examples of problem solving in movies

Movies about problem solving

In the top there are new films of 2021, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Two young siblings ended up living on the streets, having nothing left but their love. It's a story about survival, second chances and second falls, with an unexpected turn at the end.

Awaiting a visit by a committee that could give his company an award for excellence, the owner of an industrial scales manufacturing business tries to resolve any problems from his workers in enough time.

When a factory is bound to close, a group of workers decides to take action against the owner.

A world-weary man’s self-imposed home confinement becomes a comedy of errors with the simultaneous arrivals of a peculiar package and a curious journalist.

A soldier-turned-high school teacher uses unusual methods to reach to a class of poor students, while dealing with a greedy entrepreneur and his gang of fighters as well as the government.

84 years later, a 101-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning.

An overview of the making of Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto'.

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

Viktor Navorski is a man without a country; his plane took off just as a coup d'etat exploded in his homeland, leaving it in shambles, and now he's stranded at Kennedy Airport, where he's holding a passport that nobody recognizes. While quarantined in the transit lounge until authorities can figure out what to do with him, Viktor simply goes on living – and courts romance with a beautiful flight attendant.

TV weatherman Bill Harding is trying to get his tornado-hunter wife, Jo, to sign divorce papers so he can marry his girlfriend Melissa. But Mother Nature, in the form of a series of intense storms sweeping across Oklahoma, has other plans. Soon the three have joined the team of stormchasers as they attempt to insert a revolutionary measuring device into the very heart of several extremely violent tornados.

Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.

Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As they confront unthinkable odds, the SEALs must find reserves of strength and resilience to fight to the finish.

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

Sam has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam shames high-priced lawyer Rita into taking his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.

The modern world holds many secrets, but by far the most astounding is that witches still live among us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world and putting an end to the human race once and for all. Armies of witch hunters have battled this unnatural enemy for centuries, including Kaulder, a valiant warrior who many years ago slayed the all-powerful Witch Queen, decimating her followers in the process. In the moments right before her death, the Queen cursed Kaulder with immortality, forever separating him from his beloved wife and daughter. Today, Kaulder is the last living hunter who has spent his immortal life tracking down rogue witches, all the while yearning for his long-lost family.

A small town girl is caught between dead-end jobs. A high-profile, successful man becomes wheelchair bound following an accident. The man decides his life is not worth living until the girl is hired for six months to be his new caretaker. Worlds apart and trapped together by circumstance, the two get off to a rocky start. But the girl becomes determined to prove to the man that life is worth living and as they embark on a series of adventures together, each finds their world changing in ways neither of them could begin to imagine.

The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.

Travis and Gabby first meet as neighbors in a small coastal town and wind up in a relationship that is tested by life's most defining events.

Soul Surfer is the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton. Bethany lost her left arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through her sheer determination and unwavering faith.Bethany (AnnaSophia Robb) was born to surf. A natural talent who took to the waves at a young age, she was leading an idyllic life on Kauai, participating in national surf competitions with her best friend Alana (Lorraine Nicholson), when everything changed. On Halloween morning, a 14-foot tiger shark came out of nowhere and seemed to shatter all her dreams.Soul Surfer reveals Bethany's fight to recover from her ordeal and how she grappled with the question of her future. Strengthened by the love of her parents, Tom (Dennis Quaid) and Cheri (Helen Hunt), and supported by her youth group leader Sara (Carrie Underwood), Bethany refuses to give in or give up, and begins a bold return to the water.

Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.

The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.

The inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza, who after a near fatal car crash, which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sports most incredible comebacks.

Based on the fact that mountain party Åkneset, located in the Geiranger fjord in Norway, one day will race out and create a violent tsunami of over 80 meters that will crush everything in its path before it hits land in Geiranger. A geologist gets caught in the middle of it and a race against time begins.

In the prehistoric past, Keda, a young and inexperienced hunter, struggles to return home after being separated from his tribe when bison hunting goes awry. On his way back he will find an unexpected ally.

Kilian is a young man who has never left the mountains of Huesca which saw him grow up. In 1953 he will travel to the exotic island of Fernando Poo to work in a cacao field alongside his father and his brother. During 20 years in this island he will undertake a journey towards maturity and knowledge, but will also have to deal with pain and loss.

A true story of survival, as a young couple's chance encounter leads them first to love, and then on the adventure of a lifetime as they face one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history.

Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Biopic of Russian ice hockey legend Valeri Kharlamov from early childhood, rising to the pinnacle of the sport and his untimely death

Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail delivery dog sled team—and later its leader—Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime, ultimately finding his true place in the world and becoming his own master.

Sarah is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne. She is the only woman in the arduous program. She lives alone with Stella, her seven year old daughter. Sarah feels guilty that she cannot spend more time with her child. Her love is overpowering, unsettling. When Sarah is chosen to join the crew of a year-long space mission called Proxima, it creates chaos in the mother-daughter relationship.

A group of students become trapped inside a mysterious cave where they discover time passes differently underground than on the surface.

December of 1941, Northwestern Front. A German tank column is moving towards Moscow. During a mission to stop the enemy advance, Nikolai Komlev's IL-2 is shot down. Komlev manages to crash-land his plane in a remote forest clearing. He's alive, but far from friendly territory. Ahead of him is a relentless trial of severe physical and mental endurance. After battling hunger and extreme cold, evading packs of wolves and detachments of Nazi soldiers, the wounded Komlev finally makes it back to safety. But there he faces another challenge, the most life-changing of them all.

A local female football team works together to get through hard times and overcome sexual prejudice. Their strength is tested when they lose not only the games, but also their beloved coach who was the core of their team. But they work together to seek financial support, achieve victories, and respect.

Lugansk region, May 2014. The Novozhilov family, by chance, finds itself in the thick of events in Lugansk. Vlad Novozhilov is a former participant in the war in Afghanistan. He knows firsthand what war is. Having seen enough of the horrors of war in his time, in principle he does not even want to touch a weapon. In a situation, he sees only one way out - to leave the country. But you can't run away from the war, the border is already closed. To save his family, he will have to make difficult moral choices.

Cal is a dedicated cop who also serves as a sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve. When his reckless half brother lands in jail for accidentally killing a man, Cal and his buddies hatch a plan to break him out of prison -- no matter what the cost.

A training exercise for the LAPD SWAT Team goes terribly wrong when they find themselves pitted against two rival gangs while trapped in an abandoned Hangar, armed with nothing but blanks.

A pair of childhood friends reunite during their summer break from college and deal with a traumatizing experience from their past.

In the time of the Qing Dynasty, the Emperor Yongzheng created a secret army known as the Guillotines. It was the job of the Guillotines to protect the Emperor by killing anyone who posed a threat to him or his rule. After 348 successful missions to eliminate their target, the 349th assignment proves to be their last.

This intense action-thriller unfolds in real time as two embattled souls fight for their lives. Gary Oldman stars as a vicious crime boss out to kill Nick, the lone witness set to testify against him. He hires a mysterious female motorcycle courier to unknowingly deliver a poison-gas bomb to slay Nick, but after she rescues Nick from certain death, the duo must confront an army of ruthless hired killers in order to survive the night.

The 15 Best Movies About Resilience

Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress— such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means “bouncing back” from difficult experiences (American Psychological Association).

However, even though resilient people can survive the tragedies they have endured, it does not mean that they do not experience emotional pain, difficulty or distress.

As with most things, a combination of factors contribute to resilience – mainly having supportive relationships that encourage love and reassurance, problem solving skills, the capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out and managing strong feelings and impulses. The listed films provide a wide range of instances in which the characters must endure their pain and trauma, and continue living.

An important distinction must be made between resilience and revenge. While there may be fights against injustice and an aim for retribution in these resilient-themed films, the characters do not use harmful means to do so – which is the main component in vengeance films like “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, The Vengeance Trilogy, and Memento, and hence why these and others are not listed.

15. The Pursuit Of Happyness (2006)

Gabriele Muccino’s biographical drama, based on Chris Gardner’s best-selling memoir of the same name, follows Gardner (Will Smith) in 1981, San Francisco as he tries his best to support himself and his five-year-old son, Christopher (Jaden Smith).

Gardner invests his entire life savings in portable bone density scanners and is able to sell most of them, until he loses one while running away from an angry taxi driver who he couldn’t pay.

The financial instability takes a turn for the worse since not only can he not continue selling scanners, but he also gets arrested for numerous unpaid parking tickets, his wife (Thandie Newton) leaves him, and they get evicted from their apartment – leaving Gardner and his son homeless.

During this time, he manages to become an intern at Dean Witter Reynolds, but the position is unpaid – with only the chance of him gaining a paid position as a broker striving him to move forward.

Despite his challenges and the fact that he spends his nights cradling his son at either a homeless shelter or in BART station, he never reveals his lowly circumstances to his colleagues, and never seeks evoke sympathy for profit or pity. For his performance, Smith was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

14. The Thin Blue Line (1988)

Errol Morris’ iconic American documentary uncovers the disturbing miscarriage of justice in the conviction of Randall Dale Adams, a man sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit.

Originally intended to be a documentary about the prosecution psychiatrist, Dr. James Grigson, who came to be known as “Dr. Death”, since his testimonies were almost always identical in more than 100 trials, and claimed that the defendant was an incurable sociopath, and would definitely kill again – leading to the defendants receiving death penalties.

