I've listed below some movies that are excellent candidates for this project. Clicking on a film's title opens its Rotten Tomatoes page in a separate tab or window, where you can get a brief description, read some reviews, and find out where the movie can currently be viewed online. Please note that I've listed ratings for each movie so you'll know what you're in for, and I'll do my best to keep updating this list as more movies come to mind.
Always a work in progress...
127 Hours (R, Drama, 2010) ★★★★
1984 (R, Drama, Sci-Fi, 1984) ★★★★
An excellent, faithful adaptation of Orwell's novel that does an admirable job translating the books heady themes to film. The cinematography of this version, with its bleak, washed out gray and blue pallet, is iconic, and has been used in numerous films since to convey bleak, monotonous dystopian visions of the future.
28 Days Later (R, Horror, Sci-Fi, 2002) ★★★
Danny Boyle + Alex Garland = Zombie Horror Excellence.
The Adjustment Bureau (PG-13, Sci-Fi, 2011) ★★★
Based on a Phillip K. Dick story, this is a solid scifi film along the lines of Dark City (see below). One of many "Allegory of the Cave"-like movies on this list, it deals with questions about knowledge and reality.
Alien (R, Horror, 1979) ★★★★
Arguably the best horror movie ever made, Alien is also a movie with some interesting things to say about morality and anthropology. If you watch it, consider Ash's comments about the reason he's supposed to bring the alien creature back alive. See also Prometheus, below.
Amour (PG-13, Drama, Horror?, 2012) ★★★★
Annihilation (R, Horror, Sci-Fi, 2018) ★★★★
Interesting film from Andrew Garland (of Never Let Me Go and Ex Machina fame, both below) based on a book by the same name.I have no idea about the plausibility of the science behind this film, but it's making some provocative worldview assumptions that should be recognizable to you.
Apocalypse Now (R, War, Drama, 1979) ★★★★★
Arrival (Sci-Fi, 2016) ★★★★
Avatar (PG-13, Sci-Fi, 2009) ★★★ WR
Batman Begins (PG-13, Action, 2005) ★★★★
Christopher Nolan's ultimate big ticket blockbuster, this movie (and its two sequels) combine big budget action and effects with a thought provoking exploration of justice. Not only does the film explicitly reference Plato's understanding of justice as a kind of harmony, it and its sequels revel in cave imagery. See also The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, below.
Before Sunrise (R, Drama, Romance, 1995) ★★★★
Part one of what is currently a trilogy of films by Richard Linklater examining the stages of a relationship between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). In typical Linklater style, the dialogue is philosophically interesting, without being (too) heavy-handed or artificial. This first film emphasizes the romantic nature of initial attraction between two people who's lives have crossed briefly. I'll leave it at that, except to point out that before the next film was released (see below), Jesse and Celine did actually make a brief appearance in Linklater's 2002 film Waking Life (also below).
Before Sunset (R, Drama, Romance, 2004) ★★★★
Part two of Richard Linklater's "Before Trilogy." In this installment, Jesse and Celine are reunited, but both are in relationships with other people.
Before Midnight (R, Drama, Romance, 2013) ★★★
Part three of the "Before Trilogy"
Big Fish (PG-13, Comedy, Drama, 2003) ★★★
A low key Tim Burton film that explores the relationship between myth and history with typical Burton quirkiness. The film's message is similar to that of the more recent Life of Pi, below.
The Big Kahuna (R, Comedy, Drama, 2000) ★★★ WR
Spoiler Alert: The Big Kahuna is God. But I'm betting you could've figured that out. Basically this film, adapted from the stage, explores three different perspectives on the nature of belief. One interpretation of the film suggests that the three main characters represent the same person at three different stages of life.
Black Swan (R, Drama, Thriller, 2010) ★★★
Blade Runner (R, Sci-Fi, Horror, 1982) ★★★★★
From Ridley Scott, same director as Alien, Gladiator, Prometheus, White Squall, Blade Runner was initially a box office flop, but it has come to be recognized as maybe the best example of postmodern film. Its story line is an excellent exploration of anthropology and morality, but on a "meta" level the narrative also challenges the viewer's assumptions about what is real...assuming you're paying attention. On a side note, this is my favorite film of all time. It exists in multiple versions, and the 2007 Final Cut is the best.
