Curious George
The adventures of Curious George, a very inquisitive monkey, and his best friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. (1 hr. 30 min.)
Annie Hall
Often considered the crown jewel in a highly acclaimed and prolific film career, ANNIE HALL is Woody Allen’s only film to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This recognition, however, is not what makes the film significant. ANNIE HALL marks the beginning of the second phase of Allen’s career as a filmmaker, abandoning the slapstick of SLEEPER and BANANAS for more thoughtful comedies (and eventually dramas) that explored human relationships and psychology. Allen’s capacity as a creative filmmaker had also grown with the film, as he utilized creative subtitles, split screens, and animation, as well as evincing a sophisticated understanding of the potential of editing and camera movement for comic effect–consider the cutaway to Allen’s character Alvy Singer, as seen through the eyes of “Grammy Hall” during the dinner sequence, or shortly afterward the slow pan to Alvy in the passenger seat of a car driven by Annie’s unhinged brother Duane.
The film is a brutally honest assessment of the prospects of a relationship between two very different people. Allen’s Alvy is (like the filmmaker himself) an introverted, neurotic intellectual and a complete mismatch for Diane Keaton’s vivacious, flaky Annie Hall. Although the romance is undoubtedly the center of the film, it affords Allen the opportunity to contrast his beloved New York culture with that of the Midwest, where Annie comes from, and Los Angeles, which tempts Annie with the possibility of fame and success as a singer. The city of New York itself plays an important part for the first time in an Allen film, with a great deal of location shooting that serves to highlight the city’s character and atmosphere. Finally, the many comedic cameos peppered through the film–from Truman Capote to Paul Simon to media theorist Marshall McLuhan–pay tribute to the deserved reputation that Allen had gained for himself. (1 hr. 33 min.)
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Pretty in Pink
Pretty but poor, Andie (Molly Ringwald) is a good student who develops a crush on Blane (Andrew McCarthy), the sensitive, well-born preppie. But Blane runs with a fast crowd of haughty rich kids, the kind of clique Andie and her new wavy best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer) can’t stand. Going against her fretting father (Harry Dean Stanton), peer pressure and social expectations, she decides to date him. But their big plans for the senior prom ultimately fall apart when Blane heeds his friend Steff’s (James Spader) warning to “quit slumming.” Will Blane find the courage to claim what he really wants and give up the so-called friends he doesn’t need?
This classic 1980s teen film from the master of the genre, writer-producer John Hughes features plenty of great ’80s pop tunes from the Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths, Echo and The Bunnymen, New Order, and more. The continued success of Hughes’ films and actors ushered in the era of the “brat pack” and teen films as pop culture. (1 hr. 37 min.)
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Bee Movie
Touted as Jerry Seinfeld’s first major project since the 1998 end of his long-running eponymous TV series, 2007’s computer-animated BEE MOVIE stars the popular comedian as the voice of Barry B. Benson, a young bee eager to explore the world outside of his hive. As he discovers how people live in New York City, he befriends a human florist, Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zellweger), and becomes outraged at the selling of honey, leading to a lawsuit and, of course, plenty of Seinfeldian misadventures.
Helmed by directors Steve Hickner (THE PRINCE OF EGYPT) and Simon J. Smith (a member of the SHREK creative team), BEE MOVIE lightens Seinfeld’s notoriously stinging humor for a family audience, while staying true to its inherent New York-bred quirkiness. This leaves room for the film to feature impressive (if anatomically incorrect) bug-oriented CGI animation and a solid supporting cast that includes Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Chris Rock, and Ray Liotta (who plays a honey-peddling animated version of himself). Although it inhabits some of the same insect-populated territory as A BUG’s LIFE and ANTZ, BEE MOVIE also nods to THE GRADUATE (admittedly a Seinfeld favorite) in its restless protagonist, resulting in a playful and thoroughly entertaining film that even manages to work an environmental message into its colorful palette. (1 hr. 30 min.)
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The Breakfast Club
When five high school students from different social groups are forced to spend a Saturday together in detention, they find themselves interacting with and understanding each other for the first time. A jock (Emilio Estevez), a stoner (Judd Nelson), a princess (Molly Ringwald), a basket case (Ally Sheedy), and a brain (Anthony Michael Hall) talk about everything from parental tension to sex to peer pressure to hurtful stereotypes while serving time. Ultimately, the five find that they may have more in common than they ever imagined and learn more about themselves as well as each other. (1 hr. 37 min.)
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