Best Thought Provoking Movies

A few weeks ago, a friend sent around a thoughtful review of “Inglourious Basterds” that triggered something. Another friend commented that he passes up almost all Hollywood films because they lack depth beyond superficial plot summary and sunshine/puppies, but he was inspired to go watch Tarantino’s latest. I challenged his presumption, arguing that the democratization of technology has led to an incredible amount of quality independent films, while acknowledging the sorry philosophical state of the mainstream film. He asked me to recommend five intellectual films.

I’d like to discuss my recommendation to him and then get into a more comprehensive discussion of intellectual cinema. Lots of films have philosophical inklings in them without being considered intellectual films. Even Indiana Jones flirts with Kierkegaard’s “leap of faith “as he leaps onto an invisible bridge, armed only with the presumption that he will be saved.

First, the recommendations. When I was backpacking this weekend, my brother and I discussed this issue for a several hours on the trail, but more in the sense of the five intellectual movies we’d use to get someone going, not necessarily an all-time list. We decided on the following.

Recommended List

1) “I Heart Huckabees” – An entertaining comedy with an all-star cast that showcase a literal battle for souls waged by philosophy’s extremes, a sexy brooding nihilist and existential detectives who believe the universe is brilliantly interconnected. It’s a skillful and beautiful contrast of the philosophies that strikes a nice balance in the end.

2) “Waking Life” – Probably my favorite philosophical film of all-time, it is a loosely-connected set of 5-10 minute philosophical lectures that features Nietzsche scholar Robert Solomon on existentialism, a scathing philosophical indictment of the political system, and Ethan Hawke on dreams, among others. Richard Linklater laboriously shot the film and then animated it frame by frame on his Mac. It’s beautiful and there’s nothing else like it.

3) “The Graduate” – Not as overtly philosophical, but unbelievably sharp satire of the American dream in the 1960’s. The cinematography and clever screenplay accompany the all-time performance by Dustin Hoffman as he searches for meaning in suburbia after graduating from college.

4) “A Clockwork Orange” – Disturbing but unparalleled, like any great Kubrick film. It’s a futuristic nightmare that is also a meditation on crime and punishment, free will, and what society has the right to impose in the name of justice. You droogs won’t forget this film.

5) “Synecdoche, New York” – Perhaps my favorite of the postmodern films in the tradition of Fellini. Kaufman (scribe of “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine”) finally writes and directs the same movie, ensuring complete creative control. The result is his finest, densest work, one that expands on “Adaptation” by diving deeper into the postmodern void and the meaning of an individual life in the face of the new reality. Philip Seymour Hoffman is unbelievable as a genius trying to put on a play that will do justice to the authentic human experience.

That’d be my “starter kit,” so to speak, but now I’ll try to get into a more “all-time” discussion below. Here we go! Also, I haven’t seen some of the serious heavyweights, like “La Dolce Vita,” “Wild Strawberries” or “My Dinner with Andre,” so forgive me if your favorite isn’t on here.

All-Time Classics

“8 ½” –An all-time classic and the greatest postmodern film, Fellini deconstructs cinema as he chronicles the struggles of director Guido, who’s making a movie that falls apart. While the iconic balloon at the beach scene is the most famous, this entire movie is wildly influential. Characterized by a slow descent into self-immolation and complete disorder, by the end the cast and crew are dancing around a giant wooden rocket ship.

“The Seventh Seal” - A man playing chess with the Grim Reaper while pondering existence and God, ‘nuff said.

“A Clockwork Orange”

“Apocalypse Now” –The greatest war movie ever made is based on Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of
Darkness.” It explores the depth of the human soul as Martin Sheen travels deeper and deeper into the darkness of the jungle in search of Brando’s Kurtz. Simply unbelievable.

“2001: A Space Odyssey” –A one-of-a-kind film that discusses the implications of alien life, the ethics and infallibility of robots, and what makes us human.