Blade Runner 2049 (R, Sci-Fi) ★★★★
Blue Valentine (R, Drama, 2010) ★★★★
Boyhood (R, Drama, 2014) ★★★
The Breadwinner (PG-13, Drama, Animated, Foreign, 2017) ★★★★ WR
Calvary (R, Comedy, Drama, 2014) ★★★★ WR
This is a really outstanding and uncompromising film about Catholicism's current place in the world. Every Catholic should be required to watch it in my opinion. Whatever your assumptions about the Church, about the recent scandals that have plagued it, or about the place of belief in the modern world, this movie will challenge them.
Castle In The Sky (PG, Fantasy, Animated, 1986) ★★★ WR
Contact (PG, Sci-Fi, Drama, 1997) ★★★
An interesting examination of the complicated relationship between science and religion, with an ending open to multiple interpretations. Based on a Carl Sagan book, the movie's characters are a bit stereotyped, but it doesn't diminish the movie's overall message.
Crazy Heart (R, Drama, 2009) ★★★★
A modest reflection on virtue that Aristotle would love. Does this movie have a happy ending? Maybe not happy, but surely eudaimonaic (I think I just made that word up). There's also some great music, and the best performance of Jeff Bridge's career in my opinion.
The Dark Knight (PG-13, Action, Drama, 2008) ★★★★
Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins (above) is best known for Heath Ledger's unforgettable performance as the Joker. This movie is a great bookend to the first one, suggesting that Batman's understanding of morality is something like the Doctrine of the Mean- having explored the absolutism of Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins, this one uses the Joker to examine nihilistic relativism. Also, there's more cave imagery.
The Dark Knight Rises (PG-13, Action, Drama, 2012) ★★★★
The conclusion to Nolan's epic trilogy that some consider a bloated disappointment, but not me. Tom Hardy's performance as Bane is excellent, and the references to Plato's Cave Allegory are prevalent throughout. You'll need to be familiar with the first two films to adequately understand this one, but why wouldn't you be?
The Disaster Artist (R, Dramedy, 2017) ★★★
Doubt (PG-13, Drama, 2008) ★★★★ WR
Dunkirk (PG-13, War, Drama, 2017) ★★★★
Dune (PG-13, Sci-Fi, 2021) ★★★★
The Edge of Seventeen (R, Dramedy, 2016) ★★★
Edge of Tomorrow (PG-13, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2014) ★★★ WR
Groundhog Day meets Pacific Rim, maybe? I don't know, but like Groundhog Day (and Source Code, both below), this movie is about a character who must learn to break the cycle of an endlessly repeating day, and must do so through self reflection and sacrifice. Strangely renamed Live. Die. Repeat. for its DVD release.
The Emperor's Club (PG-13, Drama, 2002) ★★★★
A modest little film about teaching the Classics that deserves way more credit than it gets. There are lots of "teacher-as-too-good-to-be-true-superhuman" (see, for example, Mr Holland's Opus, or Dead Poet's Society) movies out there, but this one features a teacher who's brought down to earth, and even more admirable for being so. An exploration of honesty, character, and ethics worthy of the classical Greek culture it frequently references.
Enemy (R, Drama, 2013) ★★★★
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (R, Dramedy, Sci-Fi, 2004) ★★★
A quirky yet thought provoking little romance that explores the role of memory in identity, and the consequences of assuming a Materialist approach to the question of what memory is.What if you could have the memory of a failed romance that you just couldn't get past erased?
Everybody Wants Some!! (R, Dramedy, 2016) ★★★
Ex Machina (R, Drama, Sci-Fi, 2015) ★★★★★
An excellent sci-fi flick about ideas, not action, written and directed by Alex Garland, who also directed Never Let Me Go (see below). Uses the idea of AI to explore numerous philosophic topics including anthropology and morality. Alicia Vikander's spectacular performance in this movie is why you're hearing so much about her now. Also, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson co-starred in this film before appearing together again in that over-hyped Force Awakens nonsense.
Fight Club (R, Drama, 1999) ★★★★
I can't talk about this one.
First Reformed (R, Drama, 2017) ★★★★ WR
Written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Ethan Hawke, this excellent, challenging film is about the environment and "Environmentalism," with a conclusion open to multiple interpretations. If I were doing a presentation for World Religions on cults, I'd seriously consider this one...
