Super-Size Me - Got me to confront my own problems with obesity and eating fast food six times a week. I’m beginning month three of my quasi-vegetarian low-carb, low-fat diet and I feel great. Granted, this change has been a long time coming but I haven’t eaten at McDonalds since I saw this documentary last year. I still eat out at fast food places, but I’ve given up fries, eliminate cheese and mayonnaise from burgers, eat a LOT of salad with very little dressing, no desserts or sodas.
Hotel Rwanda – Successful in getting me to critically re-examine my highly romanticized view of Africa and my views on afrocentrism in general. I still think Don Cheadle sucks ass as an actor, but truthfully, even THAT’S more knee-jerk than heartfelt these days. (sigh) I’d been happily hating Cheadle for years now. What’s a man to do…? What overrated actor do I turn on now?
Good Will Hunting - It was the first movie that really burned the “do what you want to do, not what others want you to do” motto into my head, and I’ve been living by the creed ever since. I’ve pissed off a lot of people, but it’s been beneficial.
I am with Shirley on Pride and Prejudice. For the reasons Shirley mentions, and one perhaps not in line with what the OP was asking, but I will add it anyway.
I come into the living room one evening, my husband has tight grip of the remote control. He is reading the preview channel, and picks a movie. I am quite startled to discover he has chosen Pride and Prejudice, that is not the kind of movie he likes. He likes action flicks with lots of shooting and Kung Fu fighting. But it is the kind of movie I like, and he knows it, so he picked it for me. I think that is very sweet.
I am not surprised in 2 minutes he is snoring away. He snores throughout the entire movie. It doesn’t bother me, I am riveted. I had read the book, but still am on the edge of my seat waiting to see it all play out. ( I don’t know how to do the spoiler box, so I will be vague here) He wakes up just as the main characters discover their mistaken impressions. I tear up a bit at the emotions the characters feel.
I look over at my husband, hoping he doesn’t see me cry because I feel silly, and I see he is tearing up as well. He only saw those few minutes, had no idea what had taken place for the past 2 hours, but that one conversation really got to him. And he was making no effort to hide his tears. So in an odd way that movie changed me, I realized after 10 years of marriage, I still had many wonderful sides of my husband to discover.
Other movies that I felt different after seeing were The Deer Hunter, Deliverance, and Apocalypse Now.
And in a fun way, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Having had a rather unpleasant childhood, I loved the idea that I could recreate myself. That movie gave me hope, and courage to become who I wanted to be, not who I was supposed to be.
Donnie Darko–it just got under my skin and stayed there.
Master and Commander–I was already obsessed with tall ships and the Royal Navy, but this one really did me in. I’ve watched it eight times so far. Got the poster, the soundtrack, other souvenirs, the special edition DVD, been on the ship twice so far and met the guy who played the master at arms.
Eternal Sunshine…: reminded me of how hard we fight to hold on to memories and love no matter what.
Ed Wood: You gotta admire a person for making such efforts, despite the results.
American Beauty: At first I thought the whole thing was just nihilistic, but then realized that this was the point–these people were leading joyless lives, and they had a choice.
Imitation of Life: seeing someone else be the brunt of racial prejudice, and the inevitable and terrible regret the comes with denying your own culture and heritage. It helped me learn not to be ashamed of myself and my family, and to celebrate our Cherokee heritage.
Jerry Maguire. In a very literal way. I was dating a very sweet and wonderful man who was really enamored of my young son (**not **in an icky way), and really liked me a whole lot, but he didn’t love me. We had broken up and gotten back together again several times. Once while we were broken up, I rented and watched this. As soon as the movie ended, he rang my doorbell, and I knew we were going to get back together. I opened the door and literally pressed a finger to his lips. “Wait. I want you to watch something with me first.” And we watched the whole thing. When it was over, tears were streaming down both our faces. He sighed. “Yeah,” he said, and left. For the last time.
Can I say we never would have broken up without that silly movie? No. Maybe we would have. Or maybe we’d still be together in a loveless marriage, trying desperately to make the best of things. As it is, I moved on and found a wonderful husband and father for my son, and last I knew he was dating a wonderful woman.
There’s lots of other movies that have touched me deeply, but that’s the only one I can think of that literally changed the course of my life. (And my son’s, and my husband’s and the ex’s, and his girlfriend’s…)
Trainspotting
Resevoir Dogs
Mad Max and Road Warrior
Rude Boy
Star Wars Trilogy
Cowboy Bebop:The Move/Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Payback
High Fidelity
Grosse Pointe Blank
Citizen Kane. My dad brought me to see it at the theater where I now attend college. I was 13 years old and it completely changed the way I saw movies. It made me want to be a filmmaker (which I still want to be) and made me the film buff I am today.