These are some of the films that are in the queue to watch. Please feel free to leave suggestions in the comment box!
Updated 3/4/2024
The Score – Crime thriller, De Niro, Norton, Brando
A Hero – Foreign. A man emerges from jail.
Hit the Road – A charming and darkly comic movie about an Iranian family.
Brian and Charles – A lonely inventor makes a friend. Quirky comedy.
After Yang – Colin Farrell tries to repair his daughter’s droid and finds life lessons.
Ambulance – Christopher Nolan wall-to-wall bubblegum action movie.
The Roundup – Korean crime thriller. 96 /100 on RT.
Limitless – Thriller / Drama starring Bradley Cooper and De Niro
To Leslie – A woman struggles to overcome addition. 97 / 86 on RT.
Hinterland – Crime thriller set in post-WW2 europe.
On the Count of Three – Darkly comedic movie about two best friends.
Strawberry Mansion – An absurdist / realist look at an IRS agent’s life.
The Unidentified – Crime/thriller/character study, the first in a trilogy by a Romanian director.
A Knight’s Tale – The movie that put Heath Ledger on the map.
Someone Great – Millenial Rom-com, good reviews on RT
Benediction – True story about a war vet who tells of the horrors of war through poetry.
RRR – A three hour tour de force that is supposedly unlike anything seen before. You must read the description.
Friends and Strangers. Comedy/drama about a couple (who don’t like each other) take a camping trip in the Australian outback.
Love in Dangerous Times – As a virus spreads quickly throughout the globe, Jason remains ambivalent about its danger. Unable to travel and with his family on the other side of the country, he decides to spend the pandemic working on a play that resembles his life and current circumstances. As writers-block and loneliness ensue, he begins to turn to online dating to find a buddy for the apocalypse where he meets Sorrel. With the infection rate worsening and feat looming, the two begin to lean on one another for support and while they try to make sense of the times they live in.
Night on Earth – A story of five cab rides going on simultaneously around the world. Made many best-of lists. Familiar faces, 91% audience score on RT.
Girl With a Pearl Earring – When her father goes blind, Griet (Scarlett Johansson) must go to work as a maid for painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth). While cleaning the house, Griet strikes up an unlikely friendship with Vermeer. 72% / 4 Ebert.
Paint it Black – The death of Michael leaves behind the two women he loved, his girlfriend and his mother, both of whom blame each other for his suicide. Joined by their grief, the two women are soon drawn into a twisted relationship. Critics loved it, audiences not so much.
The Game – Michael Douglas and Sean Penn in a mystery / thriller.
The Lovers – Debra Winger. A man and his wife, each embroiled in an extramarital affair, are sent reeling when they suddenly fall for the least likely person imaginable — each other. 82% on RT.
The Truth – The Truth may not stand with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s best work, but it finds the writer-director revisiting familiar themes with a typically sensitive touch. Ethan Hawke, Juliette Binoche. 88% on RT.
Working Man – A too-rare showcase for an ensemble of talented veteran actors, Working Man quietly builds into an absorbing — and timely — character study. 94% on RT.
A Simple Plan – An emotional thriller starring Billy Bob Thorton and Bill Paxton. 90% on RT.
Talk to Her – Foreign drama/romance. Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas. 92% on RT.
Lone Star – Small-town sheriff has to investigate a murder after his father’s bones are found. Ebert gave it 4 stars.
How to Build a Girl – Johana Morrigan is a bright, quirky, 16-year-old who uses her colorful imagination to regularly escape her humdrum life in Wolverhampton and live out her creative fantasies.
Julia – Tilda Swinton delivers a powerful performance in Julia, a tense thriller and a dark character study.
Banana Splits – Story of a teenage friends that have a complication – one is dating the other’s ex-boyfriend. 90% on RT.
Official Secrets – Story of British whistleblower before the Iraq war. Keira Knightley.
Wheelman – A getaway movie defined as a mix of Locke and Baby Driver.
Fireworks Wednesday – Another film by the aforementioned Iranian director. 100% on RT.
The Conductor – Another indie gamble? It looks intriguing.
Brothers – We recently saw Susan Bier’s excellent After the Wedding – this is another film the she both wrote and directed.
The Hunt – We enjoyed the work of the lead actor in other films.
A Fortunate Man – The few reviews I could find on this movie were good
Blame – I am a sucker for the coming-of-age dramas
If Beale Street Could Talk – Another one that got rave reviews
Good Movie Lists
Indies – A Good Movie to Watch – Not that I want to give props to another site but I’ve been following this list for a while
Paste Magazine 75 Best Indie movies
ew.com Best movies you’ve never seen
COMMITTED (2014) Starring Melia Kreiling and Orestes Sophocleous (Amazon Prime)
The movie is about a man being pressured to propose to his girlfriend who picks up a runaway bride on the side of the road.
It is shot in Cyprus and the photography is beautiful. It is a very low budget movie, which happens all in one day, so no costumes, etc.
It is a little slow at first, but give it a chance. It is a very different movie. A site said it was like “When Harry Met Sally” on the road with a twist. And the ending is unpredictable. It’s about finding yourself…
It is not Oscar material, for sure. But I loved it! Hope you do, too.
Ally