![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/library\/files\/2020\/04\/Stacy-border-580x321.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
If you asked me to name my favorite movie, I wouldn\u2019t be able to name just one. I would need to give you my top ten, maybe twenty… for each genre! I would overwhelm you with so many recommendations that, in the end, you\u2019d be pretty sorry you asked. So when given the chance to choose 5 movies the UTC Library could make available for you to stream from home during the shutdown, I at first lost my mind with excitement, then slowly regressed into a puddle of doubt and anxiety. I could not pick 5. I could not pick 10. I could only pick 67.<\/em><\/p>\n Alas, there can only be 5. Five perfect recommendations to rule them all. I needed to narrow it down. We are a library, it made sense to choose films based on books. They also needed to be something you may not come across as you scroll through Netflix or Hulu. Something that feels like a discovery. Something… not Tiger King. And finally, in this strange, strange time of uncertainty and isolation, I narrowed it further by choosing films that serve as escapism. Look, The Grapes of Wrath is a great movie, made from an even greater book, but in an era where we are wearing face masks to Aldi, I wanted to give you movies that would give you a couple hours of real, genuine enjoyment to help you forget about the world for a bit.<\/em><\/p>\n Here are my picks and why I love them:<\/i><\/p>\n Memorable quote<\/strong> What it\u2019s about<\/strong> Why you will love it<\/strong> Want to read the book? <\/strong> Memorable Quote<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s it about?<\/strong> Why you will love it.<\/strong><\/p>\n You will see yourself in this movie, you will recognize your friends in this movie, and you will definitely be reminded of one of your exes, if not all of them. From the realistic apartments they live in to the way they interact with those around them. These characters believe that it is what<\/em> you like that matters, not what you are<\/em> like, and I find that to be true for many of us when we are initially choosing who we surround ourselves with. Shallow? Yeah. Still true? Absolutely. And though he had a couple dozen IMDB credits to his name by 2000, this is the movie that really introduced the world to Jack Black, who steals every scene he is in, as well as providing the movie with a super punchy and surprising finale.<\/p>\n Still want more?<\/strong> I don\u2019t just recommend reading the book, I recommend anything written by Nick Hornby. He writes one of my favorite genres, fun and relatable books with good writing.<\/p>\n Want more still? JEEZ<\/strong>-, OKAY-<\/strong> Hulu rebooted the movie as a limited series earlier this year, and I\u2019ve never had my expectations shattered quite like this. I sat down to watch, arms crossed and a scowl on my face. But every change feels right, every place it veers from the original feels organic. \u00a0Zoe Kravitz (who\u2019s mom, Lisa Bonet, is in the 2000 film) is incandescent perfection as the female Rob, and the recasting of Jack Black\u2019s character could not be better or funnier. The story still works because breakups are universal, and even if you watch the movie and read the book, the Hulu show feels new and enchanting.<\/p>\n Memorable quote<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0jail\u00a0you planned for me is the one you’re gonna rot in.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s it about?<\/strong><\/p>\n Set in the south around the turn of the century, Celie is a young black teenager who is married off to a much older widower who needs someone to clean his house and raise his children. He then moves his mistress in and expects shy, ugly Celie to wait on her needs as well. This is not even close to the worst things she has to endure.<\/p>\n Why you will love it<\/strong><\/p>\n This was a tough pick for me. Maybe not tough, maybe just harder to justify it as feel good movie. Clearly, it\u2019s not as fun as the other suggestions on this list. But it\u2019s beautiful and lush, exceptionally acted, and will firmly plant you in another time and place. There are moments so infuriating and tense that the relief from these scenes makes your heart flutter with lightness, and the scenes of revenge and redemption make you want to sit up out of your sofa dent and physically clap or throw your hands in the air. These characters are so fully fleshed out that you feel like you know their soul. And as you watch the close up of Celie scraping a straight knife up her abusive husband\u2019s neck as she shaves him on the porch, you will realize you are muttering just do it<\/em> under your breath. In short, you will be invested.<\/p>\n Want more?<\/strong><\/p>\n Alice Walker won the Pulitzer for her work in 1983. Download the Overdrive App and look for the eBook from your local library.<\/p>\n Memorable quote<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cNo, she\u2019s a full-on Monet. It\u2019s like a painting, see? From far away, it\u2019s OK, but up close, it\u2019s a big old mess\u201d<\/p>\n What it\u2019s about<\/strong><\/p>\n Cher is an incredibly and ridiculously stylish girl whose life revolves around shopping, her friends, and skating through high school by presenting arguments to her teachers about the grade she actually deserves. Her important trial lawyer father couldn\u2019t be more proud. After what she considers a harrowing, life threatening experience (driving on the LA turnpike,) Cher decides to make the world a better place. She plays matchmaker for two downtrodden teachers and decides to makeover the frumpy new girl and teach her the ways of Beverly Hills. If this doesn\u2019t sound like a book, it is. It\u2019s cleverly based o<\/p>\n n Jane Austen\u2019s Emma, written 200 years ago. Am I cheating? Nope. It\u2019s a near perfect adaptation, with some delightful and forever quotable Valley speak thrown in.