Here is the list of the films that would benefit you as IB students and as educated individuals. Remember none of these films are mandatory. Please do not watch anything that you or your parents would find objectionable. The ratings range from G to R. If you watch any of these films, please blog about what you thought about them, and why you think they were included on the list. Have a fabulous Winter Break. You deserve the rest. I am so very proud of each and every one of you!
These films appear in no particular order.
1) The Star Wars movies (this has become our modern mythology)
2) Forrest Gump (a comedy, a tragedy and a history lesson all in one)
3) Scarface (a commentary on the American Dream. Gatsby for modern times)
4) Gone With The Wind (yes its four hours long but it is an amazing story. I want Scarlett's red dress. You will know the one)
5) Fight Club/American Psycho***(neither are for the faint of heart or squeamish. Especially American Psycho. Both are examples of post modernist films and came from amazing books)
6) O Brother Where Art Thou? (a retelling of The Odyssey)
7) I Am Legend (a social commentary on the race for cures with dire consequences)
8) The Last Samurai (Amazing story about the end of the Samurai culture in Japan)
9) Saving Private Ryan (a historical WWII film that is one of the best)
10) The Lion King (best Disney cartoon. Every literary element appears in this film)
11) Seven Pounds (the ending will leave you speechless)
12) Blade Runner (a haunting, visually stunning dystopian society)
13) Alien (one of the scariest movies ever)
14) The Graduate (life after college with no answers)
15) Moulin Rouge! (sappy story, amazing visuals. Same director remaking The Great Gatsby)
16) The Breakfast Club/Ferris Bueller's Day Off (no better 80's movies exist that stand the test of time)
17) Psycho (Alfred Hitchock, the pioneer of horror movies)
18) The Silence of The Lambs (no more evil, creepy genius serial killer exists)
19) Legends of The Fall (amazing story of an American family post WW1)
20) Anchorman/Zoolander (ridiculous satire and just plain fun)
Start with these and I will publish Part II another time. Happy watching!
Eat my tot!
ReplyDeleteTori Miller
ReplyDeleteSeven pounds deserves to be on the IB list because it is a movie that leaves you questioning your character. "How are you a good person?" is one of the quotes from the movie directed towards Ben Thomas, the main lead. Although he is constantly giving life, Ben has taken life as well. The ending leaves me questioning whether he gave such kind gifts to others genuinely or out of a feeling of obligation.
Tori Miller
ReplyDelete*sorry i kept on saying ben i meant tim. ben is his brother*
Giovanna Sutherland
ReplyDeleteI watched "Forrest Gump". This movie was hilarious at times and sad at others. You never really know a movie until you've watched it twice. There was a lot of history. So much history you could use this movie to teach a lesson about the 70s and 80s. We first learn about segregation of blacks and white at this time. The first blacks were admitted into the University of Alabama. Elvis dies of a heart attack. During this time so many presidents were shot and killed or close to it. Pres. Wallace was shot, the Clinton brothers were killed, Nixon resigns office and Ford steps in, Ford gets shot, Reagan is shot in the chest. The hippies are every where sing about peace and ending the Vietnam War. Forest invented many of the modern things we know and love with out even knowing it: smiley face, "shit happens", and the apple company (aka Steve Job's fortune), Bubba Gump shrimp restaurant (at universal City Walk), Elvis' stupid dance. The tragedy of this movie is that like Gatsby Forrest spent his life chasing a girl that wasn't interested in him. Jenny was like Daisy except she didn't have the rich girl excuse. She was stuck in her ways because the treatment she had from her father. You can see that she blames him for everything that became of her when she was throwing rocks at her old house. Forrest Gump's was kind of an absurdest because at the end of the movie he questions whether he had a people had a "destiny or if people were put here to just float around". Forrest never thought about what he was going to do next he just did it and faced the consequences. luckily for him everything he did had a good outcome. For example he ran for 3 year 3 months and 14 days for no apparent reason and made many people millionaires without even knowing it or doing much. when he stopped running the people that followed him were mad because there reason for following him was to be like him so they were lost.
Kristien Salisbury
ReplyDeleteI think you should add that new movie about a little boy during 9\11. I forgot the title to it and I couldn't get an answer from google but it looked good. I think it comes out in January ^^ I like what Gigi said ' So much history you could use this movie to teach a lesson about the 70s and 80s.' I think all teachers should just teach by showing us movies. I'm liking this Dark Night thing too. Oohhh add Dark knight rises! Or Avengers! ^^ I can't wait for that one
Onecia Burton
ReplyDeleteI watched The Dark Knight for the millionth time and it was amazing. Heath Ledger did an AMAZING job as the Joker. Even though it was a "Batman" movie, the Joker was obviously the star. I also loved how dark the movie was. And the fact that the movie is a lot deeper than a fallen superhero.
