Hello Readers,
I am sure many fellow film fanatics will be well aware of the platform Letterboxd but as a recent convert, I want to share what my four favourites are as users list in their profile.
I see many celebrities listing highbrow films by directors such as Fellini, Hitchcock and even more obscure but as someone who enjoys films more from the 21st century, my favourites are not as revered. I have no issues with people appreciating older cinema but even after studying film, I have never quite connected with the classics. I chose films that I would happily watch over and over without getting bored and ones with strong themes or just something that makes me laugh.
Here is a link to my Letterboxd profile if you would like to check out what I have been watching the past couple of months: https://letterboxd.com/robynhirstallen/
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Even before Letterboxd, this film has been in my top 3 since I saw it about 15 years ago. One of my favourite sub genres of films are natural disasters and this definitely fits into that category. While far-fetched and exaggerated, it does show the dangers of climate change and what may happen if we don’t take it seriously.
What I think draws me into films like this as well as films that are post-apocalyptic or alternate futures, is that the people left in the world have to work together to survive and you get to see humanity more united that it is or has been for a long time. It also creates a certain jeopardy that is not caused by one person or a group of people but rather by something that cannot be controlled and is unavoidable.
The Day After Tomorrow has three main plot lines: the first is about Sam and his friends who have flown to New York City for a debate competition. Jake Gyllenhaal (Sam) and Emmy Rossum (Laura) and Arjay Smith (Brian) star as the trio of high schoolers. After the floods, they are helped by another debater, J.D. (Austin Nichols) and shelter in the New York Public Library.
The second group are Sam’s father, Jack, played by Dennis Quaid along with his friends Jason and Frank. They were recently in Antarctica studying cold fronts and set off from Washington DC to rescue Sam and his friends while the weather turns into a new Ice Age.
The third group work in a laboratory in Scotland studying the weather and quickly come to realise that they aren’t going to be going anywhere any time soon. We get snippets from events around the world such as tornadoes in Los Angeles, snow in India, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and many other unbelievable weather events.
While the visual effects may not be as impressive and what we are used to seeing 20 years later, I think that they do hold up and the scenes when the floods invade Manhattan are quite realistic. The director, Roland Emmerich is known for films of this genre and scale such as 2012 and Independence Day so I think he got the tone right by including round the world events but also focusing on the relationships between the main characters.
Sam only joined the debate team to impress his crush, Laura while Brian and Laura are very academic. When J.D. joins their group, there is a bit of friction as Laura takes a shine to him but when she gets sick, everyone puts her health first. Jack and his colleagues have been trying to prove that climate change is real and that another Ice Age could happen but unfortunately the government don’t listen to him. His wife is a healthcare professional and we see her looking after sick children and waiting with them to be evacuated from Washington DC to the Southern States.
Overall, the film has jeopardy, adventure, action and drama along with characters you can relate to. One of the most heartbreaking scenes is when everyone sheltering in the library leaves and then you see them frozen to death outside after a cold front swept through.
Available on Disney+
Mamma Mia! (2008)
A smash hit musical and the subsequent films revived the music of ABBA in recent years. Since their success at Eurovision in 1974, the band’s popularity dwindled after their break up but Catherine Johnson put them back on everyone’s playlists.
I am a big fan of musicals, especially musical films as when watching at the cinema or at home you can always hear every lyric and see every dance routine without someone trying to record it in front of you. Mamma Mia! is the first musical film I remember watching around age 10 and even though the themes and the story were more for adults, I enjoyed the music, comedy and dance routines.
This film has been a family favourite since that first watch and has always been there when you need cheering up or are simply in the mood for sun and singing. The A list cast certainly adds to the fun with Meryl Streep making a star turn as Donna Sheridan along with Julie Walters and Christine Baranski, the trio make excellent Dynamos with their differences bringing them together. The three male leads, all Donna’s past lovers, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård bring the comedy and while there have been notes about their lack of singing ability, I think that all adds to the fun and lightheartedness of the film.
The main plot centres around Donna’s daughter Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried wanting to invite her father to her wedding to fiance Sky (Dominic Cooper). She sends out invitations to her three suspects as discovered in her mother’s old diaries. When Donna finds the three having turned up at her hotel on a remote Greek island, she panics and hilarity ensues. It’s clear that Sam (Brosnan) was the true love of her life but circumstances kept him away.
In the original musical, Bill is Australian but he was changed to Swedish to honour the band ABBA and the actor playing him in the film. There were a few other changes with some songs being cut for time but with the same person writing the screenplay for the film, it was a faithful adaption.
My personal favourite songs are Dancing Queen where all the women of the town follow Donna and her sidekicks through the town in a big group number; Mamma Mia, Donna’s solo number and the grande finale Take a Chance on Me where Rosie (Walters) makes her play for Bill that ends in everyone dancing and water bursting through the floor tiles.
