Teen Witches Try to Avert Vacation Disaster in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie

I haven’t really kept up with the hit tween shows on the Disney channel, but when the Wizards of Waverly Place movie surfaced as an instant viewing option on Netflix, I decided to give it a whirl. I figured I was in for something family-friendly and relentlessly cheesy, and that’s pretty much what I got. I wouldn’t call this movie, written by Todd Greenwald and Daniel Berendsen and directed by Lev Spiro, a theatrical quality film, but it’s a fairly entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.

The Russos are an unusual family. Dad (David DeLuise) is a wizard who gave up his powers to marry the love of his life, a mortal (Maria Canals-Barrera). The kids inherited their father’s abilities but are in the process of honing them. When the family takes a sunny island vacation, the kids are supposed to leave the magic at home, but that does not end up happening. Instead, they need to use all their ingenuity and magical ability to counteract the effects of a wish inadvertently made by snotty teenager Alex (Selena Gomez). In a fit of aggravation with her mother, she wishes her parents had never met, and the wish actually works, leaving her and her brothers – responsible Justin (David Henrie), the golden boy of the family, and young goofball Max (Jake T. Austen) – scrambling to repair the damage.

While Max focuses, Back to the Future-style, on trying to bring his parents together, Justin and Alex put aside their differences to team up on a cross-island quest to secure the magical object needed to unwish that fateful wish before all three siblings disappear. It’s fun to see the differences in the parents’ personalities; both seem a lot more free-spirited as unattached adults, and laid-back Dad is particularly entertaining. I’m sure that the contrast would be even more amusing to someone who watches the show regularly.

The most engaging part of the movie is Alex and Justin’s quest, which has many of the elements of an Indiana Jones movie. They must battle their way through secret codes, dangerous precipices, the inevitable rope bridge over a chasm and, naturally, a creepy cave full of perilous secrets. There’s ample adventure here, and the new sense of closeness that Justin and Alex develop in the process is touching. That brother-sister relationship is the most compelling element of the movie for me.

Of course, there’s plenty of slapstick, and many of the effects are pretty goofy-looking. Some characters are there almost entirely for comic relief. That’s particularly true of Archie (Steve Valentine), a street magician who is after the same enchanted object as Alex because he hopes to restore his parrot to her rightful form as a beautiful woman. He’s a rival, then, but never a very alarming one, and his antics are amusing in a broadly comical way. Most of the dialogue is pretty cheesy, so that may bring laughs whether they were intended or not. Same goes for the special effects.

Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie is a fairly nonsensical movie, but it’s also a nice celebration of family, and the lush island setting makes it more appealing. While most adults will probably roll their eyes a bit, this is a fairly fun flick for the target audience.

Michael J. Fox Takes a Major Detour in Doc Hollywood

The first man I ever had a crush on was Michael J. Fox. When I was a kindergartener, I never tired of watching him on Family Ties – with a very goofy expression on my face, I’m afraid. By the time I dove into the Back to the Future franchise a few years later, my enthusiasm had dimmed to a more respectable level, but I’ve always enjoyed Fox’s performances, so I’m surprised I never saw Doc Hollywood until this year.

In this 1991 movie based on the book by Neil Shulman and directed by Michael Caton-Jones, Fox plays Dr. Benjamin Stone, a hotshot physician on his way to L.A. to begin a promising career as a plastic surgeon. After he takes a wrong turn, Benjamin wipes out on the highway, landing in the sleepy town of Grady. His car’s a shambles, and so is the picket fence that the judge built with his own two hands. While he waits to regain his wheels, Benjamin must serve the sentence the judge hands down to him: 32 hours working as a doctor in the town’s clinic.

What this movie reminded me of right off the bat was Cars, the Pixar film about a self-absorbed racecar who blunders into a small town, makes a mess and, in the process of cleaning it up, learns the value of a simple life and genuine friendships. It’s pretty clear from the beginning that this movie has the same general arc. Benjamin doesn’t think much of Grady at first. However, as he treats its residents, he gradually comes to feel real affection for them – and especially for Lou (Julie Warner), a strong-willed single mother who drives the town ambulance.

