After a late night of watching the Oscars, another AU snow day seems like a great idea. However, as the fourth one of the semester, snow days have seemed to lose their former allure. Here’s a list of six movies you can watch for free without ever venturing into the cold or typing in a password to Netflix Instant, Amazon Prime or Google Plus:
1. 5 Centimeters Per Second
Unexpected quality from the fringes of Japanese animation yielded this tryptic that chronicles the life of two cryptic high school students. Quiet, ruminative and utterly enchanting, “5 Centimeters Per Second” is a rewarding experience.
2. Tokyo Story
Yasujiro Ozu was one of the most prolific masters of his time and one of his best films is readily available on YouTube. Inspired by the American film “Make Way for Tomorrow” by Leo McCarey (“Duck Soup”), “Tokyo Story” follows the lives of the Hirayama family as they grapple with their personal histories in the shadow of World War II. Released at a time when American audiences were just becoming acclimated to Japanese cinema, “Tokyo Story” was Ozu’s breakthrough hit that brought everyday life down to a capriciously tiny and delicate spectrum of events.
3. Reign of Fire
Heat things up with this film that stars not one, but two Oscar winners: Christian Bale (“American Hustle”) and Matthew McConaughey (“The Dallas Buyer’s Club”). “Reign of Fire” is fairly straight forward. Dragons have taken over and have driven the human race into a grimy squalor and the world needs some equally gritty heroes to stop the winged menace. Unexpectedly entertaining even after its release in 2002, the visual effects remain impressive years later.
4. The Crazies
This remake brought to fruition by the ever-so-underrated Breck Eisner (“Sahara”) managed to kick some much-needed relentless tension into George Romero’s original 1973 production. This version stars Timothy Olyphant (“Justified”) as David and Radha Mitchell (“Silent Hill”) as Judy. Now, the husband and wife must escape their sleepy hometown because a deadly toxin has infected the water supply, causing the inhabitants of the town to become crazed, depraved killers. Simple and justifiably entertaining, “The Crazies” should provide suitable entertainment to those snowed in for the day.
5. 30 Days of Night
David Slade has had an eclectic career so far, which now includes directing the spectacularly gory “Hannibal” on NBC. “30 Days of Night” should replicate the ideal frigid conditions nicely in a film about a marooned Alaskan town dealing with vampires.
6. The Adventures of Tintin
Globetrotting adventures await and the only snow that will be encountered on the journey is in the form of a trusted precocious dog that goes by the name Snowy. Steven Spielberg’s (“War Horse”) adaptation of the popular graphic novels by Herge centers around young reporter Tintin. An all-around entertaining film that’s great for the weather.
