Movies for Baby Boomers
Baby Boomers like movies. We grew up with them. We were the first generation to have them come into our homes. We watched movies develop and evolve in the 50’s and 60’s at a faster rate than anyone could imagine, compared to the half-century before. New genres, filming techniques and themes were introduced, as we joyfully watched. As a result, we have rather sophisticated and eclectic tastes when it comes to film.
With the advent of cable TV, DVD’s and the Internet, the entire magical movie kingdom lies at our fingertips. These pages are meant to act as a guide to direct you to the most meaningful films, from a Boomer point of view. These are the best of the movies that relate to our specific lifestyles, values and passions. You’ll find the new additions, the old favorites and the often overlooked. These are some suggestions for baby boomer movies that will point you toward the most significant cinema features of today and yesterday.
I have decided to turn the movie critic job over to AARP Movies for Grownups to find the latest movies that us Baby Boomers may enjoy and review them for us. This list is updated every week.
Current Boomer Movie Suggestions Are:
http://search.aarp.org/rss/author/BillNewcott
So have you seen any of these movies yet? If so, did you like or not?
More Best Movies for Baby Boomers are:
Still Mine – (2013) James Cromwell gives an outstanding performance in this movie. It is sweet and you will cry. But it will also leave a lasting memory and understanding about true love. See it! – Robert
Robot and Frank – (2012) Worried about their aging father living alone, Frank’s kids give him a humanoid robot that’s programmed to be his caretaker. Reluctant Frank — a retired cat burglar — soon warms up to his new helper and begins to treat it as a partner in crime.
Why a move for Baby Boomers? Us boomers will be here soon enough.
Searching for Sugar Man (2012) Decades after Detroit singer-songwriter Rodriguez disappeared following the commercial failure of his two critically praised records in the 1970s, two fans from South Africa, where Rodriguez was a huge hit, try to track down their idol.
Why a move for Baby Boomers? Tells about an interesting life of an older boomer and his boomer fans in Australia.
Life of PI – Based on Yann Martel’s best-selling novel, this coming-of-age tale recounts the adventures of Pi, an Indian boy who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with only some zoo animals for company.
Parental Guidance – Billy Crystal movie- When their daughter must leave for a week, Artie and Diane Decker find themselves in charge of their three grandchildren, whose well-regimented and high-tech lives leave Grandma and Grandpa baffled and ready to bring on the old-school parenting.
Hope Springs – 2012 – Feeling disconnected in her decades-old marriage, Maeve convinces her skeptical husband to attend a marriage therapy week with a celebrated relationship expert — but now they must shed their inhibitions and learn some new sexual and emotional moves.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Jean Smart, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland, Patch Darragh, Brett Rice, Elisabeth Shue, Mimi Rogers
Why a move for Baby Boomers? Stars two of the most popular baby boomers with a story any married couple can relate to. Very interesting movie.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2012 – To make the most of their meager retirement savings, a group of British seniors moves to India to live out their golden years at the Marigold Hotel. But upon arrival, they discover the once-lavish resort has wilted considerably. Judi Dench is in this movie. Making the best of retirement, sounds like a Boomer movie to me. Good reviews. This is a very sweet, sentimental movie about 7 Brits that end up moving to India as they try to figure out what to do with their lives after being dealt various blows (money woes, illness, etc). They all end up at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which is trying to become a retirement home for “people from countries that don’t care about their old people.”
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead You’ve got to see this movie. A real human interest story and you will get healthier yourself.
Focusing on two men whose bodies have been trashed by steroids, obesity and illness, this documentary chronicles the rigorous healing path — including a two-month diet of fruits and vegetables — that both attempt in a bid to rescue their health.
This is more like a movie than a documentary. So give it a chance and see it.
The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family’s land handed down from Hawaiian royalty missionaries
Why a move for Baby Boomers? George Clooney in a dysfunctional family. What can I say?
Very good acting with some surprises and turns to keep it interesting; if not disappointing act of politics.
R, 1 hr. 41 min. Mystery and Suspense, Drama. Directed by George Clooney. Baby boomer movie.
Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball’s conventional wisdom is wrong.
Forced to reinvent his team on a tight budget, Beane will have to outsmart the richer clubs. It’s more than baseball, it’s a revolution – one that challenges old school traditions and puts Beane in the crosshairs of those who say he’s tearing out the heart and soul of the game. Great baby boomer movie.