His testimony about Adams was no different, but after meeting him, Morris became doubtful and switched gears to investigate what else was wrong with the handling of the Adam’s case.

An absorbing reconstruction, Morris manages to get quasi-abstract recreations of the crime with film noir overtones and a whodunit personality.

It also marks the first effective film score ever composed by Philip Glass and utilises juxtaposing images throughout his editing to ensure that a documentary is no less artistic than a fictional film. The film had a massive effect and led to Adams’ case being reviewed and finally released from prison approximately a year after its release.

13. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The best adaptations of Stephen King’s work has arguably been those of his non-horror short stories, including this film which was based on the originally titled, “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”.

Frank Darabont’s drama follows an ordinary banker, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who, in 1946, is sentenced to two lifetimes in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover. The film follows the silent, wide-eyed prison newbie through the eyes of prison veteran Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), the man who can get anything past the walls of the prison and who also narrates the film.

Over a period of twenty years, Red and Andy strike up a friendship, and Andy gradually learns to cope with life within Shawshank, and even thrives as he wins the respect of the governor and guards as he uses his accounting knowledge to do their tax returns and business dealings for them. Darabont’s remains true to the source material as the film deals with the triumph of the human spirit over injustice and indignity.

Although it was a box office disappointment, the film is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. It also received multiple award nominations, including seven Oscar nominations, and raving reviews from critics.

12. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

Frank Capra’s American Christmas classic stars James Stewart as the iconic George Bailey, a selfless man who has sacrificed all his dreams so as to help others in need. However, his long list of altruistic deeds just prolong his quest for happiness, leaving him depressed and suicidal.

When George about to jump off a bridge, an angel named Clarence Odbody is assigned to save him. In order to do so, Clarence sees George’s entire life (with the audience) before meeting him.

Through these memories, we learn that even in his childhood he did his best to help others like saving his younger brother’s life, costing him his hearing in one ear. He gives up his dream of travelling around the world to work at his family business, the Bailey Brothers’ Building and Loan when his father dies. When economic difficulties strike and money problems become a bigger problem, George become responsible for the entire town and cannot handle the pressure and the risk of failure.

Realising that with a life insurance policy, he is worth more to the community dead than alive, he drunkenly wanders to the bridge back to the beginning, where the angel shows him a parallel world of what things would be like if he was never in it.

11. Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Roberto Benigni’s Italian comedy drama follows a comical and optimistic Jewish Italian book shop owner, Guido Orefice (played by Benigni himself) and his family during the 1930s.

At the beginning of the story, the film seems to be a romantic comedy as the protagonist falls in love with a teacher, who is set to be engaged to a rich but arrogant man. Guido sets up many spectacles as he tries to create “coincidental” meetings with his “principessa” and fulfils the romantic comedy tradition with making grandiose gestures to prove his love, one of which manages to include a horse.

Dora falls for his charm and their romance is fast-forwarded to 1939, where they are married, have a son, Giosuè, and are in the middle of the changing political climate in Italy and the growing Fascist wave. Guido and Giosuè are soon taken away and forced onto a train and taken to a concentration camp.

The film quickly shifts into a far more dramatic tale but Benigni manages to retain humour despite the tragedy his characters must face. Giosuè narrowly avoids being killed as he does not follow instructions and does not follow the other children who have been ordered to go to the “showers.”

Instead, Guido hides him in his bunk and also manages to hide their true situation. Guido explains to his son that the camp is actually a very complicated game in which he must perform the tasks Guido gives him, like remaining silent.

Each of the tasks will earn them points and whoever gets to one thousand points first will win a tank. Due to this, Guido must remain in character and upbeat through the atrocities he witnesses for the sake of his child.

The film was a critical and financial success, winning Benigni the Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

10. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir of the same name, Julian Schnabel’s French film depicts Bauby’s (Mathieu Amalric) life after suffering a stroke, which left him with an incrrdibly rare condition known as “locked-in syndrome”, which not only paralyzed him from the neck down, but left unable to speak.

Despite his extensively limiting circumstances, Bauby’s utilises his solely functioning left eye in order to communicate with others with the help of his speech therapist, Henriette (Marie-Josee Croze).

Holding up a card with the alphabet on it, the therapist reads the list of letters until Bauby blinks on the letter he wants. Even though this system is laborious, they become used to it -leading Bauby to write the memoir on which the biopic is based upon – through blinking.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where Schnabel won the Award for Best Director. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Cinematography, and won a BAFTA award for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as two César Awards for Best Editing and Best Actor. Schnabel also won Best Director at the Golden Globe Awards, where the film won Best Foreign Language Film.

9. Rust And Bone (2012)

Jacques Audiard’s French–Belgian romantic drama film based on Craig Davidson’s short story collection of the same name, follows two people who are faced with challenges and who become close to each other along the way of dealing with them.

Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) is rough, powerfully-built and dreams of becoming a champion at fighting, but his lack of a steady job and newfound responsibility of taking his young son, Sam, into custody set him on a different path. Stéphanie (Marion Cotillard) is a trainer at a seaquarium, using her body language to command a tank filled with killer whales to rise up from the water to entertain sunburnt tourists – until she isn’t, and left legless.

Stéphanie’s path to recovery is dreadfully slow as she not only loses her legs, but also loses her self-confidence. Terrified to do the things she used do, Ali persuades her to not give up things she loves.

While the two have little in common, they enjoy each other’s company enough to withstand each other’s perceived flaws. Raw and unsentimental, the film could have easily become a melodrama, but with Schoenaerts’ brute immaturity and Cotillard’s nuanced and subtle performance prevents it from becoming such, and instead revels in the normality of their actions.

The film competed for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and received a ten-minute standing ovation. It was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, two Golden Globes, two BAFTA Awards, and nine César Awards, winning four.

4 Replies to “The 15 Best Movies About Resilience”

The Grapes of Wrath could also have worked it’s way onto the list.

I just watched andrew zachary documentary…it’s really heartbreaking one year old child faces death after his father brutally murdered…

[…] The 15 Best Movies About Resilience – The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) The Apu Trilogy comprises three Bengali films directed by Satyajit Ray, made on a shoestring budget and are often considered to be the greatest movies in the … […]

what do you think about “Beasts of the Souther Wild? I loved the movie and was blown by it.

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Home » Industry » Feature Filmmaking: Creative Problem Solving

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Feature Filmmaking: Creative Problem Solving

Learn from these Hollywood feature filmmakers as they solve problems creatively.

“Every shot, every little beat has been manipulated heavily to make it work.” – Jeffery Ford, The Avengers

What I love about these videos from the Manhattan Edit Workshop, is that not only do I get to hear from some of the film industry’s top editors, sound designers and visual effects artists , but that I can learn from them as they show how they handle the inherent creative challenges that every film project contains. And regardless of the scale of the budget, making sure what worked in the script works on screen, or overcoming production audio problems or even massaging the footage there is, to make a scene work is the same challenge the world over.

In this first 5 minute clip, Jeffery Ford, film editor on The Avengers describes how he re-worked a complex action sequence involving numerous strands of parallel narratives into one compelling reel.

“These fight scenes are shot in tiny little increments, and they have to flow and they have to feel violent and intense and sometimes it’s not easy to get that to happen because they’re shot in these little segments and you know Sam (Jackson) can only do one thing and then there’s a stunt man who takes over at a certain point, and you have to make that feel seamless.”

If a scene doesn’t make sense to the audience and they can’t track with it they’ll get lost and disengage from the scene. Sometimes the hardest work is to keep things clear and simple , especially when there’s a lot going on and keeping that flow working across a whole reel can be a real challenge.

“Absolutely nothing in this scene exists, not even the water. The water you see is all fake. So we had the benefit of not having to incorporate production track and balance it against music. So as a result it’s a fun little piece for sound effects editors to have fun with, and put in all the whizz-bangs we can find.”

Life of Pi , sound editors Phil Stockton, Eugene Gearty and Sam Miille discuss how they created the entire sound design for the ‘flying fish’ scene from scratch . Just the movement of the flying fish was about 50 tracks of audio and so there were hundreds and hundreds of sounds needed to create the entire scene. An important lesson to take away from this clip is the importance of shaping the sound design so that it works as a whole , rather than simply matching sounds to objects.

While Jeff Ford might have been challenged by the amount of visual effects shots to rework in The Avengers , this clip from the classic 1983 film, The Right Stuff, demonstrates that creating an action scene in the 80’s was just as challenging . Here editor Stephen Rotter describes how he felt on viewing the first cut of the scene.

“This is a true case of sometimes you see a sequence and you have no idea what you’re going to do… it was totally unbalanced and not very exciting and was actually scarily bad.”

How he came to solve that problem and what it meant for the rest of the film is well worth a couple of minutes of your time. As is so often the case in filmmaking, it’s not all about the visuals.

In this second clip from the Life of Pi sound design team you can get a great insight into just how much collaboration is required across all departments to arrive at the final mix of a scene. What I notice most about their comments on the creative process is just how much a journey it is. They started with one idea and then ended up in a completely different place. Sometimes through counter-intuitive ‘rule’ breaking.

“Ang says we gotta push the sound effects, I don’t care about the dialogue. – Oh, well I’m programmed to clear dialogue because as an effects mixer that’s what his goal is, because dialogue is king.”