Forrest Gump (PG-13, Dramedy, 1994) ★★★ WR
A simple question: What, exactly, is Forrest Gump "about"? If you've seen it already and think you know the answer to that question, I would like to suggest that you re-watch the movie, paying careful attention to how it illustrates two competing concepts of love, and how, inevitably, our understanding of love is rooted in how we experience it as children. Then read 1 Corinthians 13.
Funny Games (R, Horror, 2008) ★★★★
Michael Haneke directed this outstanding meta-horror film, confirming my belief that the best horror movies are made by directors who don't specialize in them (Kubrick's The Shining and Scott's Alien are also examples). This one is actually a critique of the motives of the horror genre (and its audience), while serving up some genuinely scary and horrifying scenes. Really, really good. But you've been warned. By the way- this film exists in both English and German versions, the German filmed a decade before the English. Both are virtually shot-for-shot the same, and both are directed by Haneke.
The Big Chill (R, Drama, 1983) ★★★
The Game (R, Suspense, 1997) ★★★
What if David Fincher directed a darker, more David Fincher-esque version of The Truman Show? You'd wind up with something weird and compulsively watchable. That's The Game. It's the Allegory of the Cave for the Glass-Half-Empty set! Just make sure you're paying attention...
Gandhi (PG, Drama, 1982) ★★★ WR
Gangubai Kathiawadi (Biography, Drama, Foreign, 2022) ★★★★ WR
Gattaca (PG-13, Sci-Fi, Drama, 1997) ★★★★
An excellent, little-known film by Andrew Niccol, dealing with the ethics of eugenics. It's another futuristic scifi dystopia, in which people are discriminated against on the basis of their genetic profile. Ethan Hawke and Jude Law both star, and together they make for a fascinating Christ-figure...
The Golden Compass (PG-13, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2007) ★★ WR
A big budget flop of a movie that I only include on this list because of the much better Phillip Pullman book on which it is based. Meant as an atheistic response to the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, the movie squanders the provocative ideas of the book. But here it is, if it's your thing.
Gravity (PG-13, Sci-Fi, 2013) ★★★
The Green Mile (R, Drama, 1999) ★★★ WR
The Grey (R, Action, Drama, 2012) ★★★ WR
A decent attempt at examining how various worldviews interpret the apparently indifferent if not hostile nature of the cosmos. Survivors of an airplane crash endure the elements and a pack of wolves in their efforts to survive, each one representing (and voicing) different perspectives on what they are going through, then, typically, dying.
Groundhog Day (PG, Comedy, 1993) ★★★★ WR
An absolute classic, used in an untold number of classrooms the world 'round to teach Aristotle's concept of virtue and the concept of Samsara in Indian religions, among other things. It's also a genuinely good movie that's aged incredibly well. We'll watch it in World Religions, so if you're in that class you might want to skip it for now so you'll enjoy it more then.
Heathers (R, Dark Comedy, 1988) ★★★★
This is the darker, more cynical inspiration for Mean Girls. The movie's point is bitingly, scathingly simple- the world of teenagers isn't some fantasy escape from adult reality, it's the world of adults in microcosm. It's just that, well, that observation doesn't exactly redeem the world of teenagers when you think about it. Reading Harry Frankfurt's essay On Bullshit might help you better understand what this movie is really skewering, or it might just mess with your mind.
Hell or High Water (R, Drama, 2016) ★★★★
Her (R, Dramedy, Sci-Fi, 2013) ★★★
A Hidden Life (PG-13, History, Drama, 2019) ★★★★ WR
Howl's Moving Castle (PG, Fantasy, Animated, 2004) ★★★ WR
The Ice Storm (R, Drama, 1997) ★★★★
An excellent, understated Ang Lee film set in the 1970s that captures the darker, disaffected side of American suburbia in the wake of the Sexual Revolution. Lee captures some of the unintended consequences of the "spirit of the times," especially for the children of that generation. Saint Paul wrote in Romans that the "wages of sin is death." This movie turns that statement into a powerful cinematic allegory.
Inception (PG-13, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2010) ★★★★
Christopher Nolan's mind- and city-bending flick about dreams and reality is classic Nolan- big budget, big ideas, and great entertainment. Just remember, it doesn't matter whether or not the top stops spinning. That's the point.
