A movie to watch for everyday this month
The most captivating films take on special meaning when watched in the right context. Loved ones curling up for a warm holiday viewing of “Love Actually” may feel a new sense of relatability while surrounded by friends and family. Meanwhile, taking in David Oyelowo’s “Selma” on Martin Luther King Day unlocks an even deeper sense of connection to the life of MLK. Picking the right time to take in a film can make the experience all the more compelling.
For those looking for that ideal movie in June, Stacker looked to Carphone Warehouse’s “Massive Movie Calendar” which features a carefully curated film for each day of the month. Each film relates in a unique way to the suggested viewing day, drawing on anniversaries, milestones for the directors and cast, or a deeper historical significance for the theme and subjects involved.
June 1: Inglourious Basterds
Why you should watch it: In chapter 3 of this war-action-fantasy about a fictional revenge squad hellbent on assassinating Nazi leaders, French Jewish orphan Shosanna Dreyfus assumes the identity of 'Emmanuelle Mimieux.' The film is set in early June 1944, after the D-Day landings.
June 2: Quills
Why you should watch it: The Marquis de Sade, whose writing conceived the term 'sadism', was born on this day in 1740. Quills portrays the exploits of the Marquis while imprisoned in an insane asylum.
June 3: Ali
Why you should watch it: Charismatic boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies. This biographical film charts ten years of Ali's life, from his early days in the ring, criticism of the Vietnam War and imprisonment, to his monumental comeback fight and 'The Rumble in the Jungle'.
June 4: Dunkirk
Why you should watch it: Parliament, 1940. Winston Churchill makes his wartime speech "We shall fight them on the beaches." The desperate horror of Dunkirk unfolds as allied troops wait to be evacuated before Nazi forces invade.
June 5: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Why you should watch it: Ferris and friends skip school on this day, steal a car, ride into town and sing a Beatles song on a milk float.
June 6: Saving Private Ryan
Why you should watch it: The anniversary of the D-Day landings. Watch Steven Spielberg's depiction of the bloody horror and panic of the Normandy Invasion.
June 7: Juno
Why you should watch it: It's loveable nerd Michael Cera's birthday. Witness the painful coming of age of two high school students in this heartwrenching drama and odd-ball comedy.
June 8: Coalition
Why you should watch it: In 2017, Theresa May's snap election results in a hung parliament. This drama, based on the events surrounding 2010's hung parliament, looks back at the previous time this happened in the UK.
June 9: Edward Scissorhands
Why you should watch it: It's Johnny Depp's birthday. Watch his breakthrough movie, a Tim Burton classic about a kind hearted artificial human and outcast called Edward, who struggles to fit in to suburban life.
June 10: The Crucible
Why you should watch it: The first hanging in the Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692. This adaptation by Arthur Miller of his own play charts the mounting hysteria in the town of Salem after a jealous mistress is spurned by her older lover and accuses his wife of witchcraft.
June 11: Jurassic Park
Why you should watch it: A group of academics arrive at an island theme park populated with dinosaurs created from fossil DNA, only to find the park fences are no barrier for hungry prehistoric predators.
June 12: Loving
Why you should watch it: It's 1967, and in the case of Loving versus Virginia, the US Supreme Court makes a state law prohibiting interracial marriage. Loving follows the story of Richard and Milded, an interracial couple who face the full force of Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws.
June 13: Good Will Hunting
Why you should watch it: It's Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård's birthday. Enjoy his touching role as Gerald Lambeau, an MIT professor who discovers the university's janitor, Will Hunting, is a maths prodigy and endeavours to nurture his talent.
June 14: Hoop Dreams
Why you should watch it: Michael Jordan crowns his last season with the Chicago Bulls in 1998 by playing a pivotal role in their sixth NBA title. Hoop Dreams is the true story of two boys from Chicago who defy expectations and follow their dream to play in the NBA.
June 15: Army Of Shadows
Why you should watch it: Paris surrendered to Nazi Germany on this day in 1940. This film, with its dark and realistic portrayal of life in the movement is perhaps the greatest account of the French resistance.
June 16: The Angel's Share
Why you should watch it: The day of the auction when a cask of bad whisky is unwittingly sold for £1,150,000.
June 17: Dick
Why you should watch it: The day Betsy and Arlene unwittingly stumble into the Watergate robbery.
June 18: Wedding Crashers
Why you should watch it: The date of the Cleary wedding where John and Jeremy get drawn deeper into the family while in pursuit of love.
June 19: Fruitvale Station
Why you should watch it: Police officer Johannes Mehserle pleads not guilty to the murder of Oscar Grant, which took place in the early hours of New Year's Day in 2009. The murder and preceding days of Grant's life are the subject of this powerful film.
June 20: Moulin Rouge!
Why you should watch it: It's Nicole Kidman's birthday. Watch her light up the stage as Satine, in Baz Luhrmann's doomed love story between a poet (Ewan McGregor) and the most desirable courtesan of the Moulin Rouge.
June 21: Bridget Jones' Diary
Why you should watch it: I hate him! HATE HIM! Perennial singleton Bridget writes a scathing diary entry about Mark Darcy, but does she really mean what she says?
June 22: Fish Tank
Why you should watch it: Troubled East End teenager Mia Jarvis is born. Fish Tank delves into society's stark margins, exposing the bitter psychological impact and vulnerability of teenagers from dysfunctional homes, where loneliness, anger and emotional abuse are a daily reality.
June 23: Kagemusha
Why you should watch it: Medieval Japanese warrior and uniter of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, was born on this day in 1534. Akira Kurosawa, regarded as one of the most important and influential film directors of all time, directs this epic in which a small time thief must impersonate a dead warlord and lead troops into battle with warring clans.
June 24: Rain Man
Why you should watch it: It's the last baseball pitch made on Crosley field in 1970. A photograph of the event hangs on Raymond's wall, where, due to his heightened mental calculating ability, he has memorized all of the baseball players and stats.
June 25: San Andreas
San Andreas, a disaster movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson depicts an epic scene of the Hoover Dam being destroyed. The Hoover Dam was authorized to be built on this day in 1929.
June 26: The Dark Knight
Why you should watch it: Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered on this day, setting him on a course to become The Dark Knight.
June 27: The Miracle Worker
Why you should watch it: Helen Keller is born blind and deaf. Under the guidance of a partially blind tutor, a frustrated and occasionally violent Keller learns to effectively communicate and connect with the world around her.
June 28: Rosemary's Baby
Why you should watch it: It's the day Rosemary's baby is due, in 1966. However, the film suggests the baby arrives three weeks early, making the birthdate 6/6/66: the number of the beast.
June 29: The African Queen
Why you should watch it: Four time Academy Award winner Katharine Hepburn dies (2003). The African Queen, one of her most celebrated films, is also the name of the steamboat aboard which a quarrelling twosome (Hepburn and Bogart) must survive a perilous river journey to safety.
June 30: Pride
Why you should watch it: The group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners is formed (1984). Young people from the LGBT community in London unite in a controversial move to support the miners' efforts during the union strikes under Margaret Thatcher.
