These might just make you a better person
Originally there was some logic to the order of the films in this list. But by now the amount of them, the varied nature of their messages and potential and the sheer importance of each and every one of them (or, at the very least, most of them) just annihilates the possibility of ordering them in any kind of importance. So there is no order any more, besides the order in which they were added as time passed. Peruse and choose whichever, there is so much here.
List activity
443 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
47 titles
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.Always, always do the right thing, even when you're scared as hell and everything inside you is turning, even when you're shaking and ashamed, even when everything seems to be against you and nobody seems to care - look into your deepest self, be honest to the point of torture, and do the right thing.
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsLamberto MaggioraniEnzo StaiolaLianella CarellIn post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.Of crime and poverty and the heartbreaking interrelation.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsVictor MooreBeulah BondiFay BainterAn elderly couple are forced to live hundreds of miles apart when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in.The sadness of the inevitable conflicts and loss, made brutal by the impatience of the young and healthy.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.Displays deep empathy (for which it was rewarded with censure and the tag "horror") and sees the person behind the disability. Perhaps it can, if such ability is lacking, help you see it too.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsKaren MeagherReece DinsdaleDavid BrierlyThe effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization.Opens eyes wide to the deep and dehumanizing horrors of nuclear war. Its realism just makes it so much more effective. If you be a feeling soul, you'll never support the bomb again, nor trust the empty figures yapping validation.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.Reveals the extremes of human egoism, self-deceit and ignorant cruelty, the possibility of which hides in the breast of each of us. Look on these souls, ye mighty, and despair, for if you do not, you risk losing your own.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsSally HawkinsAlexis ZegermanSamuel RoukinA look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.Of the ethereal concept of realistic optimism. Scary, vital and beautiful.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.Not just of standing your ground for the right thing, but of logical argument - for when there is even a modicum of doubt, how can you ignore it just because you're bored, disinterested, afraid, emotional or prejudiced?
- DirectorJohn Patrick ShanleyStarsMeryl StreepPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.Of doubt - and how despite the best efforts it sometimes just cannot be clenched and one must move despite its clawing uncertainty.
- DirectorGregory JacobsStarsChanning TatumJoe ManganielloMatt BomerThree years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.Exploitation has never been so life- and gender-affirming (if just a teeny-bit male skewed).
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsTio HardimanAmeena MatthewsToya BateyA year in the life of a city grappling with urban violence.The agressors and victims taking the tools for fixing the broken system into their own hands. A strong example of it, and of the reason for the need of forgiveness.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.The secret's in the name - just bloody talk to her (or him).
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsAndre GregoryWallace ShawnJean LenauerTwo old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.Of thoughtful, honest, interesting conversation, its joys and libetaring effect.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.Or, to do the right thing, with or without prejudice.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsCorinne MarchandAntoine BourseillerDominique DavrayCleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJoaquin PhoenixAmy AdamsScarlett JohanssonIn a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.Of love.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsKristy McNicholChrista LangVernon WeddleA trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to attack black people.Of racism in both short- and long-term. And a film with deep empathy for innocents turned monster.
- DirectorBenh ZeitlinStarsQuvenzhané WallisDwight HenryLevy EasterlyFaced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.Of the most heart-felt endurance.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsPhil DavisRuth SheenEdna DoréThe life of a working class couple living in London and their complicated relationships with other members of the family.Look into Her face, and Be better.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryTrevor HowardVivien MerchantA burnt-out British police detective finally snaps whilst interrogating a suspected child molester.The animal in the breast of Man - what to do with it and what happens when you do nothing.
- DirectorKirby DickStarsAmy ZieringKirby DickKori CiocaAn investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military.Shedding light on a disgusting cover-up where camaraderie and false honour is defended with little care for the victims.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsYôji MatsudaYuriko IshidaYûko TanakaOn a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.The clash of nature and industry in the human soul.
- DirectorJames PonsoldtStarsMary Elizabeth WinsteadAaron PaulNick OffermanA married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of alcohol gets their relationship put to the test when the wife decides to get sober.Filled with humanity and understanding, it shows a way for reconciliation with onself and those around, and what to do if that's not possible.
- DirectorDavid SchwimmerStarsClive OwenCatherine KeenerLiana LiberatoA teenage girl is targeted by an online sexual predator.What to do, what not to do. See, learn, understand, help, teach.
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsChiwetel EjioforMichael Kenneth WilliamsMichael FassbenderIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.A horror story of dehumanization.