For me it would have to be a toss up between Groundhog Day and Final Countdown.
For groundhog day thinking of how many days he was in that loop and learned all these things.
For Final countdown it was thinking basically "what if?".
Printable View
For me it would have to be a toss up between Groundhog Day and Final Countdown.
For groundhog day thinking of how many days he was in that loop and learned all these things.
For Final countdown it was thinking basically "what if?".
Can't think of a movie, but I'll plug "The Prisoner" television series.
The Fountain. Blew my mind right out of the back of my head.
Word. I'm waiting for my UK Blu-ray copy to arrive.Quote:
Originally Posted by StickmanLoser
What channel is the Prisoner on?
The Man From Earth. It's on Netflix Watch Instantly.
So go watch it. This instant.
Robocop 3
Would love that Prisoner box set.
I saw three Caterham 7s at the top of Izu Turnpike the other day.
Hard to pick one. Here are some of mine:
Children Of Men
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Kingdom Of Heaven
The Thin Red Line
Platoon
Boogie Nights
Munich
Diary Of The Dead
Apocalypse Now
http://www.wolfgnards.com/index.php/...he-wolf-gnardsQuote:
Originally Posted by Xian Xi
According to Harold Ramis, at least 30 or 40 years.
Donnie Darko always has made me ponder about the physics behind the space time continuum.
Hmm. 2001, the Matrix (tons of postmodernism hiding behind the hacker narrative), and pretty much anything written by Charlie Caughman.
IFC is currently re-airing the prisoner. I forgot to record them :(Quote:
Originally Posted by StickmanLoser
@Xian Xi - The Prisoner is a tv series from the 1960s.
I didn't!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lagduf
What sucks is that they're not airing them in order. I see episodes 1, 7, 4, etc on my DVR.
Haven't watched any of them yet but I'll get around to it.
Nowhere man series
The Matrix
Pi
They aired the first three episodes in order, which I forgot to watch and record.Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneSage
If we're gonna throw in TV series:
Battlestar Galactica (new)
LOST
Sons Of Anarchy
I don't buy a lot of movies so I generally like movies that at least get me thinking about stuff.
For example Dirty Harry and its sequel Magnum Force.
Great all around films but what I really like about them is how they get me thinking about the concept of Justice, and about how Harry deals with justice and the limitations of our judicial system.
Das Boot - a great film to get you thinking about how war isn't so black and white.
Original version of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes: I can't wait for the new season/series 3 of Ashes to Ashes. The ending to the last season was fucking awesome.
I enjoyed this movie a lot myself. It really makes me wonder why the people around me didn't like it.Quote:
Originally Posted by thirdkind
The Dirty Harry movies get me thinking about how much the film industry has changed since that movie was first released.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lagduf
If you think aobut Dirty Harry, that movie is still great but in today's movie climate I bet it wouldn't be as well embraced. It's actually a pretty subtle, respectable movie compared to what passes for police action movies today. Dirty Harry is the movie I always point to when I have conversations with my friends about how far the movie industry has, and hasn't, come in all this time.
Try the original mini series that was edited down to make the movie. Das Boot is a great movie, but I thought the series was even better. Tons of decompression, which is perfect for getting you into the mindset of those German submariners.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lagduf
I don't think, because of the German laws against the use of the symbol, there wa one single use of the swastika in the film. I remember Prochnow saying 'we're not Nazis, we're Germans' as a way to avoid the usage while remaining true to the actual sentiments many German soldiers had at the time. Great stuff.
A few thought provoking movies, all done by Mr. Eastwood
Unforgiven
Flags Of Our Fathers
Letters To Iwo Jima
Million Dollar Baby
Gran Torino
yea tons of thoughts on that one to bad they came while i slept through the movie.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taiso
the rest are pretty good
but mine are the Davinci code and Angels & Demons
and for some reason V for vendetta comes to mind as a what if.
Great movie with an awesome twist ending.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deuce
Probably the last movie I saw that had me thinking or talking about well after I watched was Gone Baby Gone.
I never expected this movie to be that good.
Space Jam.
I saw it and didn't like it. To me, it's fine if a movie has serious depth as long as it makes sense at the narrative level. Once you abandon the quality of the outer layer to concentrate on depth, then there's no impetus to peel back the layers and see what is underneath. Kind of like why KOF gameplay is so much better than Guilty Gear. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lets Gekiga In
Off the top of my head, for thought-provoking I'd go with:
movie: Falling Down
anime: Paranoia Agent
In terms of anime, Lain and Ergo Proxy have the same issue that I mentioned with The Fountain.
