I'm in my Junior Year of College. This is around the time I start thinking of the future and it absolutely terrifies me. Where will I be in a couple of years? I have no idea. Lately, I've grasped onto a couple of films that have helped me cope and inspired me to dream. Here are a few movies about dreamers I love.
Ratatouille (dir. Brad Bird)
I cannot stress how much I love this movie. Somedays I even wonder if I could consider it my favorite movie. Ratatouille is a wonderful examination of art. A true vision of what it is like to be an artist and an artist who starts as an outsider. A rat is the last thing you would expect to be a chef. Rats are associated with a kitchen being gross and dirty. However Pixar subverts this expectations and makes an interesting allegory to how several artists feel. We all feel like a rat in the kitchen a lot- but hey if we can make good Ratatouille then why does that matter? The monologue in the end of this movie is my favorite monologue in any film. "The world is often unkind to new talent. New creations. The new needs friends."
Almost Famous (dir. Cameron Crowe)
If you haven't seen Almost Famous, drop everything and just watch it right now. It's on Hulu, it's about two hours long and it's one of the most cathartic films I've ever seen in my life. No exaggeration at all. Almost Famous is a semi autobiographical tale about Cameron Crowe interviewing and touring with Led Zeppelin when he was fifteen. The names are changed to William and the band name to Stillwater but it still translates. What you have here is one of those films about those wonderful times in your lives where everything changes. There's rough patches in those periods, but it's THOSE moments where you realize what you wanna do with your life that makes Almost Famous resonate in the way it does. It's about an aspiring critic so of course it strikes a chord with me but I believe everyone has had that time in their life where no matter how confusing things got everything seemed like it was gonna be okay.
Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig)
This movie is still in theaters! Go support it as soon as humanly possible! Little Women is a nice and warm movie about the bond of a group of sisters as they go through the trials of everyday life. It is also the story of a bunch of artists trying to make their way into the world. Amy wants to be a musician, March wants to be an actress, Beth wants to be a painter and Joi wants to be a writer. The girls paths don't all go as they would like because life is just like that. To see Joi struggle with wanting to be independent and a writer and coping with her loneliness was an element of the film that emotionally resonated with me a lot. The way this film is shown through the lens of Joi's own writing is just superb.
La La Land (dir. Damien Chazelle)
La La Land is a movie I saw my Senior Year of High School. This was around the time I was actively involved in my theatre department and to see this musical come to life is a really special memory for me. I loved every second of this film. It is a story of dreamers, one an aspiring jazz musician and the other an aspiring actress. This film dares to ask us the question, is our own success in our art worth sacrificing relationships along the way? The film lets you make your own decisions when it comes to that. It's a beautiful film showing the land of Hollywood as one of aspirations and opportunity but also there's some bittersweet regret involved in the industry.
The Disaster Artist (dir. James Franco)
Here's a bit of a goofier pick. We all have this fear that what we are making is absolute trash and the scary thing about that is you might be correct. This film shows that even if your vision is just really bad it might be worth sharing to the world anyways. This film is about the making of The Room which is known to be one of the worst movies of all time. That movie has given people so much happiness and joy throughout the years. Even peoples mocking can be a seen as a good thing, a thing that makes people happy for a while. This movie is inspirational to show that your voice could be influential to the world you just don't know in what way it will be until you make it.
