Arianna Tortolero
We all know the drill: it’s a lazy Sunday, you get up at 11:00am, have some pancakes, and watch movies all day until it’s time to sleep again… Or to eat. Well, this is a quick list of movies that will sure make your day worthwhile.
These are in chronological order.
1. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Before you ask: no, this isn’t a movie about people having breakfast. This classic tells the story of five teenage students that meet in Saturday detention. The coolest thing is the fact that they don’t even talk to each other at first because they’re from different high school cliques, but end up understanding everyone’s story and background. This movie will always be amazing and it’s worth the time.
Fun fact: John Hughes wrote the script in only two days!
2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Coincidentally, another John Hughes film. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off shows a teenager’s determination to skip school, so he lies his way out and convinces his two best friends to do is as well, driving to downtown Chicago to spend the day. It’s safe to say its signature is the fact that Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) breaks the fourth wall multiple times, and that makes you feel like part of the movie too.
Fun fact: the movie is a love letter to Chicago.
3. Beetlejuice (1988)
You know what happens if you say his name three times. This comedy tells the tale of the Maitlands, a young but recently deceased couple who don’t understand how to be ghosts, so they summon a very obnoxious ghost to haunt and scare away the new family that now lives in their home. It doesn’t have to be Halloween to watch this movie, that’s for sure, plus, you’ll have a good laugh.
Fun fact: Even though the movie is 92 minutes long, Beetlejuice, the protagonist, appears only for 17 minutes.
4. Legally Blonde (2001)
You don’t need to bend and snap for this one, but you’ll kind of want to. This one is simple: Elle Woods decides to go to Harvard School of Law as a way of getting back with her ex boyfriend. But in the end it’s so much more than that. This is actually a very hopeful comedy about achieving whatever you propose.
Fun fact: in order to play Elle Woods, Reese Witherspoon went to sorority girls’ meetings and had dinner with them. She also sat in some classes at Loyola Law School.
5. The School of Rock (2003)
This one is a must. Dewey Finn, a guitar player who was just kicked out of his band, portrays a fake substitute teacher in a very prestigious elementary school as he tries to come up with some money to pay his rent, only to find out this fourth-graders are musically talented enough to form a rock band. No matter how many times you watch this one, you can’t get tired of it.
Fun fact: Jack Black was always in the set, even when he wasn’t filming his scenes, he was playing with the children.
6. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Ok, you HAVE to know this one. Andy Sachs, a college graduate with absolutely no knowledge when it comes to the fashion industry, starts working as second assistant for Miranda Priestley, the vicious editor in chief of Runway, a fashion magazine. The Devil Wears Prada gives us a peak of how the world of fashion works and moves.
Fun fact: It is one of the most expensively costumed films in history because clothes and accessories used in the movie are actually from fashion designers.
7. Waitress (2007)
Because we always need a good dramedy. Waitress introduces us to Jenna Hunterson, a waitress and pie genius going through a very bad, possessive and abusive marriage, and an unwanted pregnancy. Everything changes when she starts having an affair with her new physician, Dr. Pomatter. This film is actually very human, in a way that it shows how it feels to have an unwanted baby, how affairs are not okay but it’s not the you’ll burn in Hell thing everyone says, and how a single human being can change your life.
Fun fact: Its has a Broadway adaptation with music and lyrics written by Sara Bareilles, who starred as Jenna for a few months this year.
8. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)
Yes, we love movies involving the city that never sleeps. This is the story of a group of teenagers looking separately for where their favorite band’s next show will take place, but the night turns a few unexpected turns when Norah asks Nick to be her fake boyfriend for five minutes, while her drunken best friend gets lost in New York City. Filled with really good music, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is definitely a go-to on a lazy Sunday.
9. Ruby Sparks (2012)
Oh man, this one’s good. Calvin Weir-Fields is a very young and anxious novelist dealing with writer’s block, when he has the most peculiar dream: he’s talking to a girl he falls in love with. As soon as he wakes up, he writes and creates Ruby Sparks as his girlfriend, without knowing that this would bring her to life, literally. You’ll be hooked with this charming movie from the start.
10. Sing Street (2016)
And last but not least, a coming-of-age movie that revolves around music. This dramedy is about Conor “Cosmo” Lawlor, a boy who starts a band in order to impress a girl he just met. With an amazing original soundtrack, Sing Street will make you laugh, cry, and dance to the sounds of a young Irish 80s band.
