In the apostle Paul’s epistle to the church in Philippi, he writes: “Finally,… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” Paul was addressing those whose heritage revered the writings of the great Greek moral philosophers, and Paul’s admonition is reminiscent of what philosophers refer to as the Platonic triad: the celebration of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful.
There is much in our culture that is anything but true, good, and beautiful – including much of the art, literature, music, and movies that are produced. In reality, many of the products of our culture not only portray but celebrate narcissistic lifestyles, irresponsible behavior and gross decadence. The principle of Gresham’s Law applies not only to economics but to every area of life: i.e., constant exposure to the bad not only drives out the good but also corrupts our spiritual and moral sensibilities and discernment. We know the adage, “We are what we eat,” but there is also a sense in which “We become what we consume” in every area of life. Everything we expose ourselves to leaves an imprint on our soul, so we must take care to diligently guard our hearts and minds. This is why we should use discernment in terms of what we choose to hear and what we choose to watch, and why excessive exposure to the crass, the vulgar, and the ugly should be avoided.
This is not an argument for avoiding the realities of life in some futile pursuit of blissful ignorance. Uncontrolled cultural consumption can certainly destroy our spiritual and moral discernment, but cultural ignorance is no virtue. Indeed, we need to know what is going on in our society and the world as well as the worldviews behind so much of this moral insanity in order to sensibly and effectively respond to it.
The artform of film is so powerful because it can either inspire us or degrade us. But a case can be made that 95% of the movies produced are utterly worthless – and this applies as much to TV shows and movies as to Hollywood films. As the movie industry continues to produce more films that dumb-down and degrade our society intellectually, morally and spiritually, here is a select list of 50 films worth seeing (or seeing again). Please note: Some of these movies are big-budget Hollywood “block-busters,” and others are foreign or independent films. Few of these movies are explicitly “Christian,” and some contain violence, sex and profanity. Some are inspiring and edifying, some are profoundly thought-provoking, and some are disturbing. All, however, shed valuable insight into the human condition and are included based either on their artistic merits, social, political or religious themes, historical or cultural value, or purely for entertainment purposes.
(Listed in chronological order)
The Music Box (Laurel and Hardy, 1932)
Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
Gone With the Wind (Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh,1939)
The Wizard of Oz (Judy Garland, 1939)
Casablanca (Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, 1942)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck, 1962)
Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, 1964)
A Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles, 1964)
Doctor Zhivago (Julie Christie, Omar Shariff, 1965)
The Sound of Music (Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, 1965)
To Sir, With Love (Sidney Pottier, 1967)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Monty Python, 1975)
Annie Hall (Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, 1977)
The Life of Brian (Monty Python, 1979)
Chariots of Fire (Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, 1981)
Zelig (Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, 1983)
A Passage to India (Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft, 1984)
Platoon (Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, 1986)
The Mission (Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, 1986)
Jean de Florette (Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, 1986)
Manon of the Spring (Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, 1986)
Babette’s Feast (Stephane Audran, 1987)
Glory (Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, 1989)
Driving Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, 1989)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, 1990)
Dances With Wolves (Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, 1990)
Fried Green Tomatoes (Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, 1991)
Gettysburg (Jeff Daniels, Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, 1993)
Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, 1994)
Saving Private Ryan (Tom Hanks, 1998)
Schindler’s List (Liam Neeson, 1998)
Les Miserables (Liam Neeson, 1998)
Ride With the Devil (Tobey Maguire, 1999)
Conspiracy (Kenneth Branagh, 2001)
The Pianist (Adrien Brody, 2002)
Luther (Joseph Fiennes, 2003)
Downfall (Bruno Ganz, 2004)
The Alamo (Billy Bob Thornton, Dennis Quaid, 2004)
Munich (Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, 2005)
Juno (Ellen Page, 2007)
The Reader (Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, 2008)
Agora (Rachel Weisz, 2009)
The Last Station (Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, 2009)
Sarah’s Key (Kristen Scott Thomas, 2010)
The Way (Martin Sheen, 2010)
Midnight in Paris (Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, 2011)
Love and Mercy (Paul Dano, John Cusack, 2014)
Hail, Caesar! (Josh Brolin, George Clooney, 2016)
The Promise (Oscar Isaac, Charlotte LeBon, Christian Bale, 2016)
Stan & Ollie (Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly, 2018)
