icy films for a snowless winter in istanbul
words by dilara
Unfortunately, Istanbul couldn't enjoy a white winter this year. Up until a week ago, I was frantically checking my weather app day and night, and getting excited over the slightest temperature change on the screen, even though it was perfectly sunny outside. After I immediately took a screenshot of the app and sent it to my friend with a caption "Look, this week the temperature is falling down. Maybe it will snow?", and then I was planning the perfect instagram shots with snowy backgrounds. I dreamed watching the snow falling to the ground behind the window with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands. And finally, it had snowed last week, but it was just too little too late and I have accepted that the spring has come. This watch-list of snow-themed films and shows is to satisfy my hunger for a white winter. Join me with a cup of hot chocolate in your hands.
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"all that heaven allows"
Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman in All That Heaven Allows (1955) © Universal International Pictures
It is one of the best melodramas that has ever been made. This movie is a tale about an old rich-widow and a younger gardener-landscaper falling in love. It is a classic story but, Douglas Sirk keeps it enjoyable.
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Director: Douglas Sirk
Stars: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson
"black mirror - crocodile"
Andrea Riseborough © Netflix
"THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY"
It is one of the best Black Mirror episodes in which you will eat your nails while watching the exquisite view of Iceland. Mia and Ron kills a cyclist in a hit-and-run accident while drunk-driving. This episode is also about the technology but it focuses on a great crime/detective plot.
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Director: John Hillcoat
Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Andrew Gower
Ben Stiller. Credit: Twentieth Century Fox
This movie makes me laugh and gives me courage. The beautiful cinematography -especially in the Iceland scenes- and the soundtrack what makes it shine.
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Director: Ben Stiller
Stars: Ben Stiller, Kristin Wiig, Jon Daly
"FORCE MAJEURE"
Force Majeure © 2014 - Magnolia Pictures
This a maddeningly ordinary story. But it is not anything you have watched before. I cannot recommend this for everyone but if you want something different and challenging, "Force Majeure" is the one for you. It is about a family vacationing in the French Alps is confronted with an avalanche.
(Sadly, this great film is going to be remade by Hollywood.)
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Director & Writer: Ruben Östlund
Stars: Johannes Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren
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"THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL"
The Grand Budapest Hotel. Credits: Fox Searchlight Pictures, American Empirical Pictures
The film is set between the First and Second World Wars, and it is about a concierge (Gustave) loved by everyone in the hotel and the lobby boy (Zero Mustafa). This pinkish black comedy by Wes Anderson has all your favourite stars from Adrien Brody to Edward Norton, Bill Murray to Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes to Jude Law, and the list goes on. It is an absolute must-watch.
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Director: Wes Anderson
Stars: Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Léa Seydoux, Owen Wilson, .
"GROUNDHOG DAY"
Bill Murray © Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
The film focuses on Phil (Bill Murray) forcibly participating in the festival called Groundhog day, and the comic events that happen every day after he begins to live on the same day, and that our hero finds himself.
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Director: Harold Ramis
Stars: Bill Murray, Andie Macdowell, Chris Elliott
"THE HOLIDAY"
​​Credits: Universal pictures, Columbia pictures
It's just a really pretty romantic comedy film -so cliche- but Jude Law's and Cameron Diaz's on screen chemistry makes it enjoyable.
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Director & Writer: Nancy Meyers
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Eli Wallach, Jude Law, Rufus Sewell, Kate Winslet, Edward Burns, Jack Black
"MERU"
Photo by Jimmy Chin - © Jimmy Chin
Lastly, here is a documentary film packed with adventure and action. It is about three climbers' (Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Öztürk) attempt to climb Mount Meru. Even if you don't like watching documentary films, you will appreciate this one. You will feel your fingertips frozen, probably cry a little, but never feel hopeless again.
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Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Stars: Conrad Anker, Grace Chin, Jimmy Chin, Renan Öztürk