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Summer Cinema 2007
While each of us will want to spend LOTS of time reading this summer, some may want to watch a few videos or DVDs, so we have a list of suggestions. The movies listed below should be readily available at the Edith Hamilton Library, public libraries or video stores. Each movie will help you develop a cultural world view, a sense of history, and ethical and aesthetic standards. Many of these films are also wonderful, entertaining, and among the best our culture has to offer. Films are divided by grade to complement the history and literature that will be studied this year. The all-school catagory are recommendations of Mr. Josh Shoemaker. An additional category of our favorites will be listed at the end.
| All-School | ninth grade | tenth grade | eleventh grade | twelfth grade | my picks* |
Mr. Shoemaker's All-School Suggestions
| Groundhog Day.
A weather man is reluctantly sent to cover a story about weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration. On awaking the 'following' day he discovers that it's Groundhog Day again, and again, and again. First he uses this to his advantage, then comes the realization that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing EVERY day. |
| On the Waterfront. Marlon Brando at his peak. A classic and controversial movie by director Elia Kazan about life on the New York City docks, based on a series of articles by reporter Malcolm Johnson about trade unions, racketeering and corruption. Features one of the most famous lines in movies... You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am. Let's face it (pause) ...... It was you, Charley. |
| Rear Window. James Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock, a fantastic combination. Stewart is a professional photographer who is homebound by a broken leg. He spends his days looking out his rear window. Intertwined with what he sees from the window is his relationship with Grace Kelly, and his suspicion that a murder has taken place. A rich, multi-level movie. |
| Titanic. A romantic fiction about a rich girl/poor boy romance who meet o the ill fated maiden voyage of the unsinkable Titanic. It made Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet famous. |
| Tootsie. Tootsie stars Dustin Hoffman as an out-of-work actor who disguises himself as a dowdy, middle-aged woman to get a part on a hit soap opera. The scheme works, but while he/she keeps up the charade, Hoffman's character comes to see life through the eyes of the opposite sex. |
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Ang Lee, renowned Chinese film director, has brought to the screen ancient China, miraculously recreated, and marvelously choreographed action and fight scenes that raise this movie above any other Hong Kong martial arts film. The story, based on an early 20th century novel, shows all the big themes--love, honor, sacrifice, and above all, freedom--against a story background of the theft and ultimate retrieval of a magic sword called Green Dynasty. There is a feminist hero. |
| Fantasia 2000. Amazingly enough, this masterpiece, which combines classic music and animated skits, was initially a failure and controversial. It was probably because people at the time (1940) thought dinosaurs, Mickey Mouse and naked centaurs in the same movie seemed like a bit much. Yet, the animation is still wonderful after all these years. "The Sorceror's Apprentice" is the funniest and most memorable of the seven short animated films. You will see dancing mushrooms, demons and dancing hippos set to classical music by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Dukas. The film was a major success in the 60s because some of the animation was thought to be very much like an LSD trip.(Teen Movie Critic--revised) |
| Henry V. The best adaptation of the bard since Olivier's days, Kenneth Branagh makes the classic historical drama into a film of epic proportions that not even the stage could duplicate. Henry (Branagh) fights the French during the Hundred Years' War at the famed battle of Agincourt. And what a battle! Among his army is the brave Welsh captain Fluellen (Ian Holme) and one of Henry's old comrades, Bardolph (Richard Briers). Branagh brings new life to this outstanding play. (Teen Movie Critic) |
| The Lion in Winter. A classic that tells the story of "family ups and downs" on Christmas Day 1183 in the household of King Henry II of Britain. An enthralling character study, this film has incredible performances by Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn, with solid support from Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton and others. Hepburn won an Oscar for her performance. |
| A Man for All Seasons. Sir Thomas More, chancellor of England, and a devout Catholic, refuses to support Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he can marry Anne Boleyn. When the determined king breaks with Rome and the Pope, More resigns his post in protest. The king is so unsure in his new position as head of the Church of England that More's continued refusal to acknowledge him terrifies him and More ends up imprisoned in the Tower. It was best picture of 1966. I find More very inspiring. |
