Words and graphic by Nozomi Shima PZ ’25

Have you been lacking in your lust for life? Nervous about everyone around you getting their summer internships and jobs for next year secured? Wanting to make the most of your college years while it feels like time is slipping away by the second? I get it, and I have two pieces of good news for you: You’re not alone, and I have a few movies to inspire you and reinvigorate your joie de vivre!

The Shawshank Redemption

For someone serving two life sentences in prison for murders he didn’t commit (after being cheated on and losing his wife) Andy Dufresne is surprisingly calm. A banker from Maine, Andy starts at the bottom of the hierarchy when he is incarcerated at Shawshank State Prison in the 1940s. His controlled and subdued demeanor leads him throughout his time there, earning him the attention of a violent prison gang, as well as the respect and friendship of local contraband smuggler, Red, and eventually the comfy jobs of prison librarian and makeshift accountant. Famously narrated by Morgan Freeman, the movie recounts Andy’s story from Red’s perspective as he watches Andy work his way through the merciless prison system with unprecedented tact and grit. Andy changes Shawshank from the inside out, guided by dreams of a better life for himself and his fellow inmates.

Based on a novella by Stephen King, “The Shawshank Redemption” is a true ‘90s classic—one of those movies I had always heard about and never got around to watching until recently. In an attempt to avoid further spoilers, I will characterize the movie as extremely watchable, captivating, philosophical, and subtly mind-blowing. It highlights the value of perseverance, the strength of the human spirit even when dealt a bad hand, and the importance of playing the long game. 

About Time

When Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) is 21, his father reveals to him in a sit-down conversation in their Cornwall beach home a peculiar secret: all of the men in their family have the unique ability to go back in time to moments they have lived to change their present. A bit of a hopeless romantic plagued by lifelong awkwardness, Tim sets about using this newfound gift to look for a girlfriend. The rest of his life is a series of bumbles, magical do-overs, and lessons on love and time travel. Moving to London in his adulthood, Tim eventually meets the love of his life in an American named Mary, played endearingly by Rachel McAdams. They make a life together, all while Tim learns about the limitations of his seemingly infinite time glitch. However, Tim and Mary’s relationship is only a part of the story, with much of the heart coming from Tim’s close relationship with his family. 

Written and directed by Richard Curtis, who is also behind “Love Actually,” “Notting Hill,” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” the movie is predictably quaint, lovely, and British. Judging from Curtis’ oeuvre and its poster, “About Time” looks like a rom-com from the outside, but do not be deceived. It made me cry like a movie has not made me cry in a long time. Nothing terribly sad happens in the movie, but it illuminates the inevitable sadnesses of life, which is my favorite type of sadness to see on screen. While the time travel spin is fantastical, the film does a wonderful job of showing the beauty in the mundane and living every second to the fullest which we can all take inspiration from. 

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Marcel is many things: resourceful; eccentric; delightful; a one-inch-tall anthropomorphic seashell with a googly eye; grandson of Nana Connie; owner of a pet ball of lint named Alan; and the star of a viral YouTube video. Filmed as a mockumentary with a mixture of live-action and stop-motion animation, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” follows Marcel’s daily life after filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp moves into the Airbnb that Marcel inhabits. Marcel and Nana Connie are the only two remaining shells from their community, everyone else becoming collateral damage in an accidental kidnapping after a fight between the previous owners of the house. When Dean’s video about Marcel gains traction, 60 Minutes requests to do a cover story on the shell. As caretaker for the aging Nana Connie, he is reluctant to accept until she is better, but eventually takes the interview in hopes that the publicity can help him find the rest of his community. 

Marcel’s story being brought to the silver screen is a long time coming; Fleischer Camp first conceived of Marcel with his now-ex-wife Jenny Slate in 2010 in a trilogy of short films. Slate co-wrote the films and lends the adorable voice of Marcel, giving life to a shell that represents the best of humanity (despite his shellness). “Marcel” mixes the best of child-like whimsy with adult wisdom. I’ve seen this film at least three times, and with every viewing, my appreciation grows for the attention to detail in the filmmaking, Marcel’s unwavering optimism, and my favorite line in the movie: “Guess why I smile a lot? Uh, ‘cause it’s worth it.”