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Illustrated by Timothy Chiu

Film Recommendations From The Gazelle

Want a distraction from finals? Check out this list of film recommendations from The Gazelle staff.

Apr 9, 2023

Watch the recommended film trailers here
Tiesta Dangwal, Deputy Features Editor
Recommendation: 3 Idiots
One of the only Bollywood movies that can make you both laugh uncontrollably at some parts and bawl your eyes out at others. The characters are so well-written and executed, you'll fall in love with the main character for sure. Yet, the side characters aren't just plot devices, they have real conversations and real connections with each other and they're so, so relatable. It's a story of three college students but I think absolutely anyone can find something to relate to in 3 Idiots. This movie needs to be on the list of movies to watch before you die for sure.
Abbas Raza, Deputy Copy Chief
Part rom-com and part psychological-thriller, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the most well-crafted love stories that beautifully portrays the rawness and complexity of a relationship gone sour. It's hard to process this film and even harder to move on from it.
Amrita Anand, Copy Chief
Recommendation: Matilda: The Musical
This movie is an incredible adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, the show is known for its clever staging and entrancing musical numbers. The film stays mostly faithful to Dahl’s version, making excellent use of the medium to lean into the whimsy and imagery of the songs both in adapting the more fantastical elements (everyone's dreams in "When I Grow Up", for example) and in altering staging to really bring it all to life (the cafeteria in "Bruce", and the visualizations of Matilda's story). As someone who tends to be quite picky in my taste for adaptations, I find it an utterly charming movie that manages to separate itself from its origins without undermining the stage version in the slightest! 10/10, would rewatch this forever.
Timothy Chiu, Senior Multimedia Editor
Recommendation: The Nice Guys
A hilarious buddy-cop movie featuring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe set in 70’s LA. It's got plenty of bright colorful visuals, spades of comic absurdity, and many high-pitched Ryan Gosling screeches. And did I mention Ryan Gosling? 'Nuff said.
Liyan Mustafa, Features Editor
Recommendation: Parasite
I watched the movie not really knowing what I was getting into, having seen all the Oscars buzz prior to its release in cinemas. I was shocked, and traumatized by this film in the best way possible. Appealing to audiences when there is a language barrier is incredibly difficult, but I was hooked from start to finish without a second of confusion. Everything from the storyline to visuals was impeccable, and whilst I am far from a movie connoisseur, this one was objectively great.
Revathi Angajan, Senior Video Editor
Recommendation: Interstellar
Great intersection between science and film.
Victor Nadu, Features Writer
Recommendation: Nightcrawler
I believe that Nightcrawler is an essential movie to any aspirant hustlers out there. Through the story of Lou Bloom, we see how dedication and passion can ascend us to not only a more abundant life, but also a more impactful and meaningful one.
Sidra Dahhan, Managing Editor
Recommendations: Bandslam and Daisies
Si5dra is a fan. Bandslam was one of my go-to comfort movies growing up. Is it a visual masterpiece? Perhaps not, but it is fun which is why I recommend it to people who need to escape life for a couple hours.
Daisies is my favorite movie to recommend when I feel like being a pretentious film student. Where do I start, from the colors, the surrealism, the absurdity, to the chaos of this film, it is a whirlwind from beginning to end. To be quite honest, it is the incomparable aesthetic of this Czech New Wave film that makes me love it so much (not to say it is devoid of meaning — themes such as society’s gluttony are interwoven through this feminist film).
Yana Peeva, Senior Columns Editor
I entered the premiere of A Love Song in Bulgaria, knowing nothing of substance about love and having no intention to learn more about it. I had had enough cheesy Hollywood princesses and all-is-well-that-ends-with-a-wedding trope. But Max Walker-Silverman knows something about love we have lost: love is patience and acceptance. A Love Song is the type of quiet film that does not try to say or show us anything. It just exists to give relief to the people who created it, an antidote for the creative madness that drives artists to hysteria if bottled up. And somewhere between the lines and silences, among the picturesque prairie (whose beauty Walker-Silverman has managed to capture in full), we fall in love again — with the world, with people, with ourselves and with film.
The Green Knight is visual poetry. David Lowery has filmed colors that only Monet, who could apparently perceive ultraviolet in his later years, has seen before. Apart from being a feast for the eyes, it is also a hearty meal for the mind. Through the well-known legend of the Knight Gawain and his travels, Lowery actually comments on the failures of capitalism and how it has robbed us of proper human interactions, ones not based on reciprocity but simple kindness. And somewhere in there we also find an elegant critique of how we handle the climate crisis, much more insightful than the slap-in-the-face that is Don’t Look Up.
Much like 21st century women, 20th century women felt obligated to change the world. Mike Mills, a white male director of the 21st century, of course has something to say about that. However, 20th Century Women is the only film seen that lacks judgment or certainty or patronizing problem-solving when it comes to portraying motherhood, womanhood and girlhood. It is also the first film that distinguishes the three successfully. But it is still not a movie that caters only to people who identify as women. To the contrary, everybody could learn something about themselves and the world. And how stupid it is to live in binaries only.
Sidra Dahhan is Managing Editor. Email her at feedback@thegazelle.org
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