I need to read the copy of that book I have first.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taiso
I liked Letters but would have liked it more if it hadn't of focused so much on a character so clearly opposed to fighting the war.
When people ask this they usually say some David Lynch movie. But honestly, those movies try to hard and usually fail at their intentions. I love movies like Lolita or a foreign film like Kim Ki-duk's Dream
Movies that made me uncomfortable, thereby provoking thought out of me:
Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer
Irreversible
A Clockwork Orange
Movies that were not uncomfortable to watch and provoked thought of me:
2001
Barry Lyndon
Full Metal Jacket
I've yet to pick up the original series on DVD. Saw it a long time ago and I was always psyched when the show the crew getting ready to dive. That steadycam shot right down the middle when the alert gets raised is still one of my favorite parts of the movie.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taiso
I think I only own the Superbit DVD version of the movie.
Since we're moving to a new place in a few weeks, the new surround sound system's finally getting hooked up. I've been dying to play Band of Brothers and Das Boot on it for a while.
Same here. I would put DD as the most thought provoking movie I have seen, but I have also spent a lot of time thinking about Sunshine, Gattaca, and Blade Runner as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by TougaKiryuu
http://dv1.us/p1/443/014443-d0.jpg
this movie fucking rules
What was thought provoking about them?Quote:
Originally Posted by Taiso
MDB - Hillary Swank playing as a woman trying to be a man, againQuote:
Originally Posted by Xian Xi
Unforgiven - a black cowboy
Eyes Wide Shut
yes, Eyes Wide Shut. Everytime I watch that movie I'm always trying to figure out WTF Kubrick was trying to say. That was more than just some crazy ass movie, there was a meaning(s).
Some decent suggestions. Its interesting to think what was truly thought provoking, and I realize now that a good number were sci-fi, mostly because they often tend to pose interesting "what if" questions... I lean away from most comedies because I just don't take them past face value.
I'm trying to draw a line between movies I thought were "awesome" or portraying something I already agreed with and those that really made me think after I saw them (some of these I saw young, and were the first of their genre to affect me, while later movies didn't).
Synecdoche, New York
Children Of Men
Platoon
Apocalypse Now
A.I.
Contact
L.I.E.
2001
The Last Temptation of Christ
Glory
The Last Emperor
Dark City
Man Bites Dog
Hoop Dreams
Hearts and Minds
General Idi Amin Dada
The People vs. Larry Flynt
Rashomon
Bamboozled
Malcolm X
Fight Club
Full Metal Jacket
American History X
Unforgiven:
In my opinion, the movie is about people taking the law into their own hands when the justice system doesn't work for them.
Little Bill (Gene Hackman) has a reputation as an effective law officer and the movie paints the perspective of him being cold and unflinching in his judgements. But you have to keep in mind that if you consider the lawlessness of the time and the fact that the justice system, by its very nature, was to some degree arbitrated by the authority figures in each town, it's hard to be able to easily judge what is an acceptable punishment and what is not.
Little Bill determines that the appropriate punishment for 'cutting a whore's face' is taking away some of their horses. His rationale for a punishment that some have called lenient is that the boys 'weren't given to wickedness in a regular way.' The madame of the house (forget her name now) determines that the punishment wasn't good enough and that she wants her blood, even if the victim of the crime eventually comes to accept what happened (evident in her mannerisms when she talks with Will Munny later in the movie.)
So the thought provoking aspect of this scenario comes from whether or not the punishment is just based on the justice system at the time. For me, it's not an easy question to ask and it's impossible to judge by present standards.
There are other quandaries that are not so easily solved just at a casual observation:
Is Will right to take the job? Is Ned right to leave his wife? Should either of these men be accepting an illegal bounty job, given their present responsibilities? They both struggle with the choice and they both make great sacrifices for it. The pros and cons of their decision to go out on the road again are thought provoking.
Little Bill's method of law enforcement is also worth thinking about. Ruthless and cruel or necessary for the lawless times when armed men will ride across the land, circumventing the law wherever they think they can? What about when they come to his town KNOWING that a prostitute is offering a bounty on a couple of cowboys when the judgement has already been passed and the punishment rendered by the justice systemof the time and region? Is Little Bill wrong to beat the shit out of every piece of garbage bounty hunter that comes to his town trying to break laws and damaging his authority over the town? If he lets those people come there and do those things, isn't he just another lame duck tin horn sherrif that doesn't believe in the badge he's wearing? He says he's done work in some nasty places and he's seen how a lack of order can contribute to the complete downfall of society and he's doing his best to make sure that doesn't come to the town he's responsible for. Or is he just a ruthless prick? It's not an easy call to make if you look at it honestly.
