Sam Magee, a CHS junior, was 17 when her mindset was revitalized. Stumbling upon a previously unknown film that would go on to forever change her life, her perspective of the world shifted. “Interstellar” — a sci-fi and adventure film packed with emotional and nearly plausible themes of space — has been widely regarded as a monumental and cinematically captivating film.
“It’s definitely well known for a really good reason,” Magee said. “It changed my perspective of the future. It made me think about how life and our existence is a much deeper thing. It made me think about life outside Earth, like in space as well, just kind of what else is out there. It also made me appreciate my family and my loved ones so much more.”
For Magee, the movie was so much more than just a film about space. It was about the importance of family, the intimacy of human relationships and the resilience of the human spirit. Magee recommends that if you are looking to watch a film that will cause you to take on a new perspective of the world — to watch “Interstellar.”
Della Bank, a freshman at Community High School, commends the film “Full Out” for its inspiring and resilient themes. “Full Out” is based on a true story, as the main character, Ariana Berlin, navigates the upheaval of her college gymnastics career after suffering a debilitating injury that altered her Olympic dreams. Bank was five years old when she first watched the film, and since then, has watched it four more times. As a gymnast herself, she appraises the film on its uplifting storyline, noting the significant theme of women in sports.
“It’s important to me because it shows how resilient gymnasts can be,” Bank said. “And I’m a young gymnast, so it really, really helps me work through that. It helps me know that I can be resilient, as resilient as [Ariana Berlin].”
While many students enjoy live-action movies, Amalia Bucher, a sophomore at CHS, expresses her enjoyment of the movie “Coraline,” deemed by many critics as one of the most substantial and remarkable animated films of all time. Bucher finds “Coraline” valuable for both its sentimental and introspective aspects. Although endorsed as a children’s film, “Coraline” retains its value regardless of the viewer’s age, offering ample entertainment and merit — enough to suit all tastes.
“‘Coraline’ completely freaked me out, but I loved it so much that I would continue watching it whenever I could,” Bucher said. “I love the cinematography of it, and I think it’s so cool the way it’s animated, and really, it’s just such a big part of my childhood.”
Like “Coraline,” “Casablanca” remains a widely viewed film that’s discussed across multiple generations. “Casablanca,” an American film set during World War II, presents the viewer with a poignant story of love, sacrifice and choices we have to make in times of conflict. Aaron Mendlow appreciates the versatility of genres present in “Casablanca,” as well as the historical context it portrays. The film is notably relevant to him, his family having lived in Morocco during that time, adding a personal connection within the film.
“In old movies, cinematography is just so beautiful, and it really feels like you’re there,” Mendlow said. “A lot of the time I feel like movies these days explain everything to you, but I like when there’s stuff that you have to figure out. Obviously, it’s called “Casablanca,” and it made me think about all those people that really did experience that.”
Cam McBurrows’s life-changing film has a very different take. “The Virgin Suicides” is a story set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in the 1970s, centered on the lives of five doomed sisters. The film starts with the last suicide of the fifth daughter, where it then rewinds and tells the story of each daughter’s life. McBurrows watched this film when she was 13 years old, the same age as the youngest daughter, making the film very impactful throughout her early teenage years. McBurrows held on to the themes of girlhood when watching the film, and they’ve influenced her ever since.
“I just think it’s really beautiful how they show men’s perception of women and how they don’t see the struggle that women go through and just objectify them all the time,” McBurrows said. “I like how it shows that when you’re a teenage girl, you have that revelation of how women are treated in the world and how hard it is to deal with that.”
The film was more than just a tragedy in McBurrows’s eyes. It was a revealing piece that opened up to the world the struggles of being a teenage girl. “The Virgin Suicides,” while being horribly sad, is a reflection of the moments when we grow old enough to realize that the world is so much more complicated than the simple stories we were told as children.
