Cinema

Browse cinema recommendations from people with great taste on Rec League — the whisper network for great recs.

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Before Sunrise (1989)

I think we can all agree that this is the best of the Before films (although I like all three) — it's hard to beat the youthful romanticism that pours out of Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke's every line. Also, great hair inspiration.

Hannah Harvey

Party Girl (1995)

red tights. halal guy love interest. the dewey decimal system. mary (parker posey) is the fairy godmother of all the fabulous nyc girlfailures to come after her <33333333

Louise Buckley

Watchlist at the Cinema

I’ve always thought Letterboxd should alert you when a movie on your watchlist is playing in a theater nearby. This website is basically that!

Analisa Burns

Stop Making Sense (1984)

you simply cannot go wrong with putting the Talking Heads concert movie on the TV at your next party.

Ali LaBelle

About Time (2013)

About Time makes me sob, so I can only watch it every few years, but each time I do, I remember how lovely a movie it is thanks to the universal wonder that is Bill Nighy.

even*cleveland

Alice Rohrwacher

Many + deserved recommendations on here for LA CHIMERA (my favorite movie made in recent memory), but if you loved it, it is worth digging into the director's back catalog. Alice Rohrwacher's trilogy of films about the ancient myths of life and death--LA CHIMERA (Orpheus), HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Lazarus), and THE WONDERS (Peresphone, or at least her bees)--are all studded with fragments of the sublime + tell of what it means to live as imperfect people in an imperfect world through images seemingly pulled from dreams: a mouthful of bees, a red thread, a feast of weeds, a match struck in the dark.

joanna goddard

taking a big bag of green grapes to the movies

I once took an apple and every bite felt SO LOUD

Analisa Burns

Agnès Varda's Du Côte de la Côte (1958)

one of my favorite lazy summer movies <3

Londyn Harris

The Holdovers

As a former New Jersey boarding school kid this movie impacted me in a truly profound way. It helps, too, that Dominic Sessa who plays our main character, Angus Tully, was a senior at Deerfield academy when he was cast for the role (his first ever film role!!)

Ali LaBelle

That Thing You Do! (1996)

The song from That Thing You Do! gets stuck in my head constantly, but I don't mind when it does because I simply love this movie.

James Kylstra

Everybody Wants Some!!

I left a comment about this on @Lida Richardson ’s rec of The Hitman, and I subsequently figured it was worth its own rec. An all-time pleasant Richard Linklater hanging-out flick. Follows a group of college baseball players in the dying days of summer. Glen Powell kills in a supporting role, but everyone in it is great. Not enough people know about this movie, and I’m doing my part to rectify that.

Grier

SIRĀT - Official Trailer - In Select Theaters February 6

This was astounding! You’re dropped in immediately and rapt until the end. Gripping and terrifying. Luis is a father looking for his missing daughter lost to a nomadic desert rave scene. The deeper Luis goes into the desert the closer he comes to hell. One of the best, most engrossing films I’ve seen in the past five years.

Shin Ko

Big Fish

A really underrated Tim Burton movie and one of my all time favorites.

Ali LaBelle

It's Complicated (2009)

It's hard not to put every Nancy Meyers movie on here for interiors alone, but It's Complicated is a non-negotiable because it's got one of cinema's best-ever kitchens AND Meryl Streep. Even though I can't stand Alec Baldwin, she makes up for it.

Sarah Cooney

Wind (1992 film) - Wikipedia

THIS IS THE BEST SUMMER MOVIE, especially if you're a sailor. The racing scenes are epic and it's just SO good. An underrated classic. The best underdog sports movie of all time, except Seabiscuit (I meant what I said).

Spines, Flicks, and Wax

Muriel's Wedding (DVD)

My introduction to Abba, Australian humor(humour?), and Toni Collette when I was 13. I never laughed and cried so hard. As a wife and mother now, I see Betty, Muriel's mother, with a newfound appreciation. One of the most heartbreakingly real depictions of motherhood. A must-watch! Currently on Criterion.

Leeloo

Fifth element was a personal queer awakening moment for sure. (Plus Gaultier costumes always get me.)

Kathryn Kelly

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Erin Brockovich (2000) Directed by Steven Søderberg

Sarah Cooney

The Actor

I'm obsessed with this movie (and not just because my husband wrote it)--the movie takes a deep look at identity, memory, and rebuilding a life... then making choices between what you had and what you've created. The acting is fantastic and Andre Holland and Gemma Chan are amazing together. And don't just take it from me--it was a NYT Critic's Pick.

Shin Ko

Tuck Everlasting

A movie with profound wisdom and a teenager who was smart enough to listen. I often think what I would do if I were to encounter a fountain of water that will give me eternal life, would I give in to temptation or would I be wise like Winnie? It's a tough choice and something I struggle with.

Hannah Harvey

Dirty Dancing (1987)

this is such a special and evocative movie. you can smell the rain in it. makes me want to buy some keds

Leslie

la haine

Of all the movies I watched in film school, this is the one I come back to most.

devan

Janet Planet

A quiet beauty of a little film set in rural Mass in 1991. Big on nostalgia.

Lily

Snowy Bing Bongs screening at Vidiots

My brilliant friend Alex Fischer made this gonzo experimental dance comedy ten years ago and it’s streaming late-night at Vidiots May 1. Called a “blissfully bonkers whatzit” from an “unclassifiable dance-comedy trio” and produced by Daniels, the guys who brought us Academy Award-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once. God I love LA!

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