In this clip from an evening with Steven Spielberg’s editor Michael Kahn, you can learn some very solid editing truths about handling challenging scenes and being honest with your director. That, and how important it is to trust your gut instincts and to use it to navigate your way through a scene. It’s instructive to hear such an highly esteemed editor speak so humbly about his craft.

“I don’t work from knowledge. I know how to use the machines, but that’s not the knowledge. I work from feel, intuition. I’m not a mechanical editor. I try to feel things out and when it feels right to me, then I show it to the director.”

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Movies Where A Solution Becomes An Even Bigger Problem

We've all been there when grabbing a bag of popcorn and sitting down to take in a film. "Nice job breaking it, hero." A moment in a movie where a supposed solution to a problem ends up becoming an even bigger problem than the one they had in the first place. For example, Tony Stark and the Avengers are tasked with protecting the Earth. So, Tony and Bruce Banner create Ultron to help them protect the Earth, only for Ultron to become an even bigger threat to Earth than anything the Avengers had faced since the New York debacle from the original  Avengers  film. 

Sometimes, a decision just backfires . Ask the humans of  Snowpiercer  how fixing climate change worked out for them. Ask Marty McFly how saving his dad from a car accident in  Back to the Future  worked out for him. We're betting Sarah Connor wishes she could go back in time and destroy that leftover arm from the end of  The Terminator , as well. From time to time, a solution just blows up in your face.

I Am Legend

The world would be an infinitely better place if we could figure out a cure for cancer. Imagine all the lives that could be saved on a yearly basis if we could, somehow, just create an antidote. Then again, if curing cancer could result in a mutated virus that causes the majority of humanity to turn into rabid zombie monsters, then maybe we could run a few more tests to make sure we get that cure as perfect as we possibly can.

The scientists of I Am Legend  created a variant of the measles virus that cures cancer, but the cure mutates again to create a virus that transforms most of humanity into zombie-like creatures. And these aren't your classic Romero zombies that shamble about at a leisurely pace. These are zombies more along the lines of World War Z  in that they are fast, strong, and dangerous. In summation: Cancer is a horrible plague on the human race that takes far too many loved ones to even count, but dooming the majority of the human race to zombie-ism is pretty bad, too.

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Avengers: Age of Ultron

Ah, the best-laid plans of mice and men. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner may be two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's foremost geniuses - though we're betting Shuri could give them a run for their money - but having intelligence doesn't always mean you make good decisions. In fact, Tony Stark makes plenty of boneheaded decisions throughout his many MCU appearances, but none of them are as boneheaded as creating Ultron.

At the beginning of  Avengers: Age of Ultron , Tony wants to "put a suit of armor around the world," and he convinces Bruce to help him create Ultron to protect the Earth from all terrors, both foreign and domestic - "foreign" here meaning from outer space, of course. You all know what happens next; the pair successfully creates Ultron but are at a loss for words when Ultron decides the best way to protect the world is by getting rid of all of humanity. The jury is still out on if Ultron is right - we'd like to think he isn't, but he's got a point - but man, oh man, did Tony and Bruce mess up big time.

Snowpiercer

Counteracting climate change is a genuine problem that everyone on Earth is facing together, whether they like it or not. This means there is plenty of narrative tension to be derived from a premise that centers around humanity monumentally screwing up their chance to save the planet. Case in point: 2013 sci-fi thriller  Snowpiercer . If we're talking about humanity messing up the climate worse than they already have, then  Snowpiercer  has to enter the conversation.

Before the events of the film, humanity tried to stop the rampant climate change that was slowly making the Earth more and more uninhabitable for humans by using climate engineering to bring the temperatures back down across the globe. Unfortunately, they did a little too well at stopping global warming, as they accidentally induced a whole new ice age. What is left of humanity ends up on a class-divided circumnavigational train, and the movie kicks off from there.

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In another tale of "science gone wrong," Guillermo del Toro's 1997 sci-fi/horror flick  Mimic  is a ridiculous tale of unforeseen consequences. The film kicks off in Manhattan, where everyone's least favorite creepy-crawlies - cockroaches - are spreading the life-threatening condition known as "Strickler's disease," which is claiming the lives of children in the city left and right. Mira Sorvino's Dr. Susan Tyler creates a termite/mantis hybrid that releases an enzyme that accelerates the cockroaches' metabolism, causing them to expire and end the spread of the disease.

Of course, this hybrid was supposed to end after one generation as they were all female. Well... that didn't really happen, and the hybrid ended up evolving over thousands of generations over the course of a few years, which allows the bug to "mimic" the visage of their human targets. Get it? Mimic ? It's the name of the movie. Anyways, the hybrid becomes even more dangerous than the cockroaches they were created to eradicate. 

• # 269 of 379 on The Best Movies Of The 1990s
• # 111 of 160 on The 150+ Best Futuristic Dystopian Movies
• # 278 of 395 on The Best Horror Movies Of All Time

The Cloverfield Paradox

Much like the climate change crisis and the global water crisis, the ongoing, long-term energy crisis facing humanity is serious business. And serious business often lends itself well to dramatic tension in films, especially those with a sci-fi bent.  The Cloverfield Paradox  is about a group of astronauts aboard a space station in the near future who attempt to solve Earth's energy crisis by using a Shepard particle accelerator. If you're assuming everything works out, then you've clearly never seen  The Cloverfield Paradox .

What ends up happening when the crew uses the particle accelerator isn't a solution to Earth's energy crisis, but an opening of portals to parallel universes, allowing their horrors to threaten Earth. The crew ends up on the opposite end of the portal and has to fight to get back to their own reality. Of course, their firing of the accelerator also unleashed monsters from a parallel universe to wreak havoc on humanity. So, that's not great either.

• # 88 of 104 on The 100+ Best Third Movies In A Film Series
• # 26 of 61 on The Scariest Movies Set In Space, Ranked
• # 41 of 53 on The Best Alternate Reality Movies, Ranked

The Terminator

We're cheating a little bit here, but we'd be remiss if we didn't bring up how Cyberdyne's Skynet is a direct result of reverse engineering from the severed arm of the T-800 Terminator that was sent back in time to eliminate Sarah Connor in 1984's  The Terminator . Of course, we don't find that out until the 1991 sequel  Terminator 2: Judgment Day,  but it has to be mentioned regardless. 

Obviously, Sarah has to eliminate the Terminator however she can, and smashing it in a hydraulic press is a pretty solid way to do that. And after all of the pain Sarah goes through during the runtime of  The Terminator , it would make sense that she would just want to get out of dodge and move on with her life. But a lot of trouble could've been saved had she just reversed that hydraulic press a little, thrown the arm back in, and smashed it along with the rest of the murderbot. Alas, we probably would've gotten a sequel regardless, so... maybe we're overthinking it a bit.

A high-concept film that brings the  Back to the Future  franchise to mind,  Frequency  is a 2000 sci-fi/thriller that centers around Jim Caviezel's John Sullivan after he finds an old ham radio that allows him to communicate with his father, Frank, in 1969. In a bit of screenplay tomfoolery, John begins communicating with his father the night before his demise and ends up warning him about the warehouse fire that takes his life the very next day. This ends up saving his father's life, but that wouldn't make for a very interesting movie if the story ended there...

As it turns out, John's time-tampering has saved the life of a serial killer, Jack Shepard, by mistake. John's mom was a nurse who left the hospital in the original timeline after Frank's demise in the fire. In the new timeline, she stays and catches the medical error that would've terminated Shepard. He ends up slaying 10 people, including John's mother. This is all eventually works out by the end of the film, but saving the life of one parent only to doom the other isn't the kind of choice we'd like to make.

• # 113 of 123 on The Biggest Tearjerker Movies Of All Time
• # 283 of 302 on The 295+ Best Movies For Guys
• # 122 of 168 on The 165 Best Tearjerker Movies of All Time, Ranked

The Cabin in the Woods

Survival is the most basic human instinct there is. When you're faced with death, you want to survive; it's that simple. That being said, your living isn't usually the catalyst that dooms all of humanity to mass destruction at the hands of giant, god-like beings known as the "Ancient Ones." At least, that's what we're assuming... we don't know your personal life.

At the end of 2012 horror-satire The Cabin in the Woods , the surviving leads find out they are a part of a ritual sacrifice to satiate the "Ancient Ones" and stop them from returning to the Earth's surface and wreaking havoc on life as we know it. When our lovable lead characters save themselves, they doom all of Earth to annihilation at the hands of the powerful monstrosities that lie below. Hey, it could lead to a surprise post-apocalypse sequel?

• Dig Deeper... 12 Fan Theories About 'The Cabin in the Woods' That Could Anger The Ancient Ones
• # 35 of 395 on The Best Horror Movies Of All Time
• # 13 of 110 on The Best Intelligent Horror Movies

The Dark Knight

"Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am ? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just... do things."

Heath Ledger's Joker may say that in  The Dark Knight,  but he is just full of it. Whatever it is, he is  full  of it. He is a schemer that rivals the best of them, and if you need some evidence of that, look no further than what happens when the Clown Prince of Crime is detained. 

When the Gotham Police Department and Batman finally detain the Joker, they surely think they've caught a bit of a break, but we all know the Joker only gets caught when he wants to get caught. Alas, getting detained was part of his plan to get to Lau, and it leads to a prison breakout that leaves the police a disorganized mess that struggles to keep up with what the villain has coming next. 

