Photo courtesy Pixabay. Creative Commons LIcense.
Movies provide a great outlet for escapism while we are home in this time of uncertainty. I have explored my Blu-ray collection and scrolled through Netflix and Amazon Prime, and picked five movies that I had a lot of fun with. They opened windows to a whole different reality and made me forget that I was quarantined in the middle of a pandemic. They might do the same for you. My picks are both new and old and are not ranked in any particular order.
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood – 2019
The 9th film from Quentin Tarantino, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. I always dreamed of a time machine that can take me back to 1969, and this movie does just that. Everything — the cars, the clothing, the music, and locations — really teleport you to a different time and place. So take a ride with TV star Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his long-time stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt) through the streets of 1969 Los Angeles. You might research Charles Manson and his murderous hippie cult before you watch, because if you are unfamiliar with the Manson Family then the last 30 minutes of the film might confuse you. As in some previous Tarantino films, he likes to twist history around and make it his own.
Wall Street – 1987
This 1987 Oliver Stone classic will transport you to Wall Street. It really captures the atmosphere and vibe of New York City’s Financial District and for a New Yorker it will be a trip to see. Michael Douglas won an Oscar for his iconic role playing the corporate raider Gordon Gekko. Re-watching the film, I noticed that Gekko is a graduate of The City College of New York. “Yeah, not bad for a City College boy,” he says. “I bought my way in, now all these Ivy league schmucks are sucking my kneecaps.” This just adds another bonus to this movie.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day – 1991
If you haven’t seen 2019’s Terminator Dark Fate, please do yourself a favor and pretend that it doesn’t even exist. The new sequel slaps the classic 1991 T2 in the face and in the first 5 minutes it already managed to kill a part of my childhood. I had to watch Terminator 2 Judgment Day again to get a piece of my soul back and I’m glad I did. T2 is arguably one of the best action movies of all time. It has a great story and is filled with great characters, and spectacular set pieces that heavily rely on stunts and practical effects instead of computer-generated images. All of these perfect pieces of filmmaking make T2 stand the test of time. Plus, this movie is about saving the world and stopping Judgment Day. That’s a great plot for a quarantine flick! Arnold Schwarzenegger is so badass in this movie that I guarantee you will want to have a nice workout after you finish watching.
This Is The End – 2013
If you are in need for some hard R comedy, then this one is for you. Six friends (James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny Mcbride, and Craig Robinson) are stuck in a house after a series of catastrophic world-ending events. This is the epitome of a quarantine movie. Watch these comedians play exaggerated real-life versions of themselves where they try to survive, get high, and explore the meaning of friendship in a cabin fever environment.
Everybody Wants Some!! – 2016
This one right here is for the college students. Everybody Wants Some!! is a spiritual sequel to Richard Linklater’s cult classic Dazed and Confused (1993)and it doesn’t get as much recognition as it shouldDazed and Confused is a coming of age hang-out movie about a group of high schoolers who are enjoying their last day of school in the summer of 1976. They cruise around, listen to music, and surprisingly have very thought-provoking conversations that you don’t usually hear in movies about stoned beer-drinking teens. Everybody Wants Some!! follows almost the same formula but this time it’s about a group of college students moving into campus in the summer of 1980. Semester starts in three days and they try to live it up as much as they can. Richard Linklater really knows how to write good dialogue for characters you wouldn’t really expect to be too smart. If you are sad that you missed out your college experience during this pandemic, this movie will fill some of that void. V