The romantic storyline is fairly sweet, a typical tale of two seemingly very different people learning that they actually have more common ground than they realized. It’s made more entertaining by the presence of a large pig that gets passed around town as payment for various services rendered and ultimately helps Benjamin win the approval of Lou’s young daughter. Woody Harrelson’s turn as the not-as-dopey-as-he-seems Hank Gordon, who has his own romantic designs on Lou, is fun as well.

However, it’s the town as a whole that really serves as the movie’s heart. While Benjamin falls in love with Lou, he also becomes enamored of the way Grady’s residents live. It’s funny to see David Ogden Stiers, usually so uppity, as Nick Nicholson, the folksy mayor of Grady. Yes, he is in a leadership position, but he is very much a down-home kind of guy and the chief proponent of the town’s charms. While others extend a temporary welcome, it’s plain that Nick would be happy to have Benjamin stay. Less gracious is Dr. Hogue (Barnard Hughes), the cantankerous physician currently serving all of the town’s residents on his own.

From the surly nurse to the humble, illiterate family whose letters from a long-winded relative become a favorite entertainment, the people of Grady gradually open their hearts to the doctor, and he does the same as kindly widows push food upon him and the mayor entreats him to at least stay for the town’s big festival. Benjamin is starting to feel at home, but his destiny lies on the opposite coast on the sunny streets of Los Angeles. Or does it?

While there is some profanity, as well as a bit of nudity that surprised me but helps establish the remote setting, it’s generally a pretty mild PG-13. Hence, I would term this a cute and mostly family-friendly movie about a young man’s deepening sense of community and compassion. I may not swoon for Fox anymore, but Doc Hollywood aptly demonstrates just how charming he can be.

Bullock and Reeves Write Their Way Into Each Other's Hearts in The Lake House

I’d heard some pretty tepid reviews of The Lake House, the 2006 Sandra Bullock-Keanu Reeves romance about two people engaged in a most unconventional epistolary relationship, so it wasn’t a movie I’d been dying to see. However, I love movies in which letter-writing plays a prominent part, so I finally decided to give it a shot.

Directed by Alejandro Agresti and based on the Korean movie Siworae, the film focuses on Kate Forster (Bullock), a kind doctor, and Alex Wyler (Reeves), a business-minded architect. When she departs from the lake house where she has been living, she leaves a letter in the mailbox for the home’s next occupant. He reads the letter but is confused by its contents. He puts his response into the mailbox and lifts the flag. Before long another letter appears. It only takes a little experimentation for them to discover the bizarre truth: that he is living in 2004 and she in 2006, and this mailbox is the key to their communication. (Conveniently, he never receives mail from anyone else. Maybe he didn’t tell anyone his address?)

While nobody in the movie actually time travels, the letters do, as do occasional objects, like the scarf Kate sends Alex on the day that she remembers a freak April blizzard will hit. LOST’s Daniel Faraday and Back to the Future’s Doc Brown would never approve the liberties taken with the space-time continuum here, but as long as you accept that there will be a couple of paradoxical points, this is a pretty enjoyable movie. I thought it was a little slow getting started, but once the letter-writing began in earnest, I was sucked in.

Both Kate and Alex have a distinct advantage over the other in this correspondence. Because she lives precisely two years in the future, Kate can give Alex details about things that happened on that day in 2004. (Oddly enough, given his rather materialistic outlook in the beginning, he never suggests that she send him an almanac and give him the opportunity to make a killing betting on sporting events; maybe he saw Back to the Future II and thought better of it!) Alex’s advantage is that he can manipulate past events for her instant gratification. For example, he writes graffiti on a wall downtown to let her know that they were in the same place two years apart.

As their correspondence continues and their regard for each other deepens, a chance encounter brings Alex face to face with Kate. He knows her identity, but she has no idea who he is yet, so this aspect of the movie reminded me a bit of You’ve Got Mail. However, the future Alex isn’t so easy for Kate to track down, and as she despairs of ever meeting Alex in her present, Kate’s giddiness begins to wear off. Is this long-distance relationship little more than a dream?

Earlier this year, I started reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion, so I got a kick out of seeing that book about love deferred taking a prominent role in the story midway through. (Another point of similarity with You’ve Got Mail, which prominently featured Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.) Kate’s description of the novel doesn’t seem like the most accurate summary, but there certainly are thematic connections between the movie and the book, mainly having to do with the idea of waiting a long time to unite with a loved one. More than Persuasion, it reminded me of The Constant, the fan-favorite LOST episode that heavily involves both time travel (of sorts) and patient love. There’s something very sweet in this meeting of the minds, especially on Kate’s end, since she lacks the immediacy of experience that Alex gets when he meets her in his present. She loves Alex without having a clear idea of what he looks or sounds like. But getting their timelines in sync seems impossible.