What about The Scofield Kid? Is Will encouraging his dangerous daydreaming about glory, a la Billy the kid, by riding with him? Should he be?
When Will kills all those people for upholding the law...should he have done that? Ned was publicly displayed to set an example for any other bounty killers that came by Big Whiskey, a fate that he could have avoided had he simply talked (which Little Bill afforded him, and you can't argue that he would have killed Ned anyway....there's no way anyone can say that with any conviction because Little Bill was never shown to be a liar at any point in that movie.) One could argue that he was also black, which played into it, but I personally don't buy that: it was common to let convicted criminals hang publicly to set examples back then, regardless of skin color. That he was 'black', and he married an 'indian', probably only made him a further outcast in that day and age. But that's the key phrase: that day and age. Will didn't kill those deputies in the end because of some righteous cause to clean out any corrupt justice system. Hell, he's probably so used to what he feels is an unfair legal system that it doesn't even phase him. He killed them because they murdered his friend, so he got piss drunk and wiped them all out. It was a crime of passion, plain and simple. Revenge. But was what he did a just thing? Was it right? Was Will above the law at that point in the movie? Or, by reverting to the evil man he used to be in his youth, did he justify the attitude and law practices of men like Little Bill, who'd seen Will Munny's type before and decided that there was only one way to keep such hardcore criminals in line.
I think the fact that I could write this much, and a whole lot more, about this movie shows how much it made me think. In my opinion, Unforgiven deserves every accolade it's ever received and more.
As for Million Dollar Baby, for the sake of brevity since I've already written way enough about Unforgiven, I'll just say that the fighter-mentor dynamic is explored with enough detail and honesty that their relationship, and the consequences of their chosen path in life, led me to consider everything that it took for them to achieve what they did and for the decisions made, by both of them, at the end of the film.
I hope this answered your question, whether you agree or disagree.
Jackass & Jackass 2!
If I would have only thought to have recorded the stupid stuff my buddies and I did:blow_top:
Those guys were getting paid for sh!t that we did for nothing but our own amusement.
8mm is a good film that I always feel lousy/angry after seeing.
I agree with you on Unforgiven. As for MDB I thought the movie had a great story and content but the directing was average and disappointing. But that's probably because of my boxing background.
<OT Rant>
When I watched MDB it felt like it was directed by Kimberly Pierce and not Clint Eastwood. Everything was too soft looking for a gritty sport. Even the pivotal scene with the stool. It should have been shown in a faster speed, at the slow speed it just looked like she was laying softly on it and had some slight neck discomfort.</OT Rant>
Primer.
I've seen tons of thought provoking films in my time, but the one that sticks out recently is Synecdoche, New York. It's one of the most brilliant films I've ever seen, and even though I watched it months ago, I still think about it at least once a week.
Come to think of it, why don't I have that movie on blu-ray... Hm.
One movie that looks interesting is that one one animated movie about Lebanon. Lunch With someone or other. Can't remember the title.
Also, a couple more from Cristopher Nolan:
The Prestige (for the look into the magic business and the lengths people might go to, for different personal driving reasons, towards a similar end. Bale considered it artform, Jackman considered it performance and showmansnip.)
Batman Begins/The Dark Knight (for realistic and complicated portrayal of crime in the context of a movie where a guy dresses up as a flying mouse and beats people up. Also, for the Joker's insinuation's about how dystopia is just around the corner and of how one's desire to do something, even something they believe is right, will compromise their core belief system-at the end of the movie, Gordon, Dent and Batman can all be considered to have fallen victim to their own particular brand of inner turmoil and chaos, thus proving Joker's point.)
I really can't think of any film that has been 'thought provoking' as such - and I really, really love films.
I do note films that illicit a strong emotional reaction though, like seeing totoro and wanting to be a kid again. Or watching something like the desperately sad Korean film 'Failan' and ending up being an inconsolable mess at the end.
In fact I refuse to watch Grave of the Fireflies. I know it's an amazing film and I do want to appreciate Takahata's masterpiece but I don't think I would want to live after seeing it. If really wanted to see it I would have someone to hug with throughout the entire film and tell me that everythings ok after watching it.
