10 Movies You LOVED but Nobody Has Probably Ever Heard Of ....
This is my list - not all of these movie have been at the movie theater - some are made for TV movies & some are documentaries.
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Plot
"Helen Hanff (Anne Bancroft), a feisty New York writer, mails a letter to a small London bookshop requesting some rare English classics.
Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins), the reserved English bookseller, answers her request, beginning a touching and humorous correspondence that spans two continents and two decades.
Frank and Helen draw us into their lives -- and their extraordinary friendship -- with their intimate, richly detailed letters"
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This is my list - not all of these movie have been at the movie theater - some are made for TV movies & some are documentaries.
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1. 84 Charring Cross Road (1987)
I have always LOVED this movie - it is that rare and rich film that takes you deep into the story of these wonderful characters - and forces you to fall in love with them - the kind of story that wraps itself around you it's so warm.
Anne Bancroft & Anthony Hopkins are Helen & Frank and they will leave you wishing the story never ended ...
Anne Bancroft & Anthony Hopkins are Helen & Frank and they will leave you wishing the story never ended ...
Plot
"Helen Hanff (Anne Bancroft), a feisty New York writer, mails a letter to a small London bookshop requesting some rare English classics. Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins), the reserved English bookseller, answers her request, beginning a touching and humorous correspondence that spans two continents and two decades.
Frank and Helen draw us into their lives -- and their extraordinary friendship -- with their intimate, richly detailed letters"
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2. The Magic of Ordinary Days
(2005)
This is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie so, of course, I LOVED it. I love all of Hallmarks movies! I remember Katy & I watched this movie about 5 X's and I think I cried about, um, 5 of those times. It's just good, clean easy to watch, feel good movie watching.
The scenes will never leave you and will become as much a part of your psyche as theirs ... it will haunt you ...
War - may or may not be -a necessary evil but what I took away from this movie is that you'd better be damn sure that it's a fight worth fighting before you engage ...
Its title recalls the adventure novels and frontier heroes in the works of James Fenimore Cooper - in fact, only one of the characters found peace in hunting (before experiencing the effects of the psychologically-wounding war). The meandering, sometimes shrill, raw film has been extremely controversial on many accounts - political and emotional."
This movie (and book) always bring to mind the Stalin quotes, “A single death is a tragedy, are million deaths is a statistic.”
A single hungry child is a tragedy, are a million hungry tummies JUST a statistic ...
En route, Tom meets family friend Casey (John Carradine), a former preacher who warns Tom that dust storms, crop failures, and new agricultural methods have financially decimated the once prosperous Oklahoma farmland. Upon returning to his family farm, Tom is greeted by his mother (Oscar-winner Jane Darwell), who tells him that the family is packing up for the "promised land" of California. Warned that they shouldn't expect a warm welcome in California--they've already seen the caravan of dispirited farmers, heading back home after striking out at finding work--the Joads push on all the same.
Their first stop is a wretched migrant camp, full of starving children and surrounded by armed guards. Further down the road, the Joads drive into an idyllic government camp, with clean lodging, indoor plumbing, and a self-governing clientele. When Tom ultimately bids goodbye to his mother, who asks him where he'll go, he delivers the film's most famous speech: "I'll be all around...Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat...Whenever there's a cop beating a guy, I'll be there...And when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build. I'll be there too." ( Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)
I have watched this show at least 5 x's and each and every time I am blown away ... I mean B.L.O.W.N - A.W.A.Y. The story, the man, and ohhh.... the scenery is unbelievable. I have watched the documentary, read the books, bought more books and still I am amazed ...
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I guarantee that you do NOT need to be a gardener to find this story fascinating.
Visit the website at: www.heligan.com
At the end of the nineteenth century its thousand acres were at their zenith, but only a few years later bramble and ivy were already drawing a green veil over this "Sleeping Beauty". After decades of neglect, the devastating hurricane of 1990 should have consigned the Lost Gardens of Heligan to a footnote in history.
Instead, events conspired to bring us here and
the romance of their decay took a hold on our imaginations. Our discovery of a tiny room, buried under fallen masonry in the corner of one of the
walled gardens, was to unlock the secret of their demise. A motto etched into the limestone walls in barely legible pencil still reads "Don’t come here to sleep or slumber" with the names of those who worked there signed under the date - August 1914. We were fired by a magnificent obsession to bring these once glorious gardens back to life in every sense and to tell, for the first time, not tales of lords and ladies but of those "ordinary" people who had made these gardens great, before departing for the Great War.
Take a look at the actual 1917 photographs below:
These photos were seized upon by no other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame in 1921, and bandied about as absolute proof of theosophist theories that he was attracted to. Final proof of the girls and their duplicity was revealed in 1983, when Elsie wrote her famous confession and Frances followed suit. The article was posted in The Times."
