You don't need a plane to fly. Plastic wings may make you cry. Kites are made for windy days. Lawnchair with balloons fly away. Inflatable pants you may as well skip. If you want to fly, all you need... is friendship.
Jesus, I just quoted SpongeBob SquarePants. I guess all I need is a therapist. Anyway, friendship is this week's theme for Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. Here are some friendships.
The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas (2008)
Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is a young German boy living with his family in pre-war Germany. When his father (David Thewlis), an SS Commandant, is assigned to take command in a prison camp, Bruno befriends Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a young Jewish inmate. Some criticised the film for providing a distorted view of the Holocaust which is fair considering the finale, but the friendship between Bruno and Shumel is the one thing I remember the most about this film.
The Intouchables (2011)
Driss (Omar Sy) is a lazy, young man who needs the proof that he's seeking a job so that he can receive unemployment benefits. His task gets harder when Philippe (François Cluzet), a quadriplegic millionaire, offers him a trial period to be his caretaker. The one portrayed here is one of the most heartwarming friendships ever, ever more so if you consider it's based on a true story.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a shy and naive outsider who is trying to cope with the suicide of his best friend. His life takes a turn for the better(?) when he befriends two seniors, Sam (Emma Watson) and her step-brother Patrick (Ezra Miller). This is the kind of movie (and book) that showcases the power of friendship.
Boy with the Striped Pajamas was very moving, beautifully acted as well. I didn't care much for Perks though, it was okay but once was plenty. I haven't seen your other but I'm intrigued.
ReplyDeleteI went with all female friends films to help narrow down the huge array of choices for this week.
The Women (1939)-Wealthy happily married Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) spends her days in the company of a circle of equally well-heeled women friends whose main distraction is gossiping about each other. The worst offender is Mary’s cousin Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) a smiling Judas with a vicious streak. When Sylvia finds out at the beauty parlor that Mary’s husband is stepping out on her with a cheap piece of baggage named Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) she makes sure Mary finds out protesting all the time she’s doing it for her own good. It’s off to Reno and back where new complications await Mary and her buddies both old and new. Witty comedy has an entirely female cast (down to the animals) and great dialog. Musicalized (pleasantly if unmemorably) in the 50’s as The Opposite Sex with Joan Collins stepping in for Crawford and shredded in 2008 with an abysmal redo.
Old Acquaintance (1943)-Serious minded Kit Marlowe (Bette Davis) and flighty Millie Drake (Miriam Hopkins) have been best friends since college. Several years on Kit is now an acclaimed, respected but not terribly profitable authoress while Millie has married and is expecting a child. During a visit Millie confides to Kit that she’s written a book as well, a romance novel, which Kit passes along to her publisher and which becomes an enormous hit followed year after year by one frothy concoction after another making Millie fantastically rich and successful. However Millie remains envious of Kit as her marriage fails and her daughter turns to Kit as a mother figure and their friendship is strained but never breaks. High class soap opera was notorious at the time for the behind the scenes feud between Davis and talented but legendarily difficult Hopkins-a shameless upstager. At one point Davis had to shake Hopkins hard in a scene and when she finished the crew broke into applause!
Beaches (1988)-On the Atlantic City beach in the 50’s child performer CC Bloom (Mayim Bialik) meets lost rich kid Hillary Whitney (Marcie Leeds) and they strike up what turns out to be a deep lifelong friendship as they grow up to be Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. Except for a brief break their kinship endures just about every obstacle under the sun leading to a teary conclusion. Though there is solid work from Lainie Kazan as Midler’s overbearing mother and John Heard as a director both women fall for this is Midler and Hershey’s show and their powerful chemistry carries the movie.
The Intouchables is really good! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
DeleteI haven't seen any of your picks but I'm interested in seeing Beaches as I love Mayim Bialik in The Big Bang Theory and I've always been interested in seeing more from her.
I love Perks! I really enjoyed the Intouchables, I expected it to be so depressing and it was really light hearted. I wasn't crazy about The Boy in the Striped Pajamas but the others I watched it with enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI sorry The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas didn't work for you but I'm so happy you enjoyed the other two, especially The Intouchables.
DeleteI have wanted to see The Boy in the Striped pajamas and will. The other 2 I have not heard of but they sound excellent
ReplyDeleteThey are! I hope you get to see them.
DeleteFor some reason I can never remember the title of The Intouchables 😅 It seems like such an odd choice for that movie. Anyway, it's actually a really great pick, I enjoyed it a lot! I can't quite remember The Perks of Being a Wallflower... but I did like The Boy With The Stripped Pijamas and yeah, the friendship is what stayed with me too.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird but it makes sense if you think about it. Philippe is a quadriplegic, Driss is a migrant, and therefore they are both untouchable.
DeleteI haven't seen The Intouchables though it is available at my local library as I do want to see it. I have no interest in seeing the remake with Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston which I heard sucked. I have seen the other 2 films as I like both of them.
ReplyDeleteWait, they remade The Intouchables? Jesus, Hollywood and their obsession with remaking great foreign movies.
DeleteThere was a remake of The Intouchables? Kevin Hart as Omar Sy's character? Sounds like a miscast.
DeleteI don't even want to imagine how bad that movie is.
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