01
Cocoon
Why this pick
Its benevolent extraterrestrial premise carries the same tender, effects-driven wonder, while an older ensemble finds renewed purpose and warmth through an unexpected visitation.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1987 1h 46m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
*batteries not included
ComedyFamilyFantasyScience Fiction
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
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01
02
The Milagro Beanfield War
Why this pick
A threatened, close-knit neighbourhood pushes back against powerful development interests with the same affectionate, lightly magical faith in ordinary people banding together.
03
Miracle in Milan
Why this pick
This fable shares the movie’s humane focus on vulnerable urban residents and its joyful use of fantasy as a force for communal resilience.
04
The Iron Giant
Why this pick
It pairs a gentle outsider from the sky with a small community, balancing playful science-fiction spectacle, sincere friendship, and an emotionally generous heart.
05
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Why this pick
Like *batteries not included*, it treats a strange visitor less as a threat than as a catalyst for empathy, protective bonds, and luminous childlike wonder.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Frank and Faye Riley, an elderly couple who manage an apartment building and café in the East Village, Manhattan, come under threat by a nearby property development. The development manager, Lacey, sends a hoodlum named Carlos and his gang of thugs to bribe the couple and their tenants to move out. When the tenants resist, Carlos and his thugs punch through artist Mason Baylor's door, intimidate pregnant single mother Marisa Esteval, and break retired boxer Harry Noble's jar of tiles. After Frank Riley refuses to move, Carlos vandalizes the café.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Jessica Tandy
Faye Riley
Dennis Boutsikaris
Mason Baylor
Frank McRae
Harry Noble
Elizabeth Peña
Marisa Esteval
Hume Cronyn
Frank Riley
Michael Carmine
Carlos
James Le Gros
Goon #2
Jane Hoffman
Muriel Hogenson