Recommend a film worthy of a serious discussion. Need answer fast!

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Yes, yes, a million times yes! Groundhog Day is a thoughtful theological and moral parable brilliantly - and hilariously - disguised as a comedy. I love that movie.

Come to think of it, Trading Places (Ackroyd/Murphy) could lead to some interesting discussion of nature vs. nurture, rich vs. poor, revenge and justice.

[YogSothoth]

I don’t know if any of these are adapted from something else but:

Dark City: Themes on reality, what is real and what is not, and how that would matter
Blade Runner: Artificial Intelligent, machine sentience, how would society treat these things, the nature of life
The Matrix(the first one): Same as Blade Runner I guess, but throw in Dark City’s multiple realities

Someone suggested Princess Mononoke before. Another in a similar vein would be Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Environmental effects of man, living with nature, innocence, war, civilization intersecting with nature…lots of good themes

[badbadrubberpiggy]

@gaffa

Totally agree. I avoided watching it until I had to opportunity to see a 70mm print at a theater.

Earlier, you said:

This may seem totally out of left field, but why not Groundhog Day? If you don’t think it’s worthy of discussion, read some of the 440 comments on imdb, or watch the excellent DVD extra “The Weight of Time”. From the very first comment (spoilered for those who have not seen the film:

The other thing I noticed, while reflecting on this movie, is how uncertainty can keep us from charitable acts. We use our ignorance like a crutch: we don’t give to charity because it may be a scam, we don’t offer to help someone because they may not need help anyway, and so on. But Phil doesn’t have the luxury of ignorance. He knows…he knows with absolute certainty that if he doesn’t buy the old man a bowl of soup, that man will die in the streets within a few hours. He knows that if he isn’t on hand at the right time, a boy will fall from a tree and break his neck. Faced with such knowledge, even Phil, self-absorbed as he is, cannot stand by idly. Nor could we, in his position. This is a powerful argument for knowledge as the most reliable foundation for generous behavior. What other movie can offer an insight half so profound?
There’s a bit of a bias towards thinking that only “serious” movies can offer life-changing lessons or are worthy of discussion. I disagree.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing this movie in a class in high school. I don’t remember the class, but the discussion was mostly about human nature as presented in the movie, and included a lot of things similar to what’s in your spoiler.

[Not_A_Tame_Lion]

Hard to believe this thread has gotten this far and nobody has mentioned Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors. That movie stuck with me for days after seeing it. I certainly think you can get a discussion going about that film.