Thursday Movie Picks: A New Start

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is all about a new start. Everyone dreams of those at least once, right? Here are a few of my favorite films that are trying to make that new start a reality

1) Ingrid Goes West


After a stint in a mental institution Ingrid takes her inheritance money and goes off to California to stalk her newest Instagram obsession and to give herself that perfect social media life she craves. This was one of my favorites from last year. 

2) Silver Linings Playbook

Pat, like Ingrid in my first pick is also fresh out of a stint in a mental institution for beating up his ex-wife's lover. He's on a good set of meds and he's ready to be a changed man. I think this film gets a lot of flack nowadays but I still really love it. 

3) For A Good Time, Call...
Lauren gets dumped by her boyfriend and let go from her job at the same time. Her new start comes in the form of getting a new room mate who moonlights as a phone sex operator. Together, they turn it into a successful business. 

Comments

  1. We share Ingrid Goes West! I haven't see your third pick but I loved the other two.

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    1. I love Ingrid Goes West, I watched it again recently. Such a lovely film.

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  2. I've only seen Silver Linings Playbook which was okay if a bit cliche at times but I don't understand all the awards love for it. Perhaps it was a makeup award for Jennifer Lawrence who was so much better in Winter's Bone.

    I've been meaning to see Ingrid Goes West but haven't gotten to it yet and I've never heard of the last which sounds like it would be fun. I'll have to queue it up.

    I wasn't sure if new start meant moving or just reinventing yourself so I did a mix of both.

    My Fair Lady (1964)-Coarse cockney flower vendor Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) goes to Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) and his friend Col. Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) after a chance meeting to teach her “how to talk genteel like” so she can get a job in a shop. On a bet with Pickering Higgins decides to remake Eliza and pass her off as royalty and she’s off to a fresh start! Harrison is inimitable and Audrey charming but you can’t help but yearn for Julie Andrews, who created the role on stage, and her bell like soprano. Sumptuous musical won Best Picture and is a treat for the eyes and ears.

    Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)-Recently widowed Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn) and her son Tommy leave their New Mexico town so that Alice can try her luck as a singer in California. In Arizona they find themselves short on funds and she takes a job in a small diner until they build up their resources again. But when she meets handsome rancher David (Kris Kristofferson) it looks like she might be making a new start of a different kind. Directed by Martin Scorsese this won Ellen Burstyn a Best Actress Oscar.

    Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)-Freshly divorced and in a purple funk from which she seems unable to extricate herself writer Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) is gifted by her newly pregnant friend Patti (Sandra Oh) with a tour of Italy that Patti can’t take. Passing through Tuscany Frances impulsively buys a somewhat distressed villa and sets about rebuilding her life with the help of the colorful locales and a new romance. Charming and well-acted with breathtaking vistas you’ll want to jump the next flight to Tuscany when it’s over.

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    1. I think Lawrence was better in Silver Linings then she was in Winter's Bone. I could barely understand her in the latter because she mumbled so much.

      I haven't seen any of your picks, but a few I've seen elsewhere today too so apparently they're good.

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  3. For a Good Time, Call... is a totally underrated movie

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  4. Have only seen Silver Linings but I liked it so I really need to see the other ones too. I went completely off the books with this week's theme... hihihi. :D :D

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    1. I liked your twist on it. You definitely need to see the other two, they're so fun.

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  5. I only saw the first two but I really liked them. I cannot stand JLaw but she was not terrible in SLP. Waaay too young for the role tho

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    1. I've grown used to her in it, so I think it works. I think you'd get a kick out of For A Good Time, Call personally. It's fun.

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  6. I've only seen Silver Linings Playbook which I do like though I think J-Law's performance was overrated at times and she was too young for the role. Anne Hathaway seemed much more appropriate for the role but she ended up doing Les Miserables which I can't complain about.

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    1. Hathaway was perfect in Les Mis so I'm glad she went that route. Even if she made me cry lol

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  7. I’ve only seen Silver Lining which was good but I wasn’t amazed by it. Your 3rd pick sounds like it would be fun to watch

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  8. I really like Silver Linings Playbook too, glad to know I'm not alone in this 😂

    I haven't seen the other two movies, but I think I'd like Ingrid Goes West and For a Good Time, Call has always sounded fun to me.

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  9. I almost picked Silver Linings Playbook this week. I love that movie, especially Bradley Cooper. I wish that I LOVED JLaw in it, but I just like her a lot. It's an incredibly charismatic, sly performance, if not a great one.

    I liked Ingrid Goes West but wish it was meaner. Elizabeth Olsen is PERFECT in it, and I really like O'Shea Jackson as Ingrid's love interest, too.

    I still haven't seen For A Good Time, Call but I have to because I LOVE Ari Graynor.

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    1. Ari is hilarious in it too! I think you'd like it.

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  10. I feel like I must have seen #3...some movies are so hard to place in the old memory trap.

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  11. Silver Linings Playbook - I like it a little bit more on the second watch, but not that much. It also just seems like Jennifer Lawrence's character is suppose to be a lot older than she is.

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    1. I thought her age worked in that. American Hustle was the bigger question mark for me.

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