<\/p>\n Why you will love it.<\/strong><\/p>\n As spoiled and privileged as Cher is, she\u2019s smart and tough, and frustratingly likable, not unlike the Reese Witherspoon character in Legally Blonde. The movie has an undercurrent of sweetness that would be cavity inducing if it weren\u2019t So. Dang. Clever. It\u2019s a fashion magazine page come to life and slings out deeply funny catchphrases you will not be able to help slipping in to your own everyday conversations. And holy flannel shirt realness, a young Paul Rudd as Cher\u2019s former step brother should be all you need to click play on this movie.<\/p>\n Did you love it? <\/strong><\/p>\n Now watch Emma. There\u2019s a Gwyneth Paltrow version as well as a 2020 version, and both are great. Did you fall for Dionne\u2019s boyfriend Murray? Stream 9 seasons of the genuinely funny hospital sitcom, Scrubs. Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll get you through this social distancing.<\/p>\n Memorable quote<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI’m the president of the galaxy, babe. I ain’t got a whole lot of time for reading.\u201d<\/p>\n What it\u2019s about<\/strong><\/p>\n Arthur Dent finds out the world is literally about to end at the same time he finds out his best friend is an alien. The two do some light galaxy traveling and find the meaning of everything. So that, but make it comedy.<\/p>\n Why you\u2019ll love it.<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to veer a little on this one. You should watch the movie to see if it might be up your alley. It\u2019s a good movie. It\u2019s a fun movie. It stars Martin Freeman and Zoey Deschenel and Stephen Fry, who are all amazing. But the book is just something else completely. The movie is just the gateway drug. The book is something you will pick up at a used book store and put it on your shelf to be picked up over and over again. There\u2019s brilliance and wisdom in its pages that will first make you laugh, then screech to a halt and say, \u201chuh.\u201d<\/p>\n There are things that belong to one generation. Books and movies and events that serve as handshakes to us and our peers. I remember my father reading this book and laughing out loud in his rust orange recliner in 1980. My friends and I read it in in the 1990\u2019s.\u00a0 Someone 20 years younger than I am tweeted this<\/a> out last week and thousands of people nodded in unison. We\u2019ve handed it down to our kids, who have dog-eared every other page. There are subreddits dedicated solely to The Guide. This book that covers politics and love and the vastness of the universe will be around longer than you or me, and will tie generations together in the smallest and best of ways. Unless, of course, the world ends. In which case, bring a towel.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/library\/files\/2020\/04\/movies-wonderboys-border.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWONDER BOYS<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\u201cNow, that is a big trunk. It holds a tuba, a suitcase, a dead dog, and a garment bag almost perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nA professor at a small liberal arts college who is so constantly stoned, his unfinished second novel is now thousands of pages long. One of his students is an odd, awkward, pathological liar and an infuriatingly-talented writer. Thrown together after some\u2026 upsetting events<\/em> at a party at the Dean\u2019s house, the two embark on a very strange evening featuring some very questionable activities. Bonus: the weirdest and lowest-effort car chase you will ever see. Double bonus: a young Robert Downey, Jr. doing what he does best.<\/p>\n
\nYes, the cinematography is superb. The soundtrack? Even better. But really, you\u2019ve never seen a movie like this before. You know how some books pull you into another world to the point where, when you look up, it\u2019s like shaking off a magic spell? This is one of those movies. It\u2019s immersive and rich and full of characters that stick with you. It\u2019s funny. Very funny. But it\u2019s so much more. It\u2019s not a world you would particularly want to live in, but it\u2019s one you will be really glad you visited.<\/p>\n
\nDownload the Overdrive App and check your local library for the 1995 novel by Pulitzer Prize Winner, Michael Chabon.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/library\/files\/2020\/04\/highfidelity-border-201x300.jpg\")
High Fidelity<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n
\nRob owns a vintage record store where he and his employees spend their time making top five lists on every topic imaginable and judging the music tastes of every customer who walks in the door. When his girlfriend leaves him for another guy, it sends Rob spiraling into a haze of making mix tapes and bad decisions. One of those decisions being visiting the top five women who broke his heart to ask them why they left.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/library\/files\/2020\/04\/colorpurple-border-203x300.jpg\")
The Color Purple<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/library\/files\/2020\/04\/movies-clueless.jpg\")
Clueless<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/library\/files\/2020\/04\/movies-hitchhikers.jpg\")
The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n