5. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey is a film that speaks to you like you’re a human being instead of speaking to you like you’re a customer. It’s more thought-provoking than entertaining, though I would say that it is still entertaining, in its own way.
The film spans hundreds of millennia, from the dawn of man to the 21st century A.D. It explores ideas like existentialism, evolution, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life. It is a true science fiction movie. It is the magnum opus of Stanley Kubrick, a director known for his incredible visual sense. It’s beautiful and mysterious.
I’m reminded of a television show called It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The show is about some assholes who own a bar. They decide to make an action movie together. One of the assholes, Mac, keeps overly explaining the plot while he’s acting, just to make absolutely sure that the audience knows exactly what’s going on at every moment. 2001: A Space Odyssey is like the opposite of that. It doesn’t explain much of anything, and there are different interpretations, different types of analysis.
4. Shrek
Shrek is the internet’s favorite movie. And we live in the age of the internet. There is no escaping that fact. We live in the Internet Age, just as people lived in the Renaissance or the Age of Enlightenment. The internet is its own universe, unfathomable in size, it keeps expanding, it cannot be stopped or controlled. The internet has been unleashed upon humanity, and there’s no going back.
The memes, the edited versions on youtube, the memorable quotes, and of course, the movie’s connection to the internet’s favorite song, All Star by Smash Mouth. All of this makes Shrek a must-see movie.
It’s the story of an ogre who has a Scottish accent for some reason. This movie basically says, “Hey, you know all those old fairy tales? Fuck em!”
It’s so funny, the soundtrack is hilarious, and it actually has a decent message about loving yourself for who you are and not judging others by their appearance. YET, Shrek and Donkey are constantly mocking Lord Farquaad for his height. But he’s an asshole, so he kind of deserves it. That’s an interesting thing that happens. Most decent people would agree that making fun of someone’s appearance is mean and you shouldn’t do it. When someone’s an asshole, or even a straight up bigot sometimes, making fun of their appearance becomes commonplace, even from people who would otherwise decry such superficial attacks. And then you try to point this out to the person and they’re like “He’s racist! He deserves to be made fun of! He deserves to be called a fat lard! Why are you defending a racist?”
And I’m like, “I’m not defending the guy, he should be definitely made fun of. I’m just saying that making fun of a racist person for being fat is not only making fun of that person, but also fatness in general.”
Whatever, maybe I’m wrong. Kind of a weird situation, the morality of which I don’t fully understand. The point is: watch Shrek.
3. Star Wars
Star Wars is about the Death Star. The Death Star is a new, advanced, colossal battle station in space which was constructed by the Empire in secret. [Hence why Han Solo, a seasoned and knowledgeable space traveler, who has “flown from one side of this galaxy to the other,” is shocked by its existence] The Death Star is, by far, the most powerful weapon in history. The Empire uses it to completely destroy the planet of Alderaan, which has a mostly civilian population.
Now, WHY does the Empire do this? It’s true that they are in a conflict with a loose band of rebels, and Princess Leia, the de facto leader of the rebels, is from Alderaan. So sometimes you have to kill people when you’re in a war. But that’s not really why they build the Death Star, and it’s not why they use it.
The Empire builds the Death Star and uses it on Alderaan to show how powerful and ruthless the Empire is. Their intention is to put fear into the minds of every person from every other planet that, if you piss off the Empire, we can and will wipe you out. So you better act how we want you to act. You better act according to our interests, or we’ll use the most powerful weapon in history against you.
In the council meeting scene, one guy asks Grand Moff Tarkin how the Emperor will be able to dispose of the Imperial Senate, he says: “Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.”
And later in the movie, after Leia gives him the name of a phony rebel base, Tarkin says, ehh, we’ll still use the Death Star on Alderaan, cause ‘Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration.” They use it not as a strategic move against the Rebellion’s forces, but to demonstrate the Empire’s complete power and dominance. If they had used it on Dantooine, a far-off planet that no one cares about, presumably, then it wouldn’t put as much fear into the hearts of the people from other systems in the galaxy.
It’s pretty evil to commit such a huge atrocity in order to demonstrate your power so you can pressure everyone to capitulate to your interests.
Plus, it’s the movie that is most responsible for popularizing nerd/geek culture into mainstream consciousness. It’s one of the most popular movies of all time, and if you haven’t seen it, I think you should try to watch it with a clear, open mind [even though I just spoiled some of it, hehe].
