The Best Movies to Watch While Social Distancing
In this age of social distancing and self-isolation, it can be a tricky business to stay sane. One thing I’ve found that works for me is to structure my days with a normal proportion of activities I would normally partake in - which includes a healthy balance of lower-energy pursuits such as watching movies. Check out the list below for a few of my favourites. Most are pretty feel-good and/or have amazing cinematography that will transport you to new decades, new continents or new worlds altogether… Which is a very nice experience if you are only able to transport yourself from your kitchen to your bathroom to your bed to your couch each day!
Lords of Dogtown
A cult classic and for good reason. Before Venice Beach was the Venice you know today, it belonged to the surfers and later the Z-Boys - the name bestowed upon the crew who revolutionized skateboarding. Also can we all agree that Emile Hirsch was one of the GOATs?! I want to see him in more stuff again!
The Florida Project
A young girl and her younger daughter Moonee (played by Brooklynn Prince who is absolute perfection in this movie) grow up in poverty in the shadow of the most magical place on Earth. But their life doesn’t seem sad or wanting, at least not from the perspective of a six year old.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Like any Wes Anderson movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a confection of a film. The set, the costumes, the cinematography are as much characters themselves as any of the actors. And as always, the usual suspects - Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray - are delightful.
Almost Famous
Probably my favourite movie of all time. This story follows a young boy who somehow fools Rolling Stone Magazine into bankrolling his journalistic pursuits as he tours with one of America’s most popular rock and roll bands in the final, golden years of the genre.
Before Sunrise
Albeit slower paced and fairly minimalist as far as the plot goes, Before Sunrise is a beautiful, thoughtful film. It follows a young American man and young French woman, as they spend a night together in Vienna, talking and walking. It is the first of a trilogy, which are both filmed and set every nine years from the previous film which is an amazing way to study the way the passage of time impacts a relationship.
Big Fish
I love a little bit of magical realism and I love a story about reconciliation. The movie starts with a Southern salesman with a gift for storytelling on his deathbed. His estranged son, played by Billy Crudup (a favourite of mine), listens as his father regals him with stories of his life - told in a series of vignettes, with an air of fantasy.
Dallas Buyers Club
If another ever speaks ill of Matthew McConaughey in my presence, I will kindly direct you to this film. It is so special, so heartbreaking. I really wanted to learn more about the HIV/AIDS epidemic this year and thought this movie was a good place to start.
Moulin Rouge
Another repeat on this list, Ewan McGregor is spectacular as an aspiring poet and writer who moves to Bohemian Paris at the turn of the century, and falls in love with a courtesan played by Nicole Kidman. It is has director Baz Luhrmann’s stylistic fingerprints all over it - a blend of modern day with history. Plus a soundtrack not to be beat.
Little Women (2019)
I cried the entire second half of this movie. It’s just… Greta Gerwig took a magnificent story and made it even more beautiful. And no, it couldn’t have been casted better. Saoirse Ronan is stunning in this film, she is fiery and inspiring and did right by the character of Jo March. Florence Pugh on the other hand deserves a thousand ovations for redefining the character of Amy - she took a rather flat, unlikeable character and shaded her in with strength, nuances and complexities.
Sisterhood of the
Travelling Pants
How can a movie about unconditional friendship, first loves & soccer camp in the Bajan peninsula not soothe the soul? I really do believe this movie was more than just a teenage film. I think it flipped the script on the way female relationships, particularly young female relationships can and should be depicted on screen. Plus, if you are antsy to travel, Lena’s summer in Greece was the stuff daydreams are made of.
Call Me By Your Name
An incredible book, and a really beautiful adaptation. It drags you back to the tension and discomfort of young adolescence but also is steeped in the nostalgia of an earlier, simpler time. It makes you wish your father was a professor who summers in Italy with his family, where you meet a young, dapper man to teach you the ways of the world and how to uncoil from your self isolation, just a little.
