Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

***Calling All DU Movie Experts***

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread		 This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » The DU Lounge Donate to DU
 
THUNDER HANDS Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:01 AM
Original message
***Calling All DU Movie Experts***
My girlfriend needs to do a project for class and part of the project involves showing clips from a movie.

The movie has to deal with a character's search for enlightenment and becomming one with the universe or reaching a higher existence or something like that.

I suggested Lord of the Rings, but it turns out that the teacher nixed that idea, so we're back to square one.

Can you suggest something else, preferable something that would be out on DVD and reasonably popular (not a totally obscure film that nobdoy in her class would have seen).

Thanks a bunch!

:hi:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
unblock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:05 AM
Response to Original message
1. star wars would be a pretty obvious choice
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
rainy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:05 AM
Response to Original message
2. I heart Huckabees
Edited on Sat Mar-05-05 11:06 AM by rainy
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Nomad559 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:07 AM
Response to Original message
3. Powder
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114168/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/630542845X/103-0940955-7352601?v=glance
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
TyeDye75 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:09 AM
Response to Original message
4. I read this sentence
"The movie has to deal with a character's search for enlightenment and becomming one with the universe or reaching a higher existence or something like that."

And 'Donnie Darko' popped straight into my head.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
peekaloo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:09 AM
Response to Original message
5. Ground Hog Day
I'm serious.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
TahitiNut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:49 AM
Response to Reply #5
23. Agree. Or "Defending Your Life."
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Bertha Venation Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #23
35. Highly recommend "Defending Your Life," too; here's why it's relevant:
Edited on Sat Mar-05-05 12:31 PM by Bertha Venation
You die and go to a place where you are judged on how you overcame your fears. If you're judged to have done so, you get to "move on." If you haven't, you're reincarnated back to earth to try again.

I won't give away the exact ending, but suffice it to say that it's a Hollywood winner, if ya know what I mean.

Besides, it's a highly entertaining film. Very funny. Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, Lee Grant.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Joe Power Donating Member (778 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:09 AM
Response to Original message
6. Wild at Heart
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DebJ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:09 AM
Response to Original message
7. try to google SciFi movies and see if any titles strike home
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tjdee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:11 AM
Response to Original message
8. Adrien...loveeee.....
You know, I'd even suggest that Little Buddha movie with Keanu. Kind of an easy pick though, because it's about enlightenment.


Will try to think of others...haven't had my coffee yet....
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DS1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:13 AM
Response to Original message
9. Videodrome
The Matrix *obvious*

Jacob's Ladder
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
rbnyc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:59 AM
Response to Reply #9
26. LOL
I didn't see your suggestion. So funny. That's the first thing I thought of.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
redirish28 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:17 AM
Response to Original message
10. nikepallas and i were talking and we think...
garp, from the world according to garp.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LDS Jock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:18 AM
Response to Original message
11. From Justin To Kelly
don't overlook the obvious
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Cadence Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:19 AM
Response to Original message
12. Would "What the Bleep do we know" work?
That's the first thing that came to mind.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
meegbear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:24 AM
Response to Original message
13. Immortal Beloved
The Beethoven bio movie starring Gary Oldman. Towards the end, he's laying down, staring at the night sky and as he looking at the stars, he creates "Ode to Joy" in his head and has a look of happiness and fulfillment.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mrfrapp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:24 AM
Response to Original message
14. Highlander
"The movie has to deal with a character's search for enlightenment and becomming one with the universe or reaching a higher existence or something like that."

Highlander, almost literally fits that description.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
elehhhhna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:27 AM
Response to Original message
15. Last Tango in Paris.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
amazona Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #15
42. heh
I like the way your mind works.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
elehhhhna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 02:46 PM
Response to Reply #42
44. Thanks! Does your name represent amazon-like qualities?
I'm 6"1 and a Neo-Amazon!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
BigMcLargehuge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:27 AM
Response to Original message
16. Kundun (bio pic of the Dalai Lama)
Edited on Sat Mar-05-05 11:29 AM by BigMcLargehuge
2001 A Space Odyssey

on edit-

THe Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ET Awful Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:30 AM
Response to Original message
17. Up in Smoke . .
All about two dude who try to get enlightened any way they can :)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Nikia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:38 AM
Response to Original message
18. Bruce Almighty
Maybe, I am understanding the theme wrong though.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
glaeken777 Donating Member (334 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:40 AM
Response to Original message
19. My picks
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Black Hole
The Last Temptation of Christ
Solaris (either version)
Star Trek V (may be painful to watch)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Downtown Hound Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:45 AM
Response to Original message
20. Here's a few:
Altered States
Roadside Prophets
Dances With Wolves
The Razor's Edge
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
laura888 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:46 AM
Response to Original message
21. The Matrix
A classic example of someone connecting to the divine within themselves and finding strength.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
joeybee12 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:49 AM
Response to Original message
22. Any Fellini film would work--although they might be too obscure....
...face it, if it's a popular movie, I'm willing to bet it has nothing to do with enlightment...only car chases.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
HEIL PRESIDENT GOD Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:52 AM
Response to Original message
24. This is a bit psycho
But I think Woody Harrelson's monologue at the end of Natural Born Killers would be a good clip to show.