Interstellar (PG-13, Sci-Fi, 2014) ★★★★
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (PG, Horror, 1978) ★★★★
A horror favorite of mine, this is actually a remake of the 1956 original, and there have been two more remakes, Body Snatchers in 1993 and The Invasion in 2007. Why so many versions of the same story? Well, the basic plot line involves aliens who invade earth by cloning the bodies of host humans who subsequently die. The hive-minded alien replacements have been interpreted as representing various times in American history in which certain segments of society have been inclined to exhibit a similar hive-mindedness by their critics (such as the "Red Scare" in the 1940s-50s). Hence, "Body Snatchers" (and we could put John Carpenter's They Live and Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty in this genre) serve a metaphorical purpose in films similar to Zombies. Make of that what you will, but the film is creepy good fun.
Joker (R, Drama, 2019) ★★★★
The Killing Fields (R, History, Drama, 1984) ★★★★ WR
Knight of Cups (R, Drama, 2015)
Lady Bird (R, Dramedy, 2017) ★★★
Life of Pi (PG, Drama, Adventure, 2012) ★★★★ WR
A truly beautiful and thoughtful film directed by Ang Lee (The Ice Storm, above) about the relationship between belief and truth. Personally, I think the movie's ending is misunderstood, and I can't claim to know if it's being faithful to the book, so I'll just say that it should cause a little reflection on the real reason people are so inclined to accept something as true because it is "scientific." I should also say that this film makes a point I also try to make in class about basing one's beliefs about the past on probability. Just watch it.
The Machinist (R, Drama, 2004) ★★★★
This movie is probably best known for the extremes Christian Bale went through for the role, losing an astonishing 60 pounds to play the lead (trust me- you've gotta see the movie. You won't believe how he looks). The film is a pretty profound meditation on grief, guilt, and denial, and it's said to be inspired by the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Magnolia (R, Drama, 1999) ★★★ WR
The Majestic (PG, Dramedy, 2001) ★★★ WR
Marriage Story (R, Drama, 2019) ★★★
The Master (R, Drama, 2012) ★★★★ WR
The Matrix (R, Sci-Fi, 1999) ★★★★ WR
The Movie. The Myth. The Legend. This is the one that turned "film and philosophy" into a cottage industry, then a book publishing juggernaut. See it if you haven't, then see it again. Scoff contemptuously at its sequels if you wish, you trendy conformer you, but I like 'em, and all three are just a glorious mess of philosophy, theology, mythology, literary and pop culture references. Dodge this.
Memento (R, Drama, 2000) ★★★★
Another excellent Christopher Nolan film, this one dealing with the relationship between memory and identity, like a number of other films on this list (Blade Runner, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Total Recall, to name a few). Memento employs a narrative structure told in reverse to make its point- each scene in the film actually follows the scene after it in the chronology of the story being told, so that each successive scene actually helps to explain what happened in the scene before it. Pay attention!
Men (R, Horror, 2022) ★★★★
Andrew Garland, of Ex Machina fame, wrote and directed this low-key follow-up to 2018's Annihilation, which could be seen as a companion piece to this film. Both are exploring similar themes of grief and guilt, from a female perspective. Much of the movie works like a conventional horror film until the third act...when things get interesting.
Minority Report (PG-13, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2002) ★★★
One of several films on this list based on a Phillip K. Dick story (Blade Runner and Total Recall are others), this one deals with the compatibility of the idea of Free Will with an increasingly mechanistic understanding of the human self. All the polish expected of a Spielberg film, all the charisma of a Tom Cruise lead, and an intelligent, suspenseful plot.
The Mist (R, Horror, 2007) ★★★
I'm a big Frank Darabont fan, and his movies are underrepresented on this list because I consider most of them more theological than philosophical. But I can't resist putting The Mist here just because of its ending. Should it be understood as anti-euthanasia? I'll leave it to you to decide, but if you've seen The Shawshank Redemption or The Majestic, you know that not giving up hope is an important theme in Darabont films.
Moon (R, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2010) ★★★★
Sam Rockwell gives the performance of a lifetime in a virtually one-man show that examines what it means to be human through...well, that'd be giving the game away. Directed by Duncan Jones, who also directed the more commercially accessible Source Code (see below), which raises similar questions.
