In my book ”How to find inspiration” I promised you all that I’d share some of my favorite, inspiring movies. (And if you haven’t read the book yet here is the link to why you should.)
Sometimes all it takes is a good movie to get you back on track towards finding your inspiration. I’ve categorized them by how they made me feel;
A: Adventurous (well, there’s simply some kind of adventure in the series)
C: Creatively awesome (either the plot or how it was made was creative)
B: Biographical (as it sounds, it is based on a real event)
H: Happy (need I say more?)
HP: High Pulse (something exciting or terrifying happens like it does in a scary movie – or something along the lines of that)
M: Mindblown (”what just happened?!”)
S: Sad (Some series can be both happy and sad, but the ones marked with an ”S” in these lists brings more happiness than sadness and is therefore also marked with an ”H”. It just wouldn’t be inspirational otherwise.)
Here are some of my favorites:
The Pursuit of Happyness (B, H, S)
Chris Gardner struggles to make ends meet for him and his young son, finding themselves without a home and must live in shelters. Chris refuses to give up and persist to try to get a job at brokerage firm. He gets an unpaid internship with the hopes of later being hired there, but in the meantime you get to follow him through the tough times. It’s based on a true story and is truly inspirational for anyone.
The Holiday (A, H)
Have you ever heard about house swapping? The concept is that you switch homes with someone – you get to stay in their home and they stay in yours. This is what this movie is based on. The English small-town woman Iris has been dumped and feeling depressed, so she goes online to find a house-swapping site. She finds this beautiful home in Los Angeles and the decision to swap homes is made. Amanda, from the big city, is not used to the quite small-town living and is on the verge of hopping back on a plane home when she meets Iris’ brother. The star-studded list includes, among others, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black and Jude Law.
Rock of Ages (C, H)
This is one of those awesome feel-good movies. Set in ’80s Los Angeles it’s about a small town girl who tries to make it as a singer and all the people she meets along the way, as well as their own lives. You’ll get to see Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Åkerman, Brandy, Russell Brand and Diego Boneta are some of the performances you’ll enjoy.
Mamma Mia! (A, C, H)
You know ABBA? Yes, the Swedish, super famous band with hit songs like Mamma Mia, Super Trouper and Dancing Queen. Well, this movie is based on the musical from 1999 and includes Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters and Dominic Cooper. Let’s just say that you should definitely watch it. If not for the music or the actors, at least do it for the scenery (they made it in the greek island of Skopelos).
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (A, C, H)
Ok, so you may know by now that I love adventures. Both in life and in the movies. This is a true adventure-movie. Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) stops his lifelong life of daydreaming and actually starts his own adventure to find the final photograph which is supposed to be on the final cover of the magazine he has worked for for so long. Not only is the movie a cinematic experience, it’s also truly inspiring to see someone changing their way of life and grow as a person.
Despicable Me (C, H)
Minions. Oh how I love these evil-cute-hilarious creatures with their mastermind grumpy Gru. Gru reluctantly ends up with three witty orphans, which keeps him on his toes and makes his plan for world domination a bit more difficult than he’d like. Steve Carell does the voice of Gru brilliantly and the movie is a must-see. So go and see it.
The Parent Trap (A, C, H)
I saw this one when I was really young and found it so incredible how these two twins, being separated for years until finally meeting and realizing they’re siblings and switching places to live in the other’s home, being able to fool their parent’s into thinking they’re the other twin. Their parents had made the choice not to tell them they had a sibling and lived in different countries. See how it all unfolds in this funny movie with Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson.
Night at the Museum (A, C, H)
Oh I do love talking animals and statues (at least in romantic or funny movies – not scary ones!). In this movie you’ll see how the night shift security guard (Ben Stiller) reacts and handles it when all of the museum’s stuffed animals and wax figures (Robin Williams, for example) come to life. Just imagine the chaos! Now go and watch it.
Pirates of the Caribbean (A, C, H)
If you haven’t seen this or at least heard of it you must have lived under a rock. The brilliant acting by Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow will make you want to watch this more than once. Just like me.
Zootopia (A, C, H)
Judy Hopps becomes the first rabbit to be a police officer in the city of Zootopia, but soon realizes the difficulties of enforcing the law. Her job gets even harder when she’s teamed up with Nick Wilde, the wily fox, to solve a mysterious case. Enjoy all the cute, funny and fluffy animals in this movie, especially Flash Slothmore the sloth.
9 to 5 (C, H)
You’ve heard the song ”9 to 5” by Dolly Parton? Well, she’s in this movie and so is the song. The three female secretaries are working for a sexist, tyrannical boss who they daydream about killing. One day they think they might have actually poisoned him to death and panicked, and the following events are hilarious. Apart from Dolly Parton you’ll get to see Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in action, which you wouldn’t want to miss!
(To be honest, the trailer isn’t nearly as interesting as the movie, so maybe just skip directly to it?)
Crazy Stupid Love (C, H, M)
Ok, so the twists-and-turns in this movie are just awesome! You think you’ll know what’s going to happen, but I assure you – you won’t. Check out Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling in this totally feel-good movie you’ll want to watch again!
Have you watched any of these? Which one is your favorite? Let me know what you thought! You can find the second part of this list HERE.
And if you’d like to know which my favorite, inspiring tv-series are you can check them out HERE.
Charlotte Lundqvist Photography 