“Waking Life”

"Straw Dogs" -Peckinpah's ultraviolent film about becoming a man stars Dustin Hoffman and is tough to watch but a truly great movie. It's fascinating to watch Hoffman simmer into a slow boil and stand up for his family.

Still Great

“Synecdoche, New York”

“Being There” –Peter Sellers is set into the world armed only with what he could learn on TV. A classic.

“I Heart Huckabees”

“The Graduate”

“The Believer” –Intellectually superior to “American History X.” Ryan Gosling plays a self-loathing Jew whose philosophical disagreements with his religion lead him to become a neo-Nazi. Very thought provoking and well written.

“American History X” –Edward Norton is eerily convincing as a white supremacist that gives extremely articulate representations of his hateful positions. After he blows his top in the famous curb-stomping scene, his intellectual redemption is satisfying and the film doesn’t shy away some of the harsher realities in race relations.

“Memento” –In addition to the incredible mind-fuck that is the structure of “Memento,” the loss of all memory is a convenient plot device to explore free will, the evil in humanity, and some really painful tattoos. This is why you know Guy Pearce, admit it.

"The Big Lebowski" -Can't believe I left this off initially. Say you will about the tenets of national socialism, at least it's an ethos.

Traumatic Viewing Experiences, But Ultimately Successful Ones

“Deer Hunter” –Did any movie short of “Apocalypse Now” showcase the darkness in Vietnam better than this?

“Pulp Fiction” –So many movies strive to be profound by adding political subtext to the “Pulp Fiction” style. Often imitated, never duplicated, “Pulp Fiction” is the first of to weave of a maze of interconnected plots and lives as they clash into one another.

“Traffic” –Maybe the best of the “Pulp Fiction” imitators, does an incredible job showing the different fronts of the drug war.

“Amores Perros”/“21 Grams”/“City of God” -Shudder to think about these movies.

“Requiem for a Dream” –Hard to watch rise and fall film about three characters who experience the highs and desolate lows of addiction. Really haunting.

"Taxi Driver" -To this day, the only movie I've ever watched, rewound, and watched again in one sitting. You talking to me?!

Weird Successes

“Night of the Living Dead” –I’ll stand by this one. Romero is the king of subversive horror commentary. Zombies can highlight our fears about communism, the consumerist nightmare, our herd mentality, and even what makes human (since those zombies are clearly not, where do we draw the line?). More effective political commentary than you think.

“Natural Born Killers” –Ultraviolent Oliver Stone film about media-fueled violence and our society’s addiction to it. Robert Downey Jr. was perfectly ridiculous.

“Fight Club” –Society has destroyed what’s important, turned us into mindless consumers, and castrated men of their manhood, so they fight each other to get it back. As their fight club descends into anarchistic terrorism, Pitt and Norton get darker and darker.

“eXistenZ” –You’ve probably never even heard of it, but it’s superior to “The Matrix” and just as thought-provoking about reality and the human brain. Jude Law shines in this twisting mind-fuck by Cronenberg where they test a videogame you plug into your brain that gets too real.

“The Matrix” –The first installment of the Wachowski’s disappointing trilogy was still excellent. It challenged our reality and was packed with philosophy. It discussed Plato’s “The Cave,” free will vs. determinism, and was filled with biblical imagery around Keanu (that felt weird to type).

“Being John Malkovich” –Bizarre examination of the human identity as John Cusack finds a way to control John Malkovich’s brain for 10 minutes at a time before being dumped onto the turnpike. Kaufman’s first big movie was quite a trip.

“Mulholland Drive” –The cinematic equivalent of a Dali painting, this Lynch film is a surreal, fever dream that won’t really make sense no matter how many times you watch it. Ebert tried it with 400 film students and the original script. You never stop picking up more details every time you watch it.

The Human Condition

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” –There’s nothing else like it, go see it. After a stroke leaves him only able to blink one eye, the protagonist manages to write a book with his speech therapist and celebrate life, not wallow in the pity of his condition. This one is not depressing, I promise.

“Good Will Hunting”

“The Pianist” –This was just so hard to watch.