Mulholland Dr. (R, Mystery, Thriller, 2001) ★★★★★
Sometimes a movie gets recommended to me, and it takes me years to getting around to watch it because I have to be in the right mood. I'd heard about this one for 15 years, but I just never got around to seeing it, until there came a time that just seemed right. It took about 20 years, but it was worth the wait. This is easily one of my all-time Top Ten. It's a David Lynch film (Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Eraserhead), so brace yourself and pay attention to everything. But most important, prepare for the most astonishing lead performance by an actress I have ever seen. Why Naomi Watts didn't win an Oscar for this film I will never understand.
The Natural (PG, Drama, 1992) ★★★
Never Let Me Go (R, Drama, Sci-Fi, 2010) ★★★★
I can't say enough good things about this modest, subtle little gem of a film whose message hits with the impact of a sledgehammer. from a script co-written by Alex Garland (Annihilation, Ex Machina, Men, all above) and Kazuo Ishiguro (who wrote the book of the same name as well as Remains of the Day), this movie explores what it means to be human through the issue of cloning, and touches on issues of class and privilege along the way. Great performances, an intelligent script, and a devastating ending. Worthy of way more attention than it's gotten.
Noah (2014, Drama, History?, Fantasy?) ★★★ WR
No Country for Old Men (R, Drama, 2007) ★★★★
One of the Coen Brothers' best, and an excellent film for a project on Morality. You'll hear the film's title spoken by Tommy Lee Jones at the end. Question is, will you understand what he means? Based on the Cormac McCarthy book of the same name.
Parasite (R, Dramedy, Thriller, Foreign, 2019) ★★★ WR
Persepolis (PG-13, Drama, Animated, Foreign, 2007) ★★★★ WR
PK (Dramedy, Foreign, 2014) ★★★★ WR
The Prestige (PG-13, Drama, Sci-Fi, 2006) ★★★★
Maybe you've seen Star Trek, and when one of the scenes involving the Transporter came up, you thought to yourself, "How cool would that be?" Are you sure about that? This movie is asking that question, sort of. It's an excellent primer on the mind-body problem.
Princess Mononoke (PG-13, Fantasy, Animated, 1997) ★★★ WR
Prisoners (R, Drama, 2013) ★★★
Quiz Show (PG-13, Drama, 1994) ★★★★
A Robert Redford directed film nominated for Best Picture when released. Based on a true story, about an episode in the life of Charles Van Doren (played by Ralph Fiennes), the film is really an excellent exploration of the nature of the soul and its relationship to the truth. Think of this film as Plato's response to Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors.
The Right Stuff (PG, History, Drama, 1983) ★★★
A River Runs Through It (PG, Drama, 1992) ★★★★★ WR
Saving Private Ryan (R, Drama, 1998) ★★★★
The first twenty minutes of this film made it famous as the most realistic depiction of World War II to date, but after that it remains an excellent meditation on the cost of war, in terms of lives lost and national conscience. Pay attention to the suspenseful scene involving the death of a Jewish American soldier at the hands of a Nazi...while another soldier, paralyzed with fear, does nothing. What was Spielberg saying with that scene?
A Scanner Darkly (R, Drama, Animated, 2006) ★★★
The Shawshank Redemption (R, Drama, 1994) ★★★★★ WR
Silence (R, History, Drama, 2016) ★★★★ WR
Silver Linings Playbook (R, Dramedy, 2012) ★★★★
Slumdog Millionaire (R, Dramedy, 2008) ★★★★ WR
Snowpiercer (R, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2014) ★★★
Good fun, and a clever allegory for the injustice of a certain type of regime...and its consequences.
The Social Network (PG-13, Drama, 2010) ★★★★
Song to Song (R, Drama, Romance, 2017)
Source Code (PG-13, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2011) ★★★★WR
Think Groundhog Day as a Sci-Fi action film with a Truman Show ending, and you've got the basic idea. Duncan Jones' more accessible follow-up to Moon (above).
Spirited Away (PG, Fantasy, Animated, 2001) ★★★★★WR
A Star Is Born (R, Drama, 2018) ★★★★
Sunshine (R, Sci-Fi, Horror, 2007) ★★★
There Will Be Blood (R, Drama, 2007) ★★★
The Thin Red Line (R, Drama, 1998) ★★★★
Terence Malik's existential meditation on war and suffering, based on a book by the same name. Possibly the best introduction to Malik's current style of film making, which is certainly not for everyone. This film was released the same year as Saving Private Ryan, and was arguably overshadowed by it. Worth a watch just for the incredible cast.
