Netflix Friday - Volume 76

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: Birds of Prey (2020)
After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) joins superheroes Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett, Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to save a young girl from an evil crime lord (Ewan McGregor)
 

Drama: Freedom Writers (2007)
A young teacher (Hilary Swank) inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
 

Comedy: Dark Shadows (2012)
An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.
 

Animation: The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Egyptian Prince Moses (Val Kilmer) learns of his identity as a Hebrew and his destiny to become the chosen deliverer of his people.
 

Romance: Love and Other Drugs (2012)
In 1990s Pittsburgh, a medicine peddler (Jake Gyllenhaal) starts a relationship with a young woman (Anne Hathaway) suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
 

Horror: Ghost Ship (2002)
A salvage crew discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, and soon notices that its long-dead inhabitants may still be on board.
 

Science Fiction: Jumper (2008)
A teenager (Hayden Christensen) with teleportation abilities suddenly finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between those like him and their sworn annihilators.
 

Crime: Richard Jewell (2019)
Security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) is an instant hero after foiling a bomb attack at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but his life becomes a nightmare when the FBI leaks to the media that he is a suspect in the case.
 

Thriller: The Guilty (2021)
Demoted police officer Joe (Jake Gyllenhaal) assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.
 

Documentary: Britney Vs. Spears (2021)
Journalist Jenny Eliscu and filmmaker Erin Lee Carr investigate Britney Spears’ fight for freedom by way of exclusive interviews and confidential evidence.
 

Family: Marley & Me (2008)
A family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog Marley.
 

Five to Watch - Movies About Teachers

In the Netherlands, teachers are about to go on strike. I was a teacher myself for 7 years so I thought now was the perfect time to make a list about movies that center teachers. I picked five films about teachers that I think are underrated or overlooked.

Half Nelson (2006)
In this intense, indie drama, a friendship forms between a well-intentioned, drug0addicted teacher and his 13-year-olr student who is trying to escape her convict brother’s fate. After she catches him smoking crack, the two alternately try to save the other while their own lives spiral out of control. Unlike most feel-good teacher movies, “Half Nelson” is about real people with real problems, but also maintains a tangible sense of hope.

Être et Avoir (2002)
This French documentary follows teacher Georges Lopez and his 12 students (ages 4-12) in their rural schoolhouse. It demonstrates without overreaching what a teacher can do to shape lives. I saw this while in college and it left a big impact in me.

School of Rock (2003)
After getting kicked out of his band and threatened with eviction, wannabe rocker Dewey Finn fakes his way into a private school as a substitute teacher. Dewey taps into his 5th-graders talents for his rock ‘n roll comeback. In a surprisingly heartwarming, screwball comedy, “School of Rock” also manages to slip a lesson on the value of art education under the radar.

Freedom Writers (2007)
Set in Long Beach, California after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. “Freedom Writers” depicts one of the most challenging situations imaginable for a young white woman embarking on a career in teaching. Faced with a class of Black, Latino and Asian gang members who hate her even more than they hate each other, teacher Erin Gruwell scrambles to survive. She quickly realizes what these kids need most is someone who will listen. Scrapping the standardized freshman English curriculum, she provides each student with a journal, instructing them to write about their lives, to open up and share their world with her. A truly inspiring true story.

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
Katherine Ann Watson has accepted a position teaching art history at the prestigious Wellesley College. Watson is a very modern woman, particularly for the 1950s, and has a passion not only for art but for her students. For the most part, the students all seem to be biding their time, waiting to find the right man to marry. The students are all very bright and Watson feels they are not reaching their potential. Although a strong bond is formed between teacher and student, Watson’s views are incompatible with the dominant culture of the college. I could be Watson, I have a similar view on life and the fact that you have to settle down with a man even if it doesn’t make you happy still happens to date. Do what you love, live the way you want to live it, no matter what the people around you say and think.