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15-25

1947: G
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers
Director: Frank Capra

Nominated for Academy Awards® including Best Actor and Best Director.
132 Minutes

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."

The quintessential feel good movie of all time, It's a Wonderful Life celebrates the ordinary man's extraordinary life and the impact each of us has on those around us.  It reminds us of what is important, that wealth comes not from what you own but what you give and that each man is truly rich if he has friends. 

For anyone who has ever questioned their own worth or the purpose of his life, Capra's magical journey into what if, puts all doubts aside and captures the spirit of the holidays year around.

Rocky

1976: PG
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Director: John G. Avildsen

Academy Awards® Best Picture and Best Director

119 minutes
 

The film is inspirational.  The back story of a screenplay thrown together in 3-days and filmed on a miniscule budget that eventually won the coveted Best Picture Oscar is equally inspirational. Hear just the first 3 seconds of Bill Conti's theme song and you too will be ready to take on the world.

Rocky Balboa is the epitome of the underdog who overcomes all odds to make it.  An absolute favorite film with men, Rocky is a part of American culture with a theme that illustrates our mindset.    

Queen:
The Story of Alex Haley's Mother's Line

We also Recommend Shindler's List

BUY

1984: R
Starring: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich, Julian Sands
Director: Roland Joffé

Academy Awards® Best Supporting Actor (Ngor) Cinematography and Editing

142 Minutes

Few films will impact you more deeply than The Killing Fields, especially if you were alive and old enough to witness the refugee's flight to the United States. However, this is not a film for children.  The subject matter is far too graphic and complex.

This film is about three themes: the friendship of men, life as a war correspondent and finally a man's journey from forced slavery under a communist regime to freedom.  Based upon New York Times reporter Sidney Schanberg and his Cambodian assistant Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) real life experiences, The Killing Fields covers their friendship's development prior to and up to the Khmer Rouge's  complete occupation of Cambodia and its brain washing of its citizens. 

What makes this movie so inspirational is the Dith Pran's amazing survival and escape from the Communist controlled government.  Somehow despite the fact he has to drink ox blood for protein, hide his identity and avoid the constant brainwashing, he escapes death several times, he maintains his humanity and ultimately reaches freedom.  The ending is one of the most joyous you'll ever experience and you will gain a new respect of the people of Southeast Asia for what they had to endure, overcome and accomplish to get here.

1981: PG
Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson
Nigel Havers
Director: Hugh Hudson

124 Minutes
Winner of 4 Academy Awards® including Best Picture
 

The true story of  two young  athletes who ran for Great Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympics, Chariots of Fire crosses into the bigotry of the day and how sports and common goal can bring each out of the hate. Protestant Eric Liddell  runs to be closer  to God. Jewish Harold Abrahams runs for the love of it but is consistently taunted for his faith. Together their competitive nature forges a friendship where both ultimately race to victory to the tune of Vangelis's unforgettable musical score.

Friendship, Love within Marriage, Hope, Humility, Gratitude, overcoming the odds and Life Lessons
 

Cinderella Man

2005: PG-13
Starring: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko
Director: Ron Howard

145 minutes
 

1982: PG
Starring: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Martin Sheen, Candice Bergen
Director: Sir Richard Attenborough

190 minutes

Winner of 9 Academy Awards® including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor

Mohandas K. Gandhi,  introduced the doctrine of nonviolent resistance to the colonized people of India.  This was a radical idea and one difficult to follow, especially in the face of constant oppression, dehumanization and murder. Ultimately the Indian's  gained their independence. The philosophies of Gandhi carried into American Society supporting and galvanizing American Civil Rights Movement.

In today's violent world encompassing the Occupied Territories of the Middle East, Chechnya and Africa, a man of Gandhi's caliber is even more remarkable and increasingly needed. This film reminds us that it is not force that delivers freedom.  It is perseverance, a respect for human dignity and quiet disobedience in the face of tyranny that becomes the deliver of the oppressed.  Like all stories of good and evil, Gandhi reminds each viewer of the story that even in the face of excruciating oppression, holders of the truth with respect for their fellow man always in the end prevail. This is a great movie to watch when you become so frustrated with current affairs, hope for eventual peace seems an impossible dream.  Gandhi will restore your faith. 

127 minutes

'Damn the doctors and don't tell me what I can't do!' should be the theme line of this film.

