Actually, there are far more than six but these are among the films I think are especially engaging:

The King’s Speech (201o): This brilliantly traces the process by which the Duke of York (later crowned George VI, played by Colin Firth) struggles to overcome stammering with the assistance of a speech therapist, Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush). Firth’s acting is so compelling and engaging that there are moments when I felt (almost) the same degree of anguish, frustration, anger, and despair.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011): Based on Jonathan Saran Fore’s novel with the same title, this film is set in NYC post-911 but there are flashbacks as a determined young man roams the city in search of a lock that can be opened by the key his father (Tom Hanks) left behind. I was not only fully engaged in the search; I also became emotionally involved with his widowed mother (Sandra Bullock), an old man who accompanies him (Max von Sydow), and dozens of others who also become involved during the determined boy’s quest.

The Help (2011): Set in Jackson (MS) in the early 1960s and based on a novel by Kathryn Sockett, this film focuses on interactions between and among the “help” and their relationship with a young women, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone), who writes a book based on their personal accounts of mostly unpleasant experiences as black cooks, nannies, and housecleaners within a racist white community.

Hugo (2011): This is another film based on a novel, Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Set in Paris in 1931, the focus is on an orphan who lives between the walls of a railway station and maintains the station’s clocks. The boy’s situation generates lots of intriguing plot threads. There are conflicts and confrontations as well as endearing, memorable moments.  This is director Martin Scorcese’s first 3D film and he takes full advantage of the technology.

Moneyball (2011): Based on Michael Crichton’s brilliant study of sabremetrics, a new system by which to evaluate baseball talent and performance first adopted by the Boston Red Sox. The focus is on the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), and his struggles to establish and apply the system (often referred to as “Billy Ball”) despite the doubts of the team’s owners and managing partner, staunch resistance by the team’s manager and most of his staff, and finally, by distrust or fear of many players who do not understand the system’s possible value to them.

War Horse (2011): Directed by Stephen Spielberg and based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel before and during World War One, this film traces the adventures of a magnificent horse who is appropriated by the British forces and shipped to France. The young man from whom the horse was taken enlists, struggles to locate him, and then….

Not all engaging films are great and not all great films are engaging.

I selected these for three reasons: I could not take my eyes off the screen, I cared very deeply about what would happen next, and felt (almost) emotionally spent afterward.

To those who are passionate about films, great or otherwise, I urge you to check out the wealth of resources at the American Film Institute (AFI) by clicking here.