Narrated by Barney as a confessional, the film covers 30 years of his unusual journey — from his first marriage to the chronically unfaithful free spirit Clara. Baby boomers will love this movie. R rated, 2 hours, 12 min. Boomer movie.
Secretariat (2010) PG When Penny Chenery (Diane Lane) agrees to take over her ailing father’s thoroughbred stable, she transforms from housewife to horse breeder —
and owner of the colt that will take the 1973 Triple Crown — in this dramatic biopic. The film explores Chenery’s bond with “Big Red” and depicts her rise to greatness
as the “first lady of racing.” John Malkovich plays trainer Lucien Laurin, and Fred Dalton Thompson co-stars as big-shot breeder Bull Hancock. Good baby boomer movie.
IN their Movies for Grownups, AARP says the new romantic comedy “The Light-keepers with Richard Dreyfuss is on on screen love story with characters over 50. It is rare to find grownp love stories.
The Blind Side, starring Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock is a great movie for boomers. I enjoyed it, the audience didn’t want to leave. he entire cast is great, but it’s really Bullock’s performance that lifts The Blind Side above the typical sports drama.
About review> March 2010
Alice in Wonderland – See in Digital 3D. Director and subject matter make for a perfect marriage in Tim Burton’s version of the Lewis Carroll classic. ALICE IN WONDERLAND stars frequent Burton collaborator Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter rottentomatoes.com review> March 2010>
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Män Som Hatar Kvinnor; Millennium: Part 1: Men Who Hate Women (2009) R Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger’s (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger’s powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy. Baby boomer like this movie.
It’s Complicated – “After 10 years divorced, Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin) enjoy an amicable friendship. When the two unite for their son’s college graduation, however, romance rekindles. But Jake is married, and Jane’s architect, Adam (Steve Martin), has a thing for his client. Now cheating on the younger woman for whom he left Jane, Jake wants his ex-wife back. And Jane’s having as much fun being the other woman as she is getting to know Adam.” rottentomatoes.com review> March 2010
Shutter Island – “Director Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio re-team again to adapt author Dennis Lehane’s novel about Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio), a United States marshal who searches for an escaped psychiatric patient on a mysterious island. Featuring an all-star cast, Scorcese’s psychological thriller also stars Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley. Suspense movie. rottentomatoes.com review> Feb 2010
Avatar – It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling,
but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron’s singular gift for imaginative, absorbing film making. See it in Digital 3D. rottentomatoes.com review> Jan 2010 Good boomer movie.
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Often Overlooked Boomer movies are:
Hearts in Atlantis (2001) – In the summer of 1960, young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) is sharing adventures with his best friends Carol (Mika Boorem) and Sully (Will Rothhaar) when an enigmatic lodger named Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) rents a room in his family’s boarding house. Stars Anthony Hopkins
Transsiberian An American couple (Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer)
seeking to smooth out their rough marriage buys a ticket on the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway. But a chance meeting with two other passengers ends in accidental murder and
high intrigue. Ben Kingsley and Thomas Kretschmann co-star as a pair of Russian police officers who are trying to solvethe baffling case in Brad Anderson’s taut and gritty travel thriller. Cast: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, Eduardo Noriega, Kate Mara, Thomas Kretschmann Triller & suspense movie.
30 Days: Season 1 and 2 2005NR2 discs / 6 episodesMorgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me fame) hosts this one-hour documentary film series that places subjects for a month in situations they’re unlikely to seek out on their own. By subjecting themselves to such circumstances, participants help shed light on social issues plaguing America today, such as the rift created by religious differences between Muslims and Christians in America, the
incarcerated and the lawyers who put them in prison, and more.
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Some Good Movies Boomers have enjoyed include: Original Rocky, The Shawshank Redemption, When Harry Met Sally and Papillon.
The 10 best Baby Boomer Movies
Baby Boomer Examiner – Paul Briand – Here, in one Baby Boomer’s estimation, are the 10 best movies that encompass the themes that defined the generation: peace, love, war, music, and self-identification.
1) “The Big Chill” (1983) — Included
many of the Boomer elements of post-college identity crisis
and friendship around a terrific music score; what boomer doesn’t love this movie.
2) “The Graduate” (1967) — Talk about Boomer angst … find a job, find a love, find Mrs.