• # 30 of 772 on The Most Rewatchable Movies
• # 85 of 155 on The 150+ Best Classic Tween Movies
• # 11 of 675 on The Best Movies Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars

Judi Dench's M did a fantastic job running MI6 for many years, but even the best operators make mistakes. And if there was ever a mistake in M's lengthy career, it has to be Raoul Silva. How, exactly, did a cyberterrorist madman like Silva get started on his path of vengeance? Surprisingly enough, it comes down to M herself and a decision she made way back in 1997.

You see, M gave Silva to the Chinese government in order to release six prisoners, which doomed the former agent to months of agonizing torment. This torment drove Silva to try and end his own life with a cyanide capsule in his left molar that ended up disfiguring him as opposed to ending his life. After escaping from captivity, Silva went on to become a terrorist who directly causes M's demise at the end of  Skyfall . Trading Silva for six prisoners may have been the right thing to do, but it definitely came back to bite M in the butt.

• # 123 of 675 on The Best Movies Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars
• # 61 of 190 on The Best Movies For Men
• # 4 of 26 on The 25+ Best 'James Bond' Movies, Ranked

With a title like  Geostorm,  you could probably guess that something bad related to the weather was in the offing. The 2017 disaster film centers around Gerard Butler's Jake Lawson as he tries to save the planet from a storm caused by seemingly malfunctioning climate-controlling satellites. It turns out that Ed Harris's Secretary of State Leonard Dekkom is using the satellites to eliminate all of America's enemies and everyone ahead of him in the line of succession for the presidency of the United States.

If you create a system of satellites that can control the weather across the globe, some evildoer is going to try and use it for his own profit. Counteracting climate change is a noble cause; putting unlimited weather-based power in the hands of humanity probably is not. And if you're going to create a powerful satellite system, name it something other than "Dutch Boy." Because that is the name of the system in the movie, and it's utterly hilarious.

• # 102 of 103 on The Best Movies About Brothers
• # 52 of 58 on The 55+ Best Movies About Technology
• # 17 of 44 on The 40+ Best Movies About Natural Disasters

Ghostbusters

During the climax of Ghostbusters , the titular ghoul-fighting group of misfits is forced to choose the "form of the Destroyer" by the antagonist Gozer. Bill Murray's Peter Venkman comes up with a brilliant idea to not think of anything so Gozer has nothing to draw on for the form of the Ghostbusters' destruction. Not a bad plan... if everyone would've kept to it.

Dan Aykroyd's Ray Stantz had a different idea in mind: "I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us." That thing ended up being the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Ray's solution literally ended up becoming their problem. And as much as we all love the delicious taste of marshmallows, this is taking things just a little bit too far.

Back to the Future

Back to the Future  is a classic. We all know it. We all love it. But gosh darn it, if Marty McFly didn't make his life even more difficult by saving his dad after being sent back to 1955. As if being accidentally sent back in time 30 years wasn't difficult enough, Marty essentially almost erases his own existence by stopping his dad from getting hit by his grandpa's car, which causes his parents to never meet.

In addition to trying to get back to his future of 1985 with the assistance of a young Doc Brown, Marty must play matchmaker for his parents in order to save his own life. If they don't get together, he'll never be born. And to top it all off, Marty's mom is into him instead of his dad! Marty is definitely being a good guy by stopping his dad from getting hit by a car, but that only gives him another headache to deal with. And we're not talking about the assured concussion he got from slamming his head against the ground.

• Dig Deeper... Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About Back to the Future
• And Deeper... The Biggest Continuity Errors And Plot Holes In 'Back to the Future'
• And Deeper... Ways 'Back to the Future II' Predicted The Future

The Dark Knight Rises

In the years after  The Dark Knight , Bruce Wayne retires Batman after he takes the blame for Harvey Dent's slayings as Two-Face and begins to focus all of his brainpower on creating a nuclear fusion reactor that is meant to provide clean energy to all of Gotham City. Of course, using a nuclear fusion reactor to create clean energy has one minor problem, and it has to do with that first word: nuclear.

And with  The Dark Knight Rises  being a Batman film, Talia al Ghul and the League of Shadows end up using the nuclear fusion reactor to create a detonation device in order to keep all of Gotham City hostage and on lockdown. In this case, Wayne's solution to a very real problem becomes a very real problem itself. However, he ends up using the detonation device to fake his own demise in order to live his life free of Batman, so that works out for him in the end. We guess.

• Dig Deeper... Small Details From 'Batman Begins' That Prove It's The Most Slept On Nolan Film
• # 138 of 772 on The Most Rewatchable Movies
• # 25 of 184 on The Greatest Comic Book Movies Of All Time
• Entertainment
• Watchworthy

Lists about great entertainment that took chances and strayed from that same boring formula.

Musicbed Podcast #014 with Rob Legato on the Secrets to Creating Oscar-Winning Effects

Musicbed Podcast #013 with Elle Brooks-Tao On Why Real Creativity Requires Conflict

Musicbed Podcast #012 with Drea Clark On the Art of Capturing Festival Attention

Musicbed Podcast #011 with Young Replicant On High Concepts and Visual Poetry

Musicbed Podcast #010 with Leo Aguirre On Selling Out vs. Buying Time

Musicbed Podcast #009 with Rayka Zehtabchi & Sam Davis on Choosing Story Over Script

Musicbed Podcast #008 with Calmatic on Crafting Your Creative Rhythm

Musicbed Podcast #007 with Ricky Staub and Dan Walser on the Thrill of High Risk, High Reward Filmmaking

Cultivating Originality With Jodeb

Choosing Your Own Path with Lauren Sick

Fostering Creativity with Ryan Booth

Finding Authenticity with Chad Lawson

MAKE | A Feature-Length Documentary

Getting Outside Yourself with Tony Anderson

Breaking the Cycle with Jared Hogan

The Great Abyss with Salomon Ligthelm

Drew Holcomb

Victoria Bigelow

Johnny Stimson

Brooke Waggoner

• Cinematography

Core Foundations of Editing with Mark Bone

Big Sky Edit Founder Chris Franklin on Studying People and the Magic of Well Developed Stories

Four Elements of a Compelling Title Sequence

White in Revery’s Survival Guide for Editing Wedding Films

Selected Takes: Three Editing Lessons from Tom Rolf

Selected Takes: 3 Editing Lessons From Anne V. Coates

Keep Moving: A Conversation with Mikey Rossiter from The Mill

4 Reasons to Compete in the 2017 Filmsupply Challenge

Revealing the Artistry of Ryan Connolly, Visionary Filmmaker and Co-Creator of Film Riot

Cory Martin’s Cinematic Voyage Across 70 Countries

Motocross Films and Cinematic Storytelling: Director Dylan Wineland Shares His Journey

Filmmaker Mohammad Gorjestani on Authentic Brand Storytelling

How Director Goh Iromoto and The Farmer’s Dog Crafted a Message That Resonated With the Nation

How Director Quentin Tarantino Uses Music to Elevate His Films

Symmetry and Color: The Power of Cinematography in The Green Knight

David F. Sandberg On Creativity in Filmmaking

Falling Forward: Writer/Director Dionne Edwards on Screenwriting with Honesty

How to Build a Believable Story: 5 Screenwriting Tips

A Conversation with Casey Warren and Danielle Krieger

Dr. Richard Raskin: New Theories of the Short Film

Carry Bolt Cutters: Werner Herzog on Filmmaking

Pretty Much Everything We Know About Interviewing

Lessons from Hollywood: Fixing Story Problems

Matthew Porterfield on the Power of Unconventional Narratives

Three Feature-Film Production Principles You Should Apply to Every Project

Worth the Risk: Facing the Challenges of Porsche’s ‘Drive2Extremes’

Behind the Scenes of Lacoste’s ‘Crocodile Inside’ Spot with Iconoclast Producer Charlotte Marmion

Director Kevin Foley and Producer Simon Dragland Discuss the Unique Challenges Behind Filming An Olympic Campaign

Global Creative Producer Kaki Orr on Producing Stories and Results for The North Face

Blue Ox Films on Expanding Project Scope and Building Rapport for a Docu-Series

Producers Roundtable: How to Get Your Film Off the Ground

Models, Miniatures, and ‘The Mandalorian’

Carlo Stigliano’s Cinematic Journey and the Creative Forces that Drive Him

Natalie Kingston: 4 Things I Learned Shooting My First Series

Robert Yeoman, ASC, on shooting Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’

A New Lens for Netflix’s Mank with Oscar-Winning Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, ASC

Manhattan Mellow Drama from On the Rocks Cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, ASC Captures the 60’s in Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7

Creating Ridley Scott’s Ethnographic World with Cinematographer Ross Emery, ACS

Love Through Their Lens: Award-Winning Filmmakers Jim and Melissa Lakey

An Insight into the World of Filmmaker Gione da Silva

Wedding Filmmaking: How Matt Johnson Captures the Heartbeat of Every Story with Music

Crafting Unforgettable Wedding Films with KEJ Productions

Russell Kent Nicholls Shares the Art of Visual Storytelling and Musical Alchemy

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Dunna’s Journey Through Film, Photography, and Education

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The Art of Storytelling and Music in Filmmaking with Wyatt Dobson

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A Filmmaker’s Guide to Solving Problems

Problems, if anything, are a lesson. Whether we’re defeated by them or come up with a genius solution, afterward they serve as nicely packaged tutorials in what to do and what not to do. So, it only makes sense that the production of a film is a wealth of valuable lessons because they’re filled with obstacles. As famed producer Lain Smith said in a 2014 interview with Screen Daily, “Making a film is a series of problems to solve.”

