By Murphy Obershaw, A&E Editor
COVID has limited some of the activities people do for fun, but it can’t limit their Netflix consumption.
With people staying home more these days, there is a greater chance that they will pull out their tablets or pick up their remotes and watch a movie or TV show. Even though streaming services give people a wide variety of options, it can still be hard to find something really good. If you are looking for suggestions on what to watch, here are four movies that are well worth your time.
“Rip Tide”
“Rip Tide” is about an 18-year-old model named Cora who decides to visit her Aunt Margot in Australia. Cora uses this trip as a break from her life back in New York after her mental breakdown gets captured on camera by the paparazzi.
This movie deals with two relatable struggles. Cora’s struggle against who she wants to be and who people expect her to be is something that many people, not just new graduates, deal with. Margot also struggles with grief and moving on after her husband’s death.
Both women try to heal, but their road to healing is messy, which makes the movie seem more real.
This movie focuses on telling a story and does not have a lot of sexual content or crude behavior added to it. It’s hard to find movies like that these days.
“Dumplin’ ”
This movie is about Willowdean, an overweight high school student whose mother is still wrapped up in beauty pageant culture. Will is painfully aware that she doesn’t belong in her mother’s world but decides to enter a pageant in protest. A few others who don’t fit the image of a stereotypical pageant girl join her.
It’s really cool to see how these girls get their acts together to participate in the pageant. They may not seem like average pageant girls, but they are able to bring their own flair to what they do.
It’s good to see a movie where people who may not think of themselves as beautiful put themselves out there to show everyone that they are. The movie does a good job of asserting that, regardless of what you look like or weigh, you can be beautiful and loved.
“The Secret World of Arrietty”
This Studio Ghibli film is about a family of Borrowers, little people who live under the floors of human homes and borrow the items they need to survive. Arrietty, the daughter of this family of Borrowers, is discovered by a human boy named Shawn, who wants to become her friend.
This is a wholesome movie, but it does deal with serious issues. Living the life of a Borrower is dangerous because they could be discovered or hurt by something bigger than them, but Arrietty doesn’t let these fears control her life. Shawn battles a heart condition, but he is at peace with it and is willing to accept whatever happens to him.
Both Arrietty and Shawn have their problems, but they keep moving on and still have moments where they enjoy their lives.
Shawn even says that being around Arrietty has been a good thing for his heart.
“My heart is stronger now because you're in it,” he said.
The cast for the original English dubbing is stacked with stars such as Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler and Will Arnet. Sometimes when there are easily recognizable people voicing the characters in a movie, it can be distracting because you imagine the person every time you hear their voice. However, this is not really a problem in this movie. The only character whose voice is very identifiable is Hara’s, a character voiced by Carol Burnett, but this will probably not bother a lot of people since Burnett was more of a household name in the ’70s and ’80s.
“Bad Hair Day”
This Disney Channel movie is about prom queen candidate Monica, who wakes up on the morning of prom with her hair, dress and shoes all destroyed. She makes a deal with a cop named Liz to help her find a missing necklace if she helps Monica get ready for prom.
This movie sounds lame, but it is actually really good. It does have the vibe of a Disney Channel movie, but it is not corny and how things work out in the end is not exactly how one would expect it.
Throughout the movie, these ladies continually find themselves in more trouble, but they also have creative ways of solving their problems. Through Liz’s presence, Monica experiences what it’s like to have a mother and vice versa, but it’s not in a sappy way. They bicker and get upset at each other, but they appreciate that the other was there to tell them the hurtful truth or show them a new way of doing things.
The movie has the theme of “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but it actually goes deep into who someone is and why they do the things that they do. The movie does this instead of just saying someone is more than they seem because they are pretty and smart.
PHOTO: Murphy Obershaw, A&E Editor