2. Citizen Kane
Hmm, let’s see, I’m just some guy talking about movies, let’s check out the experts. In 1998, the American Film Institute voted Citizen Kane as the #1 movie ever. Then they did another list in 2007, hmm.. Citizen Kane on top again.
What about the British Film Institute? 2012, Citizen Kane #2. 2002, Citizen Kane #1, 1992 Citizen Kane #1, 82 Kane 1, 72 Kane 1, 62 Kane 1.
Okay, we get it. If there’s any American movie that dominates lists like these, it is Citizen Kane, released in 1941. Starring Orson Welles, directed by Orson Welles, produced by Orson Welles, and co-written by Orson Welles. It was his movie. He was given almost complete control on his first movie. That has never happened before or since.
It’s about a character named Charles Foster Kane, who is very obviously based on the real person William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was a capitalist, one of the wealthiest men in American history, and famous for his use of yellow journalism. He’d use his newspapers to lie, sensationalize, exaggerate, gossip, and make up stories for profit and other motives, including provoking the Spanish-American war.
Anyway, is Citizen Kane any good? Well, that’s for you to decide. I think it’s a masterpiece, but you might not. And that’s okay. If you don’t like Citizen Kane, that does not mean that your opinion on movies is somehow invalid. I know a lot of film elitists will try to make you feel like that, but don’t listen to them. But you should give it a shot. Elitists, in general, are not good for whatever community they’re in. Whether you love comic books, music, film, or whatever, what good is it to demean someone who is newer to the community or just has a different opinion than you?
But there’s no denying that Citizen Kane is a historic, influential, highly regarded movie. I think you should watch it the same way you should listen to Beethoven’s 9th symphony, or see Michelangelo’s David, or read The Great Gatsby. There are important artistic works of mankind. I love Beethoven’s 9th symphony, I’m impressed by Michelangelo’s David, and I hate The Great Gatsby. And that’s all right. If you think that Citizen Kane is overrated trash, I’ll support you voicing your opinion on that.
1. The Seventh Seal
What better way to finish this list of ten movies to see before you die than a movie starring Death himself.
The Seventh Seal is a Swedish film from 1957, directed by Ingmar Bergman. And it is about a knight named Antonius Block, who is on a return journey to his home from the crusades. He meets Death, and challenges him to a game of chess. Death accepts this challenge, and the game is played throughout the journey. As long as Antonius stays alive in the game, he stays alive, but if Death wins, Antonius will die. Antonius Block, tormented by the question of faith, is accompanied by his squire Jons, who has become a cynical, nonbeliever after their years fighting in the crusades.
Here’s another interesting thing: the movie is set during the PLAGUE!! The. Plague. Of the Bubonic variety. Kinda relevant to our current world, wouldn’t you say?
Anyway, they travel through towns and meet several people, including a couple of actors, a blacksmith, and a young girl set to be executed for “bringing on the plague,” by her alleged association with the devil. A lot of religious fervor and irrational behavior surrounding a pandemic…
But the movie is not only relevant to our current time, it’s relevant to all human beings throughout history. Death is something we all must face, in the end, and people’s reactions to it are quite different. Antonius asks questions throughout the film, desperate to find meaning, frustrated by God’s silence. He views faith as a torment, a question that can never be answered. He never stops questioning things, but he never gets any answers. That’s how I feel.
Jons, on the other hand, has asked himself the same question, “Does God exist?” and has answered it: No. He does not waver in this answer. It is as final as Death itself. He sees life as a triumph over death, to feel alive as much as you can while you can. Antonius feels a bit of this as well, considering his hand closely, marvelling at his feeling of being alive, being able to move his hand how he wishes. He is alive, and that is good.
The actors, to no surprise, take a more whimsical approach. They don’t really think about these questions at all. The simple fact is that they’re alive, and the obvious thing to do is to have fun, to sing songs, to act, to juggle, to eat strawberries.
Many of the villagers are staunch believers in God, believing that God has sent the plague as punishments, and they must repent before their deaths.
We have an atheist, agnostics, people who are secure in their faith, and a man who is tormented by his wavering faith in God. These characters are who we all are. And who are you?
Lefty Forrester 