Staff Picks
Just One Person's Hoopla Watchlist
- Allison T.
- Monday, April 13, 2020
Collection
I love to make lists of things to watch after I've read a good review or seen a performance by an actor or work by a director that I enjoyed. These are films that caught my eye and made it on my Hoopla list. Hope you find something to add to your list to watch that you didn't know about before!
99 Homes
Published in 2015
A timely thriller about a single father who is evicted from his home and his only chance to win it back is to go to work for the charismatic and ruthless businessman who evicted him in the first place.
Adventureland
Published in 2009
When James Brennan has to cancel his dream summer vacation and make some money for grad school, the only job he can get is at Adventureland, a tacky amusement park where the games are rigged and the rides make you hurl. But it's where he meets Em, and his rollercoaster ride to nowhere turns into the best summer ever.
Afternoon Delight
Published in 2013
In this sexy, dark comedy, a Silver Lake mom puts her idyllic life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny.
Between Us
Published in 2013
Two couples reunite over two incendiary evenings where anything can happen in this darkly comedic drama of best friends, marriage, love, disappointment and dreams.
Broken English
Published in 2007
Nora Wilder, a thirty-something Manhattanite plugging away at her job, can't help but wonder what it is she has to do to find a relationship. After a series of disastrous first dates she meets Julien, a quirky Frenchman with a passion for living.
Detachment
Published in 2012
Adrien Brody (in his most acclaimed performance since THE PIANIST), Marcia Gay Harden & Christina Hendricks star in this award-winning drama about teachers and students in a troubled high school. From the director of AMERICAN HISTORY X.
Drinking Buddies
Published in 2013
Luke and Kate are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They're perfect for each other, except that they're both in relationships. Luke is in the midst of marriage talks with his girlfriend of six years, and Kate is playing it cool with her music producer boyfriend Chris. But you know what makes the line between "friends" and "more than friends" really blurry? Beer.
Ernest & Celestine
Published in 2012
Academy Award Nominee (Best Animated Feature) and featuring the voices of Forest Whitaker, Mackenzie Foy, and more! Deep below cobblestone streets, tucked away in winding tunnels, lives a civilization of hardworking mice, terrified of the bears who live above ground. Unlike her fellow mice, Celestine is an artist and a dreamer - and when she nearly ends up as breakfast for ursine troubadour Ernest, the two form an unlikely bond of friendship.
Everybody's Fine
Published in 2009
When Frank Goode's grown children cancel a family reunion, the recent widower sets off on a cross-country journey to reconnect with each of them, but his surprise visits reveal a picture that's far from perfect.
For Ellen
Published in 2012
A powerful performance from Paul Dano (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, THERE WILL BE BLOOD) as a burgeoning rock star wrestling with the prospect of losing custody of his young daughter. With Jon Heder (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE).
God Bless America
Published in 2012
Frank (Joel Murray) has had enough of the downward spiral of American culture. Divorced, recently fired, and possibly terminally ill, Frank feels he has nothing left to live for. However, instead of taking his own life, he embarks on a killing spree with cohort Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr), who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement, and together they launch a nation-wide assault on the country's dumbest, most irritating celebrities.
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T
Published in 1993
A spirited Brooklyn teenager copes with life in the projects, sustained by her fierce desire to go to college and become a doctor. Just Another Girl On The I.R.T is a sharp, sassy blend of comedy and drama in the tradition of Spike Lee, that speaks with a fresh voice all its own.
Keep the Lights on
Published in 2012
Keep the Lights On chronicles an emotionally and sexually charged journey of two men in New York City through love, friendship, and addiction.
Keyhole
Published in 2012
In a house haunted with memories, gangster and father Ulysses Pick (Jason Patric), arriving home after a long absence, must journey through the house, room by room, to reach his wife Hyacinth (Isabella Rossellini) in her bedroom upstairs.
Learning to Drive
Published in 2015
Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley star in this coming of (middle) age comedy about a mismatched duo who help each other overcome life's road blocks.
Lovely, Still
Published in 2010
Lonely in life and love, Robert Malone returns home from his job at the grocery store to discover a stranger in his house. What begins as an awkward encounter quickly blossoms into what appears to be a new chance for romance and the elderly couple's love affair takes us on a heartfelt and wonderful journey that reveals an unexpected twist.
Lymelife
Published in 2008
Based on the true childhood experiences of director Derick Martini, Lymelife is the coming of age story of 15-year old Scott growing up in suburban Long Island. While caught up in his first love, Scott watches the relationships of his parents and their neighbors slowly crumble as they try to keep up with the changing times and expectations of the 1970s. Critically acclaimed, Lymelife features a magnificent ensemble cast, with incredible performances that make you laugh and cry along with them.
Mad to Be Normal
Published in 2018
David Tennant of Doctor Who fame stars as 1960's celebrity psychiatrist R.D.Laing who revolutionised the treatment of people diagnosed as 'mad'. Mad To Be Normal reveals the story of R.D. Laing, the famous psychiatrist and one of Scotland's greatest ever minds. Working out of Kingsley Hall in East London throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Laing performed various daring experiments on people who were diagnosed as mentally disturbed. His revolutionary methods involved experimenting with LSD on his patients and practicing a form of self-Ưhealing known as metanoia, causing outrage and controversy in the medical profession and radically changing attitudes and perceptions of mental health around the world.
Madame
Published in 2018
Anne and Bob, a well-to-do American couple, have just moved to a beautiful manor house in romantic Paris. To impress their sophisticated friends, they decide to host a lavish dinner party, but must disguise their maid as a noblewoman to even out the number of guests. When the maid runs off with a wealthy guest, Anne must chase her around Paris to thwart the joyous and unexpected love affair.
Made for Each Other
Published in 1939
Newlyweds, John and Jane Mason, struggle through their first year a marriage, plagued by money problems, illness and a meddlesome live-in mother-in-law. To top it all off, their baby son is dying of pneumonia, and can only be saved by a serum that must be flown from Salt Lake City to New York, when all flights have been grounded by impassable weather conditions. Through all this turmoil, their love never falters, as they were "Made for Each Other."
Mandy
Published in 2018
The quiet life of devoted couple Red (Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough, Birdman) takes a dark and bizarre turn when a nightmarish cult and their maniacal leader (Linus Roache, "Vikings") seek to possess Mandy|body and soul. A shocking assault on the innocent pair leads to a spiraling, surreal, bloody rampage of all out, mind-altering vengeance.
Mozart and the Whale
Published in 2006
Josh Hartnett ("Black Hawk Down") and Radha Mitchell ("Man on Fire") star in this heartwarming love story of two people with Asperger's Syndrome.
Mr. Holmes
Published in 2015
See the world's most famous detective as you've never seen him before. For thirty years, Sherlock Holmes has been haunted by his final case, one that remains unsolved. Now, spurred by a mysterious trip to Japan, Holmes quietly slips out of retirement to confront the ghosts of his past - and a spellbinding mystery that will take all of his deductive powers to solve.
Night Moves
Published in 2012
Night Moves is the story of three radical environmentalists coming together to execute the most intense protest of their lives: the explosion of a hydroelectric dam.
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Published in 2009
After nearly two decades caught under the wing of an aging husband, devoted mother and housewife Pippa Lee undergoes a midlife breakthrough. Unearthing the sexually curious wild child of her teens, Pippa sparks a relationship with a kindred soul. A wry, moving, and complex portrait of the many lives behind a single name
Two Lovers
Published in 2009
After moving back into the home he grew up in to mend a broken heart, Leonard must decide between the woman his parents think would be perfect for him and the gorgeous neighbor he can't get out of his mind.