In the same vein, Sam Jackson's monologue at the end of Pulp Fiction.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ikojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #24
30. What about Bad Santa....Billy Bob Thornton plays a drunk
who lands a job as a mall santa claus. At the beginning of the film he is totally narcissistic and out for numero uno and as many women as he can bed as possible.

He gloms onto a lonely overweight kid and both learn to overcome. Santa learns to think of others and goes to extreme measures to deliver a gift to the boy and the boy learns to defend himself before a bully.

Yeah, I know the teacher would definitely nix Bad Santa.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
amazona Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 01:10 PM
Response to Reply #30
43. great movie!
But we're not sure if the teacher is quite that advanced.

Cool choice though. You get an A from me!

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
rbnyc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 11:57 AM
Response to Original message
25. A warped take: Videodrome
Anyone agree?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Nikia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:05 PM
Response to Original message
27. Wide Awake
It's a coming of age movie. Actually a lot of coming of age movies would probably work.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ikojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:22 PM
Response to Original message
28. Schindler's List...Oskar Schindler starts out as a cad out only
to make money but comes around to rescue some Jews.

At the beginning of the film he is seen kissing Nazi butt and living well. By the end of the film he is sitting on tracks bemoaning the fact that he did not save more people.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Lindsey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:27 PM
Response to Reply #28
31. Ground Hog Day is a great story
and really illustrates the characters transformation sprinkled with humor and interesting scenarios. I love that movie and have seen it many times.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mcscajun Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:25 PM
Response to Original message
29. "Lost Horizon" (1937)
The Ronald Colman version where the lead character finds Shangri-La, or rather, it finds him. :)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
fleabert Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:28 PM
Response to Original message
32. Hotel Rwanda could match up, is still in theaters...
don cheadle's character starts off with believing 1. that what's happening won't get bad, and won't affect him or his family 2. when it does get bad, that his family is his only concern. He then goes thru major hell to become fully aware of what is really happening and what he can/should do about it, and deals with that in a variety of ways.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rabrrrrrr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:29 PM
Response to Original message
33. Dune - esp. when Muad'Dib drinks the water of life
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
CanuckAmok Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:29 PM
Response to Original message
34. A perfect example: The Truman Show
His "world" is completely artificial, and the movie is about his quest to understand his world, and to move on to a higher plane of being (reality).
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
CanuckAmok Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:31 PM
Response to Original message
36. It's a Wonderful Life
Lead character is lost and without purpose. Angel shows him what life would be like had he never existed. He is enlightenesd about his role in his world, and about how all lives are codependent and intertwined.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
B Calm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:32 PM
Response to Original message
37. What About Bob?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Mabus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:32 PM
Response to Original message
38. Pink Floyd's "The Wall"
Here's a pretty good description posted at (and it doesn't even talk about how the music (since it is a musical) helps convey Pink's inner turmoil and his journey to become whole). http://imdb.com/title/tt0084503/maindetails

The opening tracking shot of a hotel hallway that resembles a prison should clue you in as to what awaits. There are so many things to like and be fascinated by in this movie. And for all of its avant-garde leanings, this is actually a very classically designed story. An iconoclastic music star, Pink Floyd, tries/tries not to think about his past and how he got to where he is, which is borderline psychotic. And because he's so disturbed, he can't even think in a linear way, so the journey we take into his mind is necessarily whacked-out.

We also get to see how fascism is born from misdirected hate and idolatry. As a rock star, Floyd has seen the adulation of his audiences, so he's familiar with the phenomenon. But at the same time, he detests them for buying into his act. It's like the old Groucho Marx joke about refusing membership to any group who would let you in. He knows he's a fake (his teachers and people like his wife have told him so), so everyone else who thinks he's real must be fakes also. It's a big cyclic game. So he can't let any of them in, behind his wall, because they are, by definition, phony.

It's interesting, also, to think about how he has turned full circle into fascism. It's just part of his dream and how he deals with his anger, but it's also an interesting reaction to the absent father. Had there been no homosexuals or Jews etc., there would have been no need for a Hitler, and therefore there would have been no need for his father to die. But instead of hating Nazis, he hates the people that "provoked" the Nazis. (I could go on for days with stuff like this, but I'll stop here.)

Just watch the movie and be impressed with the way it works on so many levels.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
B Calm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
39. The Jerk
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bilgewaterbill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:52 PM
Response to Original message
40. The Golden Child. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
amazona Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 01:08 PM
Response to Original message
41. Donnie Darko ????
What does "higher existence" mean? They die? Maybe check and see if Waking Life is out on DVD. Sheesh. I agree with teacher, Lord of the Rings is too cheap for a class assignment, at least if it's college.

If it really has to be all serious and spiritual, I guess 7 Years in Tibet is as good as any.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Tue Apr 30th 2024, 12:44 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » The DU Lounge Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC