By Robin E. Simmons
Father’s day is a great day to see a movie with dad and family. Wonderful films that prominently feature cool dads dad are many and easy to access for purchase or streaming online.
Off the top of my head, the following titles come to mind and might be worth revisiting, even if you are not doing a marathon of dad movies. Here’s my list of favorite dad flicks: To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), Father of the Bride (the original 1950 version), Parenthood (1989), Paper Moon (1973), The Shining (1980), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Big Fish (2004) The Descendants (2011).
Meanwhile consider these eclectic newer releases about some incredible, unforgettable diverse dads.
TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016)
Here’s the set-up. There’s a zombie outbreak on a high-speed commuter train and a lone man has not only his flesh to protect, but also that of his young daughter.
French distribution company Gaumont is working on an American adaptation, marking its first English-language film! Horror fans have high hopes and huge expectations for this much anticipated reboot of a film that has already gained significant cult status.
HELL OR HIGH WATER (2016)
Any good dad would go to the ends of earth for his family. But for Toby Howard (Chris Pine), that means robbing banks with his brother to ensure a better life for his estranged children. This near-perfect thrill ride through the dusty plains of West Texas from director David Mackenzie and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan is one to see and savor.
TONI ERDMANN (2016)
Director Maren Ade’s German delight is about three hours long. And it’s subtitled! But don’t let that sway you getting down for this crazy funny weird story about a father who will do almost anything to reconnect with his daughter—including creating an alter ego. It’s only funny because it’s not your dad
THE STORIES WE TELL (2012)
Actress/director/screenwriter Sarah Polley aims the camera on her own family for a documentary that investigates the true identity of her father. After final fade out, you just might question everything you’ve ever been told.
BOUNDARIES (2018)
Vera Farmiga is a Laura, a single mom and animal rescuer who drives her son and pot-dealing father (Christopher Plummer), across the country, confronting life’s roadblocks and detours along the way. This road movie breaks only for stray animals. Oh, and drug deals.
LEAVE NO TRACE (2018)
This engaging, uplifting and low -key character-driven drama is about a 13 year-old daughter (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) and father (Ben Foster) living off the grid in a park when a small mistake tips them off to authorities and changes their lives forever. This is writer/director Debra Granik’s sublime and heartwarming follow-up to Winter Bone.
NEW BLU FOR THE HOMETHEATER:
US
Oscar© winning writer/director Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out is not a sequel. Set along the North California coastline, Adelaide Wilson (a terrific Lupita Nyong’o) reluctantly returns to her beachside childhood home with her family and finds that she is haunted by unresolved trauma from her past along with a string of eerie coincidences. As darkness falls after a tense day at the beach, the Wilsons discover four figures standing in their driveway. Suddenly they realize this is only the beginning of their troubles they realize the four strangers are terrifying and uncanny opponents: what’s more, they are dopplegangers of themselves! Mayhem ensues.
robin@coachellavalleyweekly