For me this film never gets old and is so joyful, I had to include it in my Four Favourites. It has always been hanging around my top 5 films and I included it in a post a while ago about my Desert Island Films. There was a sequel in 2018 which I enjoyed but nothing beats the first film.
If you enjoy musicals and/or the music of ABBA, you will definitely enjoy this film. I have introduced many people to it and no one has ever come away with negative thoughts even if they are not the biggest musical fan. There are elements to enjoy such as the comedy, the summer island paradise and heartwarming story.
Available on Amazon Prime
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
This film has a lot of themes going on that would make it a great study in a film lecture or something similar and is quite dark but when I watched this for the first time at a similar age to Olive (Abigail Breslin), these were not the things that stayed with me. I wouldn’t say this film has made it to my top 5 until I joined Letterboxd but after a re-watch last year and truly appreciating the film with adult eyes, I couldn’t help but include it.
The film centres around the Hoover family and their various problems. Teenager Dwayne (Paul Dano) has committed to a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of becoming a fighter pilot. Olive’s father, Richard (Greg Kinnear) is trying to switch careers into becoming a life coach and influential speaker and is currently negotiating a contract to jump start his career. His father, Edwin (Alan Arkin) has a drug problem and has come to live with the family. He also starts coaching Olive in beauty pageanting after she entered and won a local contest.
A family road trip ensues for Olive to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant in Redondo Beach, California. The family go in their iconic yellow Volkswagen camper van that has many problems along the way. Also on the trip are Sheryl (Toni Collette) who is reluctant to let her daughter, Olive compete and Sheryl’s brother, Frank (Steve Carell) who is staying with the family after losing his professor position and attempting suicide due to a affair with a male student ending badly.
While many of the Hoover family’s problems seem quite dark, it is a light-hearted film with emotional moments. For example, the scene where they accidentally leave Olive at the gas station and the van cannot stop so she has to run alongside it and hop in is a memorable one.
The cast and the script really make this film into something outstanding and one that is talked about still almost 15 years later. The family deal with things together and even events or problems that could make them give up, help to bond them closer together.
The final scenes where Olive is performing in the pageant are very funny and the juxtaposition of all the other competitors being over-sexualised compared with the shock at Olive’s inappropriate dance shows how society picks and chooses what to be offended by.
It is hard to find another film that evokes that same emotions but one with more positive situations is The Way Way Back from 2013 which also stars Toni Collette and Steve Carell.
Overall I think this film is a light hearted drama with comedic moments featuring an elite cast and a great script. Would recommend to slightly older viewers to truly understand the themes.
Available on Disney+
This is Where I Leave You (2014)
Another comedy drama but this one has more laugh out loud moments. Another great cast with Jane Fonda as the matriarch of the Altman family. She brings her four grown up children back to their childhood home to sit shiva after their father’s death even though he was an atheist. Shiva is a Jewish tradition of a seven day mourning period where the first degree relatives welcome other mourners and share in their grief.
This situation forces the family back together each bringing their own problems. Our protagonist Judd (Jason Bateman) starts the film by finding his wife, Quinn (Abigail Spencer) in bed with her secret lover (Dax Shepard). He decides to divorce her but does not tell the family. Wendy (Tina Fey) has two young kids with her husband who is not very interested in being present with his family and finds any excuse to call work. She also experiences what could have been by reconnecting with Horry, a neighbour whom she dated in high school until he suffered a brain injury.
Paul (Corey Stoll) and his wife, Annie (Kathryn Hahn) are struggling to conceive and it is also revealed that Annie used to be Judd’s girlfriend when they were younger. Last is the baby of the family, Phillip (Adam Driver) who turns up to the house with his girlfriend who was his therapist and is quite a bit older than him.
Trapped together, the family start to unravel with many secrets coming forward. Judd finds out that his ex-wife Quinn is pregnant with no idea if he is the father. Annie tries seducing Judd after wondering if her husband is the issue with their fertility issues and Phillip’s girlfriend leaves him after he flirts with younger women.
What drew me to this film is the feeling of connection and family. While there are many hilarious moments, there are also lovely moments such as Wendy being comforted by her mother and Judd finding love again with Penny (Rose Byrne). One of the funniest moments is when the brothers sneak out of temple to smoke a joint that was found in their late father’s jacket.
The actors in the film are all known for comedy, an early role for Adam Driver who really keeps up with the other actors and I think again the script really helps. Other actors featured are Timothy Olyphant, Connie Britton and Ben Schwartz.
I have re-watched this film a few times but not for a while but I think the Four Favourites is about films you could come across playing on TV and happily sit there and watch. They are not necessarily films I revisit every year but I would always recommend them to people and they evoke feelings of comfort or humour when re-watching.
Not available for free but available to buy/rent on most streaming platforms
So these are my current Four Favourites on Letterboxd and while I am happy with my choices, they are not set in stone so if I do swap any then an updated version of this post could be on the cards.
Happy Watching,
Robyn
