934 Contributions by: Renee Cuisia (Page 51)

Based on the 1976 novel of the same name, Ordinary People is an emotionally wrought film about a family on the brink of collapse. Upon the tragic death of eldest son Buck, the youngest and now only son Conrad (Hutton) reluctantly enters psychiatric care while his mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), tries to force things back to the way they were with overwhelming positivity. Keeping things together as best he can is the father Calvin (Donald Sutherland), who is battling demons of his own. Before films like Good Will Hunting and shows like 13 Reasons Why made tropes like “caring therapist” and “angsty teen” into the cliches they are now, it was films like Ordinary People that broke barriers and dared to put up a mirror to our stark realities. Things like grief and depression, as well as strained parenthood and unhappy families, were taboo back day in the day, so it was somewhat of a miracle that Ordinary People didn’t just talk about them openly, but started a discourse surrounding them that continues to this day.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Adam Baldwin, Basil Hoffman, Dinah Manoff, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth McGovern, Fredric Lehne, James B. Sikking, Judd Hirsch, M. Emmet Walsh, Mariclare Costello, Mary Tyler Moore, Quinn K. Redeker, Timothy Hutton

Director: Robert Redford

Rating: R

After receiving virtually unlimited funding from a wealthy businessman, Lola (played by the always excellent Penelope Cruz) sets out to mount an ambitious adaptation of a bestselling novel. To make her vision work, she employs renowned actors Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez) and Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), knowing full well that their opposite philosophies in art and life will clash. What follows is a series of preps and rehearsals that play out like social experiments in their twistedness, which all in all speak to the outrageousness of film, art, and life itself.

In this Spanish dark comedy, no one is spared from satire—from the idiosyncratic auteur down to the sell-out actor, all are parodied in equal measure, each of their egos broken down in great and hilarious detail.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Ana Belén, Antonio Banderas, Daniel Chamorro, Irene Escolar, Isabel García Lorca, José Luis Gómez, Juan Grandinetti, Ken Appledorn, Manolo Solo, María Guinea, Mary Ruiz, Melina Matthews, Mónica Bardem, Nagore Aranburu, Oscar Martinez, Penélope Cruz, Pilar Bergés, Pilar Castro, Sue Flack

Director: Gastón Duprat, Mariano Cohn

Rating: R

Mountain Queen isn’t just a movie about a professional mountain climber, although Lhakpa Sherpa is certainly impressive as she trudges through the deathly terrain of Everest (and at 50 years old at that!). It’s also the heartbreaking story of a broken family in repair. Sherpa reveals shocking details about her abusive husband, fellow climber Gheorghe Dijmărescu, and we see how it’s affected her two daughters, one of which is so hurt, she can’t bring herself to speak to her mother. The main thread of the movie is her 10th attempt to scale the tallest peak in the world, but Director Lucy Walker smartly intercuts this with tales of Sherpa’s own life—a laborious obstacle on its own—rightfully framing Sherpa as the strong woman that she is.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa, Shiny Dijmarescu, Sunny Dijmarescu

Director: Lucy Walker

Rating: R

Modern Romance takes place in 1981, but the film lives up to its name: its take on loneliness, romantic despair, and our collective confusion over what constitutes real love continues to be relevant in this age of casual hookups and situationship (or whatever the kids are calling it these days). Bobby (played by Brooks, who is also the film’s writer and director) is not supposed to be likable, and yet he puts up a mirror to those of us who’ve done cruel things to dig ourselves out of the embarrassment and pain of being on our own. Though the film is more talk than plot, it’s thoroughly engaging thanks to its smart script. It’s also often funny, especially when it follows Bobby’s life as a frustrated film editor. Creatively down at work, Bobby tries to control his love life—but how he succeeds and fails is what makes the film so everlasting.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Albert Brooks, Albert Henderson, Bob Einstein, Bruno Kirby, Ed. Weinberger, George Kennedy, Harvey Miller, James L. Brooks, Jane Hallaren, Jerry Belson, Kathryn Harrold, Mike Road, Paul Bryar, Thelma Leeds

Director: Albert Brooks

Rating: R

FBI agents Rupert and Alan (Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe) visit Jim Crow-era Mississippi to investigate the disapperance of three civil rights activists. They find out soon enough, however, that answers won't come easy when local officials and police have ties with the KKK. There's no shortage of films like Mississippi Burning, but it stands out by simply being well-made. The cinematography is stunning (it won the Oscar that year) and the script is sharp, but the real highlights are Hackman, Dafoe, and Frances McDormand, the latter of whom plays the wife of a violently racist sherrif. The film is difficult to watch to be sure, but as long violence and prejudice reign supreme, it's also a necessary one. Apart from winning the Oscar for Best Cinematography, the film also sweeped Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominations mainly for Hackman and McDormand, and for directing, editing, and sound.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe

Director: Alan Parker