| The Official Story. In Argentina during the late seventies and early eighties, a brutal dictatorship crushed all opposition. Children of those who were imprisoned or who simply disappeared were often seized by the state and given in adoption to parents who did not oppose the regime. This is the story of a good, middle class woman who gradually comes to understand the real story of her adopted daughter. |
| Persuasion. This is a multi-textured, romantic drama set in England in 1814. Based on the Jane Austen novel, the stirring tale follows Anne Elliot, the daughter of an English nobleman, who is treated badly by her family after an affair she had seven years earlier with a young, poor naval officer. When the handsome Captain Wentworth unexpectedly returns from sea, now a rich and desirable bachelor, Anne is forced to reevaluate the life she has chosen within the obligations inherent in her family and social class. |
| The Return of Martin Guerre.This is such a great movie. During medieval times, Martin Guerre returns to his home in the middle of France, after having been away in the war since his youth. Nobody recognized him, and though people suspected that he was not Martin, he knew all about his family and friends, even small details.Was this man really Martin Guerre? This is a required film for AP Honors History. |
| Shogun. Based on the novel by James Clavell, this two hour version shows an Englishman, Blackthorn, shipwrecked in medieval Japan, where he becomes a samurai serving a warlord, who is striving to become Shogun, or supreme military commander. For students, note the rules of the court, the roles of women and servants and the medieval milieu of Japanes feudalism. |
| Spartacus. An historical drama set in Italy in the first centure BCE, Kirk Douglas is Spartacus, a slave who escapes and leads an army of slaves, nearly successfully, against the Roman army. Based on real events. I love this movie, and all the students in the upper grades who had Latin in the Middle School have already seen it. |
| Whale Rider. Far away in New Zealand, a Maori tribe has been headed by a Paikea, a whale rider, for one hundred generations. When the wife of the chief's son dies in childbirth after giving birth to twins, the chief is inconsolable when the male child dies and the female lives. The son, an artist who does not want to lead his people, succumbs to his grief by leaving New Zealand and his daughter, Pai. She stays in New Zealand with her grandparents. While the chief cares about Pai, he rejects her again and again, as through his traditional views, he cannot see her as the leader. A huge whale threatens to beach itself, and the whale rider must confront her destiny. |
| Amadeus. Tom Hulce stars as Mozart, whose continued success in Austrian Emperor Joseph's court is thwarted by the jealous court composer, Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) While Mozart composes such masterpieces as The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, Salieri becomes the force which will lead to Mozart's destruction. Not entirely historically accurate, but very good. |
| Barry Lyndon. Kubrick's 1975 story of an Irish rogue, Redmond Barry, who claws his way up to the top of the social ladder in 18th century England is a wonderful way to experience this time period. It is beautifully photographed and costumed. Based on Thackeray's novel, it is a long movie, running about 3 hours. |
| Das Boot. The Boat depicts the Second World War at sea from the German point of view and it brings in an important touch of humanity. An anti war film, it is a fantastic war movie. |
| Danton. Literate, absorbing, knowign drama of Danton, Robespierre and the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. A brilliant film, it obviously parallels the political situation in Poland in the 1980s. |
| The Dead Poet's Society. Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His roommate, Neil, although very bright and popular is under the thumb of his father. The two, along with other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher. He tells them of the Dead Poet's Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each does so, and is changed for life (adapted from IMD) |
| Gandhi. A sweeping epic biography, detailing the life of the Mahatma Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) as he sets out to free his native land, India, by using non-violent methods of passive resistance (which would later influence such leaders as Martin Luther King). He would become a symbol of peace and understanding throughout the world. |
| Judgment at Nuremberg. A chronicle of the famous Nuremberg trials of war crimes by Nazi officers, the movie is mesmerizing and very well acted. |
| The Last Emperor. Remarkable film inspired by true story of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, who is crowned at age three and lives a cloistered life in the Forbidden City until he is deposed (as a young man) during the revolution and forced to fend for himself in the outside world for the first time. A beautiful and moving film. |
