For the record. These movies aren’t the best movies I have ever seen and they aren’t the art of movie industry. Neither they necessarily have to have the best IMDB rank (I don’t need somebody to tell me which movie is good or not). This isn’t about my best recommendation for friday night, but when you don’t have anything new on your movie list, this could be a good option. I have to say that I don’t like very old movies, so don’t expect anything like that. Don’t get me wrong. Old movies are often far more better, at least for the story line, but when I need to relax I like to watch movies which tide me on waves. And these (and long list of others) certainly meet the conditions.
AMERICAN GANGSTER (IMDB: 7.8)
Why do I love this movie? It reminds me little bit of a start-up script of a big company. Young man identifies demand, finds the product and starts to fill up the whole market. He experiences the rocket start of his career and soon becomes the king of the business. What is his product? Drugs. Yeah. The Godfather is maybe one of the best gangstar movies, but American Gangster for sure is the honest successor. The best part of this movie is a fight between two charactes, where the uncomfortable detective tries to catch the adored gangster. It is nevertheless a highly professional-quality film, which I can only recommend.
ENEMY OF THE STATE (IMDB: 7.3)
For sure the best movie with Will Smith as the leading actor. Today we live in times when spying with satellites is “normal” and you could wiretap somebody only with your notebook or phone. But in the 90’s, these things impressed you for sure. In my humble opinion this movie is ahead of its time, back in the days. The film’s juxtapositions, sharp angles, jump cuts and aerial surveillance shots have a rhythm that suits the material, exactly like the pace of the film. Who is really the enemy? Is it a person, an organization or the goverment? And who actually has the power? Who actually decides? Is the person driving a taxi not just a taxi driver?
ABOUT TIME (IMDB: 7.8)
When I want to see a good movie, I don’t expect only great effects, good camera, explosions and big robots smashing things, but also something deeper. In this movie I found elements which remind me of some silly things I have done in my life and wished I could have done them differently. For this purpose movie uses a fantastic element about traveling in time. The main actor can literally travel back in time and try to fix things. Don’t be afraid, this time traveling element is used decently. I think the movie’s goal is to remind us that we need to live our life fully every day, relish, enjoy and live it like it was the last day of our extraordinary, ordinary life.
HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS (IMDB: 7.0)
I have seen this movie just a couple weeks ago, but it definitely fits to my mood and view on life. Beside that, English humor in this movie is just perfect. In my opinion the movie has similar message to another great movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In our life many of us reach the point where we are asking ourselves: am I happy? Besides that, what is happines? So Hector leaves his job and travels the world to find out. This topic (happiness) for script in the movies could be really destructive. Some films like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Stranger Than Fiction” treat this topic with more creativity and sensitivity, but I don’t mind. I literally relaxed when I was watching Hector, trying to catch happines. And this feeling is sometimes much more important than the critics score.
MONEYBALL (IMDB: 7.6)
I saw almost every movie with Brad Pitt, but this one is memorable for me. Baseball drama about Billy Beane’s desperate, unorthodox methods as general manager of the Oakland Athletics – the major league’s poorest club. Dont’ worry, you don’t need to understand anything about baseball to get behind this. I believe this story is about second chances. Brad Pitt plays the guy who keeps losing all the time, trying it again, again and keeps making wrong decisions. He knows it, but he is still trying to win the last game of the season. His last desperate step is starting to listen to the accountant. But can you approach the baseball from a statistical, bean-counting point of view? Perfect dialogues, subtle humor, excellent actors. I think they couldn’t do it better.
If you need another tip for a movie, don’t hesitate to contact me. Also, put your thoughts about these movies or tips on another movies into comments.
