Mother’s Day: Movies and DVDs [Recommendations!]

Over the last year, my mom grew increasingly unhappy about primetime TV…

…so I started buying her second-hand DVDs on Amazon. Since last summer, we came up with a small movie collection.

For years, her favorite movies dealt with personal / family issues, loss, new friendships and fierce, strong women. In the past, she has loved movies like…

Dogville [Link: imdb, 8.0]
Rachel’s getting married [Link: imdb, 6.8]
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [Link: imdb, 8.1]
The English Patient [Link: imdb, 7.3]
Talk to her / Sprich mit ihr [Link: imdb, 8.0]

Now, with Mother’s Day coming up, I give you a quick run through these DVDs: The ones that she enjoyed. The ones she didn’t like. And the ones she postponed.

‚too dark‘ / ‚too violent‘:

Clint Eastwood: Mystic River [Link: imdb, 8.0]

David Cronenberg: A History of Violence [Link: imdb, 7.6]

banal / disappointing:

Jason Reitman: Up in the Air [Link: imdb, 7.6]

Jason Reitman: Thank you for Smoking [Link: imdb, 7.7]

okay – but not great:

Joe Wright: Atonement [Link: imdb, 7.8]

Fatih Akin: The Edge of Heaven / Auf der anderen Seite [Link: imdb, 7.8]

competent, likeable… good!

Alexander Payne: Sideways [Link: imdb, 7.7]

John Curran: The Painted Veil / Der bunte Schleier [Link: imdb, 7.5]

Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh: The Anniversary Party / Beziehungen und andere Katastrophen [Link: imdb, 6.3]

Joachim Trier: Auf Anfang (Reprise) [Link: imdb, 7.3]

Brad Silberling: Moonlight Mile [Link: imdb, 6.7]

Thomas McCarthy: Ein Sommer in New York – The Visitor [Link: imdb, 7.7]

high score! movies that my mom LOVED:

Woody Allen: Match Point [Link: imdb, 7.8]

Philippe Claudel: I’ve loved you so long / So viele Jahre liebe ich dich [Link: imdb, 7.6]

Atom Egoyan: The Sweet Hereafter / Das süße Jenseits [Link: imdb, 7.8]

Frank Capra: It’s a wonderful Life / Ist das Leben nicht schön? [Link: imdb, 8.7]

David Fincher: Benjamin Button [Link: imdb, 7.9]

Lisa Chodolenko: The Kids are all right [Link: imdb, 7.2]

DVDs she has had for a while, but never opened/watched:

Stephen Daldry: The Hours [Link: imdb, 7.5]

Sofia Coppola: Lost in Translation [Link: imdb, 7.8]

Ang Lee: The Ice Storm / Der Eissturm [Link: imdb, 7.5]

Ang Lee: Brokeback Mountain [Link: imdb, 7.7]

Hans Canosa: Conversations with other Women [Link: imdb, 6.9]

recent DVDs she hasn’t opened / seen yet:

Todd Field: Little Children [Link: imdb, 7.7]

Tom Hooper: The King’s Speech [Link: imdb, 8.2]

Lone Scherfig: Italienisch für Anfänger [Link: imdb, 7.2; the DVD arrived defective. I’ll order a secoond copy soon. I’m pretty sure that she’ll love the movie!]

Horatiu Malaele: Nunta Muta / Stille Hochzeit [Link: imdb, 7.6]

Jae-Young Kwak: My Sassy Girl [Link: imdb, 8.1]

Clint Eastwood: Changeling / Der fremde Sohn [Link: imdb, 7.9]

Vadim Perelman: House of Sand and Fog / Haus aus Sand und Nebel [Link: imdb, 7.7]

Jean-Pierre Jeunet: A very long Engagement / Mathilde – eine große Liebe [Link: imdb, 7.8]

Todd Haynes: Far from Heaven / Dem Himmel so fern [Link: imdb, 7.5]

Mike Binder: Reign over me / Die Liebe in mir [Link: imdb, 7.6]

Joe Johnston: October Sky [Link: imdb, 7.7]

Tassis Boulmetis: A Touch of Spice / Zimt und Koriander [Link: imdb, 7.4]

Brad McGann: In my Father’s Den / Als das Meer verschwand [Link: imdb, 7.6]

Woody Allen: Vicky Cristina Barcelona [Link: imdb, 7.2]

Pedro Almodóvar: All about my Mother [Link: imdb, 7.9]