| Lawrence of Arabia. Peter O'Toole IS T. E. Lawrence in this film. Lawrence single-handedly helped the Arabs escape Turkish bondage in a brilliant saga of courage, sun and sand. Every performance is noteworthy, and you will believe that O'Toole is Lawrence of Arabia. |
| The Mission. A productive Jesuit mission in the jungles of Brazil is threatened by greedy merchants and political factions within the Church in the late 18th century. Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro are fantastic. |
| Modern Times. An influential film by the master, Charlie Chaplin, which captures the modern American "anti-progressive" philosophy. Fantastic. |
| Out of Africa Exquisite, intelligent drama based on the life of Karen Blixen who married for convenience, moved from Denmark to Nairobi, and fell in love with an English adventurer, before gaining success as writer Isak Dinesen. |
| Paths of Glory. During WWI, French general Macready orders his men on a suicidal charge; when they fail, he picks three soldiers to be tried and executed for cowardice. This shattering study of the insanity of war has grown even more profound with the years.(Maltin's Guide) |
| Rabbit Proof Fence. In the US, thousands of Native American children were forced from their families to be educated in boarding schools which were to erase native culture from them. In Australia, children who were the light skinned offspring of liaisons between white laborers and native women were taken away to be 'civilized' in boarding schools so that they could have 'productive' lives as servants. Three children, unhappy to have been taken away, escape and find their way across Australia by following a fence built to keep rabbits from the grasslands. An amazing movie. |
| Room with a View. Elegant and witty adaptation of E. M. Forster's novel of British manners and mores, and a young woman's experiences during her chaperoned trip to Florence. |
| Apocalypse Now. Based partially on Conrad's Heart of Darkness, this film follows Captain Willard, who travels into the 'heart' of Vietnam to assassinate Col. Kurtz. Truly a window into the horror and madness of war, once I heard Robert Duvall say, as an army officer, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning", I have never been able to forget it. |
| The Color Purple. Based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, the film revolves around Celie, her struggle to survive in a hostile (I mean REALLY hostile) world and her community of women, who make the life worthwhile. Whoopi Goldberg is terrific as Celie, and Oprah Winfrey is unforgettable as Sofia, who fights back, even when the price is much too high. |
| Dr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Love the Bomb) is one of the darkest comedies ever. It is about nuclear apocalypse and involves a crazy general sending a message to bomb Russian bases. Peter Selllers is fantastic. |
| Driving Miss Daisy. A look at the four decade relationship of an elderly, Jewish southern widow and her chauffeur. The amazing Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman star. |
| Elmer Gantry. Burt Lancaster (he is one of those now gone Hollywood stars who is really worth getting to know--see Atlantic City) is a shady traveling evangelist who charms himself into a religious troupe. Based on Sinclair Lewis' novel. |
| Girl with the Pearl Earring. In 1665, seventeen year old Griet works in the household of the artist Vermeer and attracts his (wandering) attention. I liked this movie because I really like Colin Firth. |
| Glory. This is the best movie! The story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, an all-black regiment. This movie shows both the ugliness of war, and the courage, strength and beauty of real conviction and what happens when they come together. Incredibly moving and inspiring. |
| Inherit the Wind. The fictionalized story of the Scopes Monkey Trial over the issue of John Scopes teaching evolution in Tennessee in 1922. This resonates even now, not just because of the compelling story and fine acting, but because even recently, votes have been taken on this issue in Kansas. |
| Matewan. Drama about the troubles of workers in coal mining country in W.Virginia in the 1920s. |
| Once Upon a Time in America. This is a story about young hoods who grow up to be mobsters.They are friends when they are young and go through life in and out of trouble relying on each other in the end. |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. This movie looks at life in a mental institution from the perspective of the anti-hero, Randale Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson). |
| Reds.An epic story of John Reed, an American radical journalist who gets involved withRussian Communism in hopes of making big changes in the United States. Runs about three and a half hours. |
| The Right Stuff. The tale of what it took to get the original Mercury Seven in orbit, and how America treats its heroes. I am always saddened by this movie in its portrayal of Gus Grissom, who worked hard, did his best and was marginalized, at least, and ultimately died in the Apollo fire. |
