Hey guys, I just got watching American Beauty last night and wow that was very interesting. Very disturbing some of the issues it addressed, but I found it really gripped me and gave me some food for thought. I love those kind of movies and I'm wondering if anyone can recommend any good titles. So far here is a list of titles I really enjoyed:

• What Dreams May Come
• Pay it Forward (however it wasn't as good as I felt it could of been)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Well I have it to watch and I've been promised it was good...just in case someone wants to give props to it)
• 6th Sense
• A Beautiful Mind

I'm trying to think of more but I'm drawing blanks. I'm desperately wanting to see Donnie Darko, but I'm hoping to find it clearance in Block Busters used or something.

Also I thought I'd stick this up in life issues as it's kind of a more serious discussion about thought provoking movies dealing with death or hardships. I thought it wasn't quite as light hearted as the general section, nor did I want it to get overlooked as that section seems to be very busy.

Hmmm.... I definitely give thumbs up to Eternal Sunshine, that's a great movie <3

Hmm... Not sure how well this follows your guidelines, but here's my recommendations:
-Pan's Labyrinth
-2046 (Chinese art film)
-Curse of the Golden Flower (see above)
-The Science of Sleep (like Eternal Sunshine, and is very strange)
-Stranger than Fiction

I'm watchin rainman and its good.

Have you seen Girl, Interrupted? I love that movie and I think it's the most similar out of my favorites to the type you're talking about.

Try Memento, it's by the same guy who's directing all the new Batman movies now.
Really interesting and unique. :D

Btw, this might need to be moved to the Media forum.

Originally Posted by HamletSpamlet

Try Memento, it's by the same guy who's directing all the new Batman movies now.
Really interesting and unique. :D

I was going to mention that movie too. :) It seems most of the movies Christopher Nolan makes are like that.

The Lost Highway is another movie that messes with your mind. I'm not sure you will like it but I find it interesting.

The constant gardener is amazing and extremely thought provoking, it has nothing really to do with gardening, lol, I don't want to give away the plot but it has ralph feinnes and rachael weiss in it.

Motorcycle Diaries is another great movie about Che guevara before he became a revolutionary and what lead him there.

The diary of Sophie Scholl is a really thought provoking movie about world war 2 and what you would be willing to do for what is right in the face of ultimate consequence.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Originally Posted by HamletSpamlet

Btw, this might need to be moved to the Media forum.

You mean there is a media section? *blinks* You know, I never even noticed that! This forum is soo big that I only really visit a couple areas. I'm so sorry!

If you consider going out to see a movie, The Soloist was quite thought-provoking. It tackles the issue of poverty and mental illness pretty thoroughly (and it presents a more realistic take on Schizophrenia than A Beautiful Mind, although I loved that movie as well). There's no real "gotcha!" twist at the end, though, which makes a lot of the movies you listed especially entertaining.

I LOVED Eternal Sunshine. One of my instant favorites. Mulling over the plot will keep your mind occupied for days. I cried at one point. Extremely interesting and heartbreakingly bittersweet.

You're making me want to watch it right now doomfishy! I love movies that really tug at your emotions. American Beauty was seriously one that had me on the edge of my seat too. At the end, when the mother went to his closet and hugged all the clothing it really made my heart ache. She realized once she lost it how precious it was. It was like...wow.

I loved The Illusionist. It's very beautiful, and it does make you think. Donnie Darko is good, but it's not for everyone. It's kinda creepy, but it does make you think a lot.

I will move this to the media forum shortly. ^^

Thanks for moving it snow, and sorry for putting it in the wrong place to begin with. :sweat:

I can only think of three-

-The live action version of Grave of the Fireflies

-12 Angry Men

-Persepolis

Oh wow they did a live action version of Grave of the Fireflies??? I never knew!! I watched the animated version and I must say it was such a sad sad movie and you really felt so sorry for those two kids. Very good, and I didn't even list it!!

I just finished watching Eternal Sunshine tonight and I don't know if I like it or not. The filming style where the camera was shaking made it difficult for me to watch. Kind of gave me motion sickness. I might need to give it another chance...I'm not sure.

You need to watch The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. :3

Oohh, I agree on The Green Mile. That was a heartbreaking but lovely movie indeed. :3

You could also try some of these titles, if you're interested:
- Forrest Gump (because it's awesome xDD)
- Amistad (about slavery, so it may be something like what you've seen before)
- Silence of the Lambs (never watched it, but I hear nothing but rave reviews about it, and I think it won an Oscar before too)
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (it's a webmovie by the Whedon brothers, and it's real funny while thought-provoking at the same time)
- The Kite Runner (not as good as the book, but decent, I guess, even though it leans more on inspirational rather than thought-provoking most of the time)

Only ones I can name at the top of my head at the moment. ^^;; <3<3

It may be a little difficult to find since it flew way under the radar, but Everything Is Illuminated is a fantastic movie. It's very unconventional. It has some humor, but it's by far not a comedy. The only way you can describe it is just... a story.
Also try out V For Vendetta, Solaris, Dark City (there's a really old movie with the same title, but the one I'm talking about is from 2004 or so. It has Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Connoly), and Bladerunner. All are very interesting, but intelligent movies. ^^
If you don't mind subtitles (the english dubbing on it is is awful, just use the subtitles), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is also very good, although unusual if you don't watch many Chinese movies. It's usually classed as a Martial Arts film, but really, it's a lot more.

I love deep, intelligent, thought-provoking movies, too. ^^
Hope I helped!

I agree with Persopolis, it got me really interested in Iranian history. They always have such a shaft. :/ Read the book first, though.

Also, Lost in Translation and Broken Flowers are amazing. I love Billy Murray as a depressed mundane post-middleaged man who is killing himself slowly with depression and booze and ladies.

Everything is Illuminated is decent, but I liked the book better. The book goes more into his family's hilariously retarded sexual history.

I hated Everything Is Illuminated. It was so weird and tried too hard to be shocking/surprising. :(
I'm talking about the book, because I've never seen the movie...

Anyway, back on topic, I watched The Reader recently and it was pretty though-provoking. It wasn't the best movie or anything, but if you've got a lot of time to kill, it might be one to check out.

Slumdog Millionaire is pretty good(:
And the Uninvited, even though its kinda hard to keep up with at the end.

@ Macabeak, You watched 2046?

I went to see this with friends, and please know that I LOVE movies, all kinds of movies including art films, but I thought this movie was terrible. At the end, we didn't want our money back, we wanted our life back, it just felt like it had no point and the credits would never roll. When a movie is bad, we say, "Wow, that movie was 2046."

Originally Posted by JohnnyM

I'm watchin rainman and its good.

Just wanted to add that I now second this statement, since I had just finished watching Rain Man two nights ago on DVD with my family. xDD;;

The ending could have been better, but overall its a wonderfully good story. :> And the acting is superb. =) <3<3

@ Rylynne - I -loved- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Loved it. I watched it online while it was free for a short period. I don't think it's quite as deep as some of my friends insisted that it was, but it's a good starting point for dialogue into a number of moral and political (and romantic) issues.

Se7en is pretty serious and thought provoking.
The Bone Collector made me think, too. Just watched that a little while ago in Forensics class. Hmm, I can't think of much at the moment, but I'll come back if I think of something. =)