Life Changing Movies

Platoon. The scene when Charlie tries to stop those guys from raping the young girl. That was pretty heavy.

Joe Swanberg's "LOL" changed my life. He is one of my favorite directors working today.

After watching Yes Man for the second time, it made me think about being more open for possibilities in life, and I signed up for a course, which I haven't done since I was a kid.

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' kind of reinforced the idea for me that life experiences, good or bad, shape and mold the person you become but it a more poetic and understanding sorta way.

'Sonatine' helped me to stop, slow down and appreciate the small/minor events in life, but in a more poetic and understanding sorta way

Ikiru, pretty self explanatory

I would include Eternal Sunshine except it didn't teach me anything. I was writing the same story until I watched it

Cast away...

I posted something like this about Dersu Uzala, also a classic and thus self explanatory, and you jumped all over me. So, newbies have to write a thesis to support their opinions and people like you don't. I see.

lol first of all, RELAX

Second of all, I did not jump on you, you perceived it as such, which is completely your fault. I was just trying to get you to do a bit of critical thinking firstly because it was a brand new thread dedicated to the movie with zero information posted about the movie, secondly because when you write out something like that you not only have the opportunity to possibly realize something even greater about the film but also inflate your appreciation for more of it. I'd glady do a write-up on Ikiru, and if I ever start an Ikiru thread then I will.

Boy do I have a lot of say about Ikiru. AHAHAHAHA. Seriously. I definitely have to watch that Dersu Uzala, of course.

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

Not to rag on a film you like, but I've always thought of surfers, stunt pilots, bullfighters, rock climbers, people trying to reach the top of Mt. Everest, and such as truly inconsequential folks, because what have they really accomplished? If they feel a need to prove something to themselves or others, does that make them more or less special than those of us who don't feel a compulsion to "prove" ourselves to anyone? Who is the real hero--the dude who spends every day on the beach like an overgrown child surfing the big ones, or the guy who fights the traffic to get to work to treat a patient or teach a child or design a building or just build a really good sewer system that will help keep a city clean and its inhabitants healthy? l read about someone in middle to old age still surfing and I think, "What a pitiful waste of a life."

Well, I've survived polio, cancer, and heart damage, and once came litterally within inches of being killed in an auto accident. I've been threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, outlaw bikers, and Black Panthers (but never took them seriously). And I've been confronted by angry husbands on four separate occasions for messing around with their wives--didn't stop me from sleeping with any of the ladies again. I've seen lots of dead people, suicides, murder and accident victims of all ages killed in a variety of ways. Once tripped over a victim's body inside a burned out house. I'm now 67, and although reasonably healthy and happy, I know statisticly I'm facing a future that will be much shorter than my past. None of this has translated into any great cosmic revelation, however, except maybe chit happens.

I've done booze and mild drugs and I've seen people kill themselves with it, but I've never met an enlightened drunk or junkie, so those definitely are not the answers.

Personally, I don't put much stock in "knowing" one's self. If you reach adulthood without knowing where you stand and what you stand for, then you're not gonna learn a hell of a lot surfing a wave or climbing a mountain.

Based on my own experiences, I disagree that the worst thing about dying would be not "knowing yourself." The worst thing about dying would be knowing at the last moment that you didn't do anything worthwhile to make the world a better place--that you just surfed meaninglessly through life and never did anything to help anyone else. That means you die knowing you've wasted your whole existance, and that really is pathetic. See, the point is not what you know about yourself, but what you know and do for others. The real measure of a man or woman is what one is willing to sacrifice for one's family and friends and even an occasional stranger.

Very well said. Thank you. I don't mind daredevils / thrill-seekers doing what they do as long as they don't place themselves on pedestals above the teachers who really care, the nurses who really care, the doctors who really care, the (honest and good) police officers who really care, etc., etc., etc..

I think most people confuse the words "celebrity" and "hero". Or they don't know the difference.

I don't know about any pedestals but I know if I could go body surfing every day I would and I wouldn't feel like I wasted my time. Heck, I wouldn't feel like I wasted my time watching a movie of other people doing that either, from time to time.

I'd be the last person to preach spiritual enlightenment but I've got nothing against aesthetic or athletic experience for its own sake, life would be a lot less interesting without them.

Well rufnek, you never saw riding GIANTS so if you did then maybe you'd know what you're talking about. Go ahead and preach about working-class heroes but I often admire people who are able to stay out of the rat race and follow their own muse.

You've already said that movies have never inspired anyone or changed anyone's life several times so I cannot really discuss what's important in life with you. You may believe that making movies and caring about them so much is also "a pitiful waste of life", but whether that's true or not, you're not in a position to judge people you know very little about.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I think your key phrase is "from time to time." Doing something occasional for enjoyment--"from time to time"--is a lot different than focusing solely on body surfing day after day after day. Watching a movie about it isn't wasting time, if that's what you enjoy--going the Howard Hughes route of sitting in a projection room for a month watching movies over and over and over is not only a waste of his tremendous talents but downright nutsy.

I love your "voice of God from the mountain top" approach, Mark.

What I actually said in my original post was "Not to rag on a film you like, but I've always thought of surfers, stunt pilots, bullfighters, rock climbers, people trying to reach the top of Mt. Everest, and such as truly inconsequential folks, because what have they really accomplished?"

Does Riding Giants have anything in it about stunt pilots, bullfighters, rock climbers or Mt Everest? It's not even the only film ever made about surfers. And living here on the Gulf Coast, I frequently see real live surfers, especially just as hurricanes are blowing in this time of year. I don't even dislike surfers--it was a surfer on a board who grabbed my grandson and brought him ashore after my son drown holding him out of the water.

