Hoop Dreams, The X from Outer Space, Viy

 Hoop Dreams was a great documentary from 1994 covering five years in the lives of two young high school players in Chicago and their different paths. It's hard not to root for them. Like the best documentaries, it's both informative and intimate. You really grow to care about these teens and their families, too. It's a classic for a reason.

Here's a tip for modern filmmakers - maybe stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars on CGI and just make nice models. I watched The X from Outer Space, a ridiculous 60's kaiju movie about an alien invader who destroys Tokyo in traditional rubber suit style, with my 12-year-old. He is a child of the CGI age. He was appalled to hear me call this movie "bad" and "low budget" - and said it was too bad they had to destroy these elaborate models. To me it was MST3K tier, but there is something nice about actors being able to physically interact with sets, etc. It is really silly but has charm. The space force spends a lot of time talking about food and taking baths on the moon. Kid successfully clocked their "moon-bouncing" as jumping on a trampoline in slow motion. I did enjoy it though. Especially the jazzy, drum-heavy soundtrack - it really grows on you!

Finally, Viy - a Soviet-era horror movie about an idiot seminary student who beats up a witch and pays the price. It's based on a Gogol story, apparently, which I haven't read. It's very strange and an interesting look. You will probably root for the witch. For real - maybe it was a Soviet thing where they had to make religion look bad, but the priest guy is very dumb and unlikeable, and the religious iconography is very creepy. It doesn't feel like a traditional religious horror where the priest is the heroic pure one standing up for his beliefs. Meanwhile, the witch just seems badass and creepy in a good way. The crazy end demon attack scene is worth the watch.