The Way

Title: The Way

Director: Emilio Estevez

Release year: 2010

Notable cast: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez

Genre: drama, adventure, comedy

Recommended for: arthouse film fans

Rating: 3.5/5

Description: honestly, not my cup of tea, but still managed to keep me engaged. I also found it touching and inspiring.

Plot Summary: A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the “El camino de Santiago,” and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.

Favourite quote: “You don’t choose a life Dad. You live one.” -Daniel

The Art Of Getting By

Title: The Art Of Getting By

Director: Gavin Wiesen

Release year: 2011

Main cast: Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts

Genre: drama, romance

Recommended for: teens (esp. into ‘indie’ films)

Rating: 3.5/5

Description: sweet, predictable, endearment, reminded me of perks of being a wallflower, coming-of-age

Blurb: George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who’s made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.

Favourite quote: “I fear life” -George

December Boys

Title: December Boys

Director: Rod Hardy

Release year: 2007

Main cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Teresa Palmer

Genre: drama

Recommended for: indie film fans

Rating: 4/5

Description: moving, family, love, tears, journey, I cried like a baby

Blurb: One summer, four orphans boys who have grown to be the closest of friends find themselves competing for the attention of the same family.

Favourite quote: ” Just remember Misty, no matter what, you’re still a December boy” -Maps

*I did mostly cry because something happens to Daniel Radcliffe’s character, and it was more the fact I was worried about him rather than the character!!

Fierce People

Title: Fierce People

Director: Griffin Dunne

Release year: 2005

Main cast: Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Stewart

Genre: drama, thriller

Recommended for: art house or indie film fans

Rating: 4.5/5

Description: unexpected, surprising, dramatic, coming-of-age, confronting

Blurb: A massage therapist looking to overcome her addictions and reconnect with her son, whose father is an anthropologist in South America studying the Yanomani people, moves in with a wealthy ex-client in New Jersey.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Title: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Director: Woody Allen

Release year: 2008

Main cast: Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz,  Javier Bardem

Genre: drama, romance

Recommended for: if you enjoy art-house films

Date watched: ??

Rating: 2.5/5

Description: loose plot, confusing, risque, unrealistic, obsession, angst

Blurb: Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.

Adventureland

Title: Adventureland

Director: Greg Mottola

Release year: 2009

Main cast: Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Wiig

Genre: comedy, drama, romance

Recommended for: teens

Date watched: this is one of my fave films, so I have obviously seen it a lot!

Rating: 5/5

Description: rare, wise, touching, tear-jerker, laugh-out-loud, authentic

Blurb: In the summer of 1987, a college grad takes a ‘nowhere’ job at his local amusement park, only to find it’s the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.

The Yellow Handkerchief

Title: The Yellow Handkerchief

Director: Udayan Prasad

Release year: 2008

Main cast: Kristen Stewart, Eddie Redmayne, William Hurt, Maria Bello

Genre: drama, romance

Recommended for: indie film fans

Date watched: Sep 2010, Feb 2013

Rating: 3.5/5

Description: journey, friendship, cute, hope, loneliness

Blurb: A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.

Babel

Title: Babel

Director: Alejandro Iñárritu

Release year: 2006

Main cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett

Genre: drama, political drama

Recommended for: realists

Date watched: watched a lot-studied it for a class!

Rating:  3.5/5

Description: surprising, sexual, clever, enthralling, real

Blurb: Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.

*Just a heads up, but this film, mainly in the scenes involving Chieko is very sexually inappropriate!!