Movies (and also TV-Series) are our most accessible source of information about life besides books.
So it's interesting to understand which movies have shaped our view of life
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I was quite young when I saw the Butterfly effect, but it was pretty deep for me at the time, lol. It made me realize how consequential every little decision is.
After Life (amazing Japanese movie from 1998) - the premise is that after you die, you have to choose one memory to live in forever. For about a week, the recently dead get to sift through memories until they find the most meaningful one. It's the most provocative movie I've ever seen about what is truly significant. Which of yours would you select?
Pay it forward was pretty good, too. It made me realize how much better the world would be if we all did a little extra.
The Trueman Show.
You know that this is not your life.
But then again. Do you really *know*?
"The pursuit of happiness",
It shows me how life can be difficult.
This movie always give me strength in my difficult time.
Mitchell's Vs the machines. improved my relationship with my little sister.
Fight Club
I completely related to Edward Norton's character. Insomnia - everything is a copy, of a copy, of a copy. You can't tell if you are awake and living life or asleep and dreaming.
I didn't realize what I was doing to myself and made some changes to live a healthier life.
Now Voyager, for 3 phrases. When Betty Davis's character was challenged by her rich mother as to how she would manage without the mother giving her so much money, their conversation ended with Betty's character saying " I'm not afraid anymore mother. I'm not afraid" it was an amazing revelation for the character & me. To not be afraid of life. Also, I have a line from the movie tattooed on my forearm. Its a line from a Walt Whitman poem called The Untold Want. "Untold want by life and land n'er granted, now voyager, sail thou forth to seek and find". I have "Now Voyager...." on my forearm. It is surrounded by stars that come from the last line of the movie. "Oh, Jerry, let's not ask for the moon when we have the stars." This has been long but those 3 phrases just shout at me to live these lines from the movie.
The Matrix-duh I think that was the point of the movie.
And the weirdest one,
.
.
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Toy story
For me, it was a series, The Fall, with Gillian Anderson as an investigator. She deals with a nasty character who plays a cat-and-mouse game with her, but she keeps her cool when taunted. That prompted me to think about not taking online insults personally. For example, someone called me a "dummy", so I asked, "You seem angry at me. Why?" No answer from them and I shrugged it off.
Papillon (1973) Steve McQueen - Excellent performances in some of the toughest scenes.
Close Encounters - The idea of aliens brought to life.
American Graffiti - What it's like to come of age and deal with the tragedies of becoming an adult.
Full Metal Jacket - This hit close to home because both of my brothers served in the Army. My second oldest brother was in basic training when a guy in his unit collapsed and died from heart failure because the drill sergeant wouldn't allow anyone else to break formation to help him.
Papillon is truly gripping, and seeing Close Encounters for the first time on the largest movie screen in San Francisco was fantastic! “The sun went away and then the sky sang to me.” I love that it starred François Truffaut even though he wasn’t the director.
Harry Potter. I always wish that someday a half-giant will barge through my door and tell me I’m a wizard.
*kicks down your door* Yer a wizard. Unfortunately, this is Salem in 1692.
the sixth sense. I realized I have no idea if I'm dead or not
Movies:
Melancholia
The Broken Circle
Into the Wild
Series:
Six feet under
Harold and Maude. A bizarre choice, but I saw this movie when I was 15 in a period of my life when I felt hopeless because of our family's circumstances. The beautiful, funny story of a morbid, rich teenager and an eternally hopeful Holocaust survivor completely turned my mindset and worldview around.
YES! YES! YES! Saw it when I was Harold's age, now I'm almost Maude. The movie shows you can still find happiness and give others the chance to be happy . . . along with a sensational sound track and great scene framing! YUM!
Forest Gump
A great movie about the power of mindfulness.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe made me realise that even though we might not know it ourselves sometimes, we are not the centre of the universe. Funny to share this here: It taught me that my opinion/interest are not always the most important.
Its not, but neither is mine anyway....🤖😿 ohh this life, i wish i was a Whale for 42 seconds, at least that may be existing... 🐋...
The Lion King: Family means sh*t to some people who are obsessed with power and control.
I know this is strange, and although I'm not a complete conspiracy theorist but there is one that I subscribe to. I will present to you the same question once posed to me. "How do you warn the masses about something or inform them about something without causing mass panic?" - Movies (shows). We as the majority see them as entertainment, I see them as possible warnings. Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, I Am Legend, World War Z, etc etc. To me they could be possible warnings or informational. I'm not saying EVERY movie. But pay attention and see if you don't recognize stuff that's happened in older movies. Or what could happen.
"Defending Your Life" with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep had me thinking about what scenes in my life they would play. What fears have I not faced? What brave acts deserve self-recognition? It inspired me to do a kind of inventory, be kinder to myself, and think about what I really want in life.
Nice! It was a very good move, and really interesting in how he put his insecurities right out there.
Luca! watched it recently, and I can't stop thinking about it. Alberto is my idol, I love his outlook on life. Silencio Bruno!
'Cool Hand Luke' ... "Luke: I can eat 50 eggs. Dragline: Why you got to go and say fifty eggs for? Why not thirty-five or thirty-nine?
Luke: I thought it was a nice round number.”
This line among others shows Luke's mentality of just living the hell out of life, making a normal special.
What I found fascinating was how his life devolved from one small errant moment
Startrek I want the music on my funeral: To go beyond where no man has gone before.
The Horse whisperer - until then I believed I was a pacifist. But when the Indians beat up the white men, boy did I get a kick out of that. It also changed my perspective. In movies, in life, I was always emphatic with the underdog, which is a hard way to live. Now when it gets too much, I change perspective.
Would be nice to go to another world and give them some perspective before its to late. Kirk thought Prime Directive was kind of a guideline...Laws may be laws, but the ones that made them are not here. Do whats Right.
I had a sudden “Whoa” moment when I first watched Disney’s Christopher Robin. I was writing my thesis at the time whilst taking extra corses and working a side job so stress and work was all I ever did. The movie felt like it was about my situation and it really changed my life at the time. To much focus on work and not taking time for your family and friends is very damaging and you lose track of yourself in the process. It’s important to take time of sometimes and do absolutely nothing! “ Because sometimes, doing nothing leads to the very best of somethings” :)
Jonathon Livingston Seagull. Beautiful film with an equally beautiful soundtrack by the wonderful Neil Diamond.
Film: The killing fields and Schindler’s List.
Series: The man in the high castle. I just couldn’t get enough of it. And without being stroppy and way too sentimental: a bad guy can also be a good guy.
"Underground" by Emir Kusturica. Probably not one of the most popular of the bunch, but I remember very vividly when I watched it first when I was about seven nine years old (my older brother brought it home). I didn't understand quite well what was going on with war in Yugoslavia (man, I didn't even know where Yugoslavia was), there were many references and info I could not comprehend, but was the music. The music was magical and in was perfectly entangled with the visuals. The soundtrack was just as magical as the images produced by Kusturica. It captured me, moved me to tears of sadness and joy at different times and completely blew out my mind and allow me to visualise a bigger world.
When I was about 5 or 6, I loved this movie called Ringing Bell (japanimation you can watch on youtube), well it's only 45 min. long but whatever. I think it really messed me up for good.
The Trueman Show.
You know that this is not your life.
But tgen again. Do you really *know*?
Willow My Mom let me skip school and took me to see it in the day, I used to get really sick, it was a state of mind. I wanted to be Mad Martigan so I learned to use a sword. That movie had Heart. When the Wizard asked him What finger holds the Power of the Universe? As a test. I thought My Own. Mind over matter my friends. Neverending Story has so much changed my life, me as a kid at night only time with mom dad, grandma & grandpa, who were Such a part of me, and same movie how I met my love who is waiting so i must write faster! Gma and gpa took me too Beetlejuice typing fast, no grammer now. Still found cartoons to make my heart grow, in summer school, David the Gnome, Maya the Bee, Woozles!!!! Made my mind wander to Enless possibilities!!! What were those lights at night?? Teenage mutant ninja turtles! Then Matrix, Fight Club most of all, then, who do you want to be? Im a mix of all this. Im Captain $%%##%! America! And I can do this All Day! 😎
Big Fish. Story about life and how memories can be misconstrued and how everyone has a story that somehow is related to your own. Beautifully written.
Albert Finney was so good in that movie. I like how you described the movie, and agree.
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Cloud Atlas. The more you watch it the more you understand and gain from it. It's long but well worth it esp if you watch it multiple times.
Wind River. It opened my eyes to a lot of statistics and pain I didn't know about, all of it fully preventable.
People mentioned a couple of mine: The Truman Show Pleasantville Robot and Frank, and Stranger Than Fiction All made me think about my mortality, made me want to research to understand what's real, and also having confidence to get what I want out of life.
The Invention of Lying. Ricky Gervais. A world where everyone tells the truth, one man learns how to lie and sees how it can help and hurt him at the same time.
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In time, like the whole concept of earning your life rather than earning money, it's not very different to how life is now, if you don't work you don't get money, you can't eat, live etc. The rich get richer by charging the poor.
"Where the Wild Things Are" is a truly scary movie. (for anyone with kids)
Footloose. I was 10 years old and I went with three friends de from school. One of the mothers paid for her son and three friends and I was asked first. I felt so happy as I'd come through a horrible few years, I was living with foster parents and for once I didn't feel like an afterthought. What made it even better afterwards was the next morning, my friend said that his mother was impressed with me as I was the only friend to say thank you.
I have the book, but have never seen the movie. I'll add it to the list of movies I must see.
Load More Replies... One movie I forgot was the 1959 film "On the Beach" with Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire. All about the last days of survival for humans after a barrage of atomic bombs are released. The scene with the sailor escaping the submarine when he's in his home town is heart wrenching...and the line from Fred Astaire "Who would ever have believed that human beings would be stupid enough to blow themselves off the face of the Earth?"
I also forgot "Enemy At The Gates" with Jude Law about a Russian sniper that helped keep the Nazis out of Russia.
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Gattaca - Everyone needs to watch that movie, especially now. The Thirteenth Floor - this movie...Y'all thought the Truman show was 'eye opening', it came out the same year as the Matrix and personally I liked it better than The Matrix. The Shawshank Redemption
It’s a shame *The Thirteenth Floor* fell through the cracks the way it did...it was mystical and creepy at the same time.
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The Peanut Butter Falcon. as someone who has a disability, i really loved that movie. it helped me understand that i can achieve my dreams, even if other people might not think i can. even though i have autism and the main character in this movie had Down Syndrome, i still can relate to the film and i love it <3
THX 1138 When I was a teen the social commentary was so profound. The people had no real relationships, personal freedoms, emotional intelligence... The stark tone was hypnotic
Big Fish. Story about life and how memories can be misconstrued and how everyone has a story that somehow is related to your own. Beautifully written.
Albert Finney was so good in that movie. I like how you described the movie, and agree.
Load More Replies... Cloud Atlas. The more you watch it the more you understand and gain from it. It's long but well worth it esp if you watch it multiple times.
Wind River. It opened my eyes to a lot of statistics and pain I didn't know about, all of it fully preventable.
People mentioned a couple of mine: The Truman Show Pleasantville Robot and Frank, and Stranger Than Fiction All made me think about my mortality, made me want to research to understand what's real, and also having confidence to get what I want out of life.
The Invention of Lying. Ricky Gervais. A world where everyone tells the truth, one man learns how to lie and sees how it can help and hurt him at the same time.
Load More Replies... In time, like the whole concept of earning your life rather than earning money, it's not very different to how life is now, if you don't work you don't get money, you can't eat, live etc. The rich get richer by charging the poor.
"Where the Wild Things Are" is a truly scary movie. (for anyone with kids)
Footloose. I was 10 years old and I went with three friends de from school. One of the mothers paid for her son and three friends and I was asked first. I felt so happy as I'd come through a horrible few years, I was living with foster parents and for once I didn't feel like an afterthought. What made it even better afterwards was the next morning, my friend said that his mother was impressed with me as I was the only friend to say thank you.
I have the book, but have never seen the movie. I'll add it to the list of movies I must see.
Load More Replies... One movie I forgot was the 1959 film "On the Beach" with Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire. All about the last days of survival for humans after a barrage of atomic bombs are released. The scene with the sailor escaping the submarine when he's in his home town is heart wrenching...and the line from Fred Astaire "Who would ever have believed that human beings would be stupid enough to blow themselves off the face of the Earth?"
I also forgot "Enemy At The Gates" with Jude Law about a Russian sniper that helped keep the Nazis out of Russia.
Load More Replies... Gattaca - Everyone needs to watch that movie, especially now. The Thirteenth Floor - this movie...Y'all thought the Truman show was 'eye opening', it came out the same year as the Matrix and personally I liked it better than The Matrix. The Shawshank Redemption
It’s a shame *The Thirteenth Floor* fell through the cracks the way it did...it was mystical and creepy at the same time.
Load More Replies... The Peanut Butter Falcon. as someone who has a disability, i really loved that movie. it helped me understand that i can achieve my dreams, even if other people might not think i can. even though i have autism and the main character in this movie had Down Syndrome, i still can relate to the film and i love it <3
THX 1138 When I was a teen the social commentary was so profound. The people had no real relationships, personal freedoms, emotional intelligence... The stark tone was hypnotic
