13. Grease Live!* (2016) – February started with a bang as Fox TV showcased the boys and girls of Rydell High in a LIVE production of the musical “Grease.” It is impossible not to bop along with the sounds and dancing of “Hand Jive,” “You’re the One That I Want” and “Beauty School Dropout.” Although the entire cast looked a little long-in-the-tooth to be actual high schoolers, they all brought exuberance to their parts, led by Aaron Tviet as Danny Zuko, ersatz head greaser, and his blonde, blue-eyed innocent girlfriend Sandy (Julianne Hough). The fact that the performance was live added excitement to the proceedings, and kudos to the director and technical team for the staggering variety of cameras, sets and scenery. Kudos, too, for the live audience, which was an element sorely lacking from NBC’s wooden live production of “The Sound of Music” a few years back. I must admit that I remember those late-50s ducktail hairstyles for the “greaser” guys. I’m already craving this kind of treatment for “Footloose,” in case anyone’s listening. 4 cans.
14. Madoff* (2016) – After seeing “The Big Short” last month and now this dramatization of the case of financial fraud Bernie Madoff, I feel like I am going after a graduate degree in economics. If you didn’t know what a Ponzi scheme was, you would get it completely after seeing this movie. Madoff ran a huge investment firm, and his investors reaped huge profits, consistently out-performing Wall Street because of one simple difference: Madoff never invested their money. He kept it in a big fund, and his payouts were financed by money coming in from new investors. It was nothing more than a very successful Ponzi scheme. Investors begged Bernie to take their money, which he did gladly. When Wall Street collapsed in 2008 and Madoff couldn’t pay off the people who wanted their money back, the elaborate ruse fell apart and he ended up in jail. His actions ruined many lives, families (including his own), charities and others who had felt privileged that he allowed them to invest in his fund. You can’t make this stuff up, and if something seems to be too good to be true, well, you know the rest. Richard Dreyfuss, who has not aged well, was a good choice for the Madoff role, and as his wife Ruth, Blythe Danner does a fine job. Look before you leap. 3 cans.
15. Notting Hill (1999) – This movie is Hugh Grant at his most unassuming, blithering best. He is William Thatcher, London owner of a small bookstore for travel books only. What are the chances a major Hollywood star will happen to come into his store? Ana (Julia Roberts) does just that one day, and she comes into his life. She is tired of being famous, tired of being hounded by paparazzi for every move she makes, and certain that relationships with people outside show business never work. Oh, and she has a star boyfriend (very brief scene with Alec Baldwin as a typical Hollywood prick). So, can this relationship work? Grant and Roberts are surrounded by an interesting cast of characters, all of whom add to the charm and whimsy of this movie. I loved it after not having seen it for long time. 4 cans.
16. Like Sunday, Like Rain* (2014) – Two lonely souls form a bond in this lovely movie. Eleanor (Leighton Meester) is a 20-something who has just dumped her boyfriend and lost her job and her apartment when she is hired to be a nanny to 12-year old Reggie (Julian Shatkin), a cello prodigy wise beyond his years but with virtually no friends and a mother who abandons him to jet off. Reggie lives in a New York mansion, but while his material needs are satisfied, his emotional ones are neglected. He is brilliant, reads voraciously, composes beautiful music and plays the cello. Eleanor tries her best to be his babysitter but soon becomes his friend and confidant, as he does hers. (Thank God this relationship did not go beyond that.) It turns out that she was a musician who had to pass on Julliard because she couldn’t afford the tuition and even had to sell her cornet. So their bond becomes strong, if unusual and, ultimately, it must end. Shatkin could have come off as smug, but despite his way of handling situations better than most adults, he is still a vulnerable and lonely kid. Eleanor needs his friendship and support as much as he does hers. 3½ cans.
17. Murphy’s Law (1985) – James Garner and Sally Field strike up a friendship in a quiet little Texas town. He’s a widower who runs the town drug store and she is a feisty divorced woman with a child (Corey Haim), trying to fend off her ne’er-do-well ex-husband. The romantic relationship between the druggist and the newcomer is in slow-cook mode for much of the movie, as they build a strong and endearing friendship. Garner is at his best and Field, well, I really, really like her. And this movie. “How do you like your eggs?” 4½ cans.
18. Room* (2015) – Had I seen this movie last year, it would have been high on my list of best movies. Kudos to director Lenny Abrahamson for delivering a warm yet intense story about Joy (Brie Larson in an Oscar-winning role), a young mother, and her five-year old son (the remarkable Jacob Tremblay), who are held captive in a garden shed. How you coax a performance like this one out of a very young actor is astonishing to me. Their only view of the world is through a skylight on the top of the tiny building where they are kept. Their supplies are provided grudgingly by their captor, who lured Joy off the street seven years earlier and is the boy’s father. The child’s only frame of reference is “Room,” as they call their living quarters, which is locked electronically. The boy has never been outside and has no sense of the world outside his prison. The mother teaches the bright boy, and somehow they manage to exist and endure under horrifying conditions. To say more would spoil the plot, so I will refrain. Let’s just say the movie was captivating, and that you can build a world no matter what your circumstances. Powerful stuff. 4 cans.