You are never too old to follow your dreams as this inspiring true story of New Zealander Burt Munro, makes clear. At 64 he sets out to break the land-speed record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967 and does it against all odds on his battered 1920 Indian Twin Scout Motorcycle. Anthony Hopkins plays the lead, a mild-mannered eccentric.

This film is a favorite with men and darling to women. It's also one of the fifty films I took with me to Saudi Arabia in 2008 and the guys there absolutely went nuts over it!  (They also liked American Gangster and Rendition) Anyway you look at it, Indian is a 100% feel good and inspirational. Great Fathers Day, birthday or Christmas gift for any man in you life old enough to drive. They'll enjoy watching it again and again.

Love it!

Love it!

Love it!

And you will too.  You can't watch World's Fastest Indian and not walk away smiling!

Friendship, Fatherhood, Hope, Humility, Gratitude, Sacrifice, Survival

2007: PG-13
Starring: Khalid Abdalla, Homayoun Ershadi, Zekiria Ebrahimi, Shaun Toub


Director: Marc Forster, Rebecca Yeldham
122 minutes

Based upon the autobiographical book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, this epic story  journeys from childhood through adulthood beginning in Afghanistan pre-Taliban and ending in modern day San Francisco.  It's the story of two friends split apart by war, shame and a lie.  It's the story of a father struggling to raise his son as the world he knows crashes down around him and he suddenly finds himself on the wrong side of politics. 

Multifaceted, heartwarming and educational this is a great family film to share with tweens and teens and discuss afterward.  Many life lessons and morality issues the end in redemption and reunification of heart, soul and family. Not recommended for children under twelve.
 

Overcoming racism, handicaps, addiction and most of life's challenges, succeeding against all odds, home and humility
 

BUY

2004: PG-13
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Clifton Powell
Director: Taylor Hackford
153 minutes

"There’s rarely been a biopic that’s done a better job of capturing its subject’s essence, which is why Ray can be forgiven its occasional departures from the historical record. The film doesn’t simply present the hit songs and other professional triumphs, although those are extremely well represented; it delves into the psyche of Ray Charles Robinson, whose destiny was shaped by back-to-back childhood traumas: his brother’s accidental death by drowning, which Ray witnessed; and his sudden descent into blindness a few years later. Driven by his poor but proud mother to succeed despite his handicap, the boy gets an education and becomes a talented musician who eventually carves out an amazing career."

Friendship, Love within Marriage, Hope, Humility, Gratitude, Spirituality, Love of a father and Life Lessons

We also recommend The Rookie
 

"If you build it he will come"  

An Adaptation of W.P. Kinsella's baseball novel Shoeless Joe, this film has come to epitomize American eccentricities and the joys of doing something completely illogical yet spiritually incredible. Amy Madigan is delightful as a former 1960's activist supports the wild idea, James Earl Jones plays a former '60's novelist who wants to leave the sixties in the sixties and Kevin Costner is at his peak as the slightly disillusioned but very idealistic Ray Kinsella. This movie is for anyone who has regretted past mistakes and believed in something better, even when logic tells you not to.  The ending is one of those great moments that brings tears even to the toughest guys eyes.

The Sound of Music

1965: G
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer
Director: Robert Wise

175 Minutes

This is a story for anyone who has had to postpone their dreams because life gets in the way.  Glenn Holland is a music teacher frustrated by his lot in life with dreams of becoming a composer but his wife's pregnancy forces him to give up the dream and become a teacher at the local high school.  Add to this, his son is born deaf and Holland feels he has nothing in common with his child.  The ending of the movie is a testament to the power of pursuing your dreams and the bond that can develop even within adversity between a father and son.   You'll cheer, you'll cry and you'll beg for more. 
What's an opus? Basically it means a chapter of musical composition.  Each segment of a musical piece is an opus in the entire symphony, much like a chapter is part of a novel.

Homelessness, Financial Struggle, Overcoming the odds, Humility, Gratitude, Fatherhood

The Pursuit of HappYness

2006: PG-13
Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe
Director: Gabriele Muccino
117 minutes

If someone you know is struggling with unemployment this is an amazing film to rent for them. 

Based upon the true story of a genius, Chris Garner who finds himself a single dad, homeless and without a job, basically as far down as a person can get in American society.  Living on the streets, he ultimately gets back on his feet and climbs to the top of the heap as owner of his own firm in 1980s San Francisco.  Smith's own son plays his son in this film. The scene where father and son have to sleep in a public bathroom is one of the all time most memorably haunting scenes in cinema history.

Heartwarming and gut wrenching, you'll be cheering in the end!

15-25