Sometimes we want to watch simple movies that follow a pretty linear storyline and allow us to zone out or forget about our troubles. And then other times we want to watch something challenging, deep and meaningful; something a bit grittier that we can really sink our teeth into. Sometimes I really hunger for a movie that will challenge my thinking, push me out of my comfort zone or educate me in some way. If I come away from a film with a fresh perspective or some kind of new learning about a certain topic then I feel particularly pleased with my viewing choice.
I have heard people refer to these influential and affecting movies as 'movies that matter' but it is pretty irrelevant what title you want to give them, it is what you take away from these movies that make them genuinely important and relevant. These movies can occur in any genre, and they are the types of movies that stick with you long after the credits have stopped rolling. They are not always 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame) material because they are not always easy to watch or easy to recommend to other people to watch because in short, they are not just another movie, they are 'an experience.' And there are some exceptionally good ones out there that I believe that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
Here is a list of 20 movie experiences (in no particular order) that had a profound effect on me when I saw them for the first time, and although they may not all be 5 Chilli Peppers, they are most definitely important, relevant, thought provoking and absolutely worth seeing.
Full reviews of all of the above mentioned movies can be found on their respective genre lists on Spicywatch.com (under the genre drop down tab) should you require any further information.
And I wish you well with your 'challenging' aka 'movies that matter' viewing adventures.
I have heard people refer to these influential and affecting movies as 'movies that matter' but it is pretty irrelevant what title you want to give them, it is what you take away from these movies that make them genuinely important and relevant. These movies can occur in any genre, and they are the types of movies that stick with you long after the credits have stopped rolling. They are not always 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame) material because they are not always easy to watch or easy to recommend to other people to watch because in short, they are not just another movie, they are 'an experience.' And there are some exceptionally good ones out there that I believe that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
Here is a list of 20 movie experiences (in no particular order) that had a profound effect on me when I saw them for the first time, and although they may not all be 5 Chilli Peppers, they are most definitely important, relevant, thought provoking and absolutely worth seeing.
- Mother! - Challenging/ Art House/ Gritty (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- The White Helmets - Documentary (4 Chilli Peppers)
- Born into Brothels - Documentary (4 Chilli Peppers)
- Samson and Delilah - Challenging/Drama (4 Chilli Peppers)
- Requiem for a Dream - Gritty/ Drama (4 Chilli Peppers)
- The Thin Red Line - War (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- Into the Abyss - Documentary (4 Chilli Peppers)
- Bowling for Columbine - Documentary (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- An Inconvenient Truth Pt 1 and Pt 2 - Documentary (3.5 Chilli Peppers)
- Apocalypse Now - War (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- Dead Man Walking - Gritty/Crime/ Drama (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- The Elephant Man - Challenging/ Drama (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- Melancholia - Art House (5 Chilli Peppers)
- The Great Beauty - Foreign/ Drama (5 Chilli Peppers)
- A Ghost Story - Art House ( 4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- 20,000 Days on Earth - Art House/ Documentary (3.5 Chilli Peppers)
- Downfall - Foreign/ War (4 Chilli Peppers)
- Baraka and Samsara - Documentaries (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
- The Last Temptation of Christ - Art House (3.5 Chilli Peppers)
- Schindler's List - War (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
Full reviews of all of the above mentioned movies can be found on their respective genre lists on Spicywatch.com (under the genre drop down tab) should you require any further information.
And I wish you well with your 'challenging' aka 'movies that matter' viewing adventures.
DOWNFALL
Release Date: 2004
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 156 mins
All movies about Nazi Germany are hard going, and for that reason I was tempted to put this film onto my gritty list, or even my war list, but given the nature of this movie, I felt that it was best left in the foreign film section.
Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Academy Award in 2004, Downfall depicts the final 10 days of Adolf Hitler's rule over Nazi Germany in 1945. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, the movie is based on several historical recounts of that actual period in time, and it is engrossing in the most disturbing ways.
Most of the movie is set within the Berlin bunkers, as we watch Hitler's downfall and horror as he realises that he has lost the war, and also the loyalties of many of his trusted advisors and associates.
I felt absolutely no sympathy for Hitler or the Nazi's as I watched this movie, in fact I felt a sense of genuine pleasure to see that their final days were so incredibly stressful and confrontational. Bruno Ganz is unbelievably good in the role of Adolf Hitler, portraying both the influential and charismatic side of Hitler's personality as well as the unhinged madman with equal accuracy and fervor.
Watching a monster like Hitler squirm around in the bunkers for over two and a half hours isn't going to be to everyone's taste, but this is a movie that most definitely needs to be seen. Not only for its illuminating and detailed account and its incredible acting, but mostly because seeing someone so powerfully infamous and deeply detestable being utterly degraded and reduced to the standards of a mere mortal, is really very satisfying indeed.
FINAL SAY: Bullseye!
4 Chilli Peppers
Release Date: 2004
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 156 mins
All movies about Nazi Germany are hard going, and for that reason I was tempted to put this film onto my gritty list, or even my war list, but given the nature of this movie, I felt that it was best left in the foreign film section.
Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Academy Award in 2004, Downfall depicts the final 10 days of Adolf Hitler's rule over Nazi Germany in 1945. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, the movie is based on several historical recounts of that actual period in time, and it is engrossing in the most disturbing ways.
Most of the movie is set within the Berlin bunkers, as we watch Hitler's downfall and horror as he realises that he has lost the war, and also the loyalties of many of his trusted advisors and associates.
I felt absolutely no sympathy for Hitler or the Nazi's as I watched this movie, in fact I felt a sense of genuine pleasure to see that their final days were so incredibly stressful and confrontational. Bruno Ganz is unbelievably good in the role of Adolf Hitler, portraying both the influential and charismatic side of Hitler's personality as well as the unhinged madman with equal accuracy and fervor.
Watching a monster like Hitler squirm around in the bunkers for over two and a half hours isn't going to be to everyone's taste, but this is a movie that most definitely needs to be seen. Not only for its illuminating and detailed account and its incredible acting, but mostly because seeing someone so powerfully infamous and deeply detestable being utterly degraded and reduced to the standards of a mere mortal, is really very satisfying indeed.
FINAL SAY: Bullseye!
4 Chilli Peppers
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