• yesman@lemmy.world
      277·
      6 days ago

      Idiocracy is a funny movie that I enjoy. However I’m disturbed by the number of people who say it’s a documentary, or a warning. That’s because the central premise of the movie (that humans breed wrong and if nothing is done, we’ll devolve and society will collapse) also happens to be the central premise of Eugenics.

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
        222·
        6 days ago

        Hey, at least in Idiocracy, once they determined the guy to be smarter than everyone else, at least they put him in charge of things…

      • SavvyWolf@pawb.socialEnglish
        156·
        6 days ago

        Honestly, I’m kind of put off watching the movie due to those weird eugenicsy undertones… Feels like one of those “i am very smart” Reddit people looking down on the “lesser masses” and saying they shouldn’t reproduce.

        • Lets_Eat_Grandma@lemm.eeEnglish
          201·
          6 days ago

          I don’t think the movie in any way calls for eugenics.

          If anything it called out how toxic ignorance and stupidity can be in the presence of someone who just wants to do the right thing. It shows how corporate greed and capitalism encourages stupidity to further it’s goals of creating basic labor for the corporate machines owned by billionaires to exploit.

          But hey, that’s just like, my opinion man.

      • GlenRambo@jlai.luEnglish
        71·
        6 days ago

        My spouses family is dysfunctional with many many kids and more on the way.

        She’s the only functional one and its unlikely we will have kods of our own.

        The premise tracks.

        • Jarix@lemmy.world
          6·
          6 days ago

          Not at all how I see it. It’s not eugenics its education, well the lack there of, that made the world in idiocracy.

          • OwenEverbinde@lemmy.myserv.oneEnglish
            22·
            5 days ago

            The movie maybe. But that intro was basically divorced from the rest of the movie.

            The intro suggested that stupid people having kids was the reason humanity started evolving backward. It invoked natural selection and “survival of the fittest.”

            The intro even labeled the low birth rate couple and high birthrate couple with IQ scores to illustrate this point.

            You argue that that the movie attributes the stupidity of its world to societal shifts. It does. It does a great job laying out a progression from late stage capitalism to idiocracy.

            But that just further highlights how unnecessary that intro was. The intro attributed the stupidity to something entirely different.

            • Jarix@lemmy.world
              5·
              5 days ago

              Just watched the intro. I’m not really on board with the eugenics angle even after watching it. It’s more social darwinism than eugenics.

              Eugenicists as ive always thought of it is an intended or active pursuit of creating “better” humans(or whatever species).

              One factor I see being a difference between natural selection and unnatural selection. Unnatural selection being eugenics, and natural selection being what a result of an environment having an effect on the evolution of a species.

              The intro Primarily sets a path of one group having more children than the other group and i will concede it the intelligent couple having problems having kids misrepresents the rest of the movie while still giving the audience a vehicle to how the future they wanted to craft could happen. And it also is meant to be entertainment not just exposition.

              Would be very interested in an in depth response from Mike Judge and the rest of the filmakers. Would be an interesting use of AI/Deepfake to redo the intro if it actually wasnt intended to invoke a eugenic view of the future

  • RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world
    9·
    5 days ago

    The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension - The quintessential 80s movie. Everything you need to know about the 80s is contained in this film.

    Also Mr. Krabs is in it.

  • kubok@fedia.io
    522·
    6 days ago

    I find it inconceivable that no one has mentioned ‘The Princess Bride’ yet.

  • Sequentialsilence@lemmy.world
    563·
    6 days ago

    I always say everyone should see requiem for a dream, but no one should watch it. That film does more for stopping drug abuse than any government program ever did.

  • rudyharrelson@lemmy.radio
    34·
    6 days ago

    “12 Angry Men” (1957) is a personal favorite that I recommend to pretty much everyone. Great messages about questioning assumptions, challenging biases, understanding the limitations of evidence, acknowledging imperfections in the justice system, and the consequences thereof.

