Today marks National Movie Night and that can only mean one thing… OCOCO Media Club is back!
So grab your popcorn, turn down the lights and join Team OCOCO as we each celebrate our favourite movies, explaining why we love them and the reasons they deserve a place on your watchlist. We’ll also be sharing the films we’ll be rushing to the cinema (or our sofa… thank you, Netflix) to see as soon as they’re released.
Without further ado… ACTION!
Our Favourite Movies are...
Natalie: High Fidelity (2000)
Emoji Summary: 📋 💔 💿 🎶 🛹 📼 ❤️🩹
Okay, so first up, a secret – my favourite film is actually Reservoir Dogs. I love the incredible storytelling, the character development, and the iconic cinematography.
But, as I recently discussed this one at length with Pascal Fintoni over on the Social Media Newsroom, I thought I’d pick a second favourite to share here - High Fidelity.
And another secret – this film may be the reason I set up a social media marketing agency.
I love music, specifically punk, rock, and obscure bands, so narrative-wise, it really spoke to me, and I love that it’s true to the book. I can confirm it stands up to a rewatch or five, too.
The main storyline is set against a backdrop of a record store, where a creative team know their subject matter inside out, have fun, and talk about big ideas. I first watched the film in 2004, aged 15, with no idea what career to pursue. I had recently abandoned my “what I want to be when I grow up” job of choice, investigative journalist, and suddenly, I wanted to run a record store.
That is to say, I wanted to build a place where smart people felt comfortable and good work got done. Twenty years later, and 12 years into OCOCO’s journey, I hope I’ve got the environment down.
If I ever guess the twist in a Netflix documentary my husband will turn to me and say I missed my calling, but I reckon I did alright.
Laura: Stand By Me (1986)
Perhaps many people wouldn’t consider a film released in 1986 to be old, but to me this movie is ancient. Shamelessly I much prefer cinematography that demonstrates 21st century filming technology and the most up-to-date editing software. I’m by no means a movie buff and so it may seem surprising for Stand By Me to be my film of choice.
I first discovered this coming-of-age drama when I was about 12 or 13. Although I watched this movie regularly when I was younger, it had been nearly ten years. So I decided to check if it was still my favourite in 2024 by giving it a rewatch.
With surprisingly intense themes, Stand By Me follows a friendship group of four boys that take up a journey to find the dead body of a stranger who was recently killed. The boys encounter some foes along the way and learn more about each others lives. The performances of a young River Phoenix (Chris) and Will Wheaton (Gordie) stand out particularly, as the characters’ bond is tried and tested along the way.
The film has a somewhat tragic ending, perhaps echoing the future lives of some of the cast members. But as the movie fades away, we hear Gordie’s voiceover, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
During my rewatch I realised that it wasn’t outstanding cinematography or even revolutionary storytelling that mattered to me as a viewer. In fact, it was the conversations between the four boys on their journey. Stand By Me is a story of friendship, loss and truth and that’s what makes it still stand up today.
Nicholle: Shaun of the DeaD (2004)
Emoji Summary:👨💼💔🍻🍦🧟🎶🏏🩸👑🎮
What would you do in a zombie apocalypse? Forget the underground bunkers, leave the tinned food behind, your best chance of survival is to “go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for this all to blow over.”
Those are the wise words of Shaun in the eponymous Shaun of the Dead, a downtrodden TV salesman who finds himself in the middle of apocalyptic London. In a valiant attempt to win back his ex-girlfriend Liz and save her from a bloodthirsty fate, Shaun and his best mate Ed embark on an epic journey of survival, planning to hideout in their favourite pub. Taking on an army of flesh-eating neighbours and a judgemental step-dad in the process, they’re determined nothing will get in the way of love and a freshly poured pint.
Admittedly, I’m a wimp when it comes to gory movies and would usually avoid them like I’d avoid a zombie itself. However, Shaun of the Dead is set apart by its genius script, offering a quirky pastiche that flawlessly ticks boxes in the horror/comedy/romance genres.
Not a moment of screen time is wasted; every other line is punctuated with a satirical joke and each scene is filled with subtle foreshadowing. It also has the best use of a Queen song in a movie ever—I’m not giving away any more spoilers!
Ultimately, I love Shaun of the Dead because of how equally silly and relatable it is—if zombies took over Newcastle tomorrow, I’d want to hide away with a mojito and wait for it all to blow over too.
Watch with a Cornetto and you’re all set for a killer movie night.
Jake: Le Mans 66 / Ford vs Ferrari (2019)
Emoji Summary:💰🏁🏎️🛠️👨💼👨🔧🤝🏆
I feel obliged to preface this with the admission of being a huge motorsport fan. And whilst that may have heavily influenced my selection, I do believe that Le Mans 66 is an objectively brilliant film even for those who do not share my biased enthusiasm for anything that features fast cars.
In 1963 the Ford Motor Company was deep in negotiations to acquire Ferrari. Fortunately for us the negotiations fell through at the last minute. Feeling particularly insulted by the subsequent turn of events, Ford vowed to deliver the ultimate revenge on Ferrari; beating them on the racetrack. Fuelled by this wonderfully petty pursuit of vengeance, Ford enlist Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles to lead the company’s motorsport resurgence. An unlikely duo with a shared passion for making cars go as fast as possible.
In 1964 the Ford GT40 was born.
Matt Damon and Christian Bale’s outstanding performances as Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles respectively, very much carry the movie. The film follows their friendship as they struggle to navigate corporate limitations in pursuit of engineering perfection. It’s the ultimate underdog story first and foremost, a buddy movie at its heart and it just so happens to include some awesome motor racing sequences too. Perfect.
Le Mans 66 offers a captivating insight into how two endearing mavericks managed to, against all odds, produce one of the most successful and iconic race cars of all time. I can pretty much guarantee that this film will leave even the most car-averse individuals unable to resist further investigation of the real life events in order to find out whether any of it really happened. Spoiler alert; most of it did.
We can't wait to watch...
Natalie: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice 2)
UK Release Date: 6th September 2024
Laura: Despicable Me 4
UK Release Date: 12th July 2024
Highly recommended by my nephew!
Nicholle: Paddington in Peru (Paddington 3)
UK Release Date: 8th November 2024
Marmalade sandwiches at the ready!
Jake: Untitled Formula One Racing Movie (Possibly Apex)
UK Release Date: 27th June 2025
That’s a wrap, we hope we’ve given you some inspiration for your next movie night. Watch this space for the next instalment of OCOCO Media Club.
Happy watching!
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