In light of the recent release of filmmaker/actor John Krasinski’s movie “The Quiet Place”, we managed to track down 5 of John’s favourite movies and why he loves them.

If you’re anxious to see more of John, filming of his new Amazon TV Series Jack Ryan is scheduled to premiere this August.

Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)

Ted Kramer’s wife leaves her husband, allowing for a lost bond to be rediscovered between Ted and his son, Billy. But a heated custody battle ensues over the divorced couple’s son, deepening the wounds left by the separation.

Director: Robert Benton

Writers: Avery Corman (from the novel by), Robert Benton (written for the screen by)

Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander

John on why he loves this movie:

I was one of those kids who had never seen an indie film before I got to college.

If it wasn’t a big, huge tentpole movie, or if it wasn’t on the radio, I hadn’t

experienced it. Then in college, I started getting into independent movies, which

led me to classic movies, which led me to all this different stuff. The 1970s

movies, for me, were only discovered, unfortunately, as little as six or seven

years ago.

So Kramer vs. Kramer. Some of the greatest writing I’ve ever seen, some

of the gutsiest performances. It’s just so quintessential of what the 1970s were

for me. There’s just this unfiltered, raw energy, and despite how beautiful that

movie is — and obviously, it’s a well-done movie — the fact [is] that they’re

not making movies like that anymore. [Kramer vs. Kramer is about] a horrible

relationship. It’s a really tough situation for the father to be in, and yet

[for] everyone who went and saw the movie, there was this weird understanding or

commiseration with anger. I think people might have been angrier, or willing to

see angry movies.

Ordinary People (1980)

The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son.

Director: Robert Redford

Writers: Judith Guest (novel), Alvin Sargent (screenplay)

Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch

John on why he loves this movie:

Timothy Hutton turns in one of the best male performances I’ve ever seen. And that

family dynamic was so subtle in what could have been a really angsty movie.

Everything from the way it was shot to the way it was acted. John Bailey was

actually the DP on my movie that I directed (Brief Interviews with Hideous

Men) and he was saying that when they shot the psychiatrist scenes he

started out with the camera right over their shoulders, and then he moved the

camera back slowly and changed the lighting, because he said that if you’d been

going to therapy for months, then the lighting would be different every time of

the same day. And I thought, “That’s insane that someone thought of that.” And

then he moved the camera back 100 feet so that they were compressed on each

other so it was a much more intimate scene. I was like, “Wait, wait, wait, this

is insane!”

 

The Verdict (1982)

A lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writers: Barry Reed (based upon the novel by), David Mamet (screenplay)

Stars: Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden

John on why he loves this movie:

I think it’s probably one of the most inspirational movies for me because of

Paul Newman‘s performance. I think that is, to me, some of the best, [most]

controlled acting in a movie. I think that he has this incredible likability.

Even though he’s a drunk, washed-up lawyer, you’re still rooting for him from

the very beginning.

I’m that sort of weird guy who will watch a movie almost every day if I can.

It’s harder when you’re working on the show. I buy a lot of movies on used DVD

so I can have certain scenes. I was really looking for things to inspire me.

When I got out of college I was waiting tables professionally [and] couldn’t

afford to go the theater [every] night. I think those great movies can actually

make you feel a certain way. Not only emotionally, but if you’re in

this business, it’s one of those things where you see someone do something that

good and it buys you a year of energy. That’s what I was really looking for. It

sounds so cliché,[but I wanted] to bask in the glow some of these amazing

performances, like [those of] Dustin Hoffman and Marlon Brando. But it was also

fun. To get back to what I was saying before, that 1970s raw energy, it’s almost

frustrating now that people aren’t making more movies like that because people

won’t go see them.

On the Waterfront (1954)

An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.

Director: Elia Kazan

Writers: Budd Schulberg (screenplay), Budd Schulberg (based upon an original story by)

Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb

John on why he loves the movie:

That movie for me was my Marlon Brando experience before The Godfather,

before Streetcar. It’s weird to be living in a modern world where

acting has changed. Movies have changed so much, and yet you can still see what

defined [Brando] and his performance. If I told you that so-and-so was the first

person to do something 30 years ago, you’d be like, “Well, I don’t care, because

people do it now all the time.” There’s still nobody doing what he does in that

movie. And so that really changed everything for me. Also, there was something

really exciting and sad about the whole political aspect of that movie. The

whole blacklisting thing.

The Godfather (1972)

The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Writers: Mario Puzo (screenplay by), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay by)

Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan

John on why he loves this movie:

Only because it’s everybody’s number one choice. I kinda feel, in this day and age —

not to be sounding bad in any way — we live in a culture where something’s

good, and some people will say it’s awesome, and they may not have even seen it

or they didn’t like it. But they want to agree with the cultural zeitgeist. I

feel like that movie has stood up to time [and] criticism, and yet everybody can

find the exact same reasons as to why it’s awesome. I mean, it’s so

well-written. It’s a slow movie that you’re still riveted by. It’s [got]

character development unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. And of course, the

performances are wild.