Problems, if anything, are a lesson. Whether we’re defeated by them or come up with a genius solution, afterward they serve as nicely packaged tutorials in what to do and what  not  to do. So, it only makes sense that the production of a film is a wealth of valuable lessons because they’re filled with obstacles. As famed producer Lain Smith said in a 2014 interview with  Screen Daily , “Making a film is a series of problems to solve.”

We talk to a lot of filmmakers on the blog and all of them face problems when they take on a new project. Sometimes they come up with incredible solutions to these problems and that’s what we’re celebrating today. On the surface, they’re fascinating examples of creativity at work. But, we think there’s more to them — maybe they’ll reveal a thought process you could apply to your own problems.

Here are six filmmakers, the problems they faced, and the tricks they used to overcome them:

Lindsay Branham’s Audience Couldn’t Reach Her, So She Reached Them.

We talked with Novo Films’ Founder Lindsay Branham about the potential for  VR to play a role in non-profit filmmaking . But, she started our conversation by bringing up another project — one she developed for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her problem? The audience she was trying to reach had no access to TVs or theaters. Here’s her explaining a genius solution:

“Our first project was in northern DRC, which is really remote. There are no TVs. There are no movie theaters. So, how do you even show people this stuff? Well, we created this mobile cinema kit that can be transported on the back of a motorbike. It has an inflatable screen and a little projector, both powered by a little generator. You can take this movie anywhere and build these workshops around it as well. So, it’s not just a one-off, watching a movie. It’s crafted very intentionally with activities, games, and discussions, taking the film characters and analyzing them. It’s now rolling out in India. It’s a year-long project built around a 30-minute film that is then broken into scenes and put into a curriculum that ten thousand young girls will go through over the course of a year.”

Our takeaway: Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. In fact, it may be quite the opposite.

Jim Cummings Needed to Share His Vision, So He Made a Podcast.

Thunder Road  Director Jim Cummings is getting a reputation  for doing things his own way . He tends to ignore the established methods for making a film, so when he was faced with the problem of sharing the vision for his passion project to a cast and crew he’d never worked with before, he decided to cut the miscommunication problem off before started:

“I recorded the whole script as a podcast. When you write a script, it’s your own thing. It’s precious. So, I recorded it as a podcast and then sent it out to everybody and who was working on the film. I would perform all of the characters and I would put in sound design and have music and stuff like that so that the crew is on the same page. Before any cast or crew showed up on set, they were able to listen to the movie. They were able to hear it four or five times before coming to the set. So everybody was on the same page. Because I knew it was working in audio format, I knew that it was going to work in a film.”

Our takeaway: It may not sound easy, but sometimes the only way to solve a problem is to go above and beyond — chances are, it’ll be worth it.

Tucker Bliss Didn’t Like the Prompt, So He Shot His Own Version.

We interviewed Tucker Bliss about getting a film education  on someone else’s dime  and a big part of that involved working in the commercial world. In this specific case, he was given a project he felt would be best served in a longer form. So, when he got the direction to shoot a short, 15-second spot, he opted to go his own route and it’s safe to say it paid off:

“I definitely try to inject as much of myself as possible. A lot of times it comes down to arguing with agencies or arguing with a client about what stays and what goes — you don’t often win those battles. Hopefully, you get lucky and they say, “You can get a few extra shots.” I did this for a job recently, where the creative director was really cool about the experience. He said, “I know we’re just doing these 15-second spots, but if you want to shoot stuff in between, just go for it. I won’t say anything and we’ll turn off the monitors.” We ended up shooting enough for a 60-second spot. I cut it together and sent it back to the agency, and they ended up selling it to the client. Sometimes the client doesn’t know what they want until you give it to them. They know what they don’t want [laughs] but that helps too.”

Our takeaway: You didn’t hear it from us, but sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Robbie Samuels Couldn’t Get On-Set, So He Built a Digital One.

Creative people often don’t even see a problem as a problem. It’s more of an opportunity. So, when  Hip-Hop Cafe  Director Robbie Samuels  was faced with a limited timeframe on-set, he had two friends come to mind. It just so happens they’re obsessed with building VR environments:

“We made the whole film in two nights, but on the second night we only had four hours, so, all in, I think we made the film in 13 hours. Which is really, not very much time to make a film [laughs]. We knew we weren’t going to have much time in the diner where we were shooting the piece because it has normal restaurant hours. Luckily, I have two friends that are quite into VR and AR. That’s an understatement. They live for it. I approached them and told them, “I’m trying to pull this off but I don’t have nearly enough time,” and they basically came to the diner, scanned every corner of the location we were filming and built it out in a computer program. It was a lifesaver; it made it possible for me to just put on a VR headset and be in the location, so to speak, so I could plan out all the shot and sequences.”

Our takeaway: A problem, perceived in a certain way, is just an opportunity to make you and your processes better.

Chris Caldwell and Zeek Earl Wrote a Book to Prove Their Concept.

Being young and inexperienced is a problem all of us have faced at one point. When Chris Caldwell and Zeek Earl  were pushing to get  Prospect  funded , they were facing an uphill battle to get support. So, to prove they were committed to their idea, they decided to use the art-director side of their brain to create one hell of a proof-of-concept:

“The biggest hurdle is being a first-time filmmaker because it’s like, you don’t have the job experience to get the job you’re asking for. In our case, we just had to go over the top providing not just the short film but an entire book of concept art. Not just some rough production numbers but a fully fleshed out budget with a ton of resources to back it up. It was a big part of our pitch package from the beginning.

There was so much specificity in the world that we wanted to render. You can only do so much with words on the page in terms of selling other people on that vision. This big book of concept art and design was inspired by  Jodorowsky’s Dune . They put together that big book and it became the only remaining artifact from that version of that film. Looking at that book, we kind of wanted to make our own mini version of that. It was a lot of supporting the script with a lot of really specific visual renderings of the world. That eventually made a company comfortable enough to pull the trigger.”

Our takeaway: There aren’t many problems some elbow grease and creativity can’t solve. The trick is to use them  together .

Creatives are more equipped than anyone else to solve problems, especially those that have never been encountered before. But, a common thread running between all of these filmmakers is this: initiative. They didn’t wait for their knight in shining armor to save the day. They put on their big filmmaker pants and got to work. So, the real question is, next time a problem comes between you and your film — what will you do?

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Top 7 Movies To Put Your Critical Thinking Skills To Work

Last Updated on February 7, 2022 by Editorial Team

From understanding what your friend is upset about to giving a logical explanation about a recent incident to even identifying real and fake news, many situations that life throws us in can be overcome and understood well by critical thinking. This complex notion is the capacity to think clearly and rationally and form a logical relationship between concepts, subjects, and ideas. 

The ability to analyze and solve problems, creative thinking, great communication, and empathy comes with a person’s potential to think critically and intensely. But this is not something that can be taught theoretically in school or by books. A child needs practical learning to understand the basics of critical thinking and later exercise it in real life. 

A lot of learning about different skills comes from daily activities , games, and even movies. Movies teach us a lot of life and life skills, critical thinking being one of them. This article will be all about such movies which promote critical thinking and enable the individual to indulge and practice attributes like self-evaluation, drawing conclusions, creativity, emotional intelligence, and much more. 

Movies & Critical Thinking

When individuals are exposed to new information, they need to carefully and logically find out how this information relates to what they already know. Similarly, whenever a movie makes an individual aware of a certain emotion, feeling, or attribute, they begin to think consciously about it and try to fit it in their library of attributes.  

Once in a while, a clever movie comes in and plays with an individual’s mind, which in turn helps promote critical thinking. There lies suspense and twists at every stage of a good survival and thrilling movie, which compel the audience to use their mind critically. Fortunately enough, nature endows each individual with intrigue and vision that can be further enhanced if we indulge in the movies that make us question and think hard over our existing beliefs and notions. 

How do movies help in critical thinking?

Film or movies are an effective educational tool. Films can help individuals better comprehend and empathize with the life experiences of other persons by providing diverse views in compelling and emotional ways. 

Individuals learn to investigate, evaluate, synthesize, and understand using the movies and their plots as catalysts. Movies serve as a training tool for survival skills and real-world situations. Above all, movies are becoming a great medium to impart skills that help children think critically to solve problems. 

List of Movies for critical thinking 

1.  eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004).

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a romantic science-fiction film that questions all our beliefs. Being a psychological drama with a nonlinear storyline, this movie promotes critical thinking because of the unique plot. Having had memories removed to get rid of the traumatic past, this movie fills in the mind with many emotions and questions, which builds the various attributes of critical thinking.

2. Life of pi (2012)

Life of Pi is one movie that challenges our thoughts and helps us face the real world. Being an adventure drama film, this movie by Ang Lee centers around an Indian adolescent who tells a novelist about how he survives a shipwreck and ends up adrift in the pacific ocean. This aspect of the movie brings awareness to the audience. Life of Pi shows the struggle of the teenager to save his life, which induces the various attributes of critical thinking in the individual.  

3. Forrest gump (1994)

Forrest Gump is a comedy-drama film based on a kind guy who impacts numerous historical events in the United States in the 20th century. This movie is complex but will play with the strings of your heart. Promoting aspects like loyalty, appreciation, and honesty, Forrest Gump is perfect for adolescents as this will make them think hard and learn a lot.  

4. Good will hunting (1997)

Being an American Psychological drama, this film about a 20-year-old will change your life for good. The movie teaches you to break down the barriers and inspires you to fight the demons inside. This story about an unappreciated genius will persuade you to think emotionally and logically question your life and teachings. 

5.  Equilibrium (2002)

Starring Emmy Watson and Taye Diggs, this movie is an American science fiction that edifies an individual’s potential for creative expression. The movie revolves around how residents need to undergo daily medication to keep their emotions at bay, making their emotional intelligence more powerful. The way characters regulate their behavior makes the viewer more sensitive towards morals and society in general. All these aspects of the movie ultimately work towards the critical thinking of an individual.

6. Inside out (2015)

Set in the mind of an 11-year-old, this movie deals with strong emotions that we face daily. These feelings of anger, fear, disgust help the protagonist and give out plenty of inculcating moments. The movie teaches the viewers a lot about happiness, leaving a powerful message which challenges emotions and teaches them not to suppress them but rather express them. 

7. Moneyball (2011)

This American biographical film is based on a true story that is about Oakland Athletic’s former manager. Few movies enable the viewer to think out-of-the-box, and this is one of them. It shows the unique way of building a team and builds critical thinking attributes like teamwork and decision making. 

Wrapping up

Although movies cannot be used as a primary method of teaching attributes, skills, and abilities, they work perfectly as they push us to think intensely and build new qualities, such as critical thinking. These movies can be added to the class activities, and later the teacher can also host a debate, which will be even more beneficial for the student. These movies can also be given as homework for holidays, and later the teacher can discuss them in class to understand whether the child has comprehended the plot well. Movies are often looked at as a source of entertainment, but very few give out life lessons and make the individual more aware of their feelings, likes, dislikes, and so much more.

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of  Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

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Executive Function

How to use movies to improve executive functioning skills, watching movies together can help kids learn about executive functions..

Posted April 8, 2022 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

• Executive functions in the brain include skills such as self-control, awareness of others, and problem-solving.
• Watching movies with kids provides an opportunity to discuss and develop executive functioning skills.
• Rewatching movies may help kids to recognize the skills their favorite characters display.

The name of this Psychology Today blog is “Screen Play," which might lead one to believe that it’s about movies and television. But the focus is more on the screens kids are using today—their cell phones, tablets, and computers, and what they consume on these devices.

Of course, kids now watch most of their movies, video, and TV shows on their own screens . Given the enormous amount of time that kids and teens spend on their screens, many psychologists and educators are attempting to find ways to make screen time more productive or at least “digitally nutritious."

One strategy that captures kids where they’re at is to use movies to improve executive functions. Movies have often been used by therapists to help patients change how they think. For kids, it may be more useful to use movies as tools for examining how characters make decisions (good and bad) and use skills such as focus, persistence, flexibility, and planning in overcoming obstacles.

Parents and teachers are accustomed to using daily life experiences as a training ground for improving executive functioning skills. Human interaction— observing others and interacting with peers or family members provide an environment rich in opportunities to practice executive functions such as self-control , awareness of others, and problem-solving. However, some children require a more direct instructional approach to master executive functioning skills where modeling, observation, discussion, and practical opportunities are necessary to develop these skills. Movies allow children and their parents to jointly become observers of others in their practice of executive function skills.

Movies have many other characteristics that make them great teaching tools for executive functions. These include:

• The multimedia component that engages viewers, keeping kids focused and attentive
• The ability to share the movie experience readily with family and friends
• Repetition, as kids will watch a movie they enjoy many times
• Themes that can be seen across movies, as children can learn about the same skills from many movies, increasing opportunities for transfer

4 ways to use movies to improve executive functions

Family movie night . The best way to capitalize on your kids watching a movie is to watch it with them. Set aside one night a week to watch a popular movie that provides some underlying lessons and models for improving executive functioning and other social-emotional learning skills. Some family-friendly examples from 2021 are The Mitchells vs. the Machines (flexibility), Raya and the Last Dragon (sustained attention and social thinking), and Space Jam: A New Legacy (task persistence and focus). Engage in a family discussion about important themes in the movie. You won’t even need to prompt your child with executive functioning problems, they’ll naturally want to get involved.

Go to the movie theater. While the vast majority of movies are watched at home these days, one way to emphasize the importance of a movie is to make it an event. Go to the theater, get some candy and popcorn, and be sure to discuss the movie before and after watching it. Encourage your child to tell other family members about their experience at the movie theater and use that as an opportunity to talk about some of the executive function and problem-solving skills that were evident in the movie.

Watch some classic kids' movies together. Talk about what makes the characters meaningful to you and what kind of journeys they take. This conversation should give you many opportunities to bring up skills and attributes of movie characters and how they relate to formal executive functions, critical thinking, and emotional literacy skills. Here are some classic recommendations with descriptions.

The Hunger Games

• Middle school and up (violent scenes)
• The Hunger Games tells the story of a futuristic country where representatives from each “district” must battle in The Hunger Games for their government’s amusement. Katniss, the main character, must use careful planning and organization skills in order to survive the games.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (and any of the Harry Potter movies)

• Middle school and up
• In the fourth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry finds himself a participant in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, a deathly competition among representatives from three wizarding schools. In order to make it through the challenges alive, Harry must strategize plans and approaches with the help of his advisor, Professor Mad-Eye Moody.

• Preschool and up
• A classic, Frozen is more than a cute Disney movie. It can also teach children about managing their feelings, impulses, and actions. Elsa must learn to harness her magical powers in order to live alongside her sister, Ana, and the rest of her friends and family.

Laugh and learn . Watch a comedy where poor executive function skills cause problems for the main characters. Many comedies make light of a character’s lack of self-awareness, working memory , time management , focus, planning, or organization creating or exacerbating difficult situations. Not only can this provide a clear guide of “what not to do" but it can also help children who have trouble being objective loosen up and laugh at themselves. Lessons gleaned from this kind of comedy are most valuable if you have an opportunity to talk about them after watching. Fortunately, most comedies end on a positive note, so either some good decision-making or serendipity allows the main characters to be happy and successful in the end.

Randy Kulman, Ph.D. , is a child clinical psychologist, parent of 5, and founder of LearningWorks for Kids. He is the author of Train Your Brain for Success and Playing Smarter in a Digital World .

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Screen Rant

15 detective movies that give you enough clues to solve the mystery yourself.

Solving the mystery alongside the characters is half the fun with detective movies. Thankfully, these give you enough clues to figure it out!

From murder mysteries to disappearance cases, detective films have always been a main-stay in cinema history. Over the years many iconic detectives have hit the big screen and made audiences question the truth behind the crime, but the key to any great detective movie is carefully placing clues throughout the plot so that viewers can unravel the mystery themselves.

A lot of films in the genre build suspense and tension incredibly well, but very few directors have mastered the skill of hiding clues in the movie. In recent years, the detective genre has burst back into the scene, with directors like Rian Johnson and Kenneth Branagh using impressive ensemble casts in their mystery thrillers, and giving the audience enough clues to solve the mystery themselves.

Updated on December 31st, 2022 by Colin McCormick: The release of the new Knives Out mystery Glass Onion , has got detective movie fans itching once again to bust out their Sherlock Holmes caps and solve the murders themselves. These great films will show them how to do it.

Knives Out (2019)

• Available to rent on Apple TV

Although mainly known for his sci-fi blockbusters Looper and Star Wars: The Last Jedi , Rian Johnson created one of the best films of 2019 with his murder mystery Knives Out . Full of surprises and a stellar performance by Daniel Craig as the detective Benoit Blanc, the thriller became a box-office hit after hitting cinemas last year.

RELATED: 15 Best Shows Like Knives Out

As the investigation deepens, it's slowly revealed that each member of the family has their own motives for killing author Harlan Thrombey, played by the incredible Christopher Plummer. From the innocent nurse Marta to his daughter Linda Drysdale, everyone appeared suspicious, but by the finale, when the real culprit was revealed, it became clear it was his grandson Ransom all along. From the switching of the medicine to the burning of the lab, the movie laid out the clues from the very beginning.

Searching (2018)

• Available on fuboTV and DIRECTV

The underrated thriller Searching is worth seeking out if only for its unique format for the movie. The entire movie is told on screens, from computers to phones to video calls, as a widowed father searches for his missing daughter.

The audience is taken along on this harrowing journey with this desperate father as he explores every possible path in the case. It all leads to the double reveal that the lead detective was covering for her son who supposedly killed the girl only for the girl to be revealed as alive.

Scream (1996)

• Available on Starz and DIRECTV

Though Scream is known as one of the most influential slasher movies of all time, it is also a very effective murder mystery. When the Ghostface killer begins picking off various young victims in their small town, Sidney Prescott and her friends must find out who the killer is among them before they become the next victim.

