11 movies to watch to make you look / appear smarter in front of your friends.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

A Coen Brother's film about a drug deal gone wrong... Way wrong. It's a cat-and-mouse chase across the southern United States that deals with themes of greed, fate, corruption, and good v. evil.

Be sure to talk about: the film's final scene, in which Tommy Lee Jones says he woke up from a dream and then the movie ends. Discuss themes of father/son bonds and feelings of helplessness as we enter a new, dangerous millennium. Your friends will shit their pants at how much you know.

JFK

This is an Oliver Stone film from the early 1990's. The release was shrouded in controversy due to it's implications about a conspiracy to assassinate a US President, and the coverup that ensued there after. It's a wild ride that is kinetic, challenging, and very watchable.

Be sure to talk about: the fact that this movie only presents one side of the story instead of trying to be definitive proof of a plot. The public is still divided, which side of the argument do you stand on and why?

THE THIN BLUE LINE

An Errol Morris documentary about a crime gone wrong and the injustices of our legal system when innocent men wind up in jail for committing a crime they didn't commit. At the time of it's release it was beginning to redefine the 'documentary' as a film genre, mainly because it largely used recreations instead of actual archival footage.

Be sure to talk about: that haunting, minimalist Philip Glass score. There really hasn't been a composer like Philip Glass in the movies, right? Your friends will be forced to succumb to your superior ideals.

CITIZEN KANE

The greatest movie of all time. Rosebud. Etc. It's full of themes and images that still hold up to this day. It's all about the way in which absolute power corrupts, absolutely. It's also about a man so lost in his own greed that he forgets what the real purposes in life are.

Be sure to talk about: deep focus. Framing. Orson Welles knew his way around a camera.

SYNECHDOCHE, NEW YORK

The greatest film of the 2000's, according to Roger Ebert. Written by Charlie Kaufman, this movie explores one man's attempt to create the ultimate artistic endeavor: a play about life. As such, there is a play within a play within a play within a play.....

Be sure to talk about: Why is that damn house burning? Does it mean the futility of life and how we are all forced to slowly proceed through the years right to our grave? Are we really in control of our own lives?

FITZCARRALDO

A Werner Herzog film about a man who tries to build an Opera House in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. In the process, he and a team of men work to raise an entire steamboat over a mountain. Man vs God.

Be sure to talk about: Burden of Dreams, the Errol Morris documentary (the same guy that made Thin Blue LIne) about the making of this movie, and the other documentary "My Best Fiend," which deals with the turbulent and violent relationship between Director Werner Herzog and leading man Klaus Kinski.

THE TREE OF LIFE

Terrence Malik's controversial 2010's film follows the absolute meaning of life and creation. It follows a small-town Texan family who deals with life with parents who represent grace and nature. It's a self-reflective poem of images and words.

Be sure to talk about: how you think the dinosaur scene is actually a representation of grace being one with nature.

MY DINNER WITH ANDRE

A unique film for being one long conversation between old friends. They discuss art, poetry, life... It's a gripping movie in ways you would not expect.

Be sure to talk about: How you watched a 2 hour movie with no regards to plot or cinematic plot devices. You may have found the experience "celestial."

MULHOLLAND DRIVE

David Lynch's ultimate noir flick. It's a movie that weaves in and out of plots, characters, ideas, memories, and nightmares.

Be sure to talk about: the way the lesbian eroticism really drives a plot forward in ways a patriarchal film with white male leads would not.

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

Charlie Kaufman's first big break in Hollywood, a film that explores what would happen if we found a portal into another person's brain - in this case: John Malkovich.

Be sure to talk about: the idea that we are not our own person. That either by outside or genetic influence, we are beings shaped by everyone else and conforming to everyone but our personal beings. In a way, we all have a portal into our brain.

ADAPTATION.

Be sure to include the period in the title. This film (also Charlie Kaufman) is a direct followup to Being John Malkovich in that it is a semi-autobiographical story of Kaufman attempting to write his next screenplay about orchids. The only problem: he has writer's block and has written himself into his own movie.

Be sure to talk about: cinematic tools and how it's nearly impossible to have a fully 'original' story anymore. Also, discuss the fact that Charlie Kaufman does not have a twin in reality, and yet the film's credits show a dual screenwriting team of Donald & Charlie Kaufman.

I know this was a stupid post, but we can fix it one movie at a time!