his estranged brother across the country has suffered a stroke. It's a great slow movie for when you just need to slow down, full of poignant insights and headlined by Farnsworth, one of those rare actors you just can't go wrong with, in an ultra-minimalist, gently humorous story.
Directed by Peter Yates
Starring: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Paul Dooley, Barbara Barrie, Robyn Douglass, Hart Bochner, P.J. Soles, Amy Wright, John Ashton
Rated PG for unspecified reasons
100 minutes
A sweet and very funny coming-of-age story about a group of aimless young men struggling to enter, or not enter, adulthood in a college town where they're looked down upon by the affluent college guys, BREAKING AWAY is an under-appreciated classic that put Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern on the map. It's emotionally honest, but a genuine crowd-pleaser.
Directed by Ted Demme
Starring: Timothy Hutton, Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Natalie Portman, Noah Emmerich, Max Perlich, Michael Rapaport, Lauren Holly, Rosie O'Donnell, Mira Sorvino, Martha Plimpton, Anne Bobby, David Arquette
Rated R for strong language and nude pin-ups.
112 minutes
I was trying to find a list of movies like this when I discovered this understated dramedy, and it's quickly become a go-to movie for me in times of emotional tumult. Set in a snowy Massachusetts small town, a group of old high school friends, now in their late 20s, are reunited for a high school reunion as they each find themselves at crossroads in their respective lives. Each of them are still trying to decide where they want their lives to go, especially with their relationships, as the film explores issues of male insecurity and early-life crises with quiet sensitivity and eloquence.
Directed by Peter Hedges
Starring: Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Oliver Platt, Alison Pill, Derek Luke, John Gallagher Jr., Alice Drummond, Sean Hayes, Lillias White, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Sisqo
Rated PG-13 for language, sensuality, drug content and images of nudity.
80 minutes
If you can go along with the ultra-cheap, camcorder-shot production, PIECES OF APRIL is a very sweet, simple and funny story of reconciliation and redemption as a family torn by bad history reluctantly reunites for what may be their last Thanksgiving together. It's a bit of a tearjerker, but the happy kind.
Directed by James L. Brooks
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Shirley Knight, Jesse James, Skeet Ulrich, Yeardley Smith, Lupe Ontiveros, Harold Ramis, Julie Benz
Rated PG-13 for strong language, thematic elements, nudity and a beating.
139 minutes
Being a James L. Brooks film, AS GOOD AS IT GETS is a bit on the schmaltzy side, but the misanthropic lead played by Jack Nicholson is so savagely, cringe-worthily, hilariously acerbic that it mostly balances out. The story of how one reluctant favor brings a loathsome hermit out into the world of personal relationships as he decides, in baby steps, to be a better human being, it's a gooey sweet charmer.
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring: Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, Dianne Wiest, Rick Moranis, Tom Hulce, Martha Plimpton, Keanu Reeves, Harley Kozak, Joaquin Phoenix, Eileen Ryan, Jasen Fisher, Helen Shaw, Ivyann Schwan, Paul Linke, Alisan Porter, Alex Burrall
Rated PG-13 for unspecified reasons (mature thematic elements including sexual material and references, language and brief smoking).
124 minutes
You may be familiar with the NBC series Parenthood (the second TV series loosely based on this movie), but this 1989 adult comedy-drama is a poignant, funny look at the ups and downs of family life and the tough but fulfilling role of parent. It also sports a stellar ensemble cast led by Steve Martin, along with Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Rick Moranis, Tom Hulce, Keanu Reeves, a young Joaquin Phoenix (credited as Leaf Phoenix), and Jason Robards as the Buckman clan's emotionally-distant patriarch.
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Jason Segel, Kristin Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Liz Cackowski, Da'Vone McDonald, Jack McBrayer, Maria Thayer, Paul Rudd
Rated R for sexual content, language and some graphic nudity.
111 minutes
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is an unmistakable romantic comedy with a familiar story, but amplified with absurdly funny, absurdly raunchy comedy and writer/star Jason Segel's idiosyncrasies. Segel plays a TV composer who is unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend (played Kristen Bell, now probably best known as the voice of Anna in FROZEN, so now you can shut your eyes and imagine the Disney character saying those filthy things) and decides he needs to get away, but discovers the she and her new boyfriend are staying in the same Hawaiian resort. It's a nice comedy that mines from the rich vein of getting over one's ex, and Segel also shows off his considerable member in the most brilliant scene, if that's what your into.
Directed by Greg Mottola
Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Aviva, Joe Lo Truglio, Kevin Corrigan, Clement E. Blake
Rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens.
113 minutes
This may seem like a weird inclusion, but it always leaves me with a potent case of the warm fuzzies. Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who lent the main characters their own first names), who penned their first draft while still in high school in Vancouver, the proudly raunchy comedy is a "one crazy night" story about high school seniors who go to extreme lengths to get alcohol for a party, and in so doing, hopefully impress their respective crushes enough to get laid two weeks before they graduate. It's a bit like AMERICAN PIE but done right, with tons of filthy, gut-busting laughs, and a very sweet, mature heart.
