Way back there was some discussion of folks favorite books, and somebody said that we should do films. In the interest of kicking that discussion off, I am going to share a list.
Early this year, I started a little project among family members to share a list of movies (suggested number was ten) that you think the others might not have seen. Not your all-time favorites. Not even those you consider the "best" of the last couple of years. Something enough off-beat, and unpublicized, that most folks might be oblivious to it. Oldies permitted, but the emphasis was on resonably current.
I got quite a collection, over time. Here is my original ten:
Steve's List (Those marked with a ** are DVD's I own, and can loan out)
1. Strangers in Good Company - a film by Cynthia Scott
May be hard to find but this is an excellent, and very unusual film. Here is the way the website Rotten Tomatoes summarizes it:
This Canadian drama from director Cynthia Scott centers on eight elderly women strangers who find themselves depending on each other and becoming fast friends when they're suddenly stranded in the rural countryside. Traveling through a largely uninhabited area, the ladies' bus breaks down and, as they await help, they are forced to fend for themselves. Finding refuge in a rustic and empty farmhouse, the women begin talking and eventually share many of their life experiences and memories with each other, forming an indelible bond. In an attempt to create an air of reality and spontaneity, Scott used a nonprofessional cast and encouraged improvised dialogue.
2. A Late Quartet **
Great cast: Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Mark Ivanir (who had never seen or heard of before but is terrific) & a startling young girl with the improbable name of Imogen Poots.
I won't describe the story. Better to let it unfold on you. The bonus is wonderful Classical string music throughout the film.
3. The Man in the Moon
It's a story about sisters. IMDB lists the stars as Sam Waterston and Tess Harper, who play the parents. But the movie is totally stolen by Reese Witherspoon, who was barely fourteen when she made it.
4. Love & Other Drugs **
A good bit of sex, but it's good sex. And there is, at heart, a very sweet story. Anne Hathaway is really great, and she will make you cry. If not, we can watch it together and you can watch me cry. Jake Gyllenhaal fills his role nicely.
5. The Reivers **
An oldie (1969). As old as some of the people on this mailing list. It is the movie version of a novel by William Faulkner, and he collaborated on the screenplay. Turn-of-the-Century (not the most recent one) Mississippi, when automobiles were a brand new marvel. Steve McQueen in a very different kind of role; and a really good young kid.
6. Warlock **
Gotta have a Western, right? Don't worry, it's not about male witches. That's the name of the town.This is an oldie, with Henry Fonda in the lead, and Anthony Quinn, Dorothy Malone, Richard Widmark. Watch it just to hear Marshall Clay Blaisdell say, “Don't make me have to kill you, boys.”
7. Bride & Prejudice **
Another retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice but with an interesting twist as it is done entirely in the Bollywood film style of India. This film is directed by Gurinder Chadha who did the very excellent Bend It Like Beckham. It helps if you have some familiarity with the conventions of Indian cinema: 1) Nobody quite kisses; and 2) There is no open wooing. When real romancing would begin in an American film, a dance will break out that takes the form of a back-and-forth challenge, like the dance hall face-off in West Side Story. Except here it is the women against the men instead of Sharks vs Jets.
The bonus is that it stars the most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Rai.
8. Le Mans **
Another oldie, and a Steve McQueen-er. This is his homage to big-time Formula 1 sports car racing, and it is all about the racing, on the track and behind the scenes. There is a little non-romance, “Are you doing okay?” kind of thing with the very beautiful Elga Andersen as the widow of recently deceased driver. But nothing gets in the way of the grit and tension of “The Twenty-four Hours of Le Mans.”
9. The Iron Giant **
Gotta have at least one animated film, right? Directed by Brad Bird, this 1999 film feels like a real throwback in light of all the innovations in computer animation. It is a noble and touching story about which I will disclose rien, nada, bupkis . Among the voices are Harry Connick, Jr. and a very young Jennifer Aniston.
10. Happythankyoumoreplease
A true Indie film by Josh Radnor (writer, director, star) with lots of other good people in it: Mailn Ackerman, Kate Mara, Tony Hale, a terrific kid named Michael Algieri. This is several good story lines running parallel to one another, intersecting, over-running one another, colliding. Terrific film!
CHIEF 
swept away several people not far from here...
Nelson, Ditto for your list. I guess you loved "Doubt" with the late PSH and Streep. 
