#8 Good Will Hunting

FILMS FOR THOUGHT

By: Alex Holzum

 

Will hunting is the name of Matt Damon's character in this film.  It takes place in South Boston where Will is from.  Very early on in the film we learn that Will hunting is a young, struggling janitor at MIT that is definitely not living up to his full potential.  He solves a seemingly impossible math problem that catches the eyes of the professors at MIT.  We see different instances of Will's genius through his conversations with people and when he is able to defend himself in court by quoting ancient philosophers and demonstrating his ridiculous range of knowledge.

 

Next, we meet his friends who are all leading the same lifestyle as Will except that they are not geniuses.  His best friend is Ben Affleck's character, Chuckie Sullivan.  One night Will and all of his friends go out to a nice Harvard bar where Will meets Skylar (Minnie Driver) who he falls in love with throughout this film.  The MIT professors mentioned earlier decide to take on Will as a consultant-type position but due to Will's colorful criminal background, they have to register Will for counseling services before he is allowed to work for them.  This is where Robin William's character comes in.  Robin Williams plays Dr. Sean Maguire, the only counselor that Will agrees to see.  Throughout the film we get to see deeper and deeper into Will's and Dr. Maguire's backgrounds and understand how they got to their current situations in life.

 

 

If the Boston accents are not enough, this star-studded cast and great plot make for a great movie.  The relationship that Will and Skylar have is really interesting to me because they come from very different backgrounds but they get along so well and care enough about the other person to overlook any obvious obstacles to their relationship.  At the same time, it is unclear to the audience whether or not they will end up together.  Dr. Sean Maguire is another one of my favorite parts of this movie because he is so wise yet relatable.  The story of how he met his wife warms my soul every time I watch this movie; it is a classic testimony of true love.  The most rewarding aspect of this movie is watching Dr. Maguire chip away at the walls that Will puts up.

 

This movie can be pretty depressing at times but as long as you stick it out until the end, it is definitely worth watching.

#7 Sydney White

FILMS FOR THOUGHT

By: Alex Holzum

 

      Sydney White is a modern Snow White.  Right off the bat this is unique from all of the modern-day Cinderellas that we have now (I think there are four).  Sydney White is a tomboy who is going off to college with the hope of getting accepted into the same sorority that her mother was in.  When she get there, though, the president of the sorority instantly realizes that she does not want her to join.  This irrational hatred is mostly caused by the fact that Sydney caught the eye of the president's ex-boyfriend (the prince, if you will).  A series of unfortunate circumstances leaves Sydney needing a place to stay; of course it was raining when she had to go searching in the middle of the night for a home.  She stumbles upon the Vortex which is student overflow housing where she finds seven "dorks" who let her stay there.  The rest of the movie consists of Sydney shaping up the Vortex as well as her dorks and taking back the school from the oppressive power of the evil sorority president.

 

 



 

I have not encountered any other movies that have put a modern twist on Snow White which is a fun idea and I think they did a great job of including different allusions to the original animation.  For example, each of the dorks hone in on one of the qualities of the original seven dwarfs: sneezy, dopey, doc, grumpy, sleepy, etc.  One of my favorite allusions is when Sydney and the seven dorks are walking down the sidewalk with student government election posters resting on their shoulders (similar to the dwarves' pick-axes) and they walk by the evil sorority president and each of them say, "Hi, ho," as they pass her.  This is what the original dwarfs sing when they walk to and from work (except they are not calling somebody a rude name)!

 

Overall it is a cheesy movie, but it is really fun to watch.