"Trade the therapist's couch for your own with the help of Cinematherapy," said Self magazine about this series of books by Nancy Peske and Beverly West. In this paperback they discuss 150 movies that can "inspire, guide, comfort us as we make our way along the path toward inner peace." The authors, cousins who live in New York City and love movies, have spruced up their overviews of classic and contemporary flicks with inspirational quotations, recipes to feed your spiritual hunger, and pampering rituals.
The writing style here is very casual, and they aim to please with humorous bits and breezy commentary on a variety of topics. The ten chapters cover themes like shining out movies, finding your soulmate movies, antianxiety movies, getting back to nature movies, keeping it real movies, letting go of your status quo movies, and love is all around you movies. Under the heading of soul sisters, Peske and West suggest viewing Beaches (1988), Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997), and The Banger Sisters (2002). And to learn about the power of two, they recommend Vincent and Theo (1990), Pollock (2000), The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (2001), and Topsy-Turvy (1999).
Each film is briefly reviewed, and the authors add their own personal notes of recommendation. Here are a few examples:
