Movies that cause arguments/get you talking.

Whether it's because they're divisive because they've received superfluous amount of critical acclaim, because they deal with controversial topics, because there's loads of metaphorical bizarreness in there...which movies have got you debating amongst your family/friends/acquaintances?

__________________
You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never. (The Red Shoes, 1948)

Well, Daddy Day Care leads to a lot of debates about the Fall of Man and God's role in the toleration of Evil in the Universe.

Seriously, though: it's really just whichever ones are the most intricately structured. I don't think most of the films I talk a lot about with my family or friends spark other discussions, so much as they spark discussions where we talk about possible interpretations, pick up on different hints or touches. The most recent example is Inception, simply because there are a number of ways to approach it.

The most significant I can recall other than that is probably Unbreakable. I liked it walking out, but by the time we'd gotten home, I loved it, because we spent the entire car ride back talking about little nods to comic books and things we hadn't noticed as part of a larger whole right away.

The Matrix didn't generate too much discussion, nor did The Matrix Revolutions...but The Matrix Reloaded did, because the ending seemed to open the series up for a number of possible endings (it didn't really go with any of them, of course).

I find the really great, classic films don't necessarily provoke a lot of discussion. Sometimes, they're good in very simple ways that don't lend themselves to conversation.

So, for me, it's films that paint all the way to the corners of each frame, and/or films with intricate plotting, that generate the most discussion, because that's just what grabs me most often. And these conversations happen more naturally with things that have come out recently. I might be just as likely to think deep thoughts about an older film, but there's less occasion to talk about it with others unless it's new, as I don't usually watch older movies with groups. That's actually the biggest factor, I'd say, apart from the content of each film.

Refreshingly nice thread idea!

Movie I argued about most often....hmmm....it should be the movie "W" but sadly it isnt. Trying to convince a diehard Transformer fan that the Michael Bay movies are good is a hilarious act of futility, but not really arguing.

See arguiing about a movie could be something as simple if you thought it was good or not. A non movie-buff wont argue that cause they dont care enough too. It can also mean arguing about the subject matter of the flick, but people usually avoid conflict on serious topics.

I argued hard about how overpushed/overrated some actors or directors are, but a certain movie?! Hard to think of one. Matrix was fresh, and everyone was talking about that. I argued Chronicles Of Riddick was complete schlock, and everyone ive spoke too liked that "He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe" ripoff. That first movie was so simple and sweet, but what a shallow spectacular turd that sequel was. Just no character development, depth, or reralistic sense of storytelling whatsoever. They went from a realistic sci-fi setting turning it into some fantasy ladened mess.

Two of the most commonly divisive are The English Patient and American Beauty. Any films that get loads of Oscars are bound to cause some debate.

I too tend to argue about films that are multi layered. Memento is such a film. I think I have seen it with about..8 different people, and each one had something different to say about it. A lot of people consider the film to have an open ending. In some ways, it is an open ending, but for the most part, there is far more evidence in the film to show that

I also find myselfing arguing about very specific scenes or even subtle moments in films, rather than the film as a whole. Moments where characters say very little about what they are saying or the context of the scene, but you can see it etched all over their faces and body language. Take the scene near the end Half Nelson where Dre goes to the motel to find Dan at his lowest. It's a beautifully realised scene, further consolidated by the incomprehensible lyrics of the song played during it. Some people I have spoken to says this character was thinking that and that's why she gave him that look and I say vice versa. I enjoy talking about stuff like that.

My girlfriend and I always fight over Avatar. Yet she's never seen it.

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Recently I got into what could be classified as a fight about Suspiria with something less than human. He said the killer at the beginning was a gorilla, and that arms just can't throw people onto rooftops and hang in midair. He then went on to say Vacancy was a brilliant horror movie. I shot him in the face

I wasn't really "around" when it came out, so I don't know, but I do know that it's frequently analyzed or referenced in the academic world. It's a wonderful film in that its components can be twisted around to fit just about any conception of reality ever developed; from Plato's Allegory of the Cave to an allegory of the Lacanian Real.

The ending's pretty clear cut in what happens but not in why. How was Neo able to see and destroy sentinel's for example? As to what the stuff that was "pumped" into Neo at the end was (that destroyed the Smiths), it might have just been electricity. It's rather hard to come up with these answers based only on what you've seen, so I prefer to "use" the philosophical framework, whichever, in order to extrapolate a possible meaning to these unexplained "physical" phenomenon. If we go the Lacanian route, then Neo being able to see the orange light without eyes could simply be a suggestion that the Real is capable of being contacted, if you choose to understand what he sees as the underlying "virtual" framework of reality itself, that is, apart from the matrix.

but The Matrix Reloaded did, because the ending seemed to open the series up for a number of possible endings (it didn't really go with any of them, of course).[/quote]The whole Architect scene really impressed me as being extreme fecund for some sort of further look. What he says seems quite clear, but if you think about it, it's really not. I'd like to take another look at that one day.

You'd be surprised. Both Birth of a Nation and The Jazz Singer are on the AFI 100 list. Also, I don't think you'll find a lot of consistent agreement on what Hitchcock's best is.

Barring discussions about intentional ambiguities, like Inception for example, there are some rather fun ambiguities that arise unintentionally. For example, did Bogie and Ingrid Bergman really "do it" during Casablanca? All signifiers point to a somewhat obvious "yes", but it interesting to note that nothing definitive is actually presented in the film.

The ideology in this film is rather muddled, so yeah, it should. We don't ever get a really clear sense of what Stone is criticizing until the scene where Cheney is explicitly shown advocating invasion on the basis of oil. W himself seems to be presented as a pretty normal fellow who is not especially bad in any sense, even intellectually, but Cheney seems to shown as the real villain. I'm not sure why this is such a popular view, but something makes me think that it's unwise to brush it all off on one person and make W as much a victim as the American people.

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

How is The Jazz Singer classified as the first talkie when most of the talking is overdubbed, and if I remember right there were a small handful of films before it that had the same amount of sound.

The feature length element is the important part of that classification, I believe.

I've gotten into many an argument with people over Von Trier's "Antichrist".

Please explain!!

Last time I was in a movie argument. It was over Pan's Labyrinth (sp?). My ex and I got into a screaming match over the ending! Should have known to end that relationship way before I did!

__________________

The totally awesome and soul consuming TFH One a Day Reviews.

Like , Inception. Which was hard to understand. lolz..

What about the end did you fight about? I'm curious
there was almost too much exposition, what did you have trouble understanding

Meh, I thought "Inception" was easy to understand, but regular moviegoers nowadays act like it's the most suspenseful movie ever made. I'd like to see them watch "Mirror" by Tarkovsky and try and figure it out

I found Oleanna and Hard Candy very discussion-causing.

__________________
Under-the-radar Movie Awesomeness.
http://earlsmoviepicks.blogspot.com/

I havent seen Kick Ass yet but that has caused many arguments over the use of swear words in it.

__________________

~In the event of a Zombie Uprising, remember to sever the head or destroy the brain!~

The reaction to Oleanna was actually what inspired me to create the thread. When it premiered, people were actually cheering on the professor at the end, but to my mind, he was hardly perfect. He was pompous, hypocritical and manipulative. Was he actually guilty of sexual abuse? Maybe not but he was abusive.

Yeah, I've heard that. It's not so much the amount of swearing as the fact that it's a young girl swearing and possibly incestuous undertones, I heard.