THX1138 (PG, Sci-Fi, Drama, 1971) ★★★★
This is George Lucas' first full length film, based on a short film by the same name. It's a dystopian vision of the future, with both Orwellian and Huxleyan elements. Lucas went back and added digital effects to this film like he did with the original Star Wars trilogy, but the overall impact is much more subtle here and I think it actually works.
Total Recall ( R, Sci-Fi, Action, 1990, Remade in 2012) ★★★
Directed by the always interesting Paul Verhoeven from a Phillip K. Dick story, this movie explores the role of memory in our understanding of personal identity and of reality. The humorless 2012 remake is inferior to the original, but not as bad as its reviews suggest.
To The Wonder (R, Drama, Romance, 2012) ★★★★
Tree of Life (PG-13, Drama, 2011) ★★★★★★★★★★WR
Wow. An ambitious, uncompromised, metaphysical masterpiece of a movie. Directed by Terrence Malick, who also directed The Thin Red Line (see above) and a number of other movies that really belong on this list, but they would make for some seriously difficult papers to write. By the way, so will this one. It's just too good to leave off. Word of warning: This movie was controversial when it was released in theaters because it features a typical characteristic of Malick movies, which is having characters' thoughts narrated in a low, almost-whispering, sometimes hard to hear voice. Because of that, and the movie's disorienting narrative structure, and its...unexpected second act, viewers got so mad that many demanded their money back, and signs were posted outside theaters warning that they were watching at their own risk and refunds would not be given. I don't think Malick cares if you like his movies.
The Truman Show (PG, Comedy, Drama, 1998) ★★★★
Directed by Peter Weir (Dead Poet's Society, The Mosquito Coast) and written by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca), this movie was a mainstay of my sophomore scripture class. It's basically a film version of Plato's Allegory of the Cave...just be aware of who it's suggesting the prisoners are, and why.
Tumbbad (Horror, Foreign, ) 2018 ★★★WR
Under The Shadow (PG-13, Horror, Foreign) ★★★★WR
Upstream Color (NR, Sci-Fi, Drama, 2013) ★★★★WR
Vanilla Sky (R, Sci-Fi, 2001) ★★★WR
An underrated Cameron Crowe film that questions what is real and how we know it, with questions about memory and conscience thrown in for good measure. Also an excellent soundtrack.
Wag the Dog (R, Comedy, 1997) ★★★
Waking Life (R, Animated, Drama, 2002) ★★★
Richard Linklater used rotoscope technology (also used for A Scanner Darkly) to animate the performances of actors, giving this film an abstracted-from-real-life quality appropriate for the source material, which is essentially a series of vignettes about
Walk the Line (PG-13, Drama, 2005) ★★★★
Wall Street (R, Drama, 1987) ★★★★
Oliver Stone's best work in my opinion (and Charlie Sheen's as well, although, is that really saying much?). This film is Stone's cinematic Parable of the Prodigal Son, and a compelling critique of greed and Capitalism. It features Michael Douglas in the iconic role of Gordon Gecko, whose "Greed is Good" speech is a pretty epic moment in film history.
Waltz With Bashir (R, Documentary, Animated, 2008) ★★★★ WR
Watership Down (PG, Animated Adventure, 1979)★★★★★
A truly great animated film based on the Richard Adams novel, exploring different political ideologies through the allegory of rabbit colonies. Trust me- it works. The movie provokes thought on the relationship of the individual to the state, the danger of losing one's individuality to the intoxicating feeling of solidarity that comes with identifying with a cause, and the state's willingness to exploit that danger.
White Squall (PG-13, Drama, 1996) ★★★
If Dead Poets' Society is the cinematic ode to Romanticism, White Squall might fairly be seen as its classical counterpart. Directed by Ridley Scott (of Alien and Blade Runner fame, see above), the film rejects the Romantic notion of the individual as constrained by society in favor of the Aristotelian notion that we are social animals, who need one another to survive.
While We're Young (R, Comedy, Drama, 2015) ★★★
Noah Baumbach directed and starring Ben Stiller, Noami Watts, Adam Driver, and Amanda Seyfried. Interesting film with some thought provoking dialogue about the nature and purpose of documentary filmmaking.
