Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Rushmore:
The Holdovers
The Holdovers is a gem that sits among the best films of 2023. The movie‘s engaging narrative, stellar performances, and melancholic tone makes it a standout addition to the holiday film canon. Three central performances by Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph pull the film together.
Read our full review of The Holdovers
Mean Girls
Mean Girls doesn’t cover enough new ground to warrant the movie’s existence. The music is surprisingly fresh, and the performances are often the best aspects, but it’s a copy-and-paste concept executed to marginally acceptable results. Tina Fey relies heavily on the original material to render the movie passable.
Read our full review of Mean Girls (2024)
Licorice Pizza
Licorice Pizza is a love letter to Paul Thomas Anderson’s childhood experience. The movie is overflowing with teenage emotional drama. One of 2021’s best films. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman both give extraordinary first leading performances.
Read our full review of Licorice Pizza
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Royal Tenenbaums not only stands as one of Wes Anderson’s best movies of his career, but also a defining work of the independent filmmaking scene in the early 2000s. It’s dripping with color and visual intensity, masking a story with deep themes of broken families.
Read our full review of The Royal Tenenbaums
No Hard Feelings
No Hard Feelings feels like a shot in the arm for studio comedies – a subgenre in desperate need of *something* to revive it. Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman both star, and carry with them completely different perspectives of maturing emotionally.
Read our full review of No Hard Feelings
Heathers
Winona Ryder‘s star power is at the center of Heathers, the 1989 teenage dramedy that became a cult hit and spawned many, many future imitators. It has just about everything, from crude high schooler humor to big, starry performances from the likes of Ryder and Christian Slater, to ONE DEAD, GAY SON (whom his dad loved very much)! It’s an eventful movie that packs a lot within 103 minutes, and director Michael Lehmann never takes the material too serious, often opting for a dose of absurdist situational comedy to intensify the plot in motion.
Read our full review of Heathers
Bottle Rocket
There’s a looseness to Bottle Rocket that sets it apart from Wes Anderson’s later films. The plotting is messy, the pacing uneven, and the tone swings between comedy and melancholy without much warning. But it’s precisely that raw, unrefined energy that makes it feel authentic. While the meticulously crafted worlds of Anderson’s later films can sometimes feel like dioramas, Bottle Rocket feels like life — confusing, small-scale, and full of moments that don’t always go anywhere but still matter.
Read our full review of Bottle Rocket
The Tender Bar
While the surrounding pieces of The Tender Bar don’t do much to move the needle, the core connection between Ben Affleck and Tye Sheridan stands out. A movie that could go either way for viewers.
Read our full review of The Tender Bar
Good Will Hunting
Years after its release, the impact of Good Will Hunting is still being felt across the film industry. From the stardom of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, to the timeless performance of the late great Robin Williams, this movie still resonates with generations after it hit theaters in 1997.
Read our full review of Good Will Hunting
Turning Red
Despite feeling a bit like Pixar is borrowing heavily from their contemporaries, Turning Red is the first movie from the studio to actually move the needle in a while. It’s a story for generations to enjoy, and I always prefer when Pixar aims to appeal to older audiences in conjunction with the usual kids demographic.