Robinson instead … whew;
3) “Woodstock” (1970) — The documentary for a generation — sex, drugs and rock n’ roll;
4) “Easy Rider” (1969) — A story of the open road and the consequences of intolerance, definitely not a retelling of John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley”
5) “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) — The Beatles led the English music invasion on the “Ed
Sullivan” then followed it up with a movie that still had the girls screaming;
6) “Apocalypse Now” (1979) — Epic take on the Vietnam War that pilloried the insanity
of American foreign policy;
7) “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969) — Buddy movie with the passing of the
hunk baton from Paul Newman to Robert Redford (and Katharine Ross to boot).
8) “Dr. Zhivago” (1965) — A chick flick that appealed to guys, what with the Russian Revolution and all … and “Lara’s Theme,” the song that launched a billion music boxes;
9) “Star Wars” (1977) — Episodes
IV, V and VI trilogy that first appealed to our inner geek;
10) “Saturday Night Fever” (1977) — Defined the attitude of disco, the music and the dancing, whether we like to remember it or not.
Netflix – Prefer your movies at home. Netflix is a great way to get your DVDs. Much info about movies. Now you can stream moves via wireless Internet.
Movies for Seniors – list news and movies. Interesting.
Rotten Tomatoes – Top movies reviewed and rated.
Movie Reviews – Rate and review movies. Top critic movie reviews.
By Robert Fowler
Great article and more success
The Railway Man (2013)_Movie HD
You have great list with best movie review.
Life of pi is an exquisite movie, the cinematography was grander than I’ve ever seen. Could not hold back the tears when Richard Parker wandered off into the woods in the end. A survival and hope classic
Here are good movies some of them i have watched already some not. My favorite movies from this list are: Moneyball, Life of PI, The Descendants. I can’t comment for other movies but in general Interesting list of movies.
my favorite here is buth cassidy and the sundance kid best western in my opinion. Being english moneyball makes no sense, the rules of baseball made no sense, kinda of put me off this otherwise decent film
A very good collection of movies listed above. My personal favorite is Life of Pi as it is the story of India from where i belong.
Best collection ever for the movie. Life of Pi is the best movie i watched last year. Any good other similar release in this year?
Butch Cassidy gets my vote as the top choice in this list. Still a great list!
Your list is really helpful – I was born in the early 70’s, yet I’m really interested to watch the movies in the list. Thanks for sharing. 😀 Have you watched Jet Lag (French), Chocolat & Sense and Sensibility? I think they are great too.
Great choice, thanks for sharing this amazing read, you have selected these movies from experience.
Really this article contains huge amount of information. I think it would be helpful for all. Thank you for sharing with us.
Out of all the movies, I like Life of Pie. Its must watch one!!!
Awesome movie choices and agree that Butch Cassidy is an all time favorite. Thanks for the list!
great list with best movie review.
The best and unblevble movies
The collection of movies are great, in this collection I have watch the Life of pie and The descendants. It is very educational and you can learned how to take care of those precious moment in life.
The Ghost of Daydream Believer
The name, “John Stewart,” may not immediately ring a bell. If it does, the comedian, Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” most likely comes to mind. But that would be a mistake; this Stewart isn’t him. J-o-h-n Stewart had a nearly fifty year career in the music industry as part of a famous folk group, released several songs as a solo artist that charted and even had a few hit recordings of his own. If the name still doesn’t register, one song he wrote will bring back instant memories of your childhood: “Daydream Believer.” You probably know the name of the group who had the first hit recording in 1967. You might even remember that Anne Murray also charted with the song in 1980. You may also recall that Susan Boyle recently sang it on her first album. But do you know anything about the man who wrote it?
Probably not.
Unless you are part of the worldwide cult that is John Stewart’s fans.
Documentary producer Steve Kosareff (“TV Man: the Search for the Last Independent Dealer”) who has been part of that cult for 44 years wants to change that. He wants to give Stewart the due that he feels (like many others) he so richly deserves. Kosareff wants to tell the story of the long shadow “Daydream Believer” cast over Stewart’s career for almost twenty years which was as much a curse as a financial windfall.
Stewart’s career received a major launch early on when he replaced Dave Guard in the Kingston Trio in 1961. It was the height of the folk music craze that swept the U.S. in the late 1950s and early 60s. The Trio was at the top of the pyramid that would launch the careers of Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary. Older boomers remember the Trio taking the country by storm, much as the Beatles would a few years later. The group was everywhere it seemed: nightclubs, college campuses, records, radio, television shows, and commercials for 7-Up. The group even shot a pilot for a sitcom. If folk music was king; the members of the Kingston Trio were its gods.