“One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest” –I find Kesey’s philosophical problems with the theatrical version of his book to be fascinating.

“Harold and Maude”

“Easy Rider”

“The Fountain” –The reaches of what we can do for love and man’s inability to accept what we cannot fix.

“Shawshank Redemption” –Beautiful film. Andy Dufruesne knows why the cage bird sings.

“Razor’s Edge” –After coming back from war, Bill Murray searches the globe for the meaning of life. He negotiated getting to make this one in exchange for doing “Ghostbusters.” Wonder which one he’ll be remembered for.

“Adaptation” –With this and “American Beauty,” I’m less impressed by the profundity of my former favorites every time I watch them. Still, pretty solid postmodern cinema that chronicles the adaptation of an impossible book as deconstructs itself and descends into the Hollywood madness Kaufman looks down upon. Nicholas Cage, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep are fantastic. "God help you if you find yourself using voiceover, my friend."

“American Beauty” –Still love the movie’s tone as it captures a suburban zombie’s spiritual awakening, but has not aged well. Makes you think about how you’re living your life a bit though.

“Dead Poets Society”

“Life is Beautiful” –Bennini is annoying, but he was amazing here.

Pretty Good

“Revolutionary Road” –Perhaps the darkest film about the destructive power of suburbia. Based on the Yates novel.

“No Country For Old Men” –Some interesting ideas here.

“Groundhog Day” –Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence teaches a spoiled brat how he should behave.

“Pleasantville” –Bonus points for use of Miles Davis, creative use of color.

“Donnie Darko” –Explores death, free will, the physics of wormholes, creation through destruction/chaos, and pretty much everything else in this genre buster that’s still not quite a classic. It’s still a great watch though. RIP Swayze, you were super creepy in this one.

"Magnolia" -I forgot to throw this one in there, but a truly weird and original Paul Thomas Anderson movie that examines the human soul. Some really incredible acting here.

“Matrix Reloaded” –Big drop off from part 1.

Really Out There

“Contact” –Based on a Carl Sagan novel, it was a pretty good film about alien life and the philosophy of the cosmos. Super long though.

“Minority Report” –A futuristic battle over freewill, the crime clairvoyants accuse Tom Cruise of murder and he refuses to turn himself in. Some cool explosions too.

"A Scanner Darkly" -I originally debated putting this in, Adomian convinced me. Really dark movie based on addiction eerily similar to crystal meth that is definitely worth a viewing. Linklater shot this one and had animators go over the footage rather than doing it himself.

“Devils Rejects” –Rob Zombie rebounded from his horrific debut with a tough to stomach chase picture that blurs the line beyond good and bad with outlaws and Johnny Law. There are not a lot of redeeming figures here and maybe that’s the point, but this movie has stuck with me for a long time. And no one has ever used “Freebird” better, seriously.

Not As Deep As The Director Thought

“Crash” –Straight-up derivative of “Pulp Fiction,” it was interesting to think about the alienation of society and how our isolation causes us to violently crash together. There are no role models here; everyone makes good and bad decisions with heavy doses of their prejudices.

“Munich” –This movie didn’t really do that much to show the moral gray zone for as much as it was lauded. As someone who’s studied the Holocaust a fair amount, anything that refers to the show trial of Adolf Eichmann as justice doesn’t pass the sniff test.

"Syriana"/"Babel" -The twin faces of the worst movies made in the tradition of "Pulp Fiction." "Syriana" attempts to chronicle every single potential aspect of terrorism and becomes a bloated, barely connected mess, but "Babel" substituted muted sound and dramatic orchestral music for substance. Both of them needed to lose about an hour.

“Matrix Revolutions” –Wachowski brothers, years later we still wonder how you managed to blow a slam-dunk trilogy like that.

“Garden State” –Years later, it just seems whiny. I do like the notion of our generation searching for a fleeting sense of home, however.

“Hostel” –F* you, Eli Roth. He’s the prime example of why a sophisticated intellectual argument can still leave you with a piece of nauseating drivel.