Looking for movie recommendations

[carbonel]

I've been watching too many worthwhile but depressing 4-star movies. I'm looking for suggestions for movies that are upbeat or feel-good, but also intelligent. Live action preferred over anime, and a Bechdel pass is definitely a plus. Romance is acceptable but very much optional.

A couple of examples that I've already watched that would fit the criteria are Bull Durham and The Goodbye Girl. Once is marginal, because of its rather melancholic feel, but gets a pass because it has reasonably intelligent characters interacting without romance getting in the way.

Comments

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

I'm not very familiar with your tastes, so here are some random suggestions:

Attack the block is an action film about when aliens land in the projects in London. Protagonists are mainly a bunch of teenagers on bicycles and an adult woman, so I'm not sure it passes the Bechdel test. OTOH, the kids are very cool and smart and I didn't mind that. And because it's British, it deals with classism and poverty issues too.

The Women (1939). A classic and very witty-funny. AsyouknowBob, no men in the cast, so passes the Bechdel test brilliantly. I'm glad I didn't live in a time when I had to go to Vegas to get a divorce, because I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have been able to spend time with Rosalind Russell et al.

Another vote for Grosse Pointe Blank, best mashup of crime and US high school romanticism/realities ever.

I've heard only good things about What we do in the shadows, but I haven't seen it yet. Entertaining film about the reality of being a vampire; from New Zealand.

If you're up for US animation, there's Hoodwinked, which gives the Little Red Riding Hood story the Rashomon treatment. Marketed for kids originally, but good for adults too. We learn a lot about Granny that one might not have guessed by looking at her (it's never too early to introduce kids to that idea, either).