Moreover, you're really in no position to judge if I "know what I'm talking about" when I express a personal opinion--my own thought--that the accomplishments of surfers, stunt pilots, etc. in those sports themselves generally are inconsequential in the overall scheme of things.

You again misquote me here, Mark. I said I've never seen a movie that in anyway changed my life. I said I've never known anyone personally whose life was changed by a film, although--as I've said before--I read that Tony Curtis said he decided to join the Navy and volunteer for submarine duty after seeing Cary Grant in the submarine film Destination Tokyo. So I did cite one example of someone whose life was affected by a film, especially since Curtis and Grant later co-starred in a World War II comedy about a pink submarine and Curtis imitated grant when pretending to be a rich playboy in Some Like It Hot. Others in this forum have said certain movies affected their lives, and I accept that. I haven't question their statements at all. But no movie has affected my life or that of anyone I know personally (at least those who are into discussing movies). And so because of your mistaken assumptions, you say you "cannot really discuss what's important in life" with me. My. I had no idea your discussion skills are so limited.

I may believe the moon is made of blue cheese, too, but there's no way you can know for sure because I've never said in this forum anything about the composition of the moon or that making and caring for movies is a waste of time. If I didn't care about films, I wouldn't waste so much time arguing back and forth with you.

Oh, come on, Mark, for more than 30 years in my occupation as a journalist, I've made dozens of judgements on who's important and what's important, what events deserve to go on page 1 above the fold and what stories are worth only 2 inches on page 34D. You slight me for judging "people you know very little about," yet I know about surfers and stunt pilots (I've flown with them) more than you know about me, yet you feel perfectly qualified to judge me when you don't even know my name.

As I've said before, seems like anything I say is like a bee up a bull's nose to you. Seems to me you're a very judgemental person.

And your post was completely objective.

No, my original post was completly subjective, expressing as I indicated from the very start a personal thought or opinion which you then proceeded to attack, based on things I've never said and wild-ass opinions you decided I may have. The major difference between you and me, Mark, is that I can express an opinion and disagree over an issue without making a personal attack on the other person and belittling his knowledge or his right to his own opinion and to disagree with me.

I guess you missed the part where I also said if I could go body surfing every day, I would? I'm not completely sure why I even slipped "from time to time" in there. I guess I would get sick of watching just body surfing movies all the time but I don't think it would be a "waste" in the sense you seem to mean, ie - a waste because it doesn't serve some utilitarian purpose for others.

Howard Hughes' problems went a lot deeper than watching movies obsessively, and anyway, I don't think his is a good example of a "wasted life."

No, I saw that. I also saw you didn't say you'd go body surfing all day every day--just the implication that you would like to do it some of every day, leaving time for other activities. But you know what you meant better than I--that was simply my inference from what you said.

Again, you're the only real judge of what you meant. But I suspect just as you would "get sick of watching just body surfing movies all the time," you probably would get sick of body surfing all the time--I think your personality is too rounded and your interests too varied and broad to want permanently only to surf all day long every day of the week.

Enjoying life's pleasures is not a waste unless one becomes totally hedonistic and never tries to do anything worthwhile that would benefit anyone else.

No doubt there are some who would consider a life of fun, fun, fun to be the best of all worlds. Although I certainly have pursued my pleasures until both of us dropped, I still see a life of only pleasure with no real accomplishment that leaves the world better for one having been here to be a complete waste. That's just my opinion; you may disagree.

Yes, Howard Hughes' problems were both deep and broad. I simply used his obsessive movie watching as an example of taking a pleasurable interest to a ridiculous extreme. I started to mention Stalin's obsession for late-night viewing of films.

Whether or not Hughes' life was wasted is a matter of opinion. My opinion is that much of it was a waste due to his mental deterioration. His greatest contribution, I think, was in aircraft design and performance. His contributions in that field were helpful in developing US aircraft for World War II. Although his "Spruce Goose" was an aeronautical wonder for an aircraft that big built under those conditions, his compulsion to complete that aircraft actually was a waste after the German U-boat threat to Allied shipping was essentially eliminated in 1944, negating the need for a troop plane that large. To put that much time and effort into an aircraft that flew only once at an extremely low altitude and over an extremely short distance was indeed wasteful, although the aircraft itself is impressive.

I liked Hells Angels, but I've seen better movies about WWI. And considering all of Hughes' time, effort, and money that went into The Outlaw, it's not that good a movie, IMHO--he could have accomplished more engineering aircraft. But that's just my personal opinion.

Howard Hughes was an extremely interesting kook, but his dad really had greater impact on this world than his son ever did, since his dad developed and exclusively marketed the first tri-cone drilling bit that revolutionized oil and gas exploration and development. Tri-cone bits have become much more sophisticated over the years, with diamond teeth and other improvements, but the basic design and operation is still the same. As a result, Howard Hughes' dad is in the oil industry hall of fame. His son isn't, even though Hughes Tool Co. was the source of his fortune that he put into movies and aircraft. Republic Studio is gone, Pan-American Airline is gone. But Hughes Tool Co. which Howard sold to pay off debts of his other compulsions still exists today as Baker Hughes Inc. and is still a leader in its field.

You may disagree with my assessment of the comparative worth of Howard Hughes' life vs. that of his dad. You have every right to do so. It's simply my opinion.

I would have to say theres a few of them... but most notably is probably 7 Pounds with Will Smith.

Another is, now this may just be me but We Were Soldiers really hit me at the end... Not gonna give any spoilers but anyone that has seen it knows what Im talking about. But I come from a family of Soldiers so I could really relate to it.