I really can't generate anything other than an emotional response to a film. Or an appreciation for the quality of a production.
The following is a list of films that immediately spring to mind when I think of films that have an element that stand out (for me), in no particular order and plus I probably forgot some that are in my top 25. Also I did not include nearly all of the films that I have watched again and again and again.
3 Iron
A Tale of Two Sisters
Oldboy
Mr Vengeance
My Sassy Girl
Audition
Zatoichi (Beat)
Rainbow Eyes
Save the green planet
My Beautiful Girl Mari (for the soundtrack)
Anything Ghibli
Akira
Dark Water (Jpn) (for 1 scene)
Phone (child actress in a scene)
Sanjuro
Seven Samurai
Voices from a distant star
Windstruck
The Classic
Failan :(
The Road Home
Amelie
Downfall
All about lily chou chou (for the soundtrack)
The Harmonium in my memory
Take Care of My Cat
I am really really struggling to think of a Hollywood film that has really connected with me. Maybe something like Unforgiven, Clockwork Orange, 2001, my mind's just blank at the moment.
I personally found it overwrought and the tone felt forced. I honestly don't see why people are so enamored of it. It's like it constantly beats the viewer over the head with its "THIS IS SO SAD, SO YOU SHOULD BE CHOKED UP" mindset.Quote:
Originally Posted by bloodhokuto
Killer Boobs pt. 1 - I had boobs in my mind for weeks.
Other than that, All the President's Men gave me food for thought.
Crysalis (french movie). It made me wonder about how the body can remember things and such, even if the mind doesn't remember.
The Counterfeiters easily tops my list. It starts out as a pretty formulaic war movie, but completely changes in the middle. Unbelievably great movie. There's a really interesting conflict in the movie that isn't often shown in WWII movies; very similar to Das Boot.
The Soloist was interesting, and it made me think a bit. Very different than what I was expecting.
The Passion Of The Christ - This won't be a popular choice here. I thought it was really interesting though (in a secular sense. I really don't get the people that acted like it was some kind of modern scripture.); the Last Temptation of Christ is good too, but it hasn't aged well.
Any of Michael Moore's movies. All very interesting, and maybe not as left leaning as some people might think, particularly Bowling For Columbine.
Persepolis, although it was really boring in the second half.
The Hoax, even with Richard Gere.
And then there are the typical choices: Brazil, Goodnight and Good Luck, Failsafe, The Day The Earth Stood Still, etc.
EDIT: I forgot a really good one: Moon, with Sam Rockwell. Really, really interesting movie that takes some pretty crazy twists and completely annihilates the formula that you THINK it's trying to imitate.
X-Men 3.
Still a teenager when I had seen it, had been waiting anxiously for years since X-Men 2, and I had never felt so confused in my entire life over a movie -- I literally had no idea what to make of it. Twenty minutes I just sat in my truck, trying to figure out if I liked it or not.
It took a few months, but in the end, yes, I decided it was shit.
(Not thought-provoking in the way you may have been looking for, but still, it made me question my taste)
I love that movie, but I don't really want to see it again. It was just too powerful. It perfectly nailed the internal conflicts that hit all of us.Quote:
Originally Posted by DARK ANDY IX
I still remember the quote "We simultaneously fear and do not believe in death."
When Charlie Kaufman drops the humor and focuses his immense talent on something serious, it gets incredibly heavy and bleak.
The words the best describe it were "brutally honest"
I didn't think it was as terribly sad as people made it out to be. Perhaps for a movie aimed at kids, but its nothing near the dread in a movie like Requiem for a Dream or Schindler's List.Quote:
Originally Posted by bloodhokuto
Now Synecdoche, New York will give you a terrible vision of existential dread.
Lots of great choices. I have trouble separating movies that I had a real emotional connection with from those that made me think about the purpose of life or other complex issues. So on the latter part, some of the choice off the top of my head would be:
Apocalypse Now
Requiem for a Dream
Passion of the Christ
Falling Down
A Simple Plan
For a recent favorite: The Hurt Locker. Really puts you in a different set of shoes and makes you question the purpose and ramifications of war.
Sincerely,
Mikhail
Agreed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobak
Bar none I'm the biggest crybaby at movies on this forum, and it didn't make me shed a tear. The hype of all the many years of hearing how it made the strongest of men weep like a baby probably messed it up for me.