A big part of the fun of the Scream franchise is how it plays on the slasher movie tropes. Fans of the genre will be able to notice the trends and see how the movie is subverting them, all leading to the reveal that there are two killers, including Sidney's boyfriend who seemed like such an obvious choice that he must have been a Red Herring.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

Another horror movie that plays around with the blend of slasher and murder mystery is this year's Bodies Bodies Bodies . The movie follows a group of young rich and self-absorbed people partying in a house, but when one of them winds up dead, the tensions rise.

RELATED: 10 Great Movies Where No One Can Be Trusted

The movie uses the frustrating and hilarious flaws of the main characters to foreshadow the darkly comedic twist. As it turns out, the first death in the movie was accidental with a TikTok going wrong and the rest of the mayhem was caused by the others letting paranoia get the best of them.

The Usual Suspects (1995)

• Available on Showtime, fuboTV and DIRECTV

Written by Christopher McQuarrie, The Usual Suspects broke all sorts of records upon its release in 1995, including Academy Awards for both best supporting actor and best original screenplay. The movie is about a group of criminals, who upon meeting in a prison cell, plan out a dangerous heist in a deal worth three million dollars. Told in reverse, and from the unreliable narrative of Verbal Kint, the true story of that heist is slowly revealed.

What makes the movie so special is one of the great movie plot twists of all time . As it reveals that Verbal was the actual mysterious crime lord Keyser Soze, it all comes together. Everything was taken from the noticeboard right in front of the audience's eyes for the entire movie, the clues were quite literally right in front of the viewer.

Rear Window (1954)

Whilst professional photographer Jeff was not necessarily a detective, the movie still follows him in investigating the suspicious activity of his neighbors. After breaking his leg, Jeff is confined to his apartment when out of boredom he begins watching his neighbors. As the heatwave passes, Jeff and the audience become even more suspicious of Thorwald from across the street.

As one of the greatest directors of all time , Alfred Hitchcock, known also for Psycho , Vertigo , among many other classics, expertly builds clues upon clues in a typically suspenseful movie, combining both the thriller and romance genres once again. Rear Window is an all-time classic and one that every other movie on the list must have been inspired by.

Zodiac (2007)

Although Zodiac never explicitly points the finger at a specific suspect, the main protagonist Robert Graysmith leads the audience to believe Arthur Leigh Allen, who was the lead suspect in real life, was in fact the Zodiac Killer. With its incredible cast and directed by David Fincher, the true-crime epic managed to tell the story of America's most known unsolved mystery of the Zodiac Killer.

RELATED: 8 Best Villains In David Fincher Movies

Filled with accurate details, witnesses, and even flashbacks of the killings, the movie fully immerses audiences in the investigation, making viewers almost as obsessed as Graysmith in the movie. With evidence such as the Zodiac watch, his birthday, and identification from a victim of the attacks, the movie strongly indicates that Arthur was the culprit.

Se7en (1995)

• Available on HBO Max

In one of his earlier directorial works, David Fincher crafted the masterpiece that is Se7en with an ending that will leave audiences speechless . The movie follows detectives Somerset and Mills, played by Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt respectively, through the dark, evil streets of New York as they investigate a string of murders based on the seven deadly sins.

In an unexpected turn, the detectives actually catch the killer, but the movie didn't end there. Fincher's thrilling and shocking ending left fans star-struck and has been one of cinema's most talked-about endings ever since. Fincher even managed to add clues for the ending throughout the film, the best example: using the camera to decapitate Gwyneth Paltrow's head early on in the movie.

Gone Girl (2014)

• Available on HBO Max and DIRECTV

David Fincher is a master at intense thrillers and Gone Girl presents one of his most entertaining mysteries. The movie follows a man who discovers one day that his wife is missing with signs of foul play. But as the evidence begins to mount, he quickly becomes the prime suspect in the crime.

Interestingly, Gone Girl is only a mystery for the first half when the truth is suddenly revealed which some fans might have been able to figure out already. It turns out, that the wife fakes her own death and framed her husband as revenge for his infidelity.

The Prestige (2006)

Set in the 1890s, The Prestige is a thriller about two rival magicians whose competition with each other grows deadlier over the years. When they both manage to pull off a remarkable and similar trick, the other seeks to find out how such a thing was possible.

Christopher Nolan's movies are often confusing , but the clues in The Prestige are laid out for the final reveal. The question of how one of the magicians pulled off the duplication trick is revealed to be because he and his assistant are actually twins, sharing one life to pull off the perfect trick.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

• Available on Hulu

Another David Fincher mystery finds disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist taking on a cold case. He is hired by the patriarch of an affluent family to look into a decades-long disappearance. The movie follows Mikael as he teams up with anti-social yet incredibly skilled hacker Lisbeth Salander and they slowly uncover the case.

RELATED: 10 Unrealized David Fincher Projects Redditors Want To See The Most

From the disturbing Bible verses to the parade photos and the suspicious activities in the family, Fincher carefully plotted the reveal just like he had done in Se7en and Zodiac . The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is another Fincher detective masterclass and stellar performances from both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as well as a riveting mystery.

Prisoners (2013)

• Available on Netflix and Netflix Basic

Released in 2013, Prisoners helped launch Denis Villeneuve's Hollywood career with this dark and gripping kidnapping thriller. On Thanksgiving, two daughters disappear from thin air, with only one lead, an old RV. Detective Loki, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, arrests the driver but soon realizes his diminished IQ means he could not have planned the kidnapping.

Eventually, after releasing their only suspect, one of the girls' father, Keller (Jackman), takes matters into his own hands and the truth is revealed. Detective Loki was correct in thinking he wasn't smart enough but was involved, as he realizes his Aunt Holly is the actual child abducted in the chilling ending.

Memento (2000)

• Available on HBO Max, Hoopla, Kanopy and DIRECTV

Nowadays, Christopher Nolan is known for his action blockbusters and complex ideas with his films like Inception, Interstellar , and The Dark Knight , but back in 2000, he released his second-ever film, Memento . The indie thriller explores many typical Nolan ideas. It manipulates time, by telling the story mainly in reverse, and uses an unreliable narrator to make the twists even more thrilling.

The movie follows Leonard, a man with anterograde amnesia who uses tattoos and polaroids to find his wife's killer. It's a brilliant film, filled with precise details that all come together to reveal the truth behind the attack and killing, and some of which appear obvious at the end. The movie is like a puzzle with the audience piecing it together along the way.

Shutter Island (2010)

• Available on Netflix, Paramount+, Hoopla, Plex and Netflix Basic

No movie list is complete without either Martin Scorsese or Leonardo DiCaprio. Luckily, Shutter Island sees the two collaborate once again in the psychological mystery thriller. The movie is beautifully shot and filled with brilliant performances by the all-star cast, which also includes the likes of Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, and Michelle Williams. DiCaprio plays US Marshall Teddy Daniels who is investigating the disappearance of a patient from an isolated asylum in the middle of the ocean.

The movie shocks viewers with its ending, where it's revealed Teddy is actually the missing patient and the whole case has been made up for him. From his inability to light his own cigarette to the extremely unenthusiastic guards, the writing was really on the wall from the beginning.

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Another team-up between the Affleck brothers Casey and Ben is the detective thriller Gone Baby Gone . In Ben Affleck's directorial debut, private detectives Patrick and Angie investigate the abduction of a three-year-old. The movie leaves viewers craving answers as the days continually pass without having found the missing girl.

Eventually, in yet another jaw-dropping plot twist, it's revealed that Police Captain Jack Doyle is the culprit leading to a huge moral conflict. The movie leaves the audience questioning whether Doyle was actually correct in taking the girl away from her mother and giving her a better life or leave her with her drug-addict mother. A stellar debut for Ben Affleck.

NEXT: 14 Locked Room Mysteries For Fans Who Loved Knives Out

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1. The Wrestler (2008)

R | 109 min | Drama, Sport

A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.

Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Mickey Rourke , Marisa Tomei , Evan Rachel Wood , Mark Margolis

Votes: 319,388 | Gross: $26.24M

2. Cinderella Man (2005)

PG-13 | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

The true story of James J. Braddock, a supposedly washed-up boxer, who returned to the spotlight to win the heavyweight championship of the world.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe , Renée Zellweger , Craig Bierko , Paul Giamatti

Votes: 197,870 | Gross: $61.65M

3. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

R | 113 min | Drama

A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.

Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Jon Voight , Sylvia Miles , John McGiver

Votes: 120,218 | Gross: $44.79M

4. Ironweed (1987)

R | 143 min | Drama

An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.

Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Meryl Streep , Carroll Baker , Michael O'Keefe

Votes: 9,885 | Gross: $7.39M

5. Ugly, Dirty and Bad (1976)

Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama

Four generations of a family live in a shantytown in the outskirts of Rome. The household engages in various forms of sexual idiosyncrasies, land swindles, incest, drugs and adultery.

Director: Ettore Scola | Stars: Francesco Anniballi , Maria Bosco , Giselda Castrini , Alfredo D'Ippolito

Votes: 9,079 | Gross: $0.01M

6. The Corporation (2003)

Not Rated | 145 min | Documentary, History

Documentary that looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance.