The carnival is owned by the mysterious and unseen Management, who has designs on the young Hawkins, for the boy is concealing an untapped gift: he can heal the lame and raise the dead--at a price. Ben also finds himself disturbed by cryptic and prophetic dreams, which he shares with a Methodist preacher in California, Brother Justin Crowe. Brother Justin, convinced by his dreams he is following God's will, has begun to practice his own extraordinary talents, although the preacher's plans increasingly lead to disturbing and tragic consequences. In this "last great age of magic,"
Ben Hawkins and Justin Crowe are moving toward a great conflict between Good and Evil, although it not yet clear on which sides these men will stand."
'Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice.
Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife.
Toshiro Mifune gives another commanding performance in the eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world.'
Plot
"Set in 1944 Colorado, The Magic of Ordinary Days is the story of a young woman, Livy Dune (played by Keri Russell), who became pregnant before marriage. Her father, Rev. Dunne, decided to deal with the situation, by arranging a marriage to a shy farmer through another preacher. The groom, Ray Singleton (played by Skeet Ulrich), lives on a remote farm and is very different than Livy. Ray focuses on what is close to him: his family, his land, today. Livy thinks on a much grander scale: the world, ancient civilizations, far away places.
Ray's farm utilizes the help of Japanese Americans from a nearby Japanese American internment
camp to help work the farm. Livy befriends two well-educated Japanese
American women who were working the farm, Flora and Rose.She finds comfort and familiarity in their friendship.
Livy is polite and civil to her new husband and his sister Martha (Mare Winningham), but she harbors feelings for the father of the baby, a World War II soldier, and feelings of guilt for the pregnancy. Ray, however, is caring, patient, and supportive of Livy, but the fact that she does not want him hurts him deeply. Slowly over time, the two come to understand and love each other, and appreciate that though they are different, neither is better or worse than the other."
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3. Adaptation (2002)
Wow, it's hard to even begin to explain this movie. It quirky, powerful, complicated and unforgettable. I highly recommend this movie - it will stay with you for months & months and then you will need to watch it again - just to be sure you had it right the first time ...Plot
"The hero is Mr. Kaufman himself (Nicolas Cage), a screenwriter struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," Susan Orlean's nonfiction meditation on flowers, obsession and Darwinian theory. He is tormented by writer's block and by his twin brother, Donald (also Mr. Cage), an aspiring screenwriter and all-around doofus in his own right. Their sibling rivalry, which is also a metaphor for the pains of creativity, is interspersed with something that looks like an actual adaptation of "The Orchid Thief," in which Ms. Orlean (Meryl Streep) finds herself drawn to a scruffy renegade botanist named John Laroche (Chris Cooper). Then the plots overlap, collide and explode in a conclusion that is at once maddening, troubling and oddly moving. This is a remarkable, impossible movie — about itself but also about its own nonexistence — and one of the most formally audacious, intellectually charged American movies in quite some time." (A. O. Scott, The New York Times)
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4. The Deer Hunter (1978) 
Hands down - I think this is one of the most powerful Vietnam War movies ever made. It shows the horrifying effects and aftermath that war forever tattoos on the lives of the soldiers, their families & friends and even the country. The scenes will never leave you and will become as much a part of your psyche as theirs ... it will haunt you ...
War - may or may not be -a necessary evil but what I took away from this movie is that you'd better be damn sure that it's a fight worth fighting before you engage ...
Plot
The Deer Hunter is storywriter/producer/director Michael Cimino's
epic about war and friendship - and only his second film but ... is a powerful, disturbing and compelling look
at the Vietnam War through the lives of three blue-collar, Russian-American
friends in a small steel-mill town before, during, and after their service
in the war. Its title recalls the adventure novels and frontier heroes in the works of James Fenimore Cooper - in fact, only one of the characters found peace in hunting (before experiencing the effects of the psychologically-wounding war). The meandering, sometimes shrill, raw film has been extremely controversial on many accounts - political and emotional."
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5. The Grapes of Wrath (194
0)
An incredible book (put it on your list if it's not already there) and an incredible movie. This is another movie that will haunt you forever ... A gut-wrenching look at the contradiction that is humanity ... so selfless & selfish in the same breath ~ so compassionate & brutal ~ so elastic and adaptive & yet so fragile and breakable ... This movie (and book) always bring to mind the Stalin quotes, “A single death is a tragedy, are million deaths is a statistic.”
A single hungry child is a tragedy, are a million hungry tummies JUST a statistic ...
Plot
"The adaptation of Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of dirt-poor Dust Bowl migrants by 4-time Oscar-winning director John Ford starred Henry Fonda
as Tom Joad, who opens the movie returning to his Oklahoma home after
serving jail time for manslaughter. En route, Tom meets family friend Casey (John Carradine), a former preacher who warns Tom that dust storms, crop failures, and new agricultural methods have financially decimated the once prosperous Oklahoma farmland. Upon returning to his family farm, Tom is greeted by his mother (Oscar-winner Jane Darwell), who tells him that the family is packing up for the "promised land" of California. Warned that they shouldn't expect a warm welcome in California--they've already seen the caravan of dispirited farmers, heading back home after striking out at finding work--the Joads push on all the same.
