Movies & Television to Watch

Movie recommendations from friends or myself, many I've seen and should see again

• Mister Rogers & Me
• Crash
• The Philadelphia Story
• Laurel Canyon
• No Country For Old Men
• Big Fish
• Meek's Cutoff
• Race to Nowhere
• Serendipity
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• The Notebook
• Hereafter
• 50 First Dates
• Tropic Thunder
• Four Sheets to the Wind
• Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day
• The Doe Boy
• Older Than America
• Shakespeare in Love
• Bridges of Madison County
• Forrest Gump
• The Shawshank Redemption
• The Changeling
• Rain Man
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• As Good As It Gets
• E.T.
• Dances with Wolves
• Fargo
• Slingblade
• Titanic
• Schindler’s List
• Love is Beautiful
• The Pianist
• WALL-E
• Waiting for Guffman
• Best in Show
• A Mighty Wind
• When Harry Met Sally
• Better Off Dead
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Spanglish
• Cast Away
• Juno
• Parenthood
• Billy Madison
• The Big Lebowski

Books to read

• Chasing Daylight

Television to watch

• Modern Family
• The Middle
• Archer (FX)

2009

1. "Troubled Water" - story of a young man who is paroled after spending time in prison and gets a job as a church organist.
2. "Everlasting Moments" - A wife in the early 20th century wins a camera and it changes her life (from Sweden).
3. "Captain Abu Raed" - This first feature from Jordan tells the story of an airport janitor who the neighborhood kids believe is a pilot.
4. "Che" - A brilliant, unexpected mega-film about Che Guevara by Steven Soderbergh.
5. "Dead Snow" - The scariest film I've seen in a while about zombie Nazis abandoned after World War II in desolate Norway.
6. "The Great Buck Howard" - A tender look at the life of an illusionist, based on the life of The Amazing Kreskin starring John Malkovich.
7. "In the Loop" - A rare hilarious satire, this one about the collusion between the Brits and the Americans and their illegal war pursuits.
8. "My One and Only" - Who woulda thought that a biopic based on one year in the life of George Hamilton when he was a teenager would turn out to be one of the year's most engaging films.
9. "Whatever Works" - This was a VERY good Woody Allen film starring the great Larry David and it was completely overlooked.
10. "Big Fan" - A funny, dark film about an obsessive fan of the New York Giants with a great performance by the comedian Patton Oswalt.
11. "Eden Is West" - The legendary Costa-Gavras' latest gem, ignored like his last brilliant film 4 years ago, "The Axe".
12. "Entre Nos" - An mother and child are left to fend for themselves in New York City in this powerful drama.
13. "The Girlfriend Experience" - Steven Soderbergh's second genius film of the year, this one set in the the post-Wall Street Crash era, a call girl services the men who brought the country down.
14. "Humpday" - Two straight guys dare each other to enter a gay porn contest -- but will they go through with it?
15. "Lemon Tree" - A Palestinian woman has her lemon trees cut down by the Israeli army, but she decides that's the final straw.
16. "Mary and Max" - An Australian girl and and elderly Jewish man in New York become pen pals in this very moving animated film.
17. "O'Horten" - Another Norwegian winner, this one about the final trip made by a retiring train conductor.
18. "Salt of This Sea" - A Palestinian-American returns to her family's home in the West Bank, only to find herself caught up in the struggles between the two cultures.
19. "Sugar" - A Dominican baseball player gets his one chance to come to America and make it in the big leagues.
20. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" - A smart, adult animated film from Wes Anderson that at least got two nominations from the Academy.