Feel-Good Shut-In Movie Of The Day #9: A Hard Day's Night (1964)

Just when our parents were writing off The Beatles as another flash-in-the-pan rock group, we dragged them to the movie theater to see director Richard Lester's offbeat romp — and they ended up loving the Lads just as much as we did. Oscar-nominated for his edgy 1959 short, "The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film," Lester applies heavy doses of frenetic filmmaking to this fictionalized vision of a Day In The Life of the boys from Liverpool. It's a style that contrasts beautifully with the laid-back, deadpan demeanor of his subjects — who surprised everyone with their nimble delivery and sharply defined identities.