Directors: Mark Achbar , Jennifer Abbott | Stars: Mikela Jay , Rob Beckwermert , Christopher Gora , Nina Jones

Votes: 21,757 | Gross: $1.88M

7. The Firm (1993)

R | 154 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A young lawyer joins a prestigious law firm only to discover that it has a sinister dark side.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeanne Tripplehorn , Gene Hackman , Hal Holbrook

Votes: 147,271 | Gross: $158.35M

8. Wall Street (1987)

R | 126 min | Crime, Drama

An impatient young stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless, greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen , Michael Douglas , Tamara Tunie , Franklin Cover

Votes: 164,774 | Gross: $43.85M

9. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.

Director: James Foley | Stars: Al Pacino , Jack Lemmon , Alec Baldwin , Alan Arkin

Votes: 115,758 | Gross: $10.73M

10. Death of a Salesman (1985 TV Movie)

PG | 136 min | Drama

An aging traveling salesman recognizes the emptiness of his life and tries to fix it.

Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Kate Reid , John Malkovich , Stephen Lang

Votes: 11,679

11. The Pelican Brief (1993)

PG-13 | 141 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

A law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.

Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Julia Roberts , Denzel Washington , Sam Shepard , John Heard

Votes: 95,694 | Gross: $100.77M

12. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

PG | 96 min | Documentary

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows Al Gore on the lecture circuit, as the former presidential candidate campaigns to raise public awareness of the dangers of global warming and calls for immediate action to curb its destructive effects on the environment.

Director: Davis Guggenheim | Stars: Al Gore , Billy West , George Bush , George W. Bush

Votes: 85,131 | Gross: $23.81M

13. Kids (1995)

Unrated | 91 min | Drama

A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.

Director: Larry Clark | Stars: Leo Fitzpatrick , Justin Pierce , Chloë Sevigny , Sarah Henderson

Votes: 84,396 | Gross: $7.42M

14. Ken Park (2002)

Not Rated | 93 min | Drama

Ken Park is about several Californian skateboarders' lives and relationships with and without their parents.

Directors: Larry Clark , Edward Lachman | Stars: Adam Chubbuck , James Bullard , Seth Gray , Eddie Daniels

Votes: 30,763

15. La haine (1995)

Not Rated | 98 min | Crime, Drama

24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz | Stars: Vincent Cassel , Hubert Koundé , Saïd Taghmaoui , Abdel Ahmed Ghili

Votes: 195,336 | Gross: $0.31M

16. City of God (2002)

R | 130 min | Crime, Drama

In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.

Directors: Fernando Meirelles , Kátia Lund | Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues , Leandro Firmino , Matheus Nachtergaele , Phellipe Haagensen

Votes: 798,443 | Gross: $7.56M

17. Gran Torino (2008)

R | 116 min | Drama

After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood , Bee Vang , Christopher Carley , Ahney Her

Votes: 813,062 | Gross: $148.10M

18. The Wild One (1953)

Approved | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

Two rival motorcycle gangs terrorize a small town after one of their leaders is thrown in jail.

Director: Laslo Benedek | Stars: Marlon Brando , Mary Murphy , Robert Keith , Lee Marvin

Votes: 17,451

19. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi

In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell , Patrick Magee , Michael Bates , Warren Clarke

Votes: 878,884 | Gross: $6.21M

20. Network (1976)

R | 121 min | Drama

A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Faye Dunaway , William Holden , Peter Finch , Robert Duvall

Votes: 170,033

21. To Die For (1995)

R | 106 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A beautiful but naïve aspiring television personality films a documentary on teenagers with a darker ulterior motive.

Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Nicole Kidman , Matt Dillon , Joaquin Phoenix , Casey Affleck

Votes: 52,491 | Gross: $21.28M

22. Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

PG | 93 min | Biography, Drama, History

Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow looks to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy .

Director: George Clooney | Stars: David Strathairn , George Clooney , Patricia Clarkson , Jeff Daniels

Votes: 101,149 | Gross: $31.56M

23. Wag the Dog (1997)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama

Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Robert De Niro , Anne Heche , Woody Harrelson

Votes: 88,302 | Gross: $43.02M

24. Magnolia (1999)

R | 188 min | Drama

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jason Robards , Julianne Moore , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 327,676 | Gross: $22.46M

25. Dead Man's Walk (1996)

PG-13 | 272 min | Western

In this prequel to "Lonesome Dove", two young men join the Texas Rangers unit that's on a mission to annex Santa Fe.

Stars: F. Murray Abraham , Keith Carradine , Patricia Childress , Edward James Olmos

Votes: 1,914

26. Last Dance (1996)

R | 103 min | Drama, Thriller

A lawyer assigned to the clemency case of a woman on death row finds himself forming a deep friendship with her while he tries to prevent her impending execution.

Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Sharon Stone , Rob Morrow , Randy Quaid , Peter Gallagher

Votes: 4,699 | Gross: $5.86M

27. Dancer in the Dark (2000)

R | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Musical

An Eastern European US immigrant with a love for musicals has to cope with the gradual loss of her vision.

Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Björk , Catherine Deneuve , David Morse , Peter Stormare

Votes: 116,508 | Gross: $4.18M

28. The Green Mile (1999)

R | 189 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy

A tale set on death row, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the lead guard, Paul Edgecombe, recognizes John's gift, he tries to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tom Hanks , Michael Clarke Duncan , David Morse , Bonnie Hunt

Votes: 1,401,587 | Gross: $136.80M

29. True Crime (1999)

R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Can an over-the-hill journalist uncover the evidence that can prove a death row inmate's innocence just hours before his execution?

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood , Isaiah Washington , LisaGay Hamilton , James Woods

Votes: 38,435 | Gross: $16.64M

30. Mystic River (2003)

R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

The tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Sean Penn , Tim Robbins , Kevin Bacon , Emmy Rossum

Votes: 484,557 | Gross: $90.14M

31. The Celebration (1998)

R | 105 min | Drama

At Helge's 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.

Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Ulrich Thomsen , Henning Moritzen , Thomas Bo Larsen , Paprika Steen

Votes: 93,524 | Gross: $1.65M

32. The War Zone (1999)

R | 98 min | Drama, Thriller

An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.

Director: Tim Roth | Stars: Ray Winstone , Annabelle Apsion , Kate Ashfield , Lara Belmont

Votes: 11,123 | Gross: $0.25M

33. A Perfect World (1993)

PG-13 | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor, an escaped convict on the run from the law, while the search for him continues.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Kevin Costner , Clint Eastwood , Laura Dern , T.J. Lowther

Votes: 86,542 | Gross: $31.16M

34. Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)

R | 99 min | Drama, Thriller

A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.

Director: Joseph Ruben | Stars: Julia Roberts , Patrick Bergin , Kevin Anderson , Elizabeth Lawrence

Votes: 64,871 | Gross: $101.60M

35. This Boy's Life (1993)

R | 115 min | Biography, Drama

The story about the relationship between a rebellious 1950s teenager and his abusive stepfather, based on the memoirs of writer and literature Professor Tobias Wolff.

Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Robert De Niro , Leonardo DiCaprio , Ellen Barkin , Jonah Blechman

Votes: 58,166 | Gross: $4.10M

36. The Sea Inside (I) (2004)

PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama

The factual story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 28-year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Javier Bardem , Belén Rueda , Lola Dueñas , Mabel Rivera

Votes: 85,126 | Gross: $2.09M

37. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

PG-13 | 132 min | Drama, Sport

Frankie, an ill-tempered old coach, reluctantly agrees to train aspiring boxer Maggie. Impressed with her determination and talent, he helps her become the best and the two soon form a close bond.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Hilary Swank , Clint Eastwood , Morgan Freeman , Jay Baruchel

Votes: 719,970 | Gross: $100.49M

38. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

R | 133 min | Drama

In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.

Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Louise Fletcher , Michael Berryman , Peter Brocco

Votes: 1,069,236 | Gross: $112.00M

39. Body of Lies (2008)

R | 128 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio , Russell Crowe , Mark Strong , Golshifteh Farahani

Votes: 238,967 | Gross: $39.39M

40. The Devil's Own (1997)

R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding.

Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Harrison Ford , Brad Pitt , Margaret Colin , Rubén Blades

Votes: 71,459 | Gross: $42.87M

41. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

R | 122 min | Documentary, Drama, War

Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11 and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore , George W. Bush , Ben Affleck , Stevie Wonder

Votes: 132,240 | Gross: $119.19M

42. The Siege (1998)

R | 116 min | Action, Thriller

The secret U.S. abduction of a suspected terrorist leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York City, which leads to the declaration of martial-law.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Denzel Washington , Bruce Willis , Annette Bening , Tony Shalhoub

Votes: 77,905 | Gross: $40.98M

43. Whore (1991)

NC-17 | 85 min | Drama

A night in the life of a cynical prostitute forms the basis of Ken Russell's portrait of the world's oldest profession.

Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Theresa Russell , Benjamin Mouton , Antonio Fargas , Elizabeth Morehead

Votes: 4,313 | Gross: $1.01M

44. Pretty Woman (1990)

R | 119 min | Comedy, Romance

A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.

Director: Garry Marshall | Stars: Richard Gere , Julia Roberts , Jason Alexander , Laura San Giacomo

Votes: 360,265 | Gross: $178.41M

45. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

R | 111 min | Drama, Romance

Ben Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.

Director: Mike Figgis | Stars: Nicolas Cage , Elisabeth Shue , Julian Sands , Richard Lewis

Votes: 134,188 | Gross: $32.03M

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