Stewart had written and sold several songs to the Trio before he was selected to replace Guard. It was an easy transition with Stewart who was not only a great songwriting and singing talent, but a performer who displayed a great sense of wit and comic timing on stage. As successful as the group was it was just as creatively stifling and Stewart, who was a salaried employee and not a partner, attempted to leave at least once, finally succeeding with the break-up of the group in 1967. He started to play small clubs as a single but his previous successes haunted him. The recent success of the Monkees’ recording of “Daydream Believer,” allowed people to believe the group may have written the song and, other than writer’s royalties, the song did nothing to promote Stewart’s career. In fact, it may have hampered it. The recording’s arrangement was an upbeat anthem and pop symphony of piano, horns and strings, a far cry from the way the Trio or Stewart as a solo recorded. Far more damning was Stewart’s success in the Trio which led to expectations from his audiences that he would sing the group’s hits, but he refused to make his mark as a solo artist. It was tough going, but Stewart’s history in the recording industry did have its perks: he knew a lot of the right people. One of those was Capitol Records’ and Trio producer Nik Venet who thought he knew just how to capture the essence of John Stewart’s new country-rock music. Venet decided to record Stewart live with top musicians in Nashville. These sessions would produce one of Rolling Stone’s seminal top 200 albums of all time. What became of that album would be the benchmark for all Stewart albums that would follow over the next 20 years: critical acclaim and disappointing sales.
That is until he had an epiphany that would change the course of his career.
Documentary producer Kosareff is seeking one or a few wealthy boomers who are Stewart fans to serve as executive producer(s) to launch the production he has entitled, “The Ghost of Daydream Believer: John Stewart’s American Spirit.” Kosareff also has plans for a companion all-star concert film celebrating Stewart’s music to be staged at the Phoenix Symphony Hall where forty years ago Stewart recorded his historic “Phoenix Concerts” album. If you are interested in supporting this project at any level please contact Kosareff by email at TVMan@TVMan.tv. For those at the highest level of potential support Kosareff will provide a production package for review.
CONTACT:
Steve Kosareff
TV Man Productions
2425 3rd Street, #L
Santa Monica, CA 90405
I like Moneyball because it is based on a true story.
I personaly like the The Descendants movie because it’s have nice drama story
Wow, most of them was really good films.
I think I haven’t watch some movie from the list.
Willing to fing and watch it. 😀
Songs and movies are best source of entertainment. I still remember when i was a little kid and went to theatre.. This site has a nice collection of movies remind me of that day great work.
Great collection! The Descendants is an awesome movie! we could what that one with the whole family and everyone enjoy it.
After looking through the 10 best Baby Boomer’s movies, I hope everyone agrees with me that “Star Wars” (1977) — Episodes is the best movie from that list.
After watching Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) trailer from newvideoz.com, I hope this movie get released at my cinema in IMAX screening.
quite interesting list of movies, “still mine” make me speechless, one of my fov, keep sharing… thanks.
good list, i always give preference to based on true story or biography movies, love to see reality not fake drama.. thanks foe sharing the list..
Recently watched Birdman with Michael Keaton.
Not normally something I would pick up off the shelf but was pleasantly surprised by this movie.
The movie starts out with him floating several feet of the ground.
…it got me right there.
Watch this surprising gem.
Ever since netflix came out I feel like I am limited to what is on their list. I am still a Star Wars fan. Great list and thankyou
Black or White is a great movie. It wasn’t filled with a lot of tricks and gimmicks to make it interesting. It was a movie filled with a real life situations that all generations should see. A great reminder of where we as a people come from and sheds light on where we are and how far we can go. Love was the theme of the movie. Simple yet thought provoking. $9 well spent!
#GFEPart2
Good job picking all amazing movies. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (most recent) was a great movie for anyone wanting to break out of their doldrums and go on an adventure.
I agree with mason..netflix feels very limited. I’m a huge fan of apple tv though. Thanks for the great list! Cheers!
Such a good site and luv all the peoples interactions!
A Great list of movies . I have enjoyed watching
1.girl with the dragon tattoo
2. Life of Pi- Was OK
Hey great post and share nice collection of baby boomer movies
i think you also add these movies
‘Reds’ (1981)
‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ (1979)
‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979)
Some good recommendations here. The Marigold Hotel is a hoot!
Some great movies here but i’m afraid that my choice of movies these days is controlled by my 9 year old son
Baby boomers rule the world. Saw a thing once though that said they do not eat enough popcorn to get movies made – apparently movie theatres make a lot of money on popcorn sales!a
Really enjoyed Searching for Sugarman as such an amazing story. Very enjoyable.