By Michelle Heffernan
In these challenging times, Waterford in Your Pocket want to do everything we can to help others in the community so I will be sharing my Covideo Guide as much as possible with you over the next few weeks, in the hope some high quality home entertainment will help keep your mind off things!
First ten movie recommendations below!
- True Romance
Tarantino fans rejoice! Although 1993’s True Romance was directed by Tony Scott, the screenplay is all Tarantino, and the characters, score and general bizarre meanderings of the plot resound his now famous style.With an all star cast including Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Gary Oldman ( as a druggie Rastafarian) Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer, and, best of all , a young Brad Pitt as a lowlife stoner, True Romance is a classic, that feels as much like a Shakespearean tragedy as a satirical gangster movie. Just watch it. You won’t be disappointed.
Available on: Netflix
My Rating: 9/10
2. Private Life
I adore how… adult this movie is. Paul Giamiatti and Kathryn Hahn do a fantastic job of portraying what is fast becoming a difficulty in many modern marriages: fertility. Their struggles to conceive, adopt or find a surrogate are enthralling, and exhausting at times; the difficulty of balancing career, love life and parenthood is really well laid out here, and there’s a lot for everyone to learn from this movie.
Available on: Netflix
Rating: 9/10
3. Widows
I have loved Viola Davis since The Help, and in Widows, she brings the same fiercely feminine power to the screen. Starring Viola Davis, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, and Michelle Rodriguez,Widows tells the story of four widowed women left in dangerous debt by the criminal activities of their recently deceased husbands. With no knowledge of organised crime, but a determination to keep themselves alive, they form the most unlikely heist team, and pull off something men would never dream they were capable of. “No-one thinks we have the balls to pull this off” says Davis. Watching them in action = film/feminist gold
Available on: Sky Cinema, NOW TV
Rating: 8/10
4. Captain Fantastic
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Viggo Moretensen is an incredible actor, and has the ability to slip into a variety of roles. In Captain Fantastic he becomes anarchist Ben Cash, who has raised his children with wife Leslie off the grid, to protect them from the evils of american consumerist culture. His family knows how to navigate by the stars or hunt with their bare hands , but they have never learned to be with others, to make friends in school, to have a first crush or first kiss. The viewer sees the conflict between conservative and liberal, right and left, but mostly the inner conflict of a man trying to raise his family to be ready for a world he cannot understand. It’s quirky, its novel and its new age. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Give it a try.
Available on: Netflix
Rating: 8/10
5. Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben)
If watching movies with subtitles bothers you, skip this one. But you will be missing out! Everybody Knows or Todos Lo Saben, starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem is a captivating kidnapping thriller, following the story of a Spanish village shocked by the disappearance of a teenage girl. As the hunt for the truth continues, secrets start to spill out and shake families to their core. Worth watching for the steamy on screen electricity between Cruz and Bardem.
Available on: Sky Cinema/ Now TV
Rating: 8.5/10
6. Long Shot
Who knew Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen could have great on screen chemistry? Long Shot is my comedy pick for the week, a movie that should have done a lot better overall at the box office. It is essentially about a slightly immature journalist reconnecting with his high school babysitter, who so happens to be gorgeous Secretary of State, Charlize Theron. The pair make for an unlikely comedic duo, and prove love really is stronger than appearances, ..and the American Republican Party. Watch for some light-hearted entertainment
Available on: Netflix
Rating: 8.5/10
7. The Hole in the Ground
Have to throw an Irish one in here for the week that’s in it. Seána Kerslake has already proved her acting salt in comedy with RTE’s Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope; here she makes her foray into full length horror feature film as mother Sarah, who moves her son to the Irish countryside to escape an unhappy relationship . When her boy Chris discovers a nearby sinkhole he begins to act strangely, and she begins to doubt he is even her own son. Filmed between Begium, Finalnd and Ireland, it really maximises the dark greens, blacks and browns of our rural forests to create a dark, earthy and ominous atmosphere. Great Irish cinema and hope to see much more on the big screen from this talented Tallaght girl.
Available on: Netflix
Rating : 9/10
8. Mid 90s
Remember Jonah Hill? The hilarious Seth from SuperBad? He has made a spectacular directorial debut with Mid 90s, a coming age drama about a 13 year old boy who begins to hang out with some older skateboarding teens. It sounds very simple, and almost dull, but its really so much more than weed pipes and half pipes. It’s about being at that age where you don’t want to be a child, you want to be an adult. It’s about that reshaping of identity that comes with adolescence, where you want to be a rebel and you want to remain true to yourself. It’s really a movie about growing up, that the teenage girl in me could identify with. Another actor who has proven himself to be worth so much more than a punchline
Available on: Netflix
Rating: 9/10
9. Ingrid goes West
Its is scary how true to life this movie is, or could be. Ingrid is a woman obsessed. After discovering on Instagram that she was not invited to her supposed best friend’s wedding, she decides to move to L.A. to befriend her new Instagram idol. As you do. What follows is something between stalking and serial killer behaviour, but Ingrid so desperately wants to be liked on social media, we all see a bit of ourselves in her outlandish behaviour. Worth watching just to review your relationship with technology.
Available on: Netflix
Rating: 7/10
10. Someone Great
Boys back away. This movie is my pick for the ladies! Have you ever gone through something so gut wrenching you feel your about to fall into the pits of self pity and social suicide and then..your gals catch you. This is a movie about that. It’s girls who have each others backs, through the good times and the bad. It’s a little silly and OTT a times, but the message is clear. No matter what happens, who you love, or who breaks your heart, your friends will be there, and that love is enough to see you through anything. A lovely message for the times we’re in.
Available on: Netflix
Rating: 8/10
Stay tuned for more Covideo guides soon!