Their first stop is a wretched migrant camp, full of starving children and surrounded by armed guards. Further down the road, the Joads drive into an idyllic government camp, with clean lodging, indoor plumbing, and a self-governing clientele. When Tom ultimately bids goodbye to his mother, who asks him where he'll go, he delivers the film's most famous speech: "I'll be all around...Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat...Whenever there's a cop beating a guy, I'll be there...And when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build. I'll be there too." ( Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)
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6. Alone in the Wilderness (2005) 
Have you ever been asked the question, 'If you could meet or chat with one person from history who would it be?" Well. without a doubt my first pick would be Thomas Jefferson but the first time I saw this documentary on PBS I knew Dick Proenneke would be second! I would ask him ... 'Is this what heaven looks like?"I have watched this show at least 5 x's and each and every time I am blown away ... I mean B.L.O.W.N - A.W.A.Y. The story, the man, and ohhh.... the scenery is unbelievable. I have watched the documentary, read the books, bought more books and still I am amazed ...
Plot
"Alone in the Wilderness" is the story of Dick Proenneke.
To live in a pristine land unchanged by man...
to roam a wilderness through which few other humans have passed...
to choose an idyllic site, cut trees and build a log cabin...
to be a self-sufficient craftsman, making what is needed from materials available...
to be not at odds with the world, but content with one's own thoughts and company...
Thousands have had such dreams, but Dick Proenneke lived them.
He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country.
This video "Alone in the Wilderness" is a simple account of the day-to-day
explorations and activities he carried out alone, and the constant chain of
nature's events that kept him company."
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7. The Lost Gardens of Heligan 
(1996)
Doug & Kathryn bought me this book many years ago and I have been fascinated by these gardens and the story of their restoration every since. You will fall in love with Heligan, Tim Smit & John Nelson the driving forces behind the restoration efforts at Heligan.I guarantee that you do NOT need to be a gardener to find this story fascinating.
Visit the website at: www.heligan.com
Plot
"Heligan, seat of the Tremayne family for more than 400 years, is one of the most mysterious estates in England. At the end of the nineteenth century its thousand acres were at their zenith, but only a few years later bramble and ivy were already drawing a green veil over this "Sleeping Beauty". After decades of neglect, the devastating hurricane of 1990 should have consigned the Lost Gardens of Heligan to a footnote in history.
Instead, events conspired to bring us here and
the romance of their decay took a hold on our imaginations. Our discovery of a tiny room, buried under fallen masonry in the corner of one of the
walled gardens, was to unlock the secret of their demise. A motto etched into the limestone walls in barely legible pencil still reads "Don’t come here to sleep or slumber" with the names of those who worked there signed under the date - August 1914. We were fired by a magnificent obsession to bring these once glorious gardens back to life in every sense and to tell, for the first time, not tales of lords and ladies but of those "ordinary" people who had made these gardens great, before departing for the Great War.
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8. Photographing Fairies (1997)
It's hard to believe but this movie is based on the true story of the infamous 'Cottingley Fairy' photographs taken in England in 1917. A weird & wonderful story and movie ... Take a look at the actual 1917 photographs below:
Plot
"Photographing Fairies is a variation on a theme of a famous incident
that happened in England in 1917 involving two young girls, Frances
Griffiths and Elsie Wright of Cottingley, who claimed to have taken
photographs of fairies in their garden. These photos were seized upon by no other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame in 1921, and bandied about as absolute proof of theosophist theories that he was attracted to. Final proof of the girls and their duplicity was revealed in 1983, when Elsie wrote her famous confession and Frances followed suit. The article was posted in The Times."
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9. Carnivàle (2003) 
This HBO series has always fascinated me - I love the gritty, grisly & disturbing look at traveling sideshows, freak-shows, r eligion, magic, family and other odd relationships. This series is, well, umm, well - you'll just have to watch it and see for yourself ...Plot
"1934, America. The Dustbowl. A fugitive named Ben Hawkins finds refuge
within a traveling carnival comprised of a tarot card reader and her
catatonic/telekinetic mother, a blind mentalist, a bearded lady, and
conjoined twins, amongst others. The carnival is owned by the mysterious and unseen Management, who has designs on the young Hawkins, for the boy is concealing an untapped gift: he can heal the lame and raise the dead--at a price. Ben also finds himself disturbed by cryptic and prophetic dreams, which he shares with a Methodist preacher in California, Brother Justin Crowe. Brother Justin, convinced by his dreams he is following God's will, has begun to practice his own extraordinary talents, although the preacher's plans increasingly lead to disturbing and tragic consequences. In this "last great age of magic,"
Ben Hawkins and Justin Crowe are moving toward a great conflict between Good and Evil, although it not yet clear on which sides these men will stand."
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10. Rashomon (1950) 
Mike introduced me to Akira Kurosawa many years ago and ever since I have come to enjoy Japanese film. Rashomon is probably one of my favorites - a classic! Plot
'Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice.
Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife.
Toshiro Mifune gives another commanding performance in the eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world.'
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Well that is my list - What's on yours?
I'd love some suggestions ...
Have a warm & wonderful day
- N -
Well that is my list - What's on yours?
I'd love some suggestions ...
Have a warm & wonderful day
- N -
