Five films to get you on your feet after all the Easter feasting
To help you overcome the post-Easter slump and blast away the guilt of gulping down vast quantities of chocolate over this long Bank Holiday weekend, we've compiled an essential list of inspirational movies to raise your spirits (and bottom from the sofa).
Barefoot in The Park (1967)
Barefoot in The Park tells the hilarious story of newlyweds Corie (Jane Fonda) and Paul Bratter (Robert Redford) as they go through the daily domestic struggles of living under the same roof. Corie is an all-or-nothing type of girl, who loves wandering barefoot in the park and doesn’t mind living on the top floor of an offbeat five-flight, stairs-only building in New York’s Greenwich Village, while Paul is a button-down, sarcastic and uptight lawyer who tries to get his wife to settle down. If it’s true that opposites attract, the two will go from irritating one another to the point of divorce to promising to live happily ever after.
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
A celebration of youth, friendship and passion, Cinema Paradiso is the magical tale of Salvatore Di Vita, a famous film director, who returns to his native Sicily for the first time in nearly 30 years. There, he is reminded of how he originally fell in love with the art of filmmaking, as well as the beautiful Elena. Giuseppe Tornatore’s eternally popular classic retraces the steps of the young boy’s inspiring pursuit of a dream from his poor village in Southern Italy, while delivering a captivating account of the evolution of modern cinema.
Cool Runnings (1993)
"Feel the rhythm, Feel the rhyme, Get on up, It's bobsled time." If you haven't seen Cool Runnings, now is the time; if you have, that's no reason not to watch it again. Without a doubt one of the most joyful productions delivered by Disney in the 1990s, the film takes us from the sunny climes of Jamaica to the wintery depths of Calgary, Canada as we follow Jamaica's first bobsled team on their mission to win an Olympic medal. A tale as exhilarating as the bobsled track itself, viewers find themselves hurtling along with the team as they experience the glory of triumph, the pain of failure and the power of camaraderie and self-belief.
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
For a film that will make you howl with laughter one minute, sob relentlessly the next, and even induce the occasional girl-power-fuelled fist pump, look no further. A compelling comedy-drama, Fried Green Tomatoes traces the friendship between downcast and emotionally repressed housewife Evelyn and Ninny, a feisty old lady she meets in the old people's home that houses her husband's ghastly aunt. Ninny takes an immediate liking to Evelyn and week by week discloses the bittersweet story of two girls she used to know who ran a cafe in 1920s Alabama, enthralling and empowering her listener (and the viewer) along the way.
Empire Records (1995)
A coming-of-age film to get you on your feet, Empire Records documents a day in the life of a group of young record store employees. But boy is it an eventful one. Mega-chain Music City is threatening to buy up the shop, sleazy 80s pop idol Rex Manning is coming in to promote his new album and tensions among the kooky bunch are running high. Starring a baby-faced Renée Zellweger and Liv Tyler, the movie is a joyous homage to alt-rock music, laced with teenage angst, head banging and air guitar sessions, and set to one hell-raising soundtrack.