    The movie is also cinematically interesting to me because it feels “small”. The entire movie just about takes place in one room, and the events of the film transpire over the course of one afternoon.

    • Rob T Firefly@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      6 days ago

      In the beginning of 12 Angry Men everything is shot from above eye-level with wide-angle lenses, giving everything the feel of more space, but as the film progresses it transitions to tighter shots with telephoto lenses from lower angles. The film gives the viewer more and more of a subconscious sense of tension and claustrophobia as the story progresses.

      At least one stage adaptation of the story gave a similar effect over the course of the show by slowly tightening the lighting and having the walls of the set physically move inward, too slow for the audience to take notice but enough to subtly affect the entire atmosphere and really drive that feeling home.

      • rudyharrelson@lemmy.radio
        3·
        6 days ago

        That’s so neat; I’d never noticed that before. And the walls closing in on the stage adaptation is really clever

    • Eleyson@lemmy.world
      3·
      6 days ago

      I’ve seen this movie 3 times, each viewing several years apart. Each viewing solidified this movie as my personal favorite, I would go in thinking I’ve already seen this, it can’t have the same wow factor. Nope, I would end up loving it even more. Can’t recommend this enough!

      • ShareMySims@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        5 days ago

        I think that stuff (those in power manipulating public opinion for their own ends by whatever means necessary) has always happened, but the access to and use of technology has definitely upped the game significantly, so yeah, I agree.

        Edit to add: I watched it for the first time in my teens, and I think it had a deep impact on how I view politics and the media, and the relationship between them.

  • idunnololz@lemmy.world
    162·
    5 days ago

    Spirited Away. In my opinion the most Miyazaki movie. It’s also just amazing. I’ve probably seen it a dozen times now.

  • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
    10·
    5 days ago

    These are not feel good movies at all but I think really send important messages. Not for kids, but at 16+ would be good. There’s very important takeaway messages in both.

    Grave of the Fireflies

    Requiem for a Dream

    • cows_are_underrated@feddit.org
      7·
      5 days ago

      Requiem for A dream is a very good film. Its quite similar to the much older German film “Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo” (We children from the station zoo). The original version has a quite weird style in terms of how it tells the story but its still a very good film. Can only recommend it to everybody. Heroin one hell of A drug that can quite easily ruin everything.

    • DJDarren@thelemmy.clubEnglish
      4·
      5 days ago

      I saw Grave of the Fireflies once.

      Once.

      Could never bring myself to go through it again, despite how utterly beautiful it is.

      But my favourite thing about it is that it was originally a double bill with My Neighbour Totoro. Imagine seeing those two back to back. You’d get some serious emotional whiplash.

  • rainynight65@feddit.orgEnglish
    141·
    5 days ago

    Lucky Number Slevin

    Man On Fire

    Syriana

    Equilibrium

    And for some solid Australian cinema: Mystery Road

  • DJDarren@thelemmy.clubEnglish
    17·
    6 days ago

    I get that most people are just listing their favourite movies, and that’s fair, but I feel like a lot of them are already well watched.

    My suggestion is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

    Everything about it is a stunning piece of cinema that got massively overlooked at the time, and I don’t really know why. It stars Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, has a score by Nick Cave (who has a cameo) and Warren Ellis, and has cinematography by the mighty Roger Deakins.

    On the cinematography; you could pause it at almost any point, take a screengrab, and print it out for display. It’s a stunningly well shot movie.

    Nothing about the movie is fast. Everything takes place as it needs to, in its own time, all creeping glacially towards what you know is going to happen.

    I adore this movie. I showed it to my kid a couple of years ago, fearful that he would hate it. Turned out he loved it as much as I do. It’s the best western I’ve ever seen, but to call it a western does it a disservice.

  • jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    71·
    5 days ago
    • The Blues Brothers (1980)
    • How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
    • The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) <- The best film version of “A Christmas Carol”. I will die on this hill.
    • Blazing Saddles (1974)
    • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)