They’re all highly recommended.
Yes, it’s one of those magical weekends where you can chill out and relax on the couch this Monday. We already told you about some of the great films that are on TV this weekend, but we’re also mining Netflix for some hidden gems.
This week, we’ve got two documentaries, a wonderful dark comedy and an ’80s cult-classic.
The Bad Kids
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100%
Plot: Located in an impoverished Mojave Desert community, Black Rock Continuation High School is one of California’s alternative schools for students at risk of dropping out.
Every student here has fallen so far behind in credits that they have no hope of earning a diploma at a traditional high school. Black Rock is their last chance. This observational documentary chronicles one extraordinary principal’s mission to realize the potential of these students whom the system has deemed lost causes.
The critics said: “There’s both heartbreak and hope in these intertwined tales of people fighting to gain control of their (and others’) lives” – Variety
Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A no-holds barred look at the extraordinary lengths and issues, that people have to deal with to get an education.
Clip via – Movieclips Film Festivals & Indie Films
Hoop Dreams
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 98%
Plot: This documentary about the aspirations of high-school basketball players from inner city Chicago won awards from the Sundance film festival, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Academy Award (Oscar) for best editing.
Two young men are followed during their entire high-school career, beginning with their participation in playground games and ending with their being recruited by colleges. The obstacles these young men face include parental drug addiction, family poverty, and inner-city violence, as well as the usual obstacles that arise in competition, including physical injuries. While each aspires to leave the ghetto, there are many reasons to suppose they may not be able to, despite each beating the odds against them by winning college scholarships.
The critics said: “This is the best type of documentary, giving an intensely personal story you can’t help but become involved in, and also raises fundamental issues about America in the 90s” – Empire
Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A documentary that engages your brain and heart in equal measure. Impossible not to be moved.
Clip via – DocuChick
Faults
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 91%
Plot: Claire is under the grip of a mysterious new cult called Faults. Desperate to be reunited with their daughter, Claire’s parents recruit one of the world’s foremost experts on mind control, Ansel Roth.
The critics said: “The story is simple yet profound in execution. Faults is hypnotic in every sense of the word” – Examiner
Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A dark comedy that takes a few interesting twists and surprises.
Clip via – Reboot Entertainment
The ‘Burbs
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 46% (Huh?!?!)
Plot: Ward and June Cleaver have nothing on suburban couple Ray and Carol Peterson (Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher). Together with their perfect son, Ray and Carol are so clean that they squeak. Thus, when new neighbors Dr. Werner Klopek (Henry Gibson), Uncle Reuben (Brother Theodore), and Hans (Courtney Gains) begin evincing bizarre behavior, Ray is slightly put out. Carol thinks that Ray is getting all worked up over nothing. Ray and his fellow suburbanites endure all sorts of slapstick misadventures in the vain hope of getting “the goods” on the newcomers
The critics said: “One of the most consistently overlooked movies of the 80s.” – Film4
Watch it if you’re in the mood for: A cracked cracked view of suburban life that’s brimming with dark humour.
Clip via – Forever Cinematic Trailers