Mickale Foard
ReplyDeleteScarface made me see how far a man would go to receive power by any means necessary.
Brianna parlette
ReplyDeleteThe lion king and forest gump are American. Classic movies. Everyone has seen them. They are an amazing storyline and have many life lesson s in there scripts. Everyone should watch them (: they have a lot of morals that contribute to our society
i have seen all the star wars movies and i am legend. stasr wars shows one man trying to rule the entire galaxy through power. over a series of amazing different movies, it shows how a little rebellion can make a big change. in i am legend it shows that the government tricks us by saying they have a vaccine but in reality they are trying to control us either by weakening us or by force in this case they ruined humanity through a false informed vaccine! -BRANDON BERNARD
ReplyDeleteTay Brown
ReplyDeleteI did not get to watch any of these movies...however I have seen forest gump a very long time ago and I don't remember much of what it was about.
McKenzie Johnson
ReplyDeleteI also did not have any time to watch these movies but I have seen Forest Gump and a few others. Forest Gump is one of my favorite movies because it's a movie that really can go under a couple genre's. It's a comedy, tragedy, biography (in a sense), and many others. It also gives more than one moral throughout it and you really can not guess the ending of the movie. You never expect what happens throughout the movie. I like movies like that. I like the feeling of anticipation for what's going to happen next in the plot line of a movie and to me that's what makes a movie so great and popular among a wide set of viewers.
Keith Knudsen
ReplyDeleteThe only movie from this list i watched over the break was O' Brother Where Art Thou. I've seen it a couple times before, and is one of my favorites from the list. I love how its a re-telling of The Odyssey, but in the time of the great depression. The movie as a whole is a "serious" comedy; a story of 3 escaped convicts who are seeking a fictional treasure and on the way encounter people such as the crazy old blind man (the Oracle), the river ladies (Sirens), the Sheriff (the Devil) and a few others. The actors in the movie did a fantastic job acting the time period, accents, attitudes and such- creating a comical version of an ancient tale; The more-modern version fits Homers story so well... Great movie.
Jessica Vilberg
ReplyDeleteI have watched forest gump before and it is a classic and on this list because It brings out every emotion, brings out many significant events in history, and is a re telling of the odyssey. I makes you laugh and cry, and that is why everyone knows and loves this movie.
Giovanna Sutherland
ReplyDeleteI watched the Moulin Rouge. Even though was really sappy, i think it diserves to be on list of movies because of the camera action and the editting. When you watch it really feel like you just drank Gallon of "Green fairy" everytime you entered the club. The music secections where of modern put in a older world setting. That really helped me connect with the. My fav. Part was the haed master sing Madonna's like a virgin. I also watched the lion king I didn't understand the literary element part so i guesse i have watch it again with a list of litalerary words.
Veronica Wallace
ReplyDeleteSadly with my schedule, i didnt get to watch any new movies, but i have seen Moulin rouge, forest gump, and anchorman. Those are all very good movie, Forest gump being my favorite. Each teach you some sort of lesson wither it be on history, strip club, or being on a news cast. I could watch anyone of those movies for however long and still think the same things are funny, because they're such great movies.
Stephana Reid
ReplyDeleteI've seen Forest Gump,I am Legend,The Lion King,Seven Pounds, and Moulin Rouge. Forest Gump has always been a movie that I just have to watch whenever I see it on tv. It really is a history lesson, and you can also see the the world through the eyes of Forest which I think was really cool. I Am Legend made me think a lot of how I would have reacted if I was in Will Smith's position and how hard it must be to think that you're the only person left on earth. Just to see the struggles that he goes through everyday is really heart wrenching. He's all alone with nobody but his dog, manikins, and zombies, and all of this happened because the world tried to beat out cancer,one of the most deadliest diseases in the world. The Lion king is the best animited picutre ever, it's so fun and enjoyable. Seven pounds, amazes me so much. It's a sad story, of a courageous man, who is trying to make up for the seven people who he killed in the fatal accident he was in. It's sad how he is trying to people to give up his life to but he ends up finding love in the process. Moulin Rouge is a very fast pace movie. The camera moves really quickly, and I was sort of consfused through the first few minutes of it. I love the music and all of the colorful people.
Kristien
ReplyDeleteoh the movie about the boy is called 'Extremely loud and incredibly close'