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Reel Talk

STAY AT HOME FAVOURITES

Hollywood to the rescue!

REVIEWED BY Ashwini Vethakan

While we ‘stay at home’ in line with government instructions in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, it is indeed frustrating to be stuck in one place for so long. To ease the ensuing tension – and provide you, your isolation buddies, family and children with a refreshing diversion – here’s a list of Hollywood’s best-loved movies.

New and old, these stories are sure to lift up your glum spirits while you do your bit to help flatten that curve!


CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (2003) Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt find out the true meaning of parenting while juggling the 12 rascals they’ve been blessed with. Yes, you did read that right… there are 12 kids!

Each kid comes with his or her own personality and style, and leaves the two middle-aged, exhausted and wired parents battling it out to keep the family loved, fed and sane!

All in all, it’s great fun and an enjoyable movie for the family. With some buttered popcorn and fizzy pop, you’ve got yourself the ideal family date night!

MRS. DOUBTFIRE (1993) A treasured family classic featuring one of Robin Williams’ most notable roles, the film is about an out of work actor who’s on the brink of a divorce and is desperate to spend time with his children.

The desperate dad does the one thing he feels will make sure he has enough time with his three children during the day – dressed up as an elderly nanny, he comes back to work for his soon to be ex-wife.

The plan is simple. Turn himself into Mrs. Doubtfire – a Scottish nanny with a lilting voice and enough prosthetics to deck out a theatre group.

What could possibly go wrong?


LOVE, ROSIE (2014) Based on Cecelia Ahern’s novel ‘Where Rainbows End,’ this feel-good love story takes two best friends with an obvious attraction towards one another and pits them in the most miserable turn of events: life itself.

Watch helplessly from the sidelines as Lily Collins and Sam Claflin play tug-of-war with their feelings (and ours!). So enjoy what is the perfect movie to watch with your isolation buddies, mum or sisters.

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999) Calling all Jude Law lovers, this one’s for you! The English language is inadequate to describe just how spectacularly sexy Jude Law is in this movie.

As the dilettante playboy Dickie Greenleaf, living it up in high society on the Italian Riviera in the 1950s, he’s the kind of man Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) wishes he could be.

So when Dickie’s dad hires Tom to bring him home, he takes his chance to enter the world of leisure and luxury he’s always dreamed of.

But at what price…?


HARRY POTTER SERIES (2001-2011) Witches, wizards, ghosts and ghouls… what better way to escape our current reality than enter the alternative world created by the brilliant J. K. Rowling?

Enter the life of Harry Potter as he and his friends battle the Dark Lord, and save the wizarding world once and for all.

Science Fiction lovers – and anyone, really – will enjoy the brilliant works of Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling.

LOVE WEDDING REPEAT (2020) The hilariously written British comedy is available on Netflix and is superbly entertaining.

Watch a brother do all he can to ensure his sister’s wedding goes off without a hitch. Even if it means drugging her deranged ex-lover who crashes her wedding with hopes of ruining it!

Sam Claflin, Freida Pinto and Olivia Munn will have you collapsing in fits of giggles, as chance, love and war go hand in hand. Fair warning though… the content is rather mature – so it’s best suited for adults.