By Mari BAKHTAMYAN (MAM-S6ENC)
Edited by Julia DEC (MAM-S5ENC)
- What kind of list would this be without “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993)? A childhood classic, “Mrs. Doubtfire” revolves around the unfortunate situation of a divorced father trying to get his life together to continue seeing his children. Daniel, played by Robin Williams, is a voice actor who just doesn’t take life seriously enough, so the only thing that his wife, Miranda, (Sally Field) can do is cut ties with him. One thing leads to the next, and Daniel has barely any custody of his children. His plan to continue seeing them every day is to dress up as an elderly British lady and apply to be their nanny. He soon becomes his children’s best friend and the parent he always wished he’d be.
- Another classic, “Home Alone” (1990) and its counterpart “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” (1992). They’re both the embodiment of Christmas and winter, so I couldn’t choose between them. The original is a story about the McCallister family accidentally leaving their 8-year-old son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) home alone during Christmas. At the same time, a pair of thieves, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), are trying to rob their house. Kevin must fend them off by playing tricks on the thieves and setting up traps to get rid of them. In “Home Alone 2”, the McCallister family plans on going to Florida. Kevin is finally not forgotten at home; however, he takes the wrong plane and ends up in New York City. Kevin uses his dad’s credit card to stay in a prestigious hotel just off Central Park. He runs into Harry and Marv again and tries to foil their plans to rob a toy store on Christmas Eve.
- “The Proposal” (2009) is a fast-paced rom com centered around an overbearing editor, Margaret (Sandra Bullock) who needs to get an American citizenship before she gets deported back to Canada. Under pressure from her boss, she announces she’s marrying her assistant, Andrew (Ryan Reynolds). None of her employees, including Andrew, like Margaret. She persuades Andrew into having a pretend marriage, with his only condition being meeting her eccentric family in Canada. Margaret and Andrew must make their charade look as real as possible, since the immigration officer is completely unconvinced and isn’t inclined on giving Margaret her American citizenship.
- A slightly older film, “Bringing Up Baby” (1938), is a lighthearted story set in Connecticut. David (Cary Grant) is a paleontologist trying to impress a society matron, Mrs. Random (May Robson), who is considering donating 1 million dollars to his museum. The day before his wedding, he meets Mrs. Random’s adventurous and young niece Susan (Katherine Hepburn), the complete opposite of David. Susan falls for him, stringing him in her escapades, which include a missing dinosaur bone and a baby leopard.
- Last but not least, “Can’t Buy Me Love” (1987). Unpopular but sweet high school student Ronald (Patrick Dempsey) saves Cindy (Amanda Peterson) by offering to pay up 1000$ for saving Cindy’s mother’s dress which she ruined. In exchange, Cindy has to pretend she’s dating him for a month. As days pass, Cindy slowly falls in love with Ronald; on the other hand, Ronald becomes popular, but at the cost of becoming a complete jerk. Ronald loses his only real friend and fumbles everything with Cindy. He gets only one chance to win her back.