| West Side Story. Musical update of the Romeo and Juliet story. A wonderful retelling of the story with the lovers part of the New York gang scene. Fabulous music and choreography. I think it holds up really well. Once you hear Natalie Wood singing "I feel pretty.." you will never forget it. |
| Au Revoir les Enfants. Set in occupied France during WWII, the story centers on two schoolboys, one Catholic and one Jewish, and the time that the latter spends hiding from the Nazis in a boarding school. |
| Black Orpheus. Street Car director and country girl fall in love during Carnivale in Rio. An update of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. |
| Chariots of Fire. A portrait of two young runners who compete in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. |
| Citizen Kane.TONS of times in your life you will hear a reference to Rosebud. This is how you find out what that means. Literacy takes lots of forms.The story of Charles Foster Kane had elements of Greek tragedy; greed, jealousy, scandal and failure. |
Control Room. This film explores the ancient and complex relationship between the Arab and Western worlds. |
| Easy Rider. Hippie Bikers trekking across America. This film caused an enormous stir when it came out, as it seemed to capture a prevalent American theme. A film to consider carefully, it has a sudden, unhappy ending and some disturbing scenes. ** |
| The Emperor's Club. This movie draws an interesting picture of prep school life. The teacher is honorable though flawed, and the student is dishonorable but very attractive. I think it asks some pretty important and universal questions. |
| The Graduate. A classic comedy. Benjamin comes home from college, has no idea what he wants to do with his life and is seduced by one of his parents' best friends. The problem comes in when he falls in love with her daughter. (Mrs. Robinson, plastics--two references you will hear again and again.) ** |
| The Killing Fields. Based on the memoirs of Sidney Schanberg who stayed in Cambodia after the evacaution, putting his assistant and translator, Dith Pran, in great danger. An incredible film. |
| Manchurian Candidate.One of the most influential films of the fifties, it is also a classic example of political paranoia. See the original, with Frank Sinatra, not the remake. |
| Spy Who Came in from the Cold. A movie that shows the grim, dangerous and uncertain work that being a spy in the Cold War really was. |
| The Yellow Submarine. A fantastic (in both senses) animated film from the Beatles. The movie reflects the anti-war/peace movement and has some of the greatest Beatles' songs ever (Eleanor Rigby, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) |
Just a few films that are available in the library that are really worth seeing if you haven't.
| Songcatcher. This film follows Lily Penleric, a musicologist, as she goes into the mountains to escape from an unhappy love affair. When she gets around the mountain folk, she hears them singing old ballads that had been brought with their ancestors from England and Scotland. She sets about trying to collect them, scientifically, and ends up finding her true self when she understands the humanity and complexity of the mountain folk. I have seen this movie at least ten times. I just love it. |
| Hotel Rwanda. It is just unbelievable how badly people can treat others, and how easily the rest of the world can turn away. Grown men were weeping in the theater when I saw this. |
| Magdalene Sisters. Speaking of the way that people can treat others, girls who were considered to be behaving in an untoward fashion (this could include being raped) could be sent off by a male family member and the parish priest to work in laundries run by the Magdalene Sisters (Magadalene is the patron saint of fallen women) in Ireland. The last such laundry closed in the NINETIES!!! Only a male family member could get the girls out. Very disturbing, but incredibly powerful.*** |
A Man and A Woman. A classic French film, this is about a production assistant and a race car driver who meet at their children's boarding school and begin a relationship. My first foreign film when I was a kid. Great music. |
| Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. A great adaptation of the novel. Set in China during the Cultural Revolution, two young men are sent to the remote countryside for "re-education". They find ways to adapt. Beautiful, moving and hopeful. |
| The Lives of Others. A movie about a member of the Stasi(the GDR's secret police) monitoring of the cultural scene of East Berlin. The agent really believes in the cause until he both realizes that other members of the secret police use the agency for personal reasons, and comes to understand what really goes on in the lives of others. This is a life altering movie. |
| I'm Not Rappaport. Two American classics, Walter Matthau and Ossie Davis, are two old men who meet on a bench in Central Park each day to take on meddling children, the park's drug dealers, old age, and life in general. A great movie, based on a Tony award winning comedy. |
**If you are under seventeen, check with your parents before you see this movie. It is rated R.
