iRate: 15 films to watch during your self-quarantine

By JASON GUYER
Struggling to keep the time passing? Boredom can set in very easily in times like these. I know it has for me.

Over the last few weeks I have shed some light on films that are accessible over the top three streaming services. This week, I wanted to provide a list of films that have received less attention over the years, but where recognition is deserved.

Deep dives, if you will.

Some of these are older and have — at least to me — been lost to the attention span. Other films are just lesser known or have gone under the radar.

Random lists of nature are going to leave out far too many films. But this is not a “best-of-style” list. Instead, this list is one of films that I believe many would enjoy if they took the time to find and see them.

All this can be done at home, of course. I hope these will help pass the time and they will be enjoyed.

Here are my Top 15 Deep Dives:

1. His Girl Friday — Newspaper editor Walter Burns discovers that his ex-wife, reporter Hildy Johnson, has gotten engaged to insurance agent Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), Burns tries to lure her away with a story about the impending execution of convicted murderer Earl Williams. Hildy discovers Williams may be innocent and her reporter instincts take over.

2. Runaway Train — Philosophical action thriller about two escaped prisoners who hide on board a train speeding through Alaska. When the train’s driver suffers a fatal heart attack and the train races out of control through the icy wilderness. The train’s passengers look set to face disaster.

3. The Last Picture Show — Sonny and Duane are high school seniors living in a dying Texas town. Duane is dating local beauty, Jacy , while Sonny is having an affair with the coach’s wife, Ruth. As graduation nears, both boys contemplate their futures.

4. Clueless — Rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school’s pecking order. Cher sees herself as a matchmaker and coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-step brother was right about how misguided she was and falls for him.

5. The Birdcage — Engaged couple Val Goldman and Barbara Keeley shakily introduce their future in-laws. Val’s father, Armand, a gay Miami drag club owner, pretends to be straight and attempts to hide his relationship with Albert , his life partner and the club’s flamboyant star attraction, so as to please Barbara’s father, controversial Republican Sen. Kevin Keeley.

6. Double Indemnity — Insurance salesman Walter Neff gets roped into a murderous plot when he falls for the sensual Phyllis Dietrichson , who is intent on killing her husband and living off the fraudulent accidental death claim.

7. Lost in Translation — Lonely movie star named Bob Harris and a conflicted newlywed, Charlotte , meet in Tokyo. Bob is there to film a Japanese whiskey commercial; Charlotte is accompanying her celebrity-photographer husband. The two strangers find escape, distraction and understanding in Tokyo.

8. The Hate You Give — Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds. The poor and mostly black neighborhood where she lives and the wealthy but mostly white prep school that she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is soon shattered when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer.

9. City Lights — A hapless but resilient tramp falls in love with a blind flower girl on the tough city streets. Upon learning that she and her grandmother are to be evicted from their home, the tramp undertakes a series of attempts to provide them with the money they need, all of which end in humiliating failure.

10. Three Amigos — Three cowboy movie stars from the silent era,Dusty Bottoms, Lucky Day and Ned Nederlander are fired when one of their movies bombs. Then young Mexican woman Carmen offers them a high-paying gig in her village. Expecting to do their typical act, the trio quickly find that Carmen believes they are really heroes and asks them to rid her village of bad guy El Guapo.

11. Hunt for the Wilderpeople — A boy and his foster father become the subjects of a manhunt after they get stranded in the New Zealand wilderness.

12. Stagecoach — An alcoholic philosophizer , a lady of ill repute and a timid liquor salesman) are among the motley crew of travelers who must contend with an escaped outlaw, the Ringo Kid as passengers aboard the Overland stagecoach bound for Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the 1880s.

13. Idiocracy — Joe Bowers is selected to take part in a secret military experiment to put him in hibernation for a year along with a woman named Rita . When the slumbering duo are forgotten when the base is closed down, they are left in stasis until 2505. When they finally wake up, they discover the average intelligence of humans has decreased so much that Joe is now the smartest man in the world.

14. Daughters of the Dust — A family in the Gullah community of coastal South Carolina, former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors’ Yoruba traditions, suffers a generational split. Young Haagar wants to move to the mainland away from tradition-bound matriarch Nana.

15. Leave No Trace — A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in a Forest Park near Portland, Oregon. The pair rarely make contact with the world. When a small mistake tips off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

Jason Guyer is an avid moviegoer and works in the graphics department at the Eagle Times. For questions or comments he can be emailed at [email protected].