Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Duration: 1hr 26mins. Stream on MGM+ (UK), Rent on Apple TV (US)
Before he was Mr Jurassic World, director Colin Trevorrow made this clever, charming sci-fi starring Mark Duplass and Aubrey Plaza, from a screenplay by frequent collaborator Derek Connolly. Released in 2012 to a warm reception (but not quite as much fuss as it deserved), the low-budget indie was the story of Darius (Plaza), a graduate magazine intern tasked with investigating a quirky classified ad asking for someone willing to go back in time: “Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.” The ad leads Darius to Kenneth (Duplass), his emotional backstory, and an adventure that set the standard for imaginative, character-led moviemaking made on a shoestring.
She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
Duration: 1hr 28mins. Stream on Netflix (UK & US)
As you’d expect from a TM Spike Lee Joint, this low-budget debut feature is no fluffy romance but a ballsy, smart, sex and relationships comedy. Not all of it has aged well (Lee described a scene of serious sexual assault as his one regret as a filmmaker, and didn’t repeat the mistake in his 2017 Netflix TV adaptation of the movie), but its impact is undeniable. Starring Tracy Camilla Johns as a charismatic Brooklyn artist simultaneously seeing three very different men, it’s frank, funny, of its time, and launched the career that Lee has now.
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Duration: 1hr 22mins. Rent on Apple TV (UK); Stream on Hoopla (US)
It’s a cliché to say it, but this Woody Allen fantasy comedy is as much a love letter to the movies as it is to love. It stars Mia Farrow as Cecilia, an isolated and abused wife in Depression-era New Jersey who finds solace in her solo cinema trips, until one of her screen idols notices her watching him. Jeff Daniels is great as both Baxter, the fictional movie character who steps out of the picture to woo Cecilia and cause chaos for the makers of his film, and as Gil Shepherd, the actor who plays him. Romantic, glamorous, witty and, at 82 minutes, pretty short, this is a romantic movie night winner.