Directed by Gillian Robespierre
Starring: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffman, David Cross, Gabe Liedman, Richard Kind, Polly Draper, Paul Briganti, Cindy Cheung, Stephen Singer
Rated R for language and sexual content.
83 minutes
Movieguide.com ("The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment" from a "Biblical perspective") called this unconventional romantic comedy about an immature comedian who gets pregnant from a drunken one-night stand a "morally reprehensible, unfunny, and incredibly offensive movie that celebrates the killing of children through abortion". I call it a painfully funny and crude, but also sweet and sensitive, feel-good love story.
Directed by Pete Docter
Featuring the Voices of: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle McLachlan
Rated PG for mild thematic elements and some action.
94 minutes
Pixar's recently released animated hit is another that will bring you down a bit before leveling things back out again, but it's so fulfilling. As Devin Faraci in his Birth.Movies.Death. review noted, "Inside Out is an empathy interface, giving you the language to see where other people are coming from." It's a smart movie about emotions for when you're feeling emotional.
Directed by John Kahrs
Featuring the Voices of: John Kahrs, Kari Wahlgren
Rated G
7 minutes
If you're in a hurry, you can't do better than this 2012 winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short which played before the Disney animated feature WRECK-IT RALPH. Over the course of only 7 minutes, in black-and-white and not a word of dialogue, it tells a poignant, magical, strange and euphoric love story about a boy and a girl and a lot of paper airplanes.
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgard, Casey Affleck, Cole Hauser, John Mighton, George Plimpton
Rated R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue.
126 minutes
It's corny and melodramatic, but it's hard not to leave this one feeling good. A breakout film for both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (who, as struggling actors, wrote it for themselves and later won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay), the story about a young, ne'er-do-well genius from South Boston who becomes the interest of M.I.T. professors who want to see his potential realized is anchored by the scenes of Will Hunting (Damon) in court-ordered therapy with Dr. Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams in the performance that finally won him an Academy Award after three prior nominations. It's like the movie equivalent of a corny old grandpa who somehow knows just the right thing to say.
Directed by Ang Lee
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Tabu, Adil Hussain, Shravanthi Sainath, Gerard Depardeiu, Po-Chieh Wang, Ayush Tandon, Mohamed Abbas Khaleeli, Andrea Di Stefano
Rated PG for emotional thematic content throughout, and some scary action sequences and peril.
127 minutes
This 2012 Academy Award-winner comes with the caveat that before it picks you up, it will take you down, a long ways down, but when all is said and done, it's a thought-provoking balm for the soul. Based on the 2001 novel by Yann Martel, it's a Book of Job-style "baptism by fire" parable of religious belief that explores weighty themes of faith, endurance and man's relationship with God and spirituality. Visually stunning and deeply moving, LIFE OF PI is one of my all-time favorite movies, and even as a tumultuous emotional journey, it never fails to make me feel peaceful at the moment it starts and the moment it ends.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Claudia Wells, James Tolkan, Marc McClure, Wendie Jo Sperber
Rated PG for unspecified reasons (PG-13-level; some teen drinking/smoking, brief drug use and sensuality).
116 minutes
One of the quintessential American comedies, Robert Zemeckis's time-travel movie about 1985 teen sent to 1955 where he must play matchmaker for his teenage parents is a funny, iconic blockbuster, but also a very sweet story about connecting with your parents and the shared experiences between generations.
Directed by Harold Ramis
Starring: Bill Murray, Andie McDowell, Chris Elliot, Stephen Toblowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray, Angela Paton, Rick Dicommun, Rick Overton, Robin Duke, Marita Geraghty
Rated PG for some thematic elements.
101 minutes
This 1993 comedy has been quietly coming into its fully deserved status as a bona fide classic, but not simply because it's funny (which it is) or that the story itself is one of the most genius ever created for a movie (which it also is), but because it's such an unexpectedly moving, uplifting, slyly edifying movie. Oh, and it's way better than GHOSTBUSTERS (yes, it is).
(ROMANTIC-COMEDY, 1960)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen, Ray Walston, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Johnny Seven
Not Rated (PG-13-level; mature thematic elements, some suggestive material and smoking).
125 minutes
This seminal 1960 romantic comedy written and directed by Billy Wilder is one of my all-time favorites. It's a real movie's movie, with a melodramatic overture by Adolph Deutsch (his penultimate score before retiring in 1961), meticulously crafted comedy, drama and visuals, and a shamelessly romantic finale. Again, the emotional lows are pretty low, but it all pays off in the contrasting highs at the end. Wilder was a noted cynic, but with unmistakably gushy center, a balance that is never better displayed than in THE APARTMENT.
No comments:
Post a Comment