Finding Forrester (2000)

I had known director Gus Van Sant only for Good Will Hunting, Milk, and a segment of Paris, je t'aime. When I learned that FF resembles GWH in that its protagonist is a young man who tends to hide his brilliance so as not to stand out from his lower-class buddies, I got interested. One key difference intrigued me further: It's about writing.

Between basketball skills and test scores, sixteen-year-old Jamal Wallace (breakout Rob Brown, who had expected to be an extra!) gets a scholarship to attend a ritzy private school, which he accepts with some uncertainty, since it's a very different culture from his usual environs. Around the same time, on a dare, he attempts to burglarize the apartment of a locally feared, mysterious recluse (Sean Connery) but panics and leaves behind a backpack full of his secret writings. The recluse, one William Forrester, returns them with a load of constructive criticism, which inspires Jamal to come back for more. It takes Jamal a while to figure out that William is a literary one-hit wonder who's pretty much disappeared for half a century (based loosely on J.D. Salinger). Naturally, each one can learn from the other, with William gradually opening up to Jamal and then people in general.

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

As often happens, I felt obliged to watch a movie featuring someone who recently died, in this case Sean Connery. He's one of the actors I've watched most, so there weren't many promising titles left. This one's pretty popular but has a bunch of other big names and countless speaking roles, so I wasn't sure it would showcase him well.

Based on a book that's at least partly based on reality, it tells of Operation Market Garden: In 1944, British, American, and Polish forces plan to use paratroopers and tanks to capture numerous bridges in the occupied Netherlands. Many soldiers doubt the feasibility of the mission, as it involves considerable travel along narrow roads, there's fog to consider, and even if the Germans don't send their best, they won't be pushovers. If you know this chapter of history, you know the doubts are correct.

DragonHeart (1996)

I half-surprised myself with this choice. The movie didn't tempt me even when new (and I was more in the target age range), and it's not particularly esteemed or widely discussed. Nevertheless, it won some lesser-known awards, it's had enough of a cult following for multiple sequels, and a late online acquaintance of mine used the dragon's face as an icon. Besides, I felt like watching a dragon.

In an alternate medieval England, an English-speaking dragon with a name unpronounceable to humans (the only voice role I've known for Sean Connery), who later answers to Draco, donates half his heart to save newly crowned young King Einon (David Thewlis) from a lethal wound, on the condition that Einon stick to the old code of honor in contrast to his despotic dad. Alas, all he took to, eheh, heart from mentor Sir Bowen (Dennis Quaid) was sword fighting, so he becomes no kinder a king. Since Bowen hadn't noticed this side of his charge before, he mistakenly assumes that Draco corrupted Einon and swears to kill every dragon he can.

Time Bandits (1981)

I mentioned that I would see another consecutive movie about a boy. Thankfully, it's quite different. In fact, despite the PG rating, I hesitate to count it as a family flick. IMDb doesn't. (Non-American studios, I find, are more likely to have kid-unfriendly stories starring kids.)

Kevin, 11, suffers from parents uninterested in his interest in history. One night, his bedroom is accidentally invaded by six time-traveling dwarves. They're interested in history, of course, but not for the same reason: They want to steal the riches of the past. Despite his disapproval of that plan, Kevin tags along, with nary a language barrier. He learns that they've worked for the Supreme Being himself on maintenance of the space-time continuum, and since they swiped his temporal map, they have to keep moving. (They've been around for eons but seem as vulnerable as humans.) Little do they realize that the scarier threat is from Evil himself, looking to grab the map for his own ends.

The Hill (1965)

No, it has nothing to do with Capitol Hill or any other famous real hill. I chose this film partly because I hadn't seen any work of Sidney Lumet's in a while, especially his early work, and partly because I hadn't seen any Sean Connery in a while. Neither is known for much in the subgenre in question.

The setting is a British Army prison camp in the Libyan Desert in World War II. Soldiers who committed various offenses wind up here, and depending on the judgment of the staff sergeant on duty, they may have to run repeatedly over a manmade hill. The first half to two-thirds of the movie has little plot beyond the general conflict between guards and prisoners, but when one climber drops dead (as summaries keep mentioning before long), the rest get restless in their desire to make the harshest screw answer for it, and the authorities bicker over how to handle the potential riot.

A Night to Remember (1958)

Since Easter Parade understandably has had a long wait, I decided on another semi-timely viewing: one of the most popular depictions of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Like probably most modern viewers, I could hardly watch it without thinking of the 1997 depiction (which did draw inspiration from it), but this won't be another twofer review if I can help it.

It would not have been utterly out of character for a film that old to focus fictitiously on a handful of individuals, possibly as a love story, and then have an infamous disaster shake things up in the third act. Such had happened a generation earlier with In Old Chicago (1937, about the fire) and San Francisco (1936, about a more literal shakeup). Instead, ANtR pays more due to the main event and gives minor attention to a fair number of various characters, both on and off the crew.