I generally like Bullock in her movies, and I found her very enjoyable here. Reeves doesn’t usually seem all that engaging to me, and he lacks the warm presence of someone like Tom Hanks, but I mostly liked him too, especially the voiceovers of his letters. Probably about half the movie contains these voiceovers, and Agresti is creative in how he shows the two, so that at times we forget how much actually separates them. They seem as though they could reach out and touch each other. What this really means is that Kate must need to spend an awful lot of time out at the Lake House, which isn’t technically hers any longer, just standing by the mailbox with a pad of paper so the two of them can carry on what amounts to a cumbersome IM session. Most of the letters are quite short; some are only a few words long.

Both Kate and Alex have outside romantic interests, but only just. Kate’s is nice enough, but he’s dull as dishwater and incredibly clingy. It’s obvious in their few scenes together that Kate can’t muster any passion for him. Alex, too, has someone who’s more of a tagalong than a girlfriend, and her possessive and ditsy traits don’t make her very endearing either. Alex and Kate describe themselves to each other as single, which sparked an interesting discussion with my parents. Does that mean that they consider themselves unattached or just unmarried? The movie doesn’t make it entirely clear. My parents were shocked to realize that for me, “single” means “does not have a significant other,” while I was shocked to realize that their definition of “single” even includes people who are engaged. Is it a generational thing, I wonder?

More interesting than the not-really romantic rivals are the parents. Willeke van Ammelrooy is affectionate and slightly exotic as Kate’s mother, who clearly enjoys a very close relationship with her. I loved her emotional openness and her easy acceptance of Kate’s strange situation, and some of my favorite scenes involved their heart-to-heart talks. Alex’s relationship with his father, a famous architect reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright, is more complicated. They haven’t spoken to each other in years, and Christopher Plummer’s largely vitriolic performance makes it easy to see why. Through him, we gain a much keener understanding of what makes Alex tick.

Movies revolving around letters are hard to come by, so I certainly recommend this to those who still value the art of correspondence, though probably the best movie I’ve seen that focuses on good old-fashioned snail mail is the quiet Anthony Hopkins-Anne Bancroft vehicle 84 Charing Cross Road. Still, if letters hold as much magic for you as they do for me, this is one love story on which I will gladly put my stamp of approval.

Doc Brown Tackles Love While Marty Conquers the West in Back to the Future III

I’ve long loved the first two Back to the Future movies, but I never got around to the third until recently. I’d heard from some that it wasn’t quite up to snuff, but I found it an enjoyable romp.

Unlike the dizzying second installment, Back to the Future III is mostly rooted in one time: the Old West. Despite Doc Emmett Brown’s (Christopher Lloyd) explicit instructions to Marty (Michael J. Fox) to destroy the time machine and not attempt to retrieve him from 1885, when the loyal teen finds out that a grisly fate awaits his eccentric friend if he doesn’t intervene, he’s compelled to hop in the time machine yet again.

In some ways, the movie is very repetitive, but then so was the second. The fun is in seeing how essentially the exact same scene can be transplanted into another time. Naturally, Biff’s surly ancestor Mad Dog (Thomas F. Wilson) is at the heart of much of the trouble. I barely recognized Wilson under his accent and outlaw get-up, though his basic mannerisms are pretty similar. Other familiar faces pop up in distant past too. I’m most amused by Marty’s principal showing up as the sheriff.

Fox doubles as his great-great grandfather, fresh-off-the-boat Seamus, which makes Lea Thompson’s presence as Marty’s great-great grandmother even more eyebrow-raising. It’s weird to see Marty’s 100-years-older twin married to a dead ringer for Marty’s mother – and why does his paternal great-great grandmother look like his mother, anyway? But it’s more fun to keep recycling the same actors, and Thompson’s phony accent annoys me less than her voice in the other installments.

This movie really isn’t about Marty, though, aside from his finally learning how to back down from a pointless challenge. Mostly, it’s about Doc falling head over heels for brainy schoolteacher Clara (Mary Steenburgen). Lloyd isn’t your typical romantic lead, and certainly not in this role, but even though Doc had always considered himself too logical and scientifically-minded to get caught up in romance, once the bug bites him, he’s as smitten as a schoolboy, and he and Clara make quite the charming couple even though the character must be about twice her age.