19. The Lady in the Van* (2016) – This movie, billed as “mostly true,” is the quirky tale of a feisty woman named Mary or Margaret (Maggie Smith) who parks her van and her life on the street in front of the home of writer Alan Bennett(who plays himself) and stays there – for two decades. Mary is feisty and odiferous, living in squalor and refusing assistance from professionals. A former nun and pianist, Mary is nothing if not determined to guide her own fate, and she is demanding and overbearing. Her bright yellow van eventually becomes a staple in the driveway of Bennett’s home. The neighbors think of her as a blight on their community, yet they are oddly curious about her. As much as he abhors the idea of having her around, Bennett feels responsible and cares for her – at arm’s length. This is one strange story, uplifted by Maggie Smith as the willful and unkempt woman. It’s worth taking a ride to the movies to see the lady in the van. 3½ cans.
20. Paper Clips (2004) – If you can watch this moving documentary without either a giant lump in your throat or crying, you have no heart. This is the true story of a middle school in Whitwell, Tennessee, where the students undertook a project to study the Holocaust. The very white, very Baptist community was lacking diversity of any kind, but one of the teachers suggested they study the extermination of Jews during World War II. The students could not grasp the concept of 6 million people losing their lives, so they decided to reach out to ask people to send them paper clips, each of which would represent a life lost. When two journalists picked up the story, the project became widely known. But the collection of paper clips was just the beginning. This is a warm and inspiring story, profound in its lessons, unlikely in its origin and it touches my heart in the way few things can do. This story is not about death. It is about life. 5 cans.
21. Radio Flyer* (1992) – This is a great movie if you are into fantasy and child abuse. I am not a fan of either. Little Bobby is beaten on a regular basis by his cruel stepfather with his incredibly neglectful mother completely oblivious to the bruises inflicted on the poor boy by her alcoholic husband (whose face we never really see). He and his older brother Mike (Elijah Wood, with his huge eyes, and voiceover by Tom Hanks) do whatever they can to avoid interacting with the evil stepfather. Their dream is to build a plane that young Bobby can fly to make his getaway. I don’t want to spoil the plot (though I don’t recommend you see the movie), but the whole notion of two kids tinkering in a garage and making an airplane out of spare parts I found preposterous. The relationship between the two boys is sweet, but we never know why the younger one is the only target for the abuse, and I certainly didn’t get how the mother completely missed the signs. This movie was recommended by a friend, but it is clear to me that we don’t have the same taste in movies. Sorry. 2 cans.
22. The Shawshank Redemption (1984) – Get busy living or get busy dying. On the surface, there is nothing cheery about men incarcerated in a dreary Maine prison, yet the story is so powerful, extolling the virtues of establishing bonds, looking out for each other, believing in hope, and humanizing an otherwise inhuman place and experience. The writing (based on a Stephen King story), the direction, the acting, the characters – all combine to make this film a memorable movie experience. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman head the cast, two men whose only common bond is that they are convicted murderers (although everyone at the prison claims to be innocent) but they build an unbreakable friendship built on respect, loyalty and hope. They appear to be doomed to live out the rest of their days in this morose and lonely place. But Robbins’ Andy Dufresne brings light and humanity into their mostly harrowing existence. He manages to expand the prison library, to encourage the inmates to pursue education, he gets the guards to serve them beer as the crew works at tarring a roof, and, in one unforgettable scene, he locks himself in the warden’s office and blasts opera music into the prison yard, all while sitting back with a satisfied smile on his face. I was in the hospital back in 2000, recovering from pretty significant surgery and hoping to be released the next day. I was very anxious; nothing could ease my mind. And then this movie started airing on the tiny TV above my bed, like a visit from an old friend. It helped me get through the night. If you have never seen Shawshank, do yourself a favor and watch it – not just once, but several times. It is beautiful. 5 cans.
23. Moonstruck (1987) – It must be my month for old favorites, and this Cher-starrer is high on my list. She is Loretta Castorini, a widowed woman from a strong Italian family who agrees to marry Johnny Camararie (Danny), a man with whom she is not in love. But when she meets Johnny’s younger brother, Ronnie (Nicholas Cage), the passion boils over between them. Cher won the Oscar for her performance. This is a warm, funny and utterly enjoyable movie, enhanced by a thousand details about being Italian (I’m not, but my best friends are) and lit by a brilliant moon. Ciao, bella. 4½ cans.
24. The Face of Love* (2013) – Generally speaking, I associate Annette Bening with intelligent roles but in fairly light movies. This one does not fit that genre. Here she is Nikki, who is completely in love with her husband, Garrett (Ed Harris, a favorite of mine). But Garrett drowns while they are on vacation, and she rids the house of his things even as she copes with the tragedy of his loss. Fast forward five years, and she happens upon a man named Tom, an art instructor and artist who is an absolute doppelganger for the late Garrett. She is immediately enamored and determined to have a relationship with this man based solely on his resemblance to Garrett. I have to say the movie is a little creepy, and it veers into fantasy (not my genre at all), as Nikki herself looks like she is drowning in the deep end of the gene pool. Still, it is nice to see women of a certain age get to play vibrant – if a little crazed – women with sex lives, proving that they’re not dead after age 50. 3 cans.
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