It’s fun for us to see Doc in this unexpected situation. Not so fun for Marty, who’s got one great shot at getting the time machine running again. If he fails, he’s likely to be stuck in the 1800s forever, so this is not a great time for Doc to be distracted.

This third installment is entertaining, with fun nods at the previous movies – like Doc and Marty using each other’s catchphrases – and at the western genre. Marty particularly has fun appropriating the name Clint Eastwood.

I don’t know why it took me so long to get there, but Back to the Future III is a journey to the past that I’d gladly take again.

Marty and Doc Navigate the Future and the Past in Back to the Future II

It has recently occurred to me that my movie viewing in my childhood was pretty mixed up. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was introduced to no fewer than five classic series with the second installment. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Ghostbusters II. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And the one that got me thinking about it in the first place, Back to the Future II. I guess the second installments all made their way to video just as I was old enough to start immersing myself in movies – and my family was up with the times enough to have a VCR…

At least with Back to the Future II, if you’ve seen the second movie, you’ve sort of seen the first movie too. That’s because much of the first film is embedded in the second as ordinary 80s teen Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) travels back in time with zany scientist Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in order to prevent perpetual antagonist Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) from acting on a tip from his future self that will lead to disaster for Marty, the Doc and the town in general. This segment of the movie is dizzying and confusing, since there are two versions of both Doc and Marty running around and the events from the first movie are being presented from a slightly different perspective. It sure is a lot of fun, though.

Before Marty and the Doc travel back to 1955, they head to 2015 with Marty’s girlfriend in tow, on a mission to prevent a future calamity involving Marty and Jennifer’s lily-livered son (also Fox). While this portion of the movie is independent of the first, several scenes closely mirror those in the first movie. In particular, Marty’s thrilling skateboard chase from the first movie becomes a hoverboard chase in the second, and instead of wowing everybody with his mad skills, Marty is something of a laughingstock. Same goes for his arcade game prowess. There’s nothing hip about him here, and he has to adjust quickly to this new time if he is to have any hope of making a better future for his family.

While the first Back to the Future movie lovingly spoofs both the 1950s and the 1980s, this movie adds another era into the mix, the as-yet-unknown future that now is only four years away. Something tells me that I won’t be able to zoom down the street on a hoverboard by then, but some of the other futuristic innovations don’t really seem too far off. One of the niftiest gadgets in the movie is Marty’s self-drying vest, though I’m not clear on whether that is something of the future or an exclusive invention of the doc’s.

In the first movie, Marty’s main objective is to get his parents to fall in love with each other. Here, we see him in three different time periods, but his ultimate objective is to prevent Biff from acting on the information contained in the almanac that Marty purchased in 2015 and the much older Biff stole, then promptly presented to the teenage Biff after taking the time machine for a joy ride. He has to get the almanac away from Biff, but he can’t stop him from getting it in the first place or the space-time continuum will be compromised. Of the three installments in the series, this is the one that most emphatically demonstrates the dangers of meddling with time travel. As Marty doubles back on his previous adventures, it becomes clear just how complicated maintaining the space-time continuum truly is.

Back to the Future II is basically divided into three segments. Of these, the future portion is the most fun and imaginative, though it contains the most annoying performances. Wilson ramps up the obnoxious factor to play Biff’s hot-headed grandson, and ornery old coot Biff is a bit grating too. We’ve got three different Fox characters all in close proximity to one another; Marty Jr. is even wimpier than George in the first movie, while the older Marty is just depressing. And Fox playing Marty’s daughter is just plain weird. Mostly, though, it’s Lea Thompson’s Lorraine who gets under my skin. I find her voice obnoxious whether she’s a teen, a middle-aged mom or a pushing-80 grandma, and her voice is so wobbly at this stage of her life that I would almost rather listen to the insufferable Olive Oyl from Popeye. Almost.

The alternate 1980s segment reminds me of It’s a Wonderful Life; instead of Pottersville, we’re getting a vision of what Marty’s town would look like if Biff ran the joint. It’s not a very nice place. Dark and oppressive except for the centerpiece of a shiny casino, Biff’s personal den of debauchery, it’s the most nightmarish set in the series, and the movie never allows us to see whether Marty has managed to make everything right again with his 1950s interference. No, for that we have to check out the third movie, and I can’t believe it took me until this year to do that. Rewatching Back to the Future II recently, I was struck by just how much sequel bait is scattered throughout the movie. I didn’t remember this at all, nor did I recall just how much of a cliffhanger the ending was. Clearly, we’re meant to see the last installment as essential to fully appreciating the second.

Director Robert Zemeckis and composer Alan Silvestri, whose stirring, adventurous score feels almost as epic as John Williams’ here, are a fantastic team in this movie, as well as the two that bookend it. All those actors playing multiple characters gets a bit silly, and you can’t scrutinize the time travel too carefully or the logic will start to crumble, but this sure is a fun movie. So what are you waiting for? As Biff would say, “Make like a tree and get outta here” – to the nearest video store so you can get zapped back to this quintessential 80s series.

My Top Ten Movies of the Late '80s ('85-'89)

The late 1980s were some of the most formative years of my life, as I headed off to school for the first time and experienced some major milestones, including gaining a brother and losing a grandfather.  The movies that I saw during these years really stuck with me.  Here are some of my favorites.

Back to the Future (1985) / Back to the Future II (1989) - For some reason, I saw the second installment of this classic Robert Zemeckis trilogy first, so that when I saw the first movie several years later, a lot of the jokes made a lot more sense. Each is much funnier in tandem with the other, but as stand-alones, they're great, too. Michael J. Fox is irresistible as Marty, the teenager who gets propelled backward then forward through time courtesy of Doc Brown, who is played to the eccentric hilt by Christopher Lloyd. Since LOST became preoccupied with time travel, I've been especially getting the urge to go back and watch these two movies, which so humorously examine all of the problems that might arise from such a feat. Extra kudos to Crispin Glover, who is a bundle of neuroses as Marty's wimpy dad, George, and Thomas F. Wilson, who perfectly portrays the brutish, dim-witted Biff Tannen and has forever lodged in my mind the phrase "Why don't you make like a tree and get outta here?"

Anne of Green Gables (1985) / Anne of Avonlea (1987) - These gorgeously filmed adaptations of the first few books in L. M. Montgomery's classic series are two of the first videos we ever owned - or I should say four, as both run well over three hours in length and require two cassettes each. We used to pop them in whenever we had my cousins over for a sleepover, as they made a very comforting backdrop, and if we were still up when the second movie was over, we could really consider ourselves champion night owls. Megan Follows is spectacular in the title role, especially the first time around when she gets to play Anne in her early teenage years to the over-dramatic hilt. But then every character is perfectly cast, from Colleen Dewhurst as stern but kind Marilla and Patricia Hamilton as busybody Rachel to Richard Farnsworth as incurable softie Matthew and Jonathan Crombie as the incredibly patient Gilbert. The first film is extremely faithful to the first book, while the second takes considerable liberties as it combines elements of the second, third and fourth novels. Both make for excellent, high-quality, wholesome viewing, not to mention some of the best advertising Prince Edward Island has ever gotten.

An American Tail (1986) / Land Before Time (1988) - I always think of these two Don Bluth films in association with each other. They came out within a couple of years of each other, and they both concern a young animal who is separated from his family making new friends as he undertakes a dangerous journey in hopes of an eventual reunion. The first features Fievel the mouse and his close-knit family, who happen to be Russian Jews, and it is a full-blown musical, with the earnest duet Somewhere Out There a particular highlight. While American Tail introduces kids to the immigrant experience, Land Before Time gives some background on dinosaurs while presenting a powerful tale of faith and friendship. Too many shoddy sequels followed both of these movies, but the originals remain outstanding.

Flight of the Navigator (1986) - Another time travel movie, this one about a boy who finds himself the navigator of a snarky ship carting dozens of aliens across the universe. Young David only jumps ahead eight years, but he's surprised to discover how many things have changed. There's an element of poking fun at the decade in this fun fantasy that is mostly about the unlikely bond that develops between the boy and the sentient spaceship voiced by Paul Reubens. It's been too long since I've seen it, but when I was a kid, I absolutely loved it.

Great Mouse Detective (1986) / The Little Mermaid (1989) - The former was the first movie I remember seeing in the theater. It's a little dark for Disney, focusing on a kidnapped inventor and a plot against the queen of England by a diabolical villain by the name of Ratigan. But I love this very English tale of about Basil, an arrogant detective, and Dawson, his faithful assistant, doing their best to avert a disaster for the sake of sweet young Olivia, the inventor's daughter. Most of the characters in this are rodents or other scuttling creatures, while The Little Mermaid features an array of aquatic characters and some incredibly catchy songs. Disney's twist on the Hans Christian Andersen tale is more upbeat and includes plenty of amusing sidekicks, most notably the world-weary Caribbean crab Sebastian, advisor to the quick-tempered but affectionate King Triton. I wasn't sure how much I'd like this one when it came out, but once I saw it I quickly became obsessed with it. Both are great examples of the magic of Disney in some of its most exceptional years.

Karate Kid II (1986) - When we were growing up, my brothers and I all took karate at one point, as did my dad. I suspect that a lot of folks did that in the '80s after cheering on Daniel, the east coast teen who moves to California with his mom and gets over his fish-out-of-water blues by striking up a friendship with his elderly neighbor, karate expert Mr. Miyagi. I love the movies, particularly because of Mr. Miyagi, who is such a wise and funny character. The second film is my favorite of the trilogy because it focuses primarily on him, delving into his past and using his example to teach Daniel and the audience a powerful lesson on the value of mercy and redemption. It also includes my favorite of Daniel's three girlfriends, whose relationship with him unfolds on screen with some help from a montage backed by The Glory of Love, perhaps the ultimate '80s power ballad.

Short Circuit (1986) - I've always had a soft spot for robots, whether it's Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation or R2-D2 and C-3PO in Star Wars, but Johnny Five may just be may favorite robot of all. The first time my family watched this movie, I was in the other room reading, and the sounds of laughter drew me to the television within minutes. It wasn't long before I was laughing too: at the malapropisms spewed by Fisher Stevens' perpetually befuddled foreigner Ben; at the lovable robot's inappropriate behavior as he insatiably seeks more input; at the incredulity of adorable Steve Gutenberg's Newton Crosby as he comes to accept that his creation has actually come to life. This incredibly quotable movie is one of the most hilarious I've ever seen, and it has moments of real tenderness as well. It introduced me to several terrific actors, and may it well have even sparked my fondness for Dr Pepper, which has long been my beverage of choice.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) - Easily the most accessible of the Star Trek movies, this fourth installment is also by far the funniest, though the stakes are higher here than in any other. The fate of the entire planet is at stake, so it's up to the crew of the Enterprise to save world by going back in time and fetching a couple of humpback whales. Like Back to the Future, this movie toys around with the absurdity of time travel, but it saves most of its energy to skewer '80s culture while making our heroes look like a bunch of buffoons as they try to navigate it. Among the highlights are Kirk and Spock's disastrous trip to the aquarium and the conversation in the car that follows it; Scotty's attempt to interact with a primitive computer; and a hospital escapade that involves high speed, heaps of deception and an instant kidney. All that, plus a lesson in environmental consciousness makes this the only original Trek film that rivals The Wrath of Khan.

The Princess Bride (1987) - Every year at Christmas, we watch this with my dad's side of the family, laughing late into the night over jokes we've all heard dozens of times before, dialogue we've had memorized for a couple of decades. This movie has everything: fantasy, adventure, romance... Most of all, it has humor. Every other line is a quotable classic, impeccably delivered by a top-notch cast. Burly, lovable Fezzik (Andre the Giant), Spanish, revenge-driven Inigo (Mandy Patinkin) and short, demeaning Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) are particularly memorable among a host of entertaining characters. The decision to frame the story with scenes of a grandfather reading the book to his cynical grandson is the icing on the cake in this film that perfectly blends so many elements to create a masterpiece I will never get tired of watching.

Dead Poets' Society (1989) - I remember hearing about this movie when it came out, but it's the only one of the bunch I didn't see until many years later. We watched this in my eleventh grade English class, which was led by an unconventional teacher not so different from the man Robin Williams portrays. This film has a darker tone to it than anything else on this list, but it is inspirational in many ways, demonstrating the power that literature and an involved teacher can have in one's life. It also shows the danger of trying to exert too much control over one's children as they reach adulthood. One of Williams' finest performances, and my